“Top 5 Wednesday” is a weekly meme currently hosted on Goodreads by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes in which you list your top 5 for the week’s chosen topic.
This week’s topic is “Books You Want to Read Before 2019.”
Short answer? All of them. But I don’t think a list of five different spreadsheets cataloguing my TBR was quite what you had in mind.
So here’s the abridged version!
(On a separate note, I would like a few words with whoever okay-ed this new editor interface because it is maddening. Why the heck is everything hidden??)
The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington
A friend recommended this months and months back and I ended up reading 1/4 of it before stopping. Not because it was bad! That just happens to me sometimes; if I take a break in the middle of a book, it’s hard for me to pick it back up again.
The beginning of the story is kind of like Harry Potter but with more stabby action and sketchy treatment of magic users (reminiscent of The Circle in the Dragon Age series). It’s good stuff!
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
My most anticipated read of the year that I said I was going to read as soon as I got my hands on it.
Except I didn’t.
Then I said I was going to read it by the end of October.
Except I didn’t.
And now I’m saying I’ll read it by the end of the year.
…Third time’s the charm, right?
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
All the hype around this one has made me keep it at arm’s length, but I have to say, I’m SUPER curious–about the dynamic between Jude and Cardan, in particular. I’ve heard a few people say that the romance is borderline abusive, and I’ve heard others talk about it with starry eyes and hands clutched to their chest.
Fallen Princeborn: Stolen by Jean Lee
In rural Wisconsin, an old stone wall is all that separates the world of magic from the world of man—a wall that keeps the shapeshifters inside. When something gets out, people disappear. Completely.
…Welcome to River Vine, a shrouded hinterland where dark magic devours and ancient shifters feed.
The lovely Sarah from Brainfluff raved about this one in her review, and it sounds absolutely brilliant and 100% up my alley. It’s got shifters, fae, troubled protagonists, and a whole lot of dark, rich worldbuilding. Get in my brain!
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
I adored Bennett’s The Divine Cities books, and while I understand Foundryside is a more traditional fantasy story, I’m still eager to give it a try. There’s also a sentient key character (as in, a character who is a key), and I’ve heard nothing but praises for it!
What are some books you want to get to before the end of the year?
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The key in Foundryside is one of my favorite characters of this year 😃😃
Same here. 🙂
AHHH I can’t wait to meet it! 😀
I look forward to your thoughts on the book 😃😃😃
SAME
I can vouch for Foundryside and The Cruel Prince, I loved both of them! Good luck😁
I’m sure I’m gonna enjoy them too then! 😀
Foundryside is on my TBR as well! The cover caught my eye and then the back copy drew me in
Ooh I haven’t seen what the back looks like yet! I hope we both love it. 🙂
Loved Foundryside… And agree with Bridge of Clay, I’ve seen reviews on either side of the spectrum… But I really want to read it!
I’ve been aggressively avoiding all reviews for Bridge of Clay, so I’ve no idea what the general opinion is, but I’m very excited. 😀
Good strategy!
How did you just add three books to my TBR in less than 5 minutes? What kind of sorcery is this? But I mean…stabby Harry potter, a sentient key and literally everything about Fallen Princeborn: Stolen sounds amazing to me. I love reading about non-human characters so much. Wonderful post, as usual 💕
Hahaha thank/blame the authors! I’m just the messenger! (But seriously, they do sound amazing, don’t they??) And you’re always adding books to my TBR, so turnabout’s fair play. 😛
The new editor interface is AWFUL!! I had to switch back to the original because the spacing was all off and it made my formatting look awful!!
I loved the Cruel Prince and thought it was amazing but, I am on the “borderline abusive” side of the argument! I am curious to see what you think! I can’t wait for your review 😀
I probably spent more time trying to figure out the formatting than writing the post. 😂😭 I’m REALLY hoping they keep the option to use the old editor! And I’m keeping my expectations down for Cruel Prince but I’m still excited! 😀
Stabby Harry Potter sounds like something I could use right now!
I don’t think there’s a wrong time for Stabby Harry Potter 😀
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The Shadow of What Was Lost looks so interesting!!
I can’t wait to finish it! According to people, it just gets more and more interesting as the story goes on. 😀
That sounds amazing!! Why do you keep adding books to my TBR??!
Thank you so much for the shoutout and pingback:)). I really hope you love Fallen Princeborn:Stolen as much as I do… And I do love the look of The Shadow of What Was Lost.
Second time’s the charm! 😀 And I can’t wait to chip away at Fallen Princeborn! All the different editions–Gold, Platinum, Green–on kindle confused me at first but now I got it (I think). 🙂
Yes… I had a review copy, but if you get in a muddle – drop Jean a line on her blog. I’m sure she’ll steer you in the right direction!
I loved Foundryside so much, Kathy! I’m excited for your Zusak review! Great post, Kathy! ♥️
…and I don’t want to try the new editor and you’ve confirmed why. I knew it would be harder- no thanks, not right now!
I’m DESPERATELY hoping they’ll keep the option to use the old editor. I probably spent more time trying to figure out how it works than on the actual post!
I agree- seriously who has time for that! It already takes long enough to create a blog post. ♥️
Yours was the first review I saw of Foundryside and I’ve been excited for it ever since! 😀
The Cruel Prince is a really hyped up book, but I don’t think I could get to it this year :/
It might not make the cut for me either, but people have told me it’s a super easy/fast read so fingers crossed!
The Shadows of What Was Lost and Foundryside are on my TBR too, and I hope to read The Cruel Prince too, sooner or later. But I think I would get to them the next year. I’m hoping to read Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff before this year ends, and a couple of other books. But I would be really really happy if I can get to the Kristoff’s one! 🙂
I should REALLY give Stormdancer a try (and Kristoff’s other books for that matter!) I need some Japanese steampunk in my life. 😀 Fingers-crossed that you get to it!
Thank you! I loved all the other books by Kristoff that I have read since now abd I have grear expectations for Stormdancer! 🙂
Foundryside is AMAZING! Easily one of the best book I’ve read all year.
I want to read the first book in The Divine Cities series and Kingdom of Ash before the end of the year.
City of Stairs is SOOO good (and the sequel is even better 😀 I hope you love both those books!
I think I would find it so hard to narrow down my list! I definitely want to read The Cruel Prince very soon though. So maybe that one would be on mine as well.
Okay, before this prompt I had no idea there were so many people who still haven’t read The Cruel Prince yet! We should all do a group buddy read 😀
That would be fun! Let me know. 🙂
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I still need to finish Foundryside, I was heading into a massive Fantasy slump and set it aside around 30%.
Oh boy I feel you! I’m in a bit of a fantasy slump right now, which is so annoying because I have this mountain of fantasy books I need/want to get to by the end of the year. 😛
YUP that was me in August! It was horrible and I knew it wasn’t the book. This was the first review copy I missed pub date for, but I know it was for the best. Going to try to dive back in tonight!
Ahh, so any books, so little time. Foundryside was very good and I do so like Bennett – hope you get a chance to pick it up soon.
Lynn 😀
He’s definitely become an auto-read author for me with the Divine Cities books! I should really check out his older works…
Good blog name! Books to read this year? Hmm just picked up factfulness, American gods and mortality (Hitchins) so those three for me
I am so sorry for late reply! I’ve been on a hiatus for about a month. And thank you! Sometimes I kick myself for picking name that’s so damn long, so it’s nice to get compliments every now and then haha.
And I loved American Gods. I hope you enjoyed it if you got to it!
I haven’t read it yet. I look forward to reading it though. Did you see Neil Gaiman put together a masterclass on masterclass.com? Starting soon I think. Great to hear his thoughts on writing/creating eh
Oh, I haven’t seen that before, that’s awesome! I’m tempted to join! Are the classes done through live/pre-recorded video format or writing?
Prerecorded videos with downloadable pdf lessons. Got to either subscribe to masterclass or buy the single class. Best subscribe as you get access to every class on the site. Including several top authors (Margaret atwood, Dan Brown, malcolm gladwell etc etc). You have to pay though ….
Yeah, I saw. Probably won’t be able to afford it right now, but I’ll keep it in mind for the future! I love that there are so many different categories of classes. I did a double-take when I saw Gordon Ramsay on the list. 🙂
I hope you dig my book! 🙂