Kira Jeanette

Hello – welcome back to another day of Blogmas!!

Today I am going to be talking about some more of the physical books on my TBR. In part 1, I discussed all of the contemporary novels that are currently on my TBR. In case you missed it, I am going through all of my books on my physical TBR and documenting them, so that in 2024 I can really focus on reading my books on my TBR.

Today, I thought I would go through a few genres that I have very few of. I don’t keep many poetry books on my main shelves, but there are a couple on there, so I will discuss the two poetry books on my bookshelves that are unread. I will also be going through the two non-fiction books, the one graphic novel and the four horror books that are all on my TBR.

She is Fierce by Ana Sampson

A stunning gift book containing 150 bold, brave and beautiful poems by women – from classic, well loved poets to innovative and bold modern voices. From suffragettes to school girls, from spoken word superstars to civil rights activists, from aristocratic ladies to kitchen maids, these are voices that deserve to be heard.

Collected by anthologist Ana Sampson She is Fierce: Brave, Bold and Beautiful Poems by Women contains an inclusive array of voices, from modern and contemporary poets. Immerse yourself in poems from Maya Angelou, Nikita Gill, Wendy Cope, Ysra Daley-Ward, Emily Bronte, Carol Ann Duffy, Fleur Adcock, Liz Berry, Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish, Imtiaz Dharker, Helen Dunmore, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Christina Rossetti, Margaret Atwood and Dorothy Parker, to name but a few!

Featuring short biographies of each poet, She is Fierce is a stunning collection and an essential addition to any bookshelf.

Nobody Asked for This by Charly Cox

Nobody asked for this,

Whatever this is,

Nobody asked for this.

Charly Cox lays bare the last decade of her life.

In this anthology of poetry, combining her bestselling collections She Must Be Mad and Validate Me, and with 70 new poems and handwritten annotations, she paints a complex picture of the formative experiences of womanhood and living with Bipolar II disorder.

Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given

WOMEN DON’T OWE YOU PRETTY will tell you to…
love sex, hate sexism,
protect your goddamn energy,
life is short, dump them,
And that you owe men nothing, least of all pretty.

Florence’s debut book will explore all progressive corners of the feminist conversation; from insecurity projection and refusing to find comfort in other women’s flaws, to deciding whether to date or dump them, all the way through to unpacking the male gaze and how it shapes our identity.

WOMEN DON’T OWE YOU PRETTY is an accessible leap into feminism, for people at all stages of their journey who are seeking to reshape and transform the way they view themselves. In a world that tells women we’re either not enough or too much, it’s time we stop directing our anger and insecurities onto ourselves, and start fighting back to re-shape the toxic structures of our patriarchal society.

Florence’s book will help you to tackle and challenge the limiting narrative you have been bombarded with your whole life, and determine feminism on your own terms. After all, you are the love of your own life.

Old Wives’ Lore: A Book of Old Fashioned Tips and Remedies by Polly Bloom

Handed down through the ages, a treasure trove of seasoned advice and eccentric cures for a huge range of problems A combination of folklore and time-honored advice, this book illuminates the history behind female wisdom from yesteryear. Tried and tested tips to cure ailments such as warts, arthritis, and gout are interspersed with ancient old wives’ tales such as shaving a live chicken and tying it to the groin
to ward off the plague. Taking in money-saving ideas, gardening knowledge, household management, and age-old remedies, the book demonstrates that while some tales are not to be relied upon, a great deal of old wives’ lore does have its practical merits. These fascinating tips and tricks will remind readers that sometimes old advice is still the best.

Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman

Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Charlie’s beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you.

Nick’s been feeling the same, but he’s got a lot on his mind – not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.

As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means.

Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Alice by Christina Henry

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

Red Queen by Christina Henry

The land outside of the Old City was supposed to be green, lush, hopeful. A place where Alice could finally rest, no longer the plaything of the Rabbit, the pawn of Cheshire, or the prey of the Jabberwocky. But the verdant fields are nothing but ash—and hope is nowhere to be found.
 
Still, Alice and Hatcher are on a mission to find his daughter, a quest they will not forsake even as it takes them deep into the clutches of the mad White Queen and her goblin or into the realm of the twisted and cruel Black King.
 
The pieces are set and the game has already begun. Each move brings Alice closer to her destiny. But, to win, she will need to harness her newfound abilities and ally herself with someone even more powerful—the mysterious and vengeful Red Queen…

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy.

Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter’s idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite.

Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter lies.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairy tales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

That was a bit of a shorter one than Part 1 and the ones that I did in 2020 (check them out if you want to see the books that are still on this list: here, here, here and here). I think I have two more posts to go about my physical TBR – the historical fictions book on my TBR and the fantasy books on my TBR. The fantasy books is by far the biggest section that I have, so that one is going to be a long one!

Have you read any of these books?

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