Okay, as book lovers we all know the feeling: you see a book in a store or online and the synopsis hooks you and you just have to have that book in your hands! As a blogger, there is a pressure to not only read the newest books, but to also grab books that you think are interesting to review them…eventually. So what are some of the books that I just NEEDED (not wanted, NEEDED) on my shelves, but still haven’t read yet? Well, keep reading to find out!
The Red Knight by Miles Cameron
This is one that I saw right as I was starting my bookstagram (which has been around longer than my blog has) and I read the first few pages and it really intriged me. I ended up buying the first two books in the series, and I tried to read this for Medieval-a-thon and wasn’t really feeling it at the time, so I haven’t read it yet but I still want to! This follows the Red Knight who leads a group of mercenaries to protect a nunnery, but the job turns out to be a lot more than he bargained for.
A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White
If any of you follow me on twitter, you may remember me talking about how I couldn’t get this cover and synopsis out of my head! I spent a good week thinking about this book and how badly I wanted to read it, then I bought it and I still haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to finish it before the end of the year. This follows a washed up treasure hunter looking for her big break and a hot shot racer who gets framed for murder. The two need to team up to get everything they want: fame, riches and justice.
Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
This one is a little different. Once I read the synopsis of this book, I went and bought it and actually started to read it as soon as it arrived. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the reading mindset for a book with footnotes, and ended up putting it down for something a little more light and fluffy. I have yet to actually get farther than the first chapter or so of this one but I was so excited to have it in my hands! This follows a boy who grew up on stories of lost princes and grand quests, but his world is turned upside-down when he is claimed as one of those long lost princes. The catch? The stories lied about a lot of things.
Master of Sorrows by Justin Travis Call
I had seen this book floating around on both instagram and twitter, and the cover was what originally drew me in. This cover is absolutely stunning! Then when I read the synopsis and saw everyone raving about it, I knew I needed to get my hands on this to see what everyone was talking about. It’s already made an appearance on a monthly TBR, but I never got to it that month. I’m hoping I can get to it soon, but then again, I hope that with every book I buy! This book follows a young boy who was orphaned and raised by a wise old man to fight the evil in their world. The only problem is that the boy is quite possibly the reincarnation of an evil god.
The Winter Road by Adrian Selby
Yet another book that I saw a lot of interest in from people I follow! This one I’ve maybe gotten….20-30 pages into, but then ended up getting distracted by another book. That seems to be a recurring theme with me – start a book then put it down for another one and never go back to the first book. I did really like what I did read, but I just have been picking up other books instead. This book follows Teyr, who is a mercenary hired to protect a merchant caravan through the dangerous Circle – a wild land that no one has ever tamed. But then a warlord starts to unite the clans from the Circle, and Teyr realizes that her biggest battle is still to come.
Malice by John Gwynne
This is one of the books that I predicted would be a 5 star read for me over a year ago….and I still haven’t read the book. I own the first three books in this 4 book series, and I picked them up because Piera from Piera Forde on Booktube read the entire series in like, one reading vlog and was RAVING about how good the series was, so I of course picked them up! Now to just find time to actually start these massive books. In this book we follow Corban who just wants to take up the sword to protect the realm, but finds that he needs to take up that sword much earlier than planned to fight the giants from the Banished Lands that threaten the realm.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
This one is a classic case of the hype got to me. I was just as excited as everyone else to read this, I mean come on. It was being compared to Avatar the Last Airbender but set in Africa and that sounds so interesting! I gave in to the hype and bought the book, but I haven’t gotten a chance to actually read the book yet. Now that it’s been a while and the hype has died down a bit, I’ll definitely be trying to read this one. In this we follow a girl whose mother was murdered and magic disappeared. Now she has the chance to bring back that magic and get revenge against the ones who killed her mother and took her magic-the monarchy.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
This book has been showing up a lot recently on my blog, and that’s because I’m hoping to finally get around to reading it this month. It makes this list though because when I started blogging this was one of the first books that I bought because everyone loves this book, and I was trying to build up my book collection. It’s one of my goals for 2019 to read at least the first book in this duology, so let’s hope I can actually do it. Sometimes being a mood reader really kills my reading plans. To keep this one a little vague (I’ve heard that is the best way to go into it!) this follows Lazlo who is a librarian obsessed with the lost city of Weep. When an expedition to find the lost city arises, Lazlo jumps at the chance to find out what happened to Weep 200 years ago to cut it off from the world.
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
I spent a lot of time looking at top 100 fantasy lists back even before I decided to start a blog, and with this series, Memory, Sorrow & Thorn being on most of those lists I went out and bought the first two books in the series. I recently picked up the third book, (which is massive by the way), and I know that I need to get around to reading it and see if I think it would be on my top 100 fantasy list! Of course, it would be a really long time until I have 100 that I would want to add to that list, but that’s beside the point. Like many fantasies, this book has a lot going on: a kitchen boy becomes the only hope to save the kingdom from dark sorcery by finding the long lost swords of power.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Again, another one that I’ve had since I started blogging, everyone seems to love this series and I wanted to hop on that hype train! Sadly, I just haven’t read it yet because other books have been coming into my possession that I’m more interested in reading first. Also, I tend to read more adult fantasy now than I did when I first bought this book so who knows when I’ll get to it? Inspired by ancient Rome, we follow a slave whose brother is arrested for treason causing her to turn to the rebels who promise to rescue him, and a soldier who is the best of the best – but also the one who wants to end the tyranny he’s trained to enforce. The choices that they make will change the fate of the Empire.
What are some books that you just had to have but haven’t read yet? I’d love to chat!
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