The End of The Year Book Tag
Hi Everyone! I thought I'd squeeze in a book tag before the year ends, and what better tag to do than The End of The Year Book Tag? This tag was created by the wonderful Ariel Bisset (you can watch her original video here and her latest one here), so do check her videos out!
I remember being tag-crazed a few years back, and it's nice to be reminded of what my blog was mostly built out of back in the days :') Anyways, let's just jump straight into the questions!
Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
Honestly, SO many! I'm a mood reader, so I can pick up a book one day and then start a different one the next day. I've started so many books in the past that I still have to finish! Some of these books include Renegades by Marissa Meyer, Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor, Turtles All The Way Down by John Green, The Martian by Andy Weir, and so much more!
Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
I did not have an intended autumnal transition since the end of the year means summer for me (both in Australia, where I live, and in Indonesia, where I am during the end of the year), but all the books that I brought back with me to read happen to be pretty autumnal books! I have two fantasies and a thriller to finish before the end of this year, and they are The Alienist by Caleb Carr, The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White, and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Is there a new release you're still waiting for?
Y E S !!!!!! Six of Crows #3!!!! I NEED A DATE LEIGH PLEASEEEE
What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?
Quite conveniently, I brought back three books I intend on finishing before the year ends, and I've already mentioned them, but here they are again (with synopses this time)
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over.
Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences.
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.
Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?
Ninth House, hopefully! I'm not a fan of it so far, and though I'm only 70+ pages into it, I've already put it down several times, so I'm hoping something grabs my attention quick. I love Bardugo's Six of Crows duology, but so far I'm just not feeling Ninth House. Hopefully I end up loving it though, because Bardugo's books always take me by surprise.
Have you already started making reading plans for 2020?
Yes! I want to be able to read more books in the new year, but also take my time savoring them :) I mentioned in my Year in Reading blog post that taking time to read is so much better than making the time for it, so I definitely want to slowly go through my TBR pile and discover new favorites along the way!
Thank you for getting to the end of this blog post! Sorry if it's a little shorter than my usual posts, but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless! I tag everyone who wants to do this tag :) Be sure to credit Ariel if you decide to do it!
Happy Reading everyone!
Cath xx