Top 10 Tuesday: Last 10 Books I Added to my TBR

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish which is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week’s topic:

January 29: The Last 10 Books I Added to my TBR

Yes, it’s Wednesday. But I haven’t posted in over a week. I have two books reviews I need to write but I just haven’t been feeling it, so in the meantime, here are the last ten books I added to my TBR.

The Wide Carnivorous Sky 
John Langan

This is a horror short story collection described as having a “mellifluous” prose style. The stories appear to be influenced by Lovecraftian horror, which is my jam. I’ve been meaning to read more horror and more short stories.

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The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All
Laird Barron

As I’ve dipped my toes into the world of horror writing, it was impossible not to hear the name of this author everywhere. He is apparently one of the most prolific modern horror writers, but I’ve never read anything by him. But he’s garnered such critical acclaim that I must read his work at some point, and this particular collection seems like his most popular.

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Cleopatra: A Life
Stacy Schiff

I debated adding this for a while, but then I figured it’s probably something that I should read. For those of you who may not know, I’m Egyptian, but I know absolutely nothing about Ancient Egypt. It’s kind of shameful. This seems like it’s very well-written and focuses on the world outside of Cleopatra as well as her own life.

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The Cold is in Her Bones
Peternelle van Arsdale

This is a YA fantasy novel centered on two young girls. I think it’s meant to be a Medusa retelling, somehow. The summary mentions something about demons and there’s just something about the vibe of this novel that feels creepy and disturbing. I have a feeling it’s going to be very atmospheric. Plus, that title is amazing, and that cover, damn!

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Gideon the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir

I will pretty much read any newly released high fantasy authored by a woman about a woman, so. The description says the book features “a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers.” Honestly, it sounds so fucking weird and new and different and I’m very excited for it!

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The Dollmaker
Nina Allan

I tagged this as “victorian  vibes” on Goodreads, but I have no idea if it’s set in the Victorian era. It sounds like it might be? There’s a character at “an institution on Bodmin Moor” and “old towns of England” and “potent, eldritch stories” that “pluck at the edges of reality.” This sounds like a fantastically eerie blend of historical fantasy and horror and I am here for it.

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Shadowscent
P.M. Freestone

This is a YA fantasy novel about a poor village girl teaming up with a prince’s bodyguard to catch the prince’s attempted murderer, in a world where “scent has power” whatever that means. I don’t know. This could be terrible, standard YA fantasy fare, I’m really intrigued by this concept of scent having power. Plus, the two covers out for this book are both freaking gorgeous.

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Empire of the Vampire
Jay Kristoff

I’m pretty sure I choked on my own saliva a bit when I read that not only was Jay Kristoff writing a vampire book but that it’s going to be illustrated by Nan Fe who is one of my fave artists!!! I mean!!! This is described “an illustrated dark fantasy epic; the bastard lovechild of Interview with the Vampire, The Road and The Name of the Wind” like???? I’m over here screaming until 2020.

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Master of Sorrows
Justin Travis Call

This is an upcoming fantasy release that I normally wouldn’t be super interested in, because it’s written by a white man about a white man, but the premise caught my eye: “what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same?” It seems like a really intriguing riff on the Chosen One trope that I’m actually writing in one of my WIPs at the moment, so I’m interested to see how someone else does it!

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The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
Alexis Hall

I don’t even know how to describe this book. It’s Sherlock Holmes-inspired fantasy. It seems to be based on Victorian England but it’s not. It’s got sapphic vibes, vampires, and something about freaking Carcosa. I don’t even know. It seems just weird enough to be really, really good.