Top 5 Books I Want to Read By the End of the Year

This Top 5 series started back in October and I kind of lost motivation for making it every week. But it’s back! This is a series of books that I want to read that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for every Saturday.

Today I’m posting SUPER late, but sometimes life just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. I hope that you can all forgive me for being late even though I’m the host.

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The Upcoming Schedule Is:

11/30/19 — Books to be read by the end of the year

12/6/19 — Standalone Books

12/13/19 — Books about Pirates

12/20/19 — Books that have been made into Movies

12/27/19 – Books coming in 2020

I will update this post with next month’s topics once they’re decided!

* EDIT — The December Topics are listed above now! EDIT *

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Rules!

• Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
• Tag the original post (This one!)
• Tag 5 people

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Books to be Read by the End of the Year

I have been reading a lot of review copies lately and it’s gotten a bit overwhelming at times. I have really been wanting to fit in some backlist titles, so I didn’t request many titles for November and December so I could fit in some older books. But I am having a very hard time deciding exactly which books I want to read during this time.

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The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This is the way the world ends. Again.

Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

This is a book that I don’t know much about, but I have high hopes for. I haven’t even read the synopsis, but I know it’s won many awards and two of my co-workers highly recommended it.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera’s rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.

When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited – not in love, but in a tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.

But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?

The New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy comes to a stunning conclusion as – from the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond – humans, chimaera, and seraphim strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

I have been holding off on reading this book because I am waiting for Laini Taylor’s next book to come out, but honestly I don’t think I should wait too much longer to finish this series. I started this series probably over a year ago now and I don’t want to forget the story before jumping into the third book.

Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

I got a copy of Alloy of Law for my birthday from my friend Susan. I loved the Mistborn Era 1 series and I am excited to move onto Era 2. I asked for the rest of the Era 2 series for Christmas, so I will probably wait until mid December to read this one.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he’s part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.

Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich – they’re the only ones worth stealing from – but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.

Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it’s a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.

But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa’s power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.

A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora …

I have wanted to read this book for a long time now. I have a copy and I just haven’t had time to read it just yet. I am really hopeful for this book and expect that it could be a 5 star read.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she’d ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents–including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more–Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

The reason that I want to read this book so badly is because I really want to get into audiobooks and I’ve heard that the audiobook for Illuminae is really well done. It’s supposedly full cast and it’s the audiobook that gets recommended to me the most every single time I ask for audiobook recommendations. I haven’t ever listened to an audiobook, but I love the text to speech feature on my kindle, so I think I will really enjoy it.

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Check out Other Book Blogger’s Top 5!

Blair @ Feed the Crime — -| Top 5 Saturday… Books To Read by the End of the Year |-

Susan @ Novel Lives — Saturday Top 5: Books I Have To Read By The End Of The Year… AKA Books I Should Have Read This Year But. FOMO

Dina @ Dinapandareads — Top 5 Saturday: Series I Want to Finish Before 2019 Ends…

Kayla @ Kayla’s Wordsmithy —Top 5 Sunday | 12/1/2019

Tagged!

Lauren @ Lala’s Book Reviews

Pavani @ The Voracious Bibliophile

Kayla @ Kayla’s Wordsmithy — Check out her post linked above and welcome her to joining this Top 5 Saturday series!

Fazila @ Fazila’s Book Review Corner

Krystin @ Here’s the Fucking Twist

 

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Let’s Chat!

What books do you hope to read by the end of the year? Do you ever plan a TBR? Have you ever been overwhelmed by having too many review copies? Have you read any of these titles? What do you think I should read first? Do you have any audiobook recommendations? Make sure to comment below so we can talk about books that we plan to read by the end of the year!