Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books Without Romance

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Favorite Couples In Books.” I could probably come up with tons of couples whom I absolutely love, but for this week’s topic, I’m going a completely different route. I’m listing ten of my favorite books that don’t have romance in them. This list was harder to put together than I thought it would be, which does means I need to reach for more books without romance. Always open to recommendations! Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu, Illustrated by Sana Takeda

2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

4. Bird Box by Josh Maleman

5. A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

7. Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

8. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

9. The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

10. Odd & True by Cat Winters

Do you read a lot of books with no romance? What are your favorite books that don’t include a romantic storyline? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit.

Advertisements

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’m on the Fence About Picking Up

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Upcoming Releases I’m On the Fence About.” Instead of looking at upcoming releases, I’m going to look back at past releases for this topic. These are books on my TBR that for one reason or another I have hesitated to picked up. Feel free to try to convince me to do so or not in the comments. Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. Written in Red by Anne Bishop – I’ve been recommended this book and series so many times. I confess I haven’t started because it’s such a long series and apparently I have commitment issues when it comes to longer series.

2. Made You Up by Francesca Zappia – Don’t judge me, but I’ve had an ARC of this one for years and still haven’t read it. In my defense, I won the ARC and didn’t feel as strong an obligation to get to it because it was after the book had been published. 

3. Daughters Unto Devil by Amy Lukavics – I’ve only read one book by this author, but as one of the few horror authors in YA, I feel like I need to read more. I haven’t seen the best reviews for this one though, 

4. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir – I know a lot of bloggers love this series and I really wanted to as well, but I wasn’t really that big a fan of the first novel, so I never continued the series. This second book remains on my TBR and the first novel on my shelf. I feel like I might have better luck with this one if I were to reread the first. But how to find the motivation…

5. Vassa of the Night by Sarah Porter – I really wanted to read this one back in the day, but not many people seemed to like it. Every once in a while I add it to my Book Outlet cart, but haven’t bought it yet.

6. The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid – This is one of those books on my TBR that if you asked me to give you a synopsis, I’d be completely lost. I might have to delete it because I have no reason to keep it, but people say it’s good?

7. An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard – I heard a lot of good things about this one and I want to read more adult fantasies, but I haven’t quite been convinced to pick this one up. I am very much in love with the cover however.

8. Invictus by Ryan Graudin – I feel slightly guilty about this one because I loved her previous work so much, but every review I’ve come across has convinced me I’d just feel meh about it.

9. Furyborn by Claire LeGrand – I remember all the hype for this one and ended up adding it to my TBR, but I feel like I’ve come across as many negative reviews as positive. I might ultimately skip this one as her other YA novel Sawkill Girls sounds more up my alley.

10. My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton – I was really excited for this second novel, but I hear it’s not as good as the first novel (which I adored). I’ve put it off as a result.

Which one of these do I need to stop avoiding? Any of these I should just delete from my TBR? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit.

Top Ten Tuesday: Last Ten Books Added to My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List.” I’d like to think that I’ve gotten better at not adding every book under the sun to my TBR, but I’d probably be lying. I have a feeling once I start blog hopping for this meme, these will no longer be the last ten books I added to my TBR. Covers/Titles are linked to Goodreads.

1. One of Us by Craig DiLouie – Recently added this to my TBR after the author sent me Suffer the Children and this title.

2. Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller – I wasn’t the biggest fan of her Daughter of the Pirate King duology, but I did think they were really fun, so added this upcoming release to my list.

3. Book of Lost Saints by Daniel José Older – I need to pick up more books by this author and so marked this one as to-read.

4. Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter – I feel like I need to pick up more fairy books and I love that this one is about siblings. It also sounds really dark which I really like.

5. Wilder Girls by Rory Power – I heard this is kind of like a female Lord of the Flies and overall sounds really interesting.

6. The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson – I have been adding a lot of fantasy novels to my TBR based on covers alone.

7. The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen – Oh look, another fantasy novel with a stunning cover that I had to add to the TBR.

8. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – Technically I have this one on my TBR, but I had to add the US edition in order to enter a Goodreads giveaway. Please let me win.

9. Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhouse – I loved Trail of Lightning, already preordered the sequel, and when I learned she had another book coming out in 2020, I quickly added it.

10. Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco – Rin Chupeco has another fantasy series coming out soon. Automatically added to the TBR.

Are these also on your TBR? Any you are adding? What’s the last book you added to your TBR? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit.

Top Ten Tuesday: 2018 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn’t

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Books I Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To.” How much time do you have? It’s impossible to keep up with all the new releases, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel a smidgen of guilt over not getting to all of them. Here are ten 2018 releases that I just couldn’t find the time for, but really wanted to. Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. American Panda by Gloria Chao

2. Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza

3. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

4. Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

5. Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

6. Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

7. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

8. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

9. Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrand

10. The Resolutions by Mia Garcia

Did you get a chance to read any of these? Which should I get to immediately? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite New-to-Me Authors I Read In 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “New-to-Me Authors I Read In 2018.” I was going to do this list based on non-debut authors, but it turns out, I did not pick up enough books from non-debut authors who were also new to me in 2018. So today you are getting a combination of favorite authors I read in 2018, debut and non-debut alike. Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. Sandhya Menon – I was lucky enough (or maybe I dropped the ball with When Dimple Met Rishi since it took me so long to read it) to read two books by Sandhya Menon this year (Dimple and From Twinkle, with Love). I love how happy her novels have made me and I’m really looking forward to There’s Something About Sweetie.

2. Tomi Adeyemi – Children of Blood and Bone is among the most epic reads I picked up in 2018. It elevates the fantasy genre by existing and I am really looking forward to seeing more books that take their world-building just as seriously.

3. Elizabeth Acevedo – The Poet X was probably my favorite YA debut of 2018. Acevedo astounded with her poetry and gave us a character in Xiomara whose every struggle felt like an extension of my own teen years.

4. Justina Ireland – I’d argue that with Dread Nation, Ireland wrote the most balanced novel I picked up in 2018. I could rave about her world-building, but I’d be neglecting her lead character. I could talk about her lead, but I’d have to mention her awesome world-building.

5. Dhonielle Clayton – While I do have another Dhonielle Clayton novel on my shelf, The Belles was the first one I read from her. Her prose is so luscious in this one. She managed to excite each of my senses with her descriptions.

6. S.K. Ali – I can’t remember the last time I fell so hard for a protagonist, but S.K. Ali’s Janna in Saints and Misfit is so easy to love. I will be following this author’s career very closely because of this one.

7. S.A. Chakraborty – The City of Brass was another epic read in 2018. I feel like I could spend weeks discovering all the intricate details of this fantasy debut.

8. Somaiya Daud – I think 2018 was a great year for world-building because Somaiya Daud’s Mirage blew me away with its multi-layered world. I need more space books like this one.

9. Carmen Marie Machado – I really want to pick up more short-story collections and I’m glad I ended up reaching for Her Body and Other Parties. It was creepy and weird and sometimes it felt like it was personally written for me.

10. Rebecca Roanhouse – Trail of Lightning was my favorite read of 2018 and I read a lot of really good books this year. I read this one at the end of November and have been fighting the urge to reread it ever since. The sequel cannot come fast enough. I’ve already preordered.

Did you pick up any of these authors for the first time in 2018? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your own TTT post in the comments, so I can visit.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019 by Latinx Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019.” Could there be a more difficult topic? I just know that this year is going to be amazing in terms of book releases. To simplify this for myself, I am going to name ten first-half 2019 releases by Latinx authors I am excited for. I hope you add these to your TBR if you haven’t already. Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. A Sprinkle of Spirits by Anna Meriano – Release Date: February 5th 2019 – I was so delighted with A Dash of Trouble, this author’s middle grade debut, that featured the mischief that follows when eleven-year-old Leo discovers she, along with the other women in her family, are witches. I can’t wait for more with this sequel. 

2. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia – Release Date: February 26th 2019 – This might be my most anticipated 2019 debut. I don’t know all the details surrounding this one, but I’ve heard it deals with immigration, class privilege, and features a f/f romance. I’ve already preordered this one.

3. The Moon Within by Aida Salazar – Release Date : February 26th 2019 – Another middle grade novel I’m eagerly anticipating and the first one I’ve come across that deals with periods. I would have been so happy to have had this one as a young girl. I’m hoping to gift this one to my niece at some point. I hope this one sparks more open discussions around periods especially in the Latinx community.

4. The Last 8 by Laura Pohl – Release Date: March 1st – It’s been a while since a science-fiction novel made me this excited. This one is a survival story that involves an alien invasion and a spaceship. I have an eARC of this one that I will also be reading soon.

5. Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera – Release Date: March 5th 2019 – I was really impressed with Lilliam Rivera’s debut The Education of Margot Sanchez and am stoked about this sophomore novel. It goes in a completely different direction than her first novel, taking place in a dystopian world and features an all-girl gang. I was so happy when I was approved on NetGalley for this one. You might have heard me scream in delight.

6. Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine – Release Date: April 2nd 2019 – I really want to check out more short story collections this year and this one centers Indigenous Latina voices.

7. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Release Date: May 7th 2019 – The Poet X was one of my favorite reads last year and I am so excited for more from Elizabeth Acevedo. This one features a pregnant teen girl who finds refuge in cooking. It also comes out on my birthday which means if no one buys it for me, I will just have to buy it for myself.

8. Nocturna by Maya Motayne – Release Date: May 7th 2019 – This is the fantasy novel I’ve been waiting for for so long. It’s a Dominican-based fantasy with mobsters and magic. I need this one now. No cover yet for this one, so title is linked to Goodreads.

9. Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno – Release Date: May 14th 2019 – I think this is my most anticipated contemporary debut of 2019. I feel like this one could be really special. It’s about first love and curses and I’m already in agony over it. I’m just waiting for the day my request for this one from NetGalley will be rejected. I will need a shoulder to cry on.

10. Five Midnight by Ann Dávila Cardinal – Release Date: June 4th 2019 – Yes to all the horror novels that feature Latinx characters and myths. This one is full of murder and monsters and I am salivating just thinking about it.

Are any of these also on your TBR? Is there a book by a Latinx author being released January-June 2019 that you are particularly excited about? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit.