What’s on My Shelf? || Book Blogger Recommendation Edition

With almost every book blog post that I read, I add yet another book to my TBR or move something higher up on my priority list. Even though I’m 100% truly interested in reading these books, I have realized that I end up putting my own backlogged TBR way before most of these recommendations. Today is the day that I hold myself accountable and change this!

Every now and then, I will be posting a haul/TBR of books that I have decided to read because of book bloggers and link to the exact post that spurred me to finally pick up said book. Hopefully, I will be back soon with reviews once I’ve finished them all!

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Published: January 5th, 2021

Post that made me place a library hold on the book: TBR January – February @ Chaotic Pages

There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

I have been seeing the cover of Black Buck everywhere, but didn’t read a synopsis until reading Destiny’s TBR. I immediately placed a hold on the book at the library, so hopefully I get it soon or I might have to bite the bullet and just buy the e-book.

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) by Deborah Harkness

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Published: July 10th, 2012

Post that made me borrow the book from the library:  A Late December Wrap Up! @ Marianna’s Corner

Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.

Although I was wary of reading the second book in this series since I had such a complicated relationship with the first book, I decided to read the sequel before watching the next season of the TV adaptation because of Marianna’s review. I still don’t know if I’ll like it, but it’s worth a shot. I’m still hungry for those very particular vampiric, magical academia vibes from the first book and I’m hoping this delivers. If it doesn’t, I’m sure the show will!

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

Genre: Adult Mystery

Published: 1932

Post that made me borrow the book from the library: December wrap-up by Morgan @ Morgan Is Reading Again

The Tuesday Night Club is the name for a varied group of guests who challenge each other to solve recent crimes. It begins one evening when the group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and the conversation turns to unsolved crimes. The case of the disappearing bloodstains; the thief who committed his crime twice over; the message on the death-bed of a poisoned man which read ‘heap of fish’; the strange case of the invisible will; a spiritualist who warned that ‘Blue Geranium’ meant death. Now pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the ‘Tuesday Night Club’. But don’t forget that Miss Marple is present. Sometime later, many of the same people are present at a dinner given by Colonel and Dolly Bantry. Another set of six problems. Even later there’s a thirteenth. Can you match Miss Marple’s performance?

Morgan’s love of Agatha Christie is the sole reason why I am delving into the world of classic mystery books and I’m super excited about it. I grew up with my dad watching Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple constantly, so I feel like I have taken Agatha Christie for granted for a long time mostly because I was sick of the Hercule Poirot theme song and listening to it now triggers odd memories (yes I tested this). At this point, I’ve decided to try out her stories for myself. I’m ready to enter the world of classic mystery novels!

Foxhole Court (All for the Game #1) by Nora Sakavic

Genre: YA Contemporary

Published: January 15th, 2013

Post that made me borrow the book from the library: December Wrap Up! @ Ace Reader

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

I am well aware of the divide among readers regarding this series, however I have been cautiously curious about it ever since I first heard about the series several years ago. Even many readers who didn’t particularly like the first installment were eager to read the subsequent books, which sounds like something I need to investigate further. I’m not sure how I will feel about these books, but I’m super interested to know what this story is about and why some people absolutely love it, while others hate it. The fact that Elli reread this series 3 times makes me even more intrigued. No matter what, I’ll be glad to finally uncover the mystery that is The Foxhole Court.