I love making lists. Even though I might not stick to them,
they help me catalogue everything that I know about. I’m really bad at
following lists at any kind, but they do help me keep my thoughts organized. Most
of my lists are my “top ten” or “top five” books to read in a season or a
genre. This time around it’s going to be what I’m anticipating most this
summer—and why you should too! Some of these may be series or just authors in
general that I’m excited about making time for. I’ll include a bonus and insert
the book that I’m currently reading.
11. Currently Reading—Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
This book
is so cool. I thought I might have gotten over the Cassandra Clare hype train
after I finished the last book in The
Mortal Instruments series back in high school. When I saw reviews of this
book flooding in (most of them positive, except for the people who have just
decided to hate on Cassandra Clare for no reason), and all of them were mostly
positive, I decided I wanted to read it still. And still it took me maybe a
year after it’s release date to actually pick it up but I love it. It’s a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee and it’s also a murder
mystery with some supernatural elements thrown in. I forgot how much I loved
living in this world until I picked this book on a whim (I think it’s because I
knew that the second book, Lord of
Shadows is coming out very soon). I don’t recommend reading this if you
haven’t read her first two series. There are some major spoilers from the
aftermath of the plots in the first series and characters pop up that have been
featured in previous books. Cassandra Clare does a really good job of just
sucking you in to the story. I highly recommend this one!
Top Ten Books on My
Summer To Be Read Pile:
10. Lord of Shadows by
Cassandra Clare
If the book
I’m currently reading didn’t tip you off that this was going to be on my list,
now you know! It’s the second book in The
Dark Artifices, the newest trilogy about Shadowhunters, who are essentially
supernatural police. I’m excited for this and I haven’t even finished the first
one!
9. A Court of Mist and
Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin by
Sarah J. Maas
These are
the last two books in her A Court of
Thorns and Roses trilogy. I read the first book, I think maybe last spring
or summer. I can’t exactly remember. I also can’t exactly remember what happens
in the first so I’m going to have to track down reviews to remember what
happens (I can’t stand rereading books, I don’t know why). The first book in
this series is a Beauty and the Beast retelling.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, while I acknowledge that there are some problematic
elements in there. It’s kind of my guilty pleasure read. If you like faeries,
or even Cassandra Clare or Holly Black’s books, you might enjoy this trilogy.
I’m excited to binge these two when I get back to my childhood home this
summer!
8. Wayfarer by
Alexandra Bracken
I have a
feeling this list is going to be mostly sequels. I’ve been reading lots of
series lately, and I had forgotten how much fun it was to be just completely
lost in a fantasy world. Fantasy is my favorite genre, but when you’re in
college there’s not much time to sit down and read a 700+ page book.
Thankfully, Passenger and Wayfarer lean on the shorter side.
They’re a lot of fun too. I got some National
Treasure vibes, but Alexandra Bracken also weaves in time travel and a
whole lot of swashbuckling. The essential plot for the series is this—Etta is a
musical prodigy. She plays the violin. One night one of her performances doesn’t
end up the way she expected it too. She finds out that she’s a part of a family
with a time travel gene. Soon it’s a race against time to get back an ancient
artifact that the family that her family has been at war with for so long to
obtain it. I’m not sure if that made sense. But if you like time travel and
historical romance, this is definitely for you. I’m eager to see how it ends.
7. Strange the Dreamer
and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy
by Laini Taylor
People
really seem to love Laini Taylor’s books. I now have all four that she’s
published, and yet to read any of them. I’m trying to read all of them this
summer. Her plots sound so complicated that I generally tend to not want to
know about them going in. All I know about Strange
the Dreamer is that there is a lost city that the main character is trying
to find. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series
is about Kaoru, who has blue hair and collects teeth, but I don’t know why. I
want to keep it simple so I don’t want to know much more about the plots of
these. The covers of all her books are stunning though.
6. Windfall by
Jennifer E. Smith
The tagline
of this book is “let luck find you.” I don’t read very much contemporary, but
when I do it’s normally in the summer. This is a story about a girl named Alice
who buys a lottery ticket for her best friend’s birthday as a joke. The next
day they find out he wins. The book sounds like it’s going to follow the
consequences of having so much money suddenly dropped on you. I don’t know much
about lotteries, but I think it’s going to be interesting to follow these
characters. I also had the privilege of meeting Jennifer E. Smith this weekend,
and she’s lovely. This is the book that has seemed the most interesting to me.
5. Caraval by
Stephanie Garber
This is
supposed to be The Night Circus but
for a young adult audience. The cover of it is stunning and I can’t wait to sit
down and read my copy. Caraval’s tagline
is “Remember, it’s just a game.” That just sounds so intriguing to me. I love
twisty fantasy books like this, and game type plots so I’m interested to see
how this plays out.
4. Wonder Woman:
Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh is
one of my all time favorite authors. I absolutely loved her Six of Crows duology. It was so dark and
intense. My love for the characters in that series is endless. Leigh’s next
book doesn’t come out until the end of August, but I am eagerly anticipating
it. The only reason this book isn’t higher up on my list is that I’ve never
been a big fan of D.C. comics, in general. But I’m planning on seeing the Wonder Woman movie when it comes out
next year, and I’m very excited that a female superhero is being highlighted.
3. Flame in the Mist by
Renee Ahdieh
I read
Renee Ahdieh’s first series, The Wrath
and the Dawn and really loved it. It was an ethereal desert romance that
retold One Thousand and One Nights. Her
writing is so dreamy. I get lost in it very easily. I finished the series in
probably a couple of days, and I am very excited to get my hands on the next book.
It is retelling of Mulan, set in a
feudal Japan inspired fantasy world. It sounds fantastic, and the early reviews
have all been very positive.
2. The Love Interest by
Cale Dietrich
I don’t
know much about this one, but it’s been on my radar because people who are
getting early copies have been raving about it. It’s about two boys who have to
get the same girl to follow them. I think they go to a spy school and this is
an LGBTQ YA novel that I’m very excited to get my hands on. I’m trying to read
more diversely, just in general. This one sounds super fun, but I am horrible
with trying to give synopses.
1. Three Dark Crowns by
Kendare Blake
I have been
very excited for this book for a long time. Many reviewers whose opinions I trust
have been giving it glowing reviews. I read Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood series back in high school, and it stuck with
me for a long time. I didn’t get around to her Greek Gods series, though I’m
still interested in it. This one, however, seems more up my alley. It’s about triplets
who are born into a queendom. On their sixteenth birthday’s they have to fight
to the death in order to obtain the throne. Each of the sisters has a specific
power. One of them can inject poisons, one is an elementalist, and another is a
naturalist (which means she can essentially control plants and animals). I’m
very excited to get to this one, and I think it’s probably next on my reading
list.
So that wraps up most of my summer to be read pile. Let me
know what you’re excited to read in the comments! Do you know about any of
these? If so, which one are you most excited for?
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