Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now managed by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.
I’m doubling up on topics since I didn’t do one of these last week. So…
Last week’s topic:
Top 5 new authors
2020 debut or new-to-me authors
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I read this last month and had such a great time doing so that I’ll definitely read more of Moreno-Garcia’s work. It’s a very atmospheric historical fiction novel set in 1950s Mexico that has a strong gothic feel to it (as the title implies). It’s about a young woman who’s sent to the Mexican countryside to check on her cousin, whose husband seems to be preventing her from getting the medical help she needs. Although it is slow-paced, especially at the beginning, it was such a compelling read that I sped through it.
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
I read this as part of a buddy-read with the Wyrd & Wonder crew, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a fantasy novel set in a world where some individuals are descended from angels. The story is about a young woman who’s born into a society that reveres and praises sexual pleasures. She was adopted and raised by a man who teaches her how to be a spy — skills she later uses to help save her kingdom from invasion. I have difficulty describing this one adequately, but it’s such a good read! It was certainly an intriguing one, and I like how Carey writes.
When Life Gives You Mangos by Kereen Getten
I believe Getten is a debut author. She’s from Jamaica and her novel is set in Jamaica. It’s middle grade contemporary about a girl struggling to remember what happened last summer as her relationship with her friends become strained. It was a quick read that grew on me and drew me in the more I read. I also liked the plot twist because I didn’t see it coming at all.
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Unlike the other novels on this list, I didn’t like this one much. It’s historical fiction, with a tinge of magical realism, set in the 1950s/1960s. It uses the Snow White fairytale as inspiration for a story about race relations, beauty, and discrimination between Blacks and Whites and within the Black community. It is an interesting read, but I wasn’t feeling it. However, I would like to try more of Oyeyemi’s work.
Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner
This was a 2019 debut novel, but I read it this year. It’s a fantasy novel about a young woman who leaves her restrictive society to further her magical education elsewhere and gets caught up in solving a series of murders involving trolls while doing so. And it is also about the relationship that develops between a troll and a human man who are both also trying to solve the murders. It’s hard for me to describe it, but it was a really good read. It’s slow-paced, but the setting and the characters really drew me in. I look forward to reading her next book.
This week’s topic:
Top 5 books I haven’t read
Books on my 2020 TBR that I haven’t gotten to yet
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Actually, any book by Adichie. I’ve had her books on my yearly TBR every year for the past few years. I have no idea why I keep procrastinating on reading them.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
It’s the same with Pullman’s Golden Compass. This one I plan to read sometime toward the end of the year because it gives me winter vibes.
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
I was supposed to read this around the Halloween season, but I ended up reading other things. I still plan to get to it at some point before the year ends.
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Same with this one: It was intended as a Halloween read. It’s the third novel in Yancey’s Monstrumologist series, a YA paranormal series about a boy who serves as an assistant to a monstrumologist, a scientist who studies monsters. I might reread the first and second books on audio before jumping into this one.
Velvet, Vol. 3: The Man Who Stole the World by Ed Brubaker, illus. by Steve Epting
I really enjoyed the first two volumes in this comic book series about a female spy, and I’d like to read this one this year. I might do so soon. Recently, I’ve been in the mood for comics and romance novels.
Hope you have a good time with those you hope to get around to! Happy reading. 😀
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Thanks! 🙂
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I’ve never read The Golden Compass either.
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I’ve heard it’s great so I’m optimistic. I did try it once years ago but only got a few pages in.
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With you on the boat of King’s Doctor Sleep! Though I first need to read The Shining. Boy, Snow, Bird looks like a good read.
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The Shining was so good! It’s one of my favs.
A lot of folks liked Boy Snow Bird. It didn’t work for me, but it was interesting.
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It’s definitely a good classic horror movie, that’s for sure.
Sometimes you do get books like that – that you didn’t like, but others do or vice versa.
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You are a braver soul than me having a Stephen King book on your TBR!! Good luck!! 😂
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Oh it took a while to start reading his books because the movie adaptations of them have always scared me. lol!
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I can’t even watch the movies!! 😂😂
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🤣🤣
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The Golden Compass is a must-read! I love the trilogy so much. (The HBO adaptation is surprisingly good, but nothing beats reading the book.)
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I forgot that there’s a TV adaptation! Yea, I’m def getting to it in December.
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I was supposed to read Doctor Sleep in October, too! It’s been moved to December. I keep putting it off because it’s so big.
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Lol same here. I just keep forgetting to read it.
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Silvia Morena-Garcia was also on my new-to-me author list! So far I’ve read GOds of Jade and Shadow and Mexican Gothic, and absolutely loved both!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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I’ll like to read Gods of Jade & Shadow as well. So many people liked it.
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I really need to read Mexican Gothic! Honestly can’t believe I haven’t read any of her work, especially because she has a vampire book…like how did I miss that??
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🤣🤣 the one reminds me of Dracula a bit and seems to hint at vampires so you might like it.
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Oooh, hints at vampires??? Hmmmm
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