the immediate reading list and writers on writing

 On this month's reading list, there's:

1. Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce, which I'm currently reading.

I think it's safe to say I'm finally, properly excited about her book! Three chapters in and it's proving to be bookshelf-worthy.

A gorgeous cover doesn't hurt, either!

Sure, there are wolves in this one too (what is it with Jackson Pearce and wolves? 3 books of hers I've read and even The Little Mermaid retelling has something to do with wolves), but since Cold Spell is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, the imagery in this one is rich - roses and snow and icy-blue eyes and pale blonde hair.

And now I have frost and roses and the snow queen on my mind. I had to look for images of them on Pinterest.

Pearce's prose gets better with each book, too. There is tension in every scene and sentence, particularly with the mysterious new girl, Mora, who threatens to steal Kai's heart. I love the relationship between the main character, Ginny, and her childhood best friend/lover Kai. They are best friends first, lovers second - which is what makes the stakes even higher when Mora enters the picture and Kai begins to forget Ginny. 

LOVE LOVE LOVE! It's taken me four books to finally get excited about Jackson Pearce's writing, but - don't flay me for the cliche! - better late than never.


2. Another Andersen retelling currently on my reading list is Tinder by Sally Gardner.

It's inspired by The Tinderbox, a short story by Anderson, so you KNOW it has to be good. Anderson's fairytales are so lovely and rich - also slightly melancholic and dark - that any retelling would already have something beautiful to build on. Totally looking forward to reading this!


3. Tiger Lily, by Jodie Lynn Anderson

Peter Pan. Enough said.


4. Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell

I've bought that book for ages, and planned to read it for even longer, but with so much urban fantasy in my diet lately, a good old contemporary YA is a much needed respite.


5. Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor

 
Okay. Technically, this shouldn't be on this list, but since the FINAL INSTALLMENT IN THE TRILOGY, DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS, IS COMING OUT IN APRIL (sorry, got too excited there) a re-read of the second book is required.

 Don't you just hate when books in a series take so long to be released you've pretty much forgotten what happened in the last book? I can't remember how many series I've given up on because I couldn't be bothered to re-read the last book to remember where the story left off.

But this one, this one I know will be entirely worth the re-read. The re-read itself is already a treat!





Okay. Need. To. Stop. Gushing.


There are a lot more books on that reading list, but I don't think I have time to talk about all 184 of them.

*

Okay, confession time: it's been almost a week since I last visited No Room in Neverland. What I've been doing in the meantime is polishing up other, completed manuscripts like Until Morning and, um, blogging, and um, reading and um, trying to write some flash fiction and watching videos like this on YouTube:

Well, you get the idea.

So to my writer friends (and myself) who are still wading through the first draft and in need of some motivation to press on,

 Enjoy the weekend, guys! :0)