#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.
It took me a minute to find five books published more than 5 years ago! Not that I don’t have them, but I usually try and mix up what formats I’m looking at for #5OnMyTBR, and it ended up being mostly physical books, as they’re usually the ones that sit on my TBR for the longest.
#5OnMyTBR November 18th: Released More Than 5 Years Ago
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal – Romance
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: February 8th, 2011
A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.
Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.
Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.
The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier
Genre: Horror – Gothic – Classics
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: January 1st, 1952
“Anyone starting this book under the impression that he may sleepily relax is in for a shock…continually provokes both pity and terror.” —The Observer (UK)
A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man’s dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of ‘Monte Verità’ promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject’s life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three’s a crowd . . .
A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: March 28th, 2006
A fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire become unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. Emmaline Troy is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
Sheltered Emmaline finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: November 5th, 2019
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with six directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamourous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film by Harry M. Benshoff
Genre: Nonfiction – Film
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: October 1st, 1997
One of the few books to address the horror film from any kind of critical position.. Unique – The first history of the horror film to approach it from a queer perspective.. Written with detail and thoroughness – covers all eras of the horror film and correlates specific types of movie monsters to the historical social conditions which produced them.. Explores how popular culture encodes and demonizes queerness within the generic format of the horror film.
What do you think? I know Monsters in the Closet appeared on my list last week, too, but that feels like a bit of a reminder to myself that I really do want to read it soon! Let me know if you’ve read any of these older books, and what your thoughts were, or maybe tell me about the books on your TBR that are now over 5 years old (they grow up so fast!).
Unwrapping Words 