Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

CWW

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine.  Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for.  If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to.  This week my book is: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst.  I’m so excited for this book as I adored The Spellshop and this has that lovely cosy feel and similarly beautifully captivating cover.  Here’s the cover and description:

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Beth Durst invites you to her new standalone novel nestled on a far-away island brimming with singing flowers, honey cakes, and honeyed love. The hardcover edition features beautiful sprayed edges.

Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.

This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.

But Terlu can’t return home and doesn’t want to—the greenhouses are a dream come true, each more wondrous than the next. When she learns that the magic that sustains them is failing—causing the death of everything within them—Terlu knows she must help. Even if that means breaking the law again.

This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by the gardener and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.

Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.

Expected publication: July 2025

Best of the Best

As with previous years at the start of each year I take a look back over the past twelve months and choose my top ten books.  This past year I’ve read over 100 books (I think 114 in total) so choosing ten was not easy.  I’ve read some amazing books this year and tried to shine a light on my favourites, particularly during My Countdown to 2025 posts.  There’s a great variety here, twisted mystery, fantastic fantasy, scary goosebump raisers, tricksy fae, history, romance, beautiful writing and great adventures. So, here goes, and before I change my mind for the sixth time, here are ten amazing books:

  1. The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
  2. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
  3. The Silverblood Promise by James Logan
  4. We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
  5. The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris
  6. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
  7. A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike
  8. Gorse by Sam K Horton
  9. The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
  10. The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by HG Parry

Friday Face Off: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

FFO

Today I’m returning to the  Friday Face Off, originally created by Books by Proxy).  I’ve missed these for the past few months and so would like to get back to comparing covers (and hopefully I will be updating this page with a new banner.  This is an opportunity to look at a book of your choice and shine the spotlight on the covers.  Of course this only works for those books that have alternative covers (although sometimes I use this to look at a series of books to choose a favourite). . So, if you have a book that has alternative covers, highlight them and choose your favourite.  If you’re taking part it would be great if you leave a link so I can take a look at what you’ve chosen.

This week I’ve chosen a book that I read this year and loved.  Two of the covers are very similar but then there’s an extra cover that is definitely different.  Check them out:

My favourite this week:

Have you read this book already?  What did you think and which is your favourite?

Join me next week in highlighting one of your reads with different covers.

Countdown to 2025: Day 5: Chocolates – a book that was simply delicious

Once again I am counting down to the New Year, as with the previous two years I shall be highlighting at least one book per day to fit the prompt on that given day.  The main aim for this countdown is to highlight some of my reads during the past year and to shine the spotlight on them once again (although some of the prompts relate to forthcoming reads). Today is day 5 of the countdown to 2025 and a list of prompts can be found here if you wish to join me in counting down to 2025 and casting a spotlight on some of your favourite books (if you join in please leave me a link so I can check out your book choices).

Today’s Prompt : Chocolates – a book that was simply delicious:

26 Days Remaining

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst was absolutely a delight – it fits this prompt perfectly.

Tomorrow’s prompt: Christmas stocking – stocking fillers, a novella or short story

Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst

CWW

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine.  Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for.  If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to.  This week my book is: The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst.  Here’s the cover and description:

From the author of The Lies Among Us comes a magical tale about mothers and daughters, choices and consequences, and the real meaning of home when every place feels like a cage.

Ten months. That’s the longest Elisa has stayed anyplace, constantly propelled by her fear that if she puts down roots, a family curse will turn her into a tree.

But she’s grown tired of flitting from town to town and in and out of relationships. When she discovers a small town in Massachusetts where mysterious forces make it impossible for the residents to leave, she hopes she can change her fate.

As Elisa learns about the town’s history, she understands more about the women in her family, who seem doomed to never get what they want. Now she believes she’s stuck, too—is that a patch of bark on her arm? But her neighbor’s collection of pet birds sings secrets that Elisa can almost understand—secrets she must unravel in order to be truly alive.

Expected publication:

« Previous PageNext Page »