On My TBR Shelf // Small Towns, Magical Cities, and Foodie Reads

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I've been only adding books on my TBR using the StoryGraph. I like that it's a relatively quite place to track my books but since I like sharing what I want to read I thought I would do that here. Here are some of the newest additions to my TBR Shelf. Let me know what you think or if you've read any of them.

A River of Royal Blood follows Princess Eva who is born with the magick of marrow and blood. Though she hates this magick, she must learn how to use it if she wants to live and ascend to the throne, because Queens of Myre are chosen only through the Rival Heir tradition, a tradition where sisters fight to death. - The Nerd Daily

This new cover of A River of Royal Blood caught my attention. I like that it focuses on sisters rather than romance. It's especially interesting to see if they will choose to fight to the death or choose another path.

England 1837. Victorian London is awash with exciting new ingredients from spices to exotic fruits, but Eliza Acton has no desire to spend her days in the kitchen. Determined to be a poet and shamed by the suggestion she write a cookery book instead, she at first refuses to even consider the task. But then her father is forced to flee the country for bankruptcy, shaming the family while leaving them in genteel poverty. As a woman, Eliza has few options, so she methodically collects recipes while teaching herself the mysteries of the kitchen. And to her surprise, she discovers she is not only talented at cooking—she loves it.

This is about cooking and food so it's automatically interesting to me. I like Victorian London as a setting in books and shows so I see myself enjoying Miss Eliza's English Kitchen easily. 

Twelve-year-old Billie loves to win; she has a bulletin board overflowing with first-prize ribbons. Her best friend Sam doesn't care much about winning, or at least Billie didn't think so until last summer's race, when his pumpkin crashed into hers as she was about to cross the finish line and he won. This summer, Billie is determined to get revenge by growing the best and biggest pumpkin and beating Sam in the race. 

I was looking for small town books a while back and stumbled upon this one. Funnily enough I've read a small town pumpkin growing YA book before so I'm thinking The Pumpkin War will give the the same vibes.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…

I saw this on NetGalley and it had such a beautiful cover. I love that it incorporates mythology. I don't think I've read an adult mythological book except the Odyssey. The synopsis for The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea sounds like this will be a quiet book if you know what I mean kind of like Every Heart a Doorway.

Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw--or rather, heard--the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It's a memory that's never faded, though he's put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who's uncannily familiar . . .

I've mentioned Love at First before but I didn't add it to my TBR right away. I think the concept of falling in love with somone's singing at first sounds like a 90's or early 2000's rom-com that I would watch as a kid with my mom. This feels very wholesome which is something I need sometimes.

Things are going according to plan for Serena. She's smart, confident, and just got a kick-ass new job at a top advertising firm in Washington, D.C. Even before her younger sister gets married in a big, traditional wedding, Serena knows her own dreams don't include marriage or children. But with her mother constantly encouraging her to be more like her sister, Serena can't understand why her parents refuse to recognize that she and her sister want completely different experiences out of life.

A new friendship with her co-worker, Ainsley, comes as a breath of fresh air, challenging Serena's long-held beliefs about the importance of self-reliance. She's been so focused on career success that she's let all of her hobbies and close friendships fall by the wayside. As Serena reconnects with her family and friends--including her ex-boyfriend--she learns letting people in can make her happier than standing all on her own.

I like the idea of a main character reflecting and changing in an important way. I am very much a person who likes goals and improvement for the better of your life so Serena Singh Flips the Script sounds lovely.

Thaddeus Walker Bowman Owens, the backup quarterback for the Chicago Stars, is a team player, talented sideline coach, occasional male underwear model, and a man with a low tolerance for Divas.

Olivia Shore, international opera superstar, is a driven diva with a passion for perfection, a craving for justice, too many secrets--and a monumental grudge against the egotistical, lowbrow jock she's been stuck with.

I admit it. The cover pulled me in. I never would have thought to be even interested in a quarterback and opera singer romance but here I am with When Stars Collide on my tbr.

Everyone wants new followers…until they follow you home.

Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. 

Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years—from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits—and nothing is private.

This is an expecially scary, modern thriller. The internet can be a dangerous place. I don't think I've heard a book like Follow Me before but I'm also not a thriller type of reader so it says something when one interests me.

A Japanese style pub called "Nobu" exists in a back alley of the fictional medieval European city of Eiteriach. Its customers? A pair of slacker soldiers, a spoiled heiress, an uptight tax collector, and more... When the citizens of this strange world sit down to enjoy some unfamiliar Japanese cuisine, their troubles simply melt away...

The curtain rises on this otherworldly eatery and the gourmet fantasy about to unfold within!

Foodie manga books are my weakness. I don't know why but Japanese writers and illustrators are really good at convincing me to want to read their books. Otherworldy Izakaya Nobo escaped my radar until now!

Jasmine Tran has landed herself behind bars--maple bars that is. With no boyfriend or job prospects, Jasmine returns home to work at her parents' donut shop. Jasmine quickly loses herself in a cyclical routine of donuts, Netflix, and sleep. She wants to break free from her daily grind, but when a hike in rent threatens the survival of their shop, her parents rely on her more than ever.

Help comes in the form of an old college crush, Alex Lai. Not only is he successful and easy on the eyes, to her parents' delight, he's also Chinese. He's everything she should wish for, until a disastrous dinner reveals Alex isn't as perfect as she thinks. Worse, he doesn't think she's perfect either.

I wrote about this a while bck too but it finally has a cover! The Donut Trap is the perfect mix of dysfunctional family, life, and cute crushes. 

Are you interested in any of these?

What have you recently added to your tbr?