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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read in 2013

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This is my fourteenth Top Ten Tuesday post, though again it’s Wednesday! Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

My TBR pile has nearly reached 200 so I’ve decided that it is time to cut it back and dedicate some serious time to reading the books I’ve already bought, been sent for review, or borrowed from the library. To spur me on I will be doing the TBR Double Dog Dare challenge, and definitely avoiding bookshops and the library until I’m done. With this in mind, I decided to include only books from my current TBR. There are loads of other books that I would like to read in 2013, but these |(and the remaining books from my Top Ten Unread Books On My Bookshelf) are current priorities that I am allowed to read before April! 🙂

Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read in 2013

1. The Sweet Far Thing, by Libba Bray – I got Rebel Angels last Christmas and read it in September, so I had to ask for The Sweet Far Thing this year. I hope to get it read ASAP so that I can read The Diviners soon! It is a massive book so it’s going to take quite a while, though I’m sure I’ll be addicted once I get started.

2. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller – This series sounds really cool. Delinquent Girl Scouts? As a former Girl Guide (the British equivalent), how can I resist much longer?

3. The Diviners, by Libba Bray – I got a review copy last year and I was thrilled. It sounds fantastic and I love anything set in the 1920s.

4. God Save the Queen, by Kate Locke – Queen Victoria as a vampire, still ruling in 2012? It’s had mixed reviews but I love the premise.

5. White Cat, by Holly Black – I finished the Modern Faerie Tale trilogy in 2011 and I’ve had White Cat on my TBR for a while now.

6. Attack of the Theater People, by Marc Acito – I wanted to re-read How I Paid For College and review it before reading its sequel, but Attack of the Theater People has sat for so long on my TBR that maybe I should just review How I Paid For College from memory and get on with it. I do remember HIPFC quite well, after all.

7. Soulless, by Gail Carriger – I did pick this up this year and read a couple of pages but I had to abandon it for review copies I wanted to read.

8. 172 Hours on the Moon, by Johan Harstad – the Atom team raved about this but I haven’t seen many reviews! I must read my copy pronto.

9. The Classic Annotated Fairy Tales, by Maria Tatar – I love fairy tales! I bought this years ago! That’s all!

10. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards –  This is the odd one out on this list. I always wanted to be able to draw but was terrible at it. I’ve had this book from the library for ages but have yet to open it and give drawing another go.

Have you read any of these? Which should I start first?

Top Ten New to Me Authors of 2012

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This is my thirteenth Top Ten Tuesday post, though technically it’s Wednesday and I’m late again! Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’m quite pleased about this theme as it’s great to think back to all the books I’ve read (so far!) this year. My list is in chronological order; it’s not a ranked Top Ten.

 Photo by chefranden

Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read in 2012

 1. C. J. Daugherty – A debut author for 2012 with boarding-school mystery Night School. The sequel, Night School: Legacy is coming out in January and I am so excited!

2. Veronica Rossi – Another debut author (Under the Never Sky) with a sequel due in January – Through The Ever Night – that I am looking forward to enormously.

3. Eva Ibbotson – I wasn’t expecting to love Journey to the River Sea as much as I did, as it’s aimed at 9-12 year olds, but I was delighted by this new discovery and am looking forward to devouring all her other books.

4. Suzanne Collins – I finally read The Hunger Games! A book I first learnt about in 2009! I should have read it much sooner, but I’m glad I got around to it this year.

5. Sophie Flack – Yet another debut author – I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next, having liked Bunheads a lot.

6. Elaine Dundy – I really enjoyed the semi-autobiographical The Dud Avocado and am planning to read her other books soon.

7. Hannah Harrington – Again, Saving June was a debut that showed a lot of promise and I’m looking forward to reading Speechless, her second novel.

8. Rachel Vincent – An author with several series to her name, I started with My Soul to Take from the Soul Screamers series and have no plans to stop!

9. Malinda Lo – I’m really pleased that I read Ash this year and discovered another fairy tale reteller to obsess over!

10. Karen Russell – I’m currently reading St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, which is a book of short stories, and really enjoying it. All the protagonists/narrators are adolescents whose worlds are in some way a little magical. For example, there’s one story about a boy whose dad is a minotaur, and another about a boy who uses a pair of underwater goggles to look for the spirit of his dead sister.

Have you read any of these authors? What did you think?