Time for another round up of books from my TBR to go through! Each week I’ll be going over a selection from my physical unread books and deciding what to keep and what to purge. There will be a third option–undecided–which I might ask for your input on why you think I should keep or purge that title from my list. You can also check out my full TBR pile here.

The Red-Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear

The Gage and the Dead Man brought a message from the greatest wizard of Messaline to the ruling queen of Sarathai, one of the Lotus Kingdoms. But the message was a riddle, and the Lotus Kingdoms are at war.

Elizabeth Bear created her secondary world of the Eternal Sky in her highly praised novel The Range of Ghosts and its sequels. She continued it the first book of the Lotus Kingdoms, The Stone in the Skull.

This is a signed copy so I’m hanging onto it regardless. Maybe one day if I don’t read it I’ll use it for a giveaway. KEEP

Guardian of the Trust by Irene Radford

Here is the second novel in Irene Radford’s acclaimed new series-a glorious blend of fact and fiction, magic and myth.

The reign of King John Plantagenet is a time of danger and rebellion. It will take all the magical talent Resmiranda Griffin has inherited from Merlin and King Arthur to stand against the demonic menace which is gaining control of her beloved land….

Book 2 to one of her dragon series. I’m feeling pretty ambivalent, leaning towards purge but not sure for now…. UNDECIDED

Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold

Art teacher Mira Fenn’s life was curiously lacking in color until the day she learned of a mysterious inheritance from her birthmother–a long-abandoned house in New Mexico. Dim childhood memories begin to brighten in Mira’s mind–her colorfully exotic mother, the curiously silent women who were her mother’s servants.

Returning to New Mexico, Mira discovers that the house is a faded thing, looked after by the charismatic Domingo Navidad. But when Mira dreams of her childhood home, it is a riot of color–and she and Domingo soon set to work to bring her dreams to life.

Color brings more than just an old house back to life. The bright paint Mira applies to wood and plaster seems to reach into her soul, to awaken powers trapped in a decades-long slumber. The silent women reappear, carrying with them a great secret. Convinced her mother is still alive, Mira searches for her, journeying through a sea of light and color to a time and place far from her own.

I can’t remember exactly why I picked this one up. I haven’t read anything by this author so maybe I thought I’d try out some of her stuff? It does look interesting but also I’m not sure I’m that drawn to it. UNDECIDED

The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington

As the witch-pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse. Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent.

She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr. Paracelsus, and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank, and church wall, the young apprentice becomes increasingly aware that death might be the least of her concerns.

Yet another book that was a gift from a friend and I still haven’t read it again, shaaaaame, I am a terrible human being. KEEP

Kingmaker’s Sword by Ann Marston

Son of a Lost King The Skai and the Tyr were one people long ago. But that day is lost in the mists of time. And now the Skai have sent a warrior to find the Rune Blade that could slice through the darkness of blood and violence that had fallen across their land.

A warrior as beautiful as she was fierce. She returned my Tyran glance with a Skai boldness all her own. “And when you find the lost prince that has the sword you seek,” I asked, “Will you marry him?”

“I might,” she said. “I might have to kill him.”

I looked down at the blade that lay as bright as a promise in my hand. And the adventure that was to transform my life began…

You sometimes come across things you never heard of while browsing used book stores, such was the case with this series. I have this and two sequels and they look pretty intriguing. KEEP

That’s all for now! This brings my total count to:

Keep	Purge	Undecided
284	99	48

More purges and one more undecided. Things are moving in the right direction! What do you think about my choices here? Anything you’d do differently? Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!