Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall Reading List


This week’s topic is my fall to-be-read list. Here are 10 books that have been hanging around my shelves for far too long. I need to read them soon.

*This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.









What I’m Reading This Fall







1. The Passion Of Dolssa by Julie Berry


Young adult historical fiction


Dolssa is a young gentlewoman with uncanny gifts, on the run from an obsessed friar determined to burn her as a heretic for the passion she refuses to tame.

Botille is a wily and charismatic peasant, a matchmaker running a tavern with her two sisters in a tiny seaside town.

The year is 1241; the place, Provensa, what we now call Provence, France—a land still reeling from the bloody crusades waged there by the Catholic Church and its northern French armies.

When the matchmaker finds the mystic near death by a riverside, Botille takes Dolssa in and discovers the girl’s extraordinary healing power. But as the vengeful Friar Lucien hunts down his heretic, the two girls find themselves putting an entire village at the mercy of murderers.











2. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand


Young adult contemporary fiction


The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone—a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.












3. The Mothers by Brit Bennett


Adult literary fiction


It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? The possibilities of the road not taken are a relentless haunt.












4. How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon


Young adult contemporary fiction


When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson dies from two gunshot wounds, his community is thrown into an uproar. Tariq was black. The shooter, Jack Franklin, is white.

In the aftermath of Tariq's death, everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events line up. Day by day, new twists further obscure the truth.

Tariq's friends, family, and community struggle to make sense of the tragedy, and to cope with the hole left behind when a life is cut short. In their own words, they grapple for a way to say with certainty: This is how it went down.












5. The Power by Naomi Alderman


Adult science fiction


In The Power the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power—they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.













6. Opening Skinner’s Box: Great Psychological Experiments Of The Twentieth Century by Lauren Slater


Adult nonfiction


Beginning with B. F. Skinner and the legend of a child raised in a box, Slater takes us from a deep empathy with Stanley Milgram's obedience subjects to a funny and disturbing re-creation of an experiment questioning the validity of psychiatric diagnosis. Previously described only in academic journals and textbooks, these often daring experiments have never before been narrated as stories, chock-full of plot, wit, personality, and theme.














7. Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood


Adult literary fiction


Rennie Wilford, a young journalist running from her life, takes an assignment to a Caribbean island and tumbles into a world where no one is what they seem. When the burnt-out Yankee Paul (does he smuggle dope or hustle for the CIA?) offers her a no-hooks, no strings affair, she is caught up in a lethal web of corruption.
















8. The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón


Adult historical fantasy


Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it, his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long, he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.











9. The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes


Young adult mystery


Molly Mavity is not a normal teenage girl. For one thing, her father is a convicted murderer, and his execution date is fast approaching. For another, Molly refuses to believe that her mother is dead, and she waits for the day when they’ll be reunited . . . despite all evidence that this will never happen.

Pepper Yusef is not your average teenage boy. A Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy, serious girl problems, and the most useless seizure dog in existence, he has to write a series of essays over the summer . . . or fail out of school.

And Ava Dreyman—the brave and beautiful East German resistance fighter whose murder at seventeen led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall—is unlike anyone you’ve met before.

When Molly gets a package leading her to Pepper, they’re tasked with solving a decades-old mystery: find out who killed Ava, back in 1989. Using Ava’s diary for clues, Molly and Pepper realize there’s more to her life—and death—than meets the eye. Someone is lying to them. And someone out there is guiding them along, desperate for answers.










10. Far From The Tree by Robin Benway


Young adult contemporary fiction


Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including:

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.








Have you read any of these? What did you think?










90 comments:

  1. I always enjoy the planning of my lists-it's knuckling down and sticking to it and getting them read that can be the problem!

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    1. Same. Choosing books from my shelf is easy. Actually reading them? Nope. I always get distracted by other books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. Ooo… Some interesting books you've got lined up. An older read of mine - I loved Shadow of the Wind. A newer read of mine: Far From The Tree - again, loved it.

    Happy reading!

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    1. Everybody seems to love Shadow of the Wind. I’ve wanted to read it for years, but that hasn’t happened yet.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I really enjoyed Far from the Tree. Hope you get to and enjoy all of these!

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  4. I haven't heard of any of these, but Far From The Tree sounds interesting!

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  5. Oh wow. I didn't realize that Margaret Atwood has a new book coming out! I'll be picking that one up.

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    1. It’s not new. It’s probably very old. I’m slowly trying to read everything Atwood has written.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. I am also dreadfully bad at keeping to TBRs! They're always tentative, and I almost never follow them! I've had The Last Time We Said Goodbye on my shelves forever, since the release date! I have yet to pick it up, even though I've enjoyed all the Cynthia Hand books I've read. Maybe one day, haha! I hope you have a great fall!

    Ready, Set, Read!

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    1. Sticking to a TBR is so difficult! I hope we both like The Last Time We Say Goodbye.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. I have The Arsonist on my TBR list (not for this link-up, just in general) and I hear awesome things about Far from the Tree!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. Far From the Tree won a bunch of awards, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. I thought Far From the Tree was excellent, and I really enjoyed The Mothers and The Power as well -- lots to think about and discuss. Enjoy!

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  9. The Last Time We Say Goodbye was so much better than I was expecting. Just really well done. The Shadow of the Wind is on my (eventual) TBR and I also want to read The Power and Far from the Tree!

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    1. I’m glad that it was better than you were expecting. I love it when a book can surprise me.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. The Arsonist has been on my TBR for SO LONG and I still haven't gotten around to reading it! I hope you love all of these!

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    1. I was super excited when The Arsonist came out because I liked the author’s other book. I bought it right away, and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. I really enjoyed Far From the Tree when I read it. I'm definitely curious to see what you think of The Mothers. I keep changing my mind about whether or not I want to try that one.

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    1. I was on the fence about The Mothers, too. Then I found a cheap copy. Now it’s been sitting unread on my shelf for a year.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  12. You just reminded me I bought The Arsonist when it came out. I saw that cover at Walmart and had to have it. Hmmmm... now I need to find it!

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    1. I got my copy at Walmart, too. Books on the Walmart sale table are hard to pass up.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  13. Two books I really liked are up there - Far From the Tree and Dolssa. I hope they both work for you. I have heard so many amazing things about The Arsonist. I want to read that at some point too, and I should read The Last Time We Say Goodbye, because I own it.

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  14. I haven't read any of these, but The Last Time We Say Goodbye sounds so sad!

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    1. I know! That’s exactly why it’s been on my TBR shelf for so long.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  15. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy reading!!

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  16. I want to try The Passion of Dolssa myself. Thanks for visiting my blog ealier! :)

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  17. I've had The Shadow of the Wind on my shelf for forever. Every time I see it sitting there I feel guilty for neglecting it for so long, lol. Curious to see what you think of it!

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    1. It’s been on my shelf for nearly a year, too. It’s such a big book. I’m intimidated.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  18. I've read about half of these. I really liked How It Went Down and feel it's gotten overshadowed by The Hate U Give, All American Boys, and Dear Martin. I think you'll enjoy the multiple narrators aspect a lot. The Last Time We Say Goodbye surprised me by being YA; somehow the cover screamed Literary Fiction to me. I don't remember much about Shadow of the Wind other than that I liked it. The Arsonist made so little of an impression on me that a week or so after I read it, I saw it on my shelf and thought, "Hey, I should try that one." When I started it, I was all, "What? Didn't I read something like this once? Oh I read THIS EXACT BOOK LAST WEEK?!?" And Bodily Harm is in what I consider the "Weird Atwood" genre. I'm pretty sure I read it before you were born, so you may get more out of it. I really liked Far From the Tree, and I am super picky about adoption narratives because of my family makeup. It might be a little fluffy for you though. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

    The Power and Opening Skinner's Box both sound fascinating, and of course The Mothers and that striking cover have been all over the place lately. Lots of good reading ahead of you!

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    1. Also, I really want to know what IS your favorite Sedgewick. I loved Midwinterblood and really liked Revolver, but have been not as excited about the others I've read. He's so interesting though that I want to keep reading his stuff.

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    2. I’m glad you mostly liked these books. That’s funny about The Arsonist. There are definitely a few books on my Already-Read shelf that I remember nothing about. My favorite Sedgwick books are Midwinterblood, The Ghosts of Heaven, and Revolver. Most of the other Sedgwick books I’ve read have been “meh.”

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  19. I haven't read any of these, but several sound really good. I've had The Shadow of the Wind on the edge of my radar for several years now, and really should read it one of these days. And The Arsonist sounds terrific as well... though it's disappointing that Wendy (another commenter) found it so unmemorable.

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    1. I hope The Arsonist is more memorable for me. I really liked the author’s other book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  20. I have read The Power and enjoyed it, but it's definitely and odd one. I haven't heard about the Atwood book, I'll have to look in to it!

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    1. I’ve seen mixed reviews of The Power. I hope I’m on Team Love It.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  21. The Passion of Dolssa sounds intriguing (and I really like the cover!)

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    1. I’m reading Dolssa right now. The beginning was extremely slow, but the pacing has picked up a lot now.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  22. I need to re-read The Shadow of the Wind. I remember loving it but it's been so long!! I hope you love all the books you pick it up! Have a great reading Autumn!

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    1. Thanks! So many people love Shadow of the Wind. I hope I’m one of them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  23. The Passion of Dolssa sounds pretty good!

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    1. I’m almost finished with it, and I can confirm that it’s pretty good.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  24. I haven't read any the books you have list, but I would be interested in reading THE PASSION OF DOLSSA. I'm really go at making lists of books that I would like to read, I'm just horrible when it comes to actually reading off that list. I hope you enjoy all your Fall reads.

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    1. Thanks! I hope I actually read a few of these. I’m extremely bad at sticking to TBR lists.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  25. I have The Power on my TBR pile somewhere too :)
    The Shadow of the Wind is really good.
    Hope you enjoy all your reads!

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  26. Good luck with your TBR! I like how different the options are from one another - I get bored easily if I make a TBR with books from the same genre or theme.

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    1. I read pretty much every genre, so I rarely get bored with the books on my shelf. There’s always something I’m in the mood to read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  27. I've had The Power on my TBR list for quite some time now.

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    1. Me, too. I’ve wanted to read it since before it came out. That hasn’t happened yet.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  28. I LOVED The Mothers...was one of my favorites of the year the year it came out!

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  29. This is a great list of books! I've really been meaning to pick up The Power, especially since it's been recommended by so many people. I also want to read Shadow of the Wind! :D Hope your books are all as good as they sound.

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  30. The Passion Of Dolssa sounds really intriguing! Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier! :)

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  31. OH YES! Far From The Tree! I loved this book so, very much, it was such a great read <3 I hope you'll enjoy it :D Happy reading! :D

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  32. I get positively giddy when I see someone is going to read Far From the Tree. It was not only one of my favorites of 2017, it's one of my favorites *ever.* Man, that book hit me right in the heart.

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    1. After reading all the comments on this post, I’m eager to get to it. Everybody seems to love it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  33. Far From the Tree is really good! I need to read a lot of these too actually! Especially The Arsonist and The Last Time We Say Goodbye. I liked Passion of Dolssa, but it's also slow- like quite slow? So I had a few mixed feelings. Hope you read one or two of these bwhahah

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    1. I’m reading Dolssa right now, so I know I’ll read at least 1 book from this list. I agree, it is very slow.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  34. Except for Far from the Tree, I 'm not at all familiar with any of these books... I'm checking them out now. :)

    Goodluck with your reads. :) And Happy Fall...

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  35. I really enjoyed Far From The Tree. Enjoy! :-)

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  36. I haven't heard of any of these before, but The Passion of Dolssa and Opening Skinner's Box both sound interesting. Good luck getting them read!

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    1. Thanks! Dolssa is good so far. I have about 100 pages left to read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  37. Oh, The Shadow of the Wind was amazing!!! It made me want to read a book that doesn't even exist (even though I'm still kind of thinking maybe it does exist and the conspiracy is real!)

    Have a great week. - Katie

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    1. I hope I like it as much as you did. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad review of it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  38. I've wanted to read Far from the Tree sometime now, but haven't gotten the chance to yet! And The Passion of Dolssa sounds really interesting!

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    1. Dolssa is pretty good. I’m almost finished with it. I hope we both like Far From The Tree.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  39. The Arsonist is FANTASTIC!! I 100% recommend it. It went so under the radar last year, but it seriously an award-worthy book. Also, Far From the Tree is definitely one I wanted to read last year and never got to it :( I have it and hope to make time soon-ish!!

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    1. I hope Far From The Tree lives up to the hype for both of us. I think I’ll like The Arsonist. I liked the author’s other book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  40. The operative word being "maybe" for me as well. I do enjoy making these lists though--even if I do not stick to them. I have not read any of the titles, although Shadow of the Wind has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a very long while. It's gotten a lot of love from fellow bloggers, and so I am not sure why I hesitate. One of these days . . . Enjoy all your reading this fall season, no matter what you decide to read!

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    1. I love making lists, but I hate doing the stuff on the list. I’m really hoping that I can read this whole list before winter. We’ll see.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  41. I haven't read any of these yet but my MIL has been relentlessly trying to get me to read The Power.

    I'm not great at sticking to lists but I set aside a pile each month and go from there. I don't beat myself up if I go rogue lol

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. Haha, I know for sure I’ll go rogue. I always do. I hope we both like The Power.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  42. The Shadow of the Wind is one on my To Read list. I've heard it's fantastic on audio so I thought I'd give that version a try.

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  43. I've been recommended The Passion of Dolssa so many times and ended up buying it, but still haven't gotten a chance to read it yet. Hope you end up ultimately enjoying it if you do get a chance to read it!

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  44. Shadow of the Wind has been on my list FOREVER, and I still haven't gotten around to it. I really hope you enjoy it, and any others you happen to pick up! I feel like as soon as I commit mine to writing, let alone do a seasonal TBR, I never actually wind up reading any of those books.
    Dani @ The Restricted Section

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  45. Oh I loved the Last Time I say Goodbye!! SO sad though. And I really want to read Far From the Tree (I have legit no reason why I haven't read it yet oops)😂and The Arsonist!!! I love that author!

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  46. I haven't read any of these but I do want to read Shadow of the Wind at some point. I read another story by the author and I really liked that. I hope you will enjoy all of these!

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  47. That Lauren Slater book sounds fascinating. I loved The Last Time We Say Goodbye, and I want to read Far From the Tree too.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  48. I've had Far From The Tree on my shelf for a while now, it sounds so good. Happy reading!

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  49. I've heard so much about so many of these incredible books and these all sound sooo great! Gorgeous post Hun x

    Grace Louise || www.gracelouiseofficial.blogspot.co.uk/

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  50. I always forget THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE for a book to add to my cart during a book shopping spree. It looks so interesting. Also, someday I *need* to read a novel by Robin Benway!! Happy reading - and thanks for the Finding Wonderland visit, AJ.

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  51. Wow, The Mothers, and Opening Skinner's Box are both getting added to my tbr! 📚✨

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