Hey'a, friends! As you may have seen, this year, Jenelle Leanne Schmidt brought back February is Fantasy Month, a month-long celebration of all things fantasy! This includes daily posts over on her site, a blog post linkup, giveaways, and an Instagram challenge. And because I love both fantasy and prompts that help me figure out what to post about, I'm borrowing today's Instagram topic, fantasy subgenres, for today's post. Now, I've met very few fantasy subgenres I don't enjoy . . . but I definitely like some more than others, so today, I'm sharing my top five favorites (roughly in order), along with some recommendations in each of those subgenres. 

As a note, I am not including fairy tale retellings as a subgenre because any fairy tale retelling is necessarily also at least one other subgenre. Not that some of these other subgenres don't overlap, but they don't have to overlap, you know? With that out of the way, let's get on with the list.

February Is Fantasy Month:
Favorite Fantasy Subgenres

1. Fantasy mystery. That this makes the top of the list shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Before I discovered fantasy, I devoured mystery books like they were going out of style. It took me a surprisingly long time to discover that the two can be combined — but once I did, I was delighted. The only thing better than a good whodunnit is a good whodunnit in which the culprit might be a dragon and the detective a wizard. Or, you know, vise versa. I am 100% on board with dragon detectives, and if anyone knows of a good such book (other than A Tale of Two Castles), please tell me so I can read it.
   If you want to read this, try . . . The Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell was the first fantasy-mystery I encountered, and it has both some very well-crafted mysteries and a really fun dynamic between the two main characters, Michael (a would-be knight errant with a sense of honor to match) and Fisk (a former thief and con artist with a better heart than he lets on). It's more low fantasy, but if you want something more magical, try The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, which includes dragons, fae, alternate dimensions, and librarian-spies. And, of course, I have to mention my all-time favorite fantasy mystery, Masque by W.R. Gingell, which turns Beauty and the Beast into a murder mystery.
2. Epic fantasy. While I read less of this than I used to, I still love it. Epic fantasy (especially quest-based epic fantasy) is where I learned to love the genre, and it contains many of the stories that make my heart sing. The greatest heroes and the darkest villains are often found here, and so is some of the most magnificent worldbuilding in all fantasy.
   If you want to read this, try . . . The obvious recommendations here are Tolkien and Sanderson, and I love both of them — The Lord of the Rings was one of the subgenre originators, and The Stormlight Archive is one of the most epic of epic fantasies I've ever read. But Tolkien and Sanderson are also both long and well-known, and so I also want to include a couple more obscure recommendations. Moonscript by H.S.J. Williams is a beautiful, thrilling tale of adventure, salvation, friendship, and the battle between light and darkness, with notes of both The Lord of the Rings and The Tales of Goldstone Wood. And speaking of Goldstone Wood, I love the whole series, but Golden Daughter is both the most epic and one of my favorites in that series.
3. Heist fantasy. Much like fantasy mystery, heist fantasy takes an already awesome genre (who doesn't love a really clever, exciting heist/con story?) and makes it better via the addition of magic, magical beings, and fantastical locations. If you've ever watched Leverage and thought "you know what this needs? a dragon. or a vampire," then you and I are on the same page. On one hand, imagine the schemes a crew can pull when their team could include wizards, fae, or even dragons! On the other hand, imagine the schemes they'll have to come up with when their mark can read minds or famously has (or is) a dragon guarding his treasure! (Oh, wait, that's just The Hobbit. Though that one worked out more due to luck than any clever scheming on Bilbo and the dwarves' part . . .) While I haven't read a ton in this genre, I've enjoyed 95% of what I have read, so it definitely makes the favorites list.
   If you want to read this, try . . . So, I can't get you Leverage with a dragon, but I can get you Leverage with a vampire (or, well, ex-vampire) in the form of Miss Dark's Apparitions by Suzannah Rowntree. I absolutely love this crew of inventors, schemers, and con artists, both for their adventures and for the interactions and dynamics between them. (Obviously, if you want something a little more epic, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows are both also excellent. But y'all probably know about those already.)
4. Portal fantasy. Portal fantasy seems to be out of style at the moment — or, at least, I don't see very much of it — which is tragic, as it's so fun. It has all the benefits of epic fantasy, but with the additional plus that you're experiencing everything alongside someone who's as new to it as you are. And, of course, there's all kinds of interesting things you can do with the tension of feeling caught between two worlds, with adapting to back home after your adventure, and so forth.
   If you want to read this, try . . . Probably my favorite portal fantasy (outside of Narnia) is the Legends of Karac Tor by D. Barkley Briggs, a Christian series that blends elements of Norse, Celtic, Welsh, Arthurian, and Native American mythology in its worldbuilding — plus, it has fantastic characters, lots of family dynamics, and a fantastic storytelling voice. Brandon Mull's Beyonders is another excellent trilogy that plays with some tropes and includes some very unique worldbuilding elements. Also, while it's not exactly portal fantasy (more time travel), Kari Maaren's Weave a Circle Round has a lot in common with the subgenre, lots of references to literature and legends, and absolutely no romance.
5. Urban, Historical & Gothic fantasy. I'm combining these three for two reasons. Urban and historical fantasy fit together because I love them both for the same reasons: I enjoy seeing the way authors weave together magic and magical beings with reality, coming up with wondrous secrets behind even the most mundane matters. As for the Gothic fantasy, most of this subgenre is also historical fantasy. Plus, many of my favorite historical fantasies are also Gothic — it's that extra edge of darkness, creepiness, and mystery that makes everything more exciting and provides opportunities for light and redemption to show up even better. That said, these elements do have to be used in moderation, which is where a lot of urban fantasy especially goes wrong.
   If you want to read this, try . . . For urban fantasy, you know I have to recommend W.R. Gingell's City Between. (No surprises there; I yell about it every few months, it seems.) For historical fantasy, try . . . well, literally anything by Suzannah Rowntree, but also Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, a multi-faceted Rumplestiltskin retelling set in Russia. And if you're after some Gothic fantasy, you can go cozy with The Secrets of Ormdale series by Christina Baehr, or you can aim dark and romantic with Black and Deep Desires by Claire Trella Hill.

What are your favorite fantasy subgenres, and what books in those subgenres do you especially recommend? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Hey'a, everyone! So, I recognize that it's a touch early to do a seasonal reads post (winter doesn't officially begin for another week and a half), but I want to do Christmas stuff on the blogs next week if possible, so . . . here we are!

Winter 2021–22 Reads

1. Of Fire and Ash by Gillian Bronte Adams (December 7). This one just came out this past week, but it wasn't in my fall reads list, so I'm including it. From the sneak peaks Gillian's shared both publically and with her street team, this looks like it's going to be so good: magical horses, epic conflicts, tragic heroes, the works. Early reviews are also suggesting that it's light on romance, so — hallelujah.

2. Wrought of Serpent and Snow by E. J. Kitchens (December 9). Another book that just came out this week! I confess that I do not love the cover . . . but I did love Wrought of Silver and Ravens, the previous book in the series, which was one of my favorite of the Tattered Slippers releases, and I'm excited to see what happens next!

3. The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman (December 28). I confess that I'm not entirely caught up on the Invisible Library series — The Dark Archive slipped out without my noticing, and while I do have it out from the library, I haven't gotten around to reading it. But with the release of The Untold Story at the end of the month, I think The Dark Archive will have to move up the list. Both stories sound like they'll have a greater focus on Alberich and the fae, which is exciting. (We all know how much I love the Invisible Library fae, after all.)

4. Between Kings by W.R. Gingell (December 31). I am simultaneously SO HYPED and UTTERLY TERRIFIED for this. It's the end of the City Between series (though the author has promised spinoffs), and I'm so sad that I'll be saying goodbye to Pet, Tuata, JinYeong, Zero, North, Athelas, Morgana, and the rest. But also, the last book ended on such a cliffhanger, and I desperately need to know what's become of everyone. Out of everything on this list, this is definitely what I'm looking forward to the most!

5. A Conspiracy of Prophets by Suzannah Rowntree (January 6). So, yes. I had very mixed feelings about the first book in the series. But, I was told that I might like other books in the series better (especially since they focused on other protagonists), and I've loved Suzannah's other books, so I'm not taking this off my TBR list yet. And even if I'm not a fan of Lukas Bessarion, this installment sounds pretty epic.

And that about covers it! A little sparser than some of my seasonal release roundups, most of my favorite authors released something in summer or autumn, so this is a more quiet season. Still, what is there looks pretty good. What book releases are you excited for this winter? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

Five Favorite Fae Tales

 Hello, everyone! It's no secret that I love a good fae/fair folk story, whether it takes the form of a fairy tale retold, an urban fantasy escapade (or mystery), or a classic fantasy adventure. There's just so much to enjoy, from the intrigues of the fae courts to the eccentricities and strong personalities of the fair folk themselves to the dynamics between fae and humans. And because I've been reading quite a few of these kind of stories lately, I thought that I'd take this week to spotlight some of my favorite novels featuring the fair folk. (Also, I haven't done a "favorite ____ books" post in a long time, and I figured it was as good a time as any to remedy that.)

Favorite Fae Tales

1. An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. Is it weird that my favorite fair folk story is one that, in many ways, deconstructs the fae and reveals the hollowness of their courts and revelry? Maybe, but this is a delicious story anyway (which I really should reread sometime soon). I love the author's take on the fae (wild and beautiful and powerful, but crippled in their inability to create) and the seasonal courts, and I love the characters, human and fae alike.
2. The City Between series by W.R. Gingell. I just shared all the reasons I love the City Between books a couple weeks ago, so I won't repeat myself too much . . . but this series is awesome, full of magnificently dangerous fae and other Behindkind. The interactions between the fae worlds of Behind and Between and the human world are one of the places where the series really shines, though.
3. The Dark King's Curse by Wyn Estelle Owens. Though the fae in this book are far less other than in some stories on this list, it's still an excellent take on the fair folk and the seasonal courts. More importantly, it includes Laisren, who's probably on my top ten list (if not my top five list) for all-time favorite fae characters!
4. The Masked City and The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman. I probably could've just included the whole Invisible Library series on this list, but I decided to limit myself to the two books that best showcase the fae of this series. The Invisible Library fae are creatures of chaos, driven by narrative; they shape themselves to an archetypal form and manipulate the world around them to suit the story they wish to tell. I would argue that they're one of the most dangerous versions of the fae on this list — true, Behindkind may be more deadly, but Invisible Library fae are harder to resist. That said, they're also one of the most fascinating fae types I've encountered . . .
5. Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. I was going to narrow this one down to specific books as well (probably Starflower and Shadow Hand), but some of my favorite faerie-central scenes are in other books (notably Moonblood), so . . . yeah. While not always as fae/faerie-centric as some of the books on this list, Goldstone Wood (and, in particular, one faerie cat-bard) is the series that first raised my interest in fae and the fair folk. And I love the author's take on the Wood and the faerie demesnes, which are often as alive and as strong of characters as the faerie folk who dwell in them.

What are your favorite stories of fae and the fair folk? I'd love to get some new recommendations! Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

End-of-Year Book Freakout 2019!

Here we are again: the end of another year and another six months of books to recap (counting from the time of my mid-year book freakout)! I actually am freaking out a little in this post, 'cause I've read some amazing books in the last six months. But we'll get to that in a minute.

A few quick stats before we get started: I have read a total of 130 books and 38,656 pages this year, plus a little bit because I have a few reading days left in the year. (For those of you concerned: I'm finishing out the year with assorted rereads, namely the Six of Crows duology and the Illuminae Files and maybe the Reckoners trilogy, so there's no risk of my discovering something amazing and then regretting the fact that I couldn't include it in this post.) That's significantly up from last year's count, which was 107 books and 33,968 pages. My average rating, on the other hand, is down from last year, only 3.7 versus 4.1. Apparently, I read better books last year. Oh well. About 31 of this year's books were in this half of the year, which is only about a third of what I read in the first six months — though that does make sense, since the second half of the year contains two low-reading months (July and November) and fall semester kind of killed me.

1. Best book you've read in the second half of 2018:

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

I read this book shortly after Christmas break started, and I haven't entirely stopped screaming about it since. Not internally, at least. It's like someone crossed The Invisible Library with Howl's Moving Castle and then added a dash of the Abhorsen Chronicles to round it all out. It's amazing. It's got a stubborn, fierce, indomitable apprentice librarian and a dashing, disreputable, snarky sorcerer and magical books and equally magical libraries and high stakes and action and romance and just so much awesomeness. I'm probably going to end up rereading it sometime early next year; it's just that amazing. If you haven't read it yet, go grab it now.

A few runners-up, though none of them come anywhere near the amazingness that is Sorcery of Thorns:

Death Be Not Proud by Suzannah Rowntree

It's a non-magical murder mystery retelling of Snow White set in Jazz Age New Zealand. And Suzannah has managed to figure out Megan Whalen Turner's method of keeping secrets from you even when you're really close in character's heads, and she does it to excellent effect here.

What If? by Randall Munroe

This is nonfiction, but it's really fun nonfiction! Basically, the author/artist of xkcd answers all kinds of weird science-ish questions in serious (though snarky) ways. There's a lot of explosions and things lighting on fire. It's awesome.

2. Best sequel you've read in the second half of 2019:
I honestly didn't read a lot of sequels to things this half of 2019. On the upside, that means it's not as hard to choose a book in this category.

Prince of Stars, Son of Fate by H.L. Burke

I quite enjoyed both books in this duology, but I may have liked this one a little more. It's hard to say. I like the relationships and the world, and Arynne and Kay are both pretty great characters. 

3. New release you haven't read yet but want to:

 

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman

I honestly didn't realize this was out until a week or two after its release, which is tragic because I'm intensely excited for more Invisible Library. It's got Irene and Kai and a heist and Fae/dragon partnerships; what more could I want?

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Lower on the priority list, but I do want to read this sooner rather than later. Though maybe later would be better, given what some reviewers have said about the ending cliffhanger . . .  

4. Most anticipated release for next year: 
Oddly enough, this was my most anticipated read for this year too:

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Come on. I want more Eugenides. If this gets put off another year, I'll . . . well, I probably will end up being too distracted by other books to notice, but eventually, I'll realize it and be sad. Y'know how it is.

Also releasing next year: Stormlight Archive #4 by Brandon Sanderson! It has a release date! And a tentative title! (Rhythms of War, if you hadn't heard.) Though not a cover. But it's coming out November 17 of next year, and I can't WAIT. The only reason it's not my top most anticipated read is that technically I've been waiting for Return of the Thief longer. 

5. Biggest disappointment:

Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien

Ugh. I hoped that this would be a fun contemporary-fantasy with an Asian setting, and it was all of that . . . except for the fun bit. I actually ended up DNFing it because I disliked the main character so much. Life is too short for arrogant annoyances like this one.

6. Biggest surprise:

 Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

So, I finally decided to get with the times and read the rest of the Grishaverse books (the ones that aren't Six of Crows, mostly so I could read King of Scars) . . . but Shadow and Bone did not thrill me, so I was honestly expecting a succession of meh books until I got to my Crows reread. But then Siege and Storm ended up being really good? And, yeah, it was mostly because of one character, but it still counts.

7. Favorite new-to-you author:

Haven't really got one, but I did finally read a full-length novel by C.M. Banschbach (Oath of the Outcast, if anyone is wondering), and it was pretty good, so . . . does that count?

 

8. Newest fictional crush/ship:

Ok, so if we're being 100% honest, I am crushing a little bit on Nikolai from the Grishaverse books. Not, like, hardcore, but . . . y'know. If he were real and asked me out, I would seriously consider saying yes. (The answer would probably depend on where he was in his character arc, to be completely honest.)

 

Also, ships. Glorious ships. I don't have a ton of new ones, but I have one that I'm really enthusiastic about, and that is —

• Elisabeth and Nathaniel (Sorcery of Thorns). They remind me of Sophie and Howl in all the best possible ways, and they compliment and play off each other really well, and they have each others' backs and protect each other and . . . oh, stars. I love them, ok? I love them so much.
• Kay and Arynne (Ice and Fate duology). I normally get really annoyed by the whole forbidden love/betrothed to one person but fell in love with someone else drama, but it works really well with these two. They've got a good dynamic overall.
• Alina and Mal (Shadow and Bone trilogy). Ok, I have gotten the impression that this ship was not a favorite with a lot of readers, but I liked it. Yes, Alina and Mal had some communication issues, but no more than any other standard YA couple. And I really wanted the childhood best friend to win for once in the romance.

9. Newest favorite character(s):
I feel like I'm probably going to repeat myself a bunch here, but let's go anyway, 'cause I want to yell about Sorcery of Thorns more.

• Elisabeth (Sorcery of Thorns). Elisabeth is magnificent. She's blunt and straightforward and 100% ready to fight whatever the heck she has to in order to save the world, and she's also quite brilliant about figuring out the best way to go about things . . . but she's also very human? Basically, I would like to be her, please and thank you very much.
• Also, Nathaniel (Sorcery of Thorns). Nathaniel may be my new favorite magic disaster boi.  He's sassy and brilliant and pretends he doesn't care but clearly does. And he reminds me of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. Obviously, I love him immensely. And he manages to have angst without being annoyingly angsty, which is nice.
• While we're on the topic, Silas (Sorcery of Thorns, where else?) is pretty great as well. He's . . . complicated? But he reminds me of a cross between Calcifer, Mogget, and Alfred Pennyworth, he's a magnificent balance of "actually super dangerous and probably a bit evil if not kept under tight control" and "secretly intensely noble," which is great. 
• We also have to mention Sturmhound (Shadow and Bone trilogy). I love this man. He's snarky and clever and cocky in a fun way, and he has a knack for brilliant, dramatic, perfectly-timed entrances, and he's astonishingly practical and straightforward. But he's also noble and brave and reasonably sacrificial and just generally excellent. Also, did I mention he's the captain of multiple (flying!) privateer ships? Basically, he's a stellar example of one of my favorite archetypes, and I love him.
• Moving on to some books that I haven't yelled about yet: Hesina (Descendent of the Crane) is a lovely protagonist, even if her POV sometimes feels a little detached. She's a princess trying to uncover the truth of her father's death and trying to do what's best for her people . . . and she struggles so much, but she's trying so hard, and I just appreciate her, ok?

10. A book that made you cry:

 Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Hello, yes, we were just talking about this! This book is very good if you like political fantasy-mystery, which I do. And it's got a lot of interesting family dynamics and motivations, which I appreciate. And it's just generally excellent until you get to the end, in which the author basically shatters your expectations and breaks your (and Hesina's) heart . . . at which point it's still good, but it hurts. 

11. A book that made you happy:

 

The Game by Diana Wynne Jones

This is a clever, short novella that's really hard to talk about without spoilers, but it's delightful and has an excellent twist on some mythological stuff. Also, more family stuff. It's lovely.

12. Favorite reread this half of the year

The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

Did I just read this for the first time in January? Yes. Did that stop me from rereading it over Thanksgiving break? No. Do I have regrets? Only the fact that I stayed up too late basically every night of break because I was reading it, but otherwise, no. Captain Grimm and Gwendolyn and the Spire are worth it.

I may also have reread Spindle and Masque, despite the fact that I just read them for the first time last February . . . they're good books, ok? And they're excellent de-stressors, which is what I needed, and Howl was back in Virginia, and I'm saving The Beast of Talesend for when I catch up on all the Afterverse books at once.

13. Favorite post(s) you've done this half of the year:

Probably my post on what happens when an AI tries to do my job. But I also had a lot of fun with my posts about books I'd give to the Mechanical Heart characters, AUs I wish were real, and magic powers I want for mundane reasons.

14. Most beautiful book you've bought/received this half of the year:

Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

My parents got me this for Christmas, and I'm quite excited to read it. The cover is more gorgeous in person, but it has this nice texture and debossing and it's just really well done. And given that it's Andrew Peterson, I'm pretty sure the content will be just as beautiful as the outside.

15. Any other books you want to babble about for any other reason?
As per the usual, I'm taking a moment to mention the books that I wanted to read this year but which got pushed aside by other books:

• Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean. This is the second year that this book has been on this list. I actually won an ARC of this from Emma over at Awkwordly Emma, which makes me feel even worse. The main reason for the holdup is the Blood in the Snow sequel — any time I'm starting to write or really involved in writing something in a more specific subgenre, I get caught in this weird tension between "I want to read other books in this subgenre so I can see how those authors did things" and "I don't want to read any other books in this subgenre because I'm worried I'll pull too much from those books," and the latter almost always wins.
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigit Kemmerer. This one moved up several spots on my TBR list because of the cover — I absolutely love it and I used it a lot in one of my graphic design projects this past semester. Unfortunately, that same project didn't leave me any time to actually read the book.
• The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen. Again with the problem of reading the subgenre I'm writing. This one probably would've been better, since it's based in Mongolia instead of China, Korea, or Japan, but . . . yeah.
• The Faraway Castle books by J.M. Stengl. I actually own the first four of these now — I heard that book 4 is a King Thrushbeard retelling, and that pushed them up the priority list a bit. Not enough for me to actually have set aside time to read them, though.

What were your favorite 2019 reads? Any favorite rereads? Or major disappointments? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)   

Hey'a, everyone! I return at last from my (unplanned, finals-inspired) hiatus to bring you — what else? — a list of recent and upcoming book releases to brighten the dreary winter days. Except, I guess, it's not particularly dreary right now, seeing as Christmas is almost here (!!!), but come January, we'll all need a magnificent distraction. And books are both magnificent and distracting (and very bad for impulse control, as you know if you saw my library stacks on FB or IG), so yeah. There's a reason my reading goes waaaaaaay up in the first few months of the year no matter how busy I am.

(Also, I'm cheating a little in this post because I really don't know of a ton of books releasing in my usual time slot for these posts, which would be December through February, plus there's a book that released mid-November that I need to scream about, so for purposes of this post, "Winter" includes mid-November through early March.)

Winter 2019-2020 Reads

1. The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman (November 12)!!! AKA the reason I'm expanding this list in both directions; I am SO PUMPED for this book! I mean, I'm always pumped for new Invisible Library books, and this one is, like, full-on heist, and it's got more of dragons and Fae having to work together (which, BTW, is my new jam as of The Mortal Word), and more eccentric, super-powerful, leaning-into-story-tropes-with-everything-that's-in-them Fae (also my jam, as of the very first book in the series), and did I mention HEISTINESS? This book is at the top of my Christmas wishlist, not gonna lie, and the only thing that might keep me from reading it the same day I get it is the aforementioned library stacks.
   
   
   
2. Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen (December 3). I don't usually read historical romance (I gave up on it once the Melanie Dickerson novels started getting overly fluffy and I was just like "Nope. Cannot deal. Goodbye,"), but this sounds like it has potential. I mean, an Austen-loving heroine is great, and a dash of murder mystery? That's even better.
   
   
   
3. Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez (January 7). Historical fantasy, yes please! It's set in Bolivia, which is . . . not a country I know a lot about? Other than the fact that it's in South America? But it sounds delicious and twisty and full of political intrigue, which I love. And the magical powers of the main character, at least, are craft-based, and I do not get enough of those, so sign me up!
   
   
   
4. Storm from the East by Joanna Hathaway (February 11). This is technically a sequel to a book I just found out about a couple months ago and want to read . . . though the sequel honestly sounds better than the first book in the series? Help? But, yeah. It's a fantasy world with it sounds like WWII-era tech (storms yes please; I love modern fantasy worlds, at least when they're done right), and while I'm kinda meh on "person sent to spy on/assassinate this person falls in love with their target," mostly because I've read it so many times, I am much less non-meh on any book that deals with the aftermath of that trope.
   
   
   
5. The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (March 3). First off, let's take a moment to appreciate that absolutely gorgeous cover. Ok, now let's appreciate the equally-gorgeous promise of what's going to be inside that cover. A) It's a historical fantasy, and we know how I feel about those. B) It's about Mozart and his sister, which sounds fascinating. C) Music magic? Maybe please?

What releases are you looking forward to this winter? Also, what books are topping your Christmas list this year? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)