What is on my TBR pile, you ask?

I think most library staff have spider-like tendencies when choosing books; they cast their web wide and use an assortment of techniques in order to maximise their gains. It is a mystery day to day which route one will take to find a bookish treasure but guaranteed by the end of said day, there will be at least one (okay I am lying, 3-5) book(s) that have crossed our path and made it on to our TBR pile.

Obviously the real gem that we are always on high alert for is the ‘made it into your hand, you’re not letting it go, you started it in your break time, you read it whilst walking home and are now thinking about it burning a hole in your bag whilst you are trying to work, book‘. This book is sneaky, it bypasses the queue, (try not to faint) it may even interrupt the book you were reading this morning when you woke up and it certainly dampens the allure of all other books that pass you by that day.

I feel that it is only right that I name and shame the infiltrator of today (Tuesday). It wasn’t the cover that lured me in with this one, it was the blurb:

9781406387032Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now 15 and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing. As disturbing memories resurface, Tash starts to see Sparrow again. And she realises Mallory is the key to unlocking the truth about a dark secret connecting them. Does Sparrow exist after all? Or is Tash more dangerous to others than she thinks?

Now of course, I HAVE to know what happens and quickly before I explode. As far as I’m concerned the worst thing that can possibly happen now is that I don’t enjoy this book and then I have the guilt of all the books I passed over…

Like this beautiful one, which I cannot wait to read:

Nell hates her sister’s illness, her drunken dad, and the daily absence of her mum. 9781911077862

When she meets Lukas, adopted heir to a Norwegian oil fortune, she sees her escape: the two of them running away from the world. But Lukas has his own dark wishes, and soon it’s clear that what joins them goes way beyond love.

This is survival … and is any boy really worth her soul?

I really want to read it but think I will also need to cover my eyes. We should all take a brief moment to marvel over how pretty this one is. We really DO judge the cover!

Next up is one that caught my eye a while back:

On a small isolated island, there’s a community that lives by its own rules. Boys grow up knowing they will one day take charge, while girls know they will be 9781472241702married and pregnant within moments of hitting womanhood.

But before that time comes, a ritual offers children an exhilarating reprieve. Every summer they are turned out onto their doorsteps, to roam the island, sleep on the beach and build camps in trees. To be free.

At the end of one of such summer, one of the younger girls sees something she was never supposed to see. And she returns home with a truth that could bring their island world to its knees.

This book, indeed this whole list, is one of the many, many reasons I love libraries. None of the books I have listed so far would normally make it onto my reading radar – I like vampires, fairies, magic and wonder. My work allows me exposure to so many different types of books that I am tempted out of my reading ‘norm’ through this exposure. I can guarantee that after this book I will be ready to retreat back to the realm of fantasy!

Good job I have something that fits this bill, ready and waiting in my pile:

I read an article recommending this series recently and have wanted to read it ever since. Interestingly this series was listed as a great one to get ‘tween’ boys reading.
What’s next? Well that’s the wonderful thing about libraries; I’ve deviated from the expected path again (although this time I think you will see a clear trajectory):
9781784538484
Beyond its housing estates and identikit high streets there is another Britain. This is the Britain of mist-drenched forests and unpredictable sea-frets: of wraith-like fog banks, druidic mistletoe and peculiar creatures that lurk, half-unseen, in the undergrowth, tantalising and teasing just at the periphery of human vision. How have the remarkably persistent folkloric traditions of the British Isles formed and been formed by the psyches of those who inhabit them? In this sparkling new history, Carolyne Larrington explores the diverse ways in which a myriad of fantastical beings has moulded the nation’s cultural history. Fairies, elves and goblins here tread purposefully, sometimes malignly, over an eerie landscape that also conceals brownies, selkies, trows, knockers, boggarts, land-wights, Jack o’Lanterns, Barguests, the sinister Nuckleavee and Black Shuck: terrifying hell-hound of the Norfolk coast with eyes of burning coal. Ranging from Shetland to Jersey and from Ireland to East Anglia, while evoking the Wild Hunt, the ghostly bells of Lyonesse and the dread fenlands haunted by Grendel, this is a book that will captivate all those who long for the wild places: the mountains and chasms where giants lie in wait.
I don’t even remember how I stumbled across this fascinating book, I just know that I had to read it once I knew it existed and read it I will, the whole while wishing that I had written it!
That’s all from me – what is on your TBR pile? Share in the comments below.
What books would you recommend?
Need something to read? Check out our previous blog posts for inspiration or browse our Library catalogue