Happy Friday! I’m so glad the weekend is nearly here. Do you have plans? Lots of lovely books I hope. I am thrilled to welcome one of my favourite book bloggers to damppebbles today to share their #R3COMM3ND3D2018 picks, the brilliant David of Blue Book Balloon.  No one has ever made me want to read Fantasy novels as much as David has (he does read and review other genres, I should probably add that). If you haven’t already, please check out his brilliant blog.

So what’s this #R3COMM3ND3D2018 thing all about then? Allow me to explain.  #R3COMM3ND3D is all about the book love.  It’s a chance for bookish folk to choose three books they think the rest of us should make a point of reading.  Any genre, any author, any publisher – indie, self or traditionally published.  The only stipulation is that the three books must all have been published in the same year.  At the moment we’re concentrating on 2018 but come 1st November I’ll make a start on sharing the 2019 picks! If you would like to be involved please complete the form at the bottom of this post.

Without further ado, here are David’s choices…

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty
Magic and adventure grounded in reality – basically, everything you ever loved about Middle Eastern stories and legends, but in a modern fantasy and without the orientalism.
https://bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2018/03/review-city-of-brass-by-sa-chakraborty.html

Before Mars (Planetfall #3) by Emma Newman
The third book set in Newman’s SF Planetfall universe, this is a largely self-contained adventure. It captures the human spirit of survival on a harsh planet and combines that with a mystery/ thriller plot that’ll leave you guessing till the end.
https://bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2018/04/review-before-mars-by-emma-newman.html

The Sing of the Shore by Lucy Wood
Sea, salt, the beach… Cornwall is idyllic, no? Well not in these short stories. Deep rooted in place they examine life in England’s most remote county from all angles, always suffused by a sense of the weird and the possible. I can’t recommend Wood’s writing to highly, read this and then her earlier novel Weathering and collection Diving Belles.
https://bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2018/04/review-sing-of-shore-by-lucy-wood.html

These all look brilliant, thanks David. A couple of additions to the TBR here I think!

If David has managed to tempt you, or if you would like to find out more about the books he recommends, please see the following links:

| The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty | Before Mars by Emma Newman | The Sing of the Shore by Lucy Wood |

About David:
Originally a physicist, I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up an office. Trying to read my way out again. I live in the heart of Midsomer Murders country and my wife is the Vicar, so I probably won’t be here for long.

David’s Social Media Links:
| Blue Book Balloon | Twitter @Bluebookballoon |

If you’re a book blogger, author or you work in publishing and have three books published this year (2019) that you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/PE483qCyrKEgV5Uq6)