My 2019 TBR List
I stalked a lot of fantasy groups, especially a Karen Moning fans spinoff group that focuses on fae fantasy. A year ago, they inspired me to finally read all the Sarah J. Maas books that Wench Merit had been telling me to read. Since that was such a delightful experience for me, I’ve been taking notes about the other series that have inspired them to rave for weeks on end, and eagerly awaiting the opportunity to dive into a few of them.
So here’s the list of recommendations I’ve compiled from my lurking notes. Plus a few books I didn’t get to last year. These should work nicely for the categories Wench Angela has provided in the latest Saucy Wenches reading group challenge on Goodreads.
All book synopses are from Goodreads. For series, I’ve provided the synopsis for the first book.
Leftovers from last year
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| Broken Earth trilogy 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.
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 series comes most highly recommended by Wench Merit, literally everyone else I’ve ever heard express an opinion about it, and the three Hugo Awards it has won. When The Fifth Season won the trilogy’s first Hugo award, N. K. Jemisin made history by being the first female Black author to win a Hugo. When The Stone Sky won, she became the first author ever to win back-to-back Hugos for every book in a trilogy.
I’m exceedingly interested in this series, but I’ve been saving it for a time when Real Life calms down enough that I can dedicate the hours and attention it’s going to require. I’m expecting these to be my very favorite kind of books: complex, richly drawn, and densely populated, not just with compelling characters, but also with ideas and perspectives that challenge and push my boundaries of understanding. Like Dune, one of my lifelong favorites. This is almost my top reading priority for the year.
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| Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi |
They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
This book caught my eye in a couple of “best of” lists that linked to terrific reviews. Then I saw it in a couple dozen more lists that pointed to more reviews. It recently won the category of Debut Author in the Goodreads 2018 Choice Awards.
I’ve just been waiting for the right mood. That’s how I usually decide what to read next: I open my ereader and look through the books until one sparks joy :-). Or whatever emotion I’m seeking at that moment, ha ha. The fae have been beckoning to me lately, probably to offset the dystopian stories I read too many of, so this has quietly awaited its turn.
In the meantime, I noticed that Goodreads lists it as book 1 of the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy. I wasn’t ready to commit to rereading this book in a year or two, which I’d definitely be doing if there were a big stretch of time before the next book, so I’ve been fine with waiting until the next book comes out. Which Goodreads now says will be June 4, so I will continue to wait a while longer. Unless it sparks irresistible curiosity before then.
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| Borne by Jeff VanderMeer |
In a ruined, nameless city of the future, a woman named Rachel, who makes her living as a scavenger, finds a creature she names “Borne” entangled in the fur of Mord, a gigantic, despotic bear. Mord once prowled the corridors of the biotech organization known as the Company, which lies at the outskirts of the city, until he was experimented on, grew large, learned to fly and broke free. Driven insane by his torture at the Company, Mord terrorizes the city even as he provides sustenance for scavengers like Rachel.
At first, Borne looks like nothing at all — just a green lump that might be a Company discard. The Company, although severely damaged, is rumoured to still make creatures and send them to distant places that have not yet suffered Collapse.
Borne somehow reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth, now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment she resents; attachments are traps, and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, the Balcony Cliffs, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick, not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sells—she cannot break that bond.
Wick is a special kind of supplier, because the drug dealers in the city don’t sell the usual things. They sell tiny creatures that can be swallowed or stuck in the ear, and that release powerful memories of other people’s happier times or pull out forgotten memories from the user’s own mind — or just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren, craterous landscapes of the city.
Against his better judgment, out of affection for Rachel or perhaps some other impulse, Wick respects her decision. Rachel, meanwhile, despite her loyalty to Wick, knows he has kept secrets from her. Searching his apartment, she finds a burnt, unreadable journal titled “Mord,” a cryptic reference to the Magician (a rival drug dealer) and evidence that Wick has planned the layout of the Balcony Cliffs to match the blueprint of the Company building. What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?
At first, Borne looks like nothing at all — just a green lump that might be a Company discard. The Company, although severely damaged, is rumoured to still make creatures and send them to distant places that have not yet suffered Collapse.
Borne somehow reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth, now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment she resents; attachments are traps, and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, the Balcony Cliffs, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick, not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sells—she cannot break that bond.
Wick is a special kind of supplier, because the drug dealers in the city don’t sell the usual things. They sell tiny creatures that can be swallowed or stuck in the ear, and that release powerful memories of other people’s happier times or pull out forgotten memories from the user’s own mind — or just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren, craterous landscapes of the city.
Against his better judgment, out of affection for Rachel or perhaps some other impulse, Wick respects her decision. Rachel, meanwhile, despite her loyalty to Wick, knows he has kept secrets from her. Searching his apartment, she finds a burnt, unreadable journal titled “Mord,” a cryptic reference to the Magician (a rival drug dealer) and evidence that Wick has planned the layout of the Balcony Cliffs to match the blueprint of the Company building. What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?
I’m saving this one until my WTF decoder returns from empowerment training. By the always trippy author of Annihilation (which I reviewed here last year), whose books have a reputation for requiring a certain fluidity of logic and high levels of interpretative agility — or large quantities of consciousness-altering drugs. And lots of time to reread the confusing parts. (I expect to have read the book 2 or 3 times by the time I get through it once.) But I have no fear that one day soon I’ll feel up to the challenge.
In the meantime, I’ve ordered my very own Area X shirts to support the national wildlife refuge that inspired the author to write Annihilation. If you’re a fan of Annihilation or would like to help protect the wildlife refuge, which is unable to collect funds from visitors to cover expenses during the shutdown, read more about the shirts here.
Brand new on my menu for 2019
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| Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor |
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around — and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries — including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries — including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
These were the first books I picked up in the new year, because I’ve been so curious about them and drawn to their titles and covers. Both were simply amazing.
Strange the Dreamer is the most linguistically beautiful book I have ever read. The words — and the pictures in my mind — are stunning. I literally cried over the beauty. For days. Could not even form words to describe my feelings. I hope to soon recover enough to attempt to explain why I love these books.
If you love beautiful words, and the beautiful worlds they evoke, this book will haunt your dreams forever. Muse of Nightmares is also a 5-star book and a fabulous end to the story, but the words didn’t quite attain the same extraordinary heights.
I’ve been very excited to discover that author Laini Taylor has written several other highly rated books, like the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series, that are absolutely all on my TBR list now. And she lives in my hometown! In fact, I just missed a couple of chances to see her in conversation with visiting authors, so I have a new mission to keep a lookout for her local appearances and book signings, now that I’m a huge fan!!
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| The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black |
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him – and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him – and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Oh, I’ve heard such wonderful things about these books. Even Wench Merit recommended them recently, which moves them higher up my list. I’m intrigued. But I’m also wary, because the next (last?) book isn’t due out until 2020. So if I start this series now, I’ll be left hanging for quite a while. And that’s apparently excruciating, based on comments from the hordes of agonized fans who recently finished The Wicked King. Droughtlander is already hard enough for me to endure. (More on that later.)
It turns out that Holly Black was the author I just missed in conversation with Laini Taylor at the local bookstore. How cool would that have been!?! Even more so if I’d actually read these books. ;-) I am determined to finish them and be fully prepared before she’s back for her next book signing! Their spark potential for me right now is Extremely Flammable.
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| Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo |
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price — and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first.
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first.
I realize that I know nothing about the Six of Crows books, but I remember weeks where it seemed like everyone in the fae book group was talking about them. I was terribly intrigued by all the excitement and sad to be missing out. Sometimes it’s hard to be patient for a new book series, no matter how completely enthralled I am in the extraordinarily loooooong series I’m already reading!
These along with the Shadow and Bone trilogy inhabit author Bardugo’s Grishaverse. I probably need to acquaint myself with the Grishaverse by reading the trilogy before I start on Six of Crows. So I’ll need to schedule this for a nice, long stretch when I can properly immerse myself in this alternate world for a few weeks. It’s so exciting to know this whole new world awaits at my beck and call!
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| Red Rising saga by Pierce Brown |
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow — and Reds like him — are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow — and Reds like him — are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
This was the first, post-Maas fantasy series that I remember lots of fae book group members losing their collective minds over. I couldn’t join the discussions — as a dedicated spoiler prude, I needed to preserve the surprises — but that’s when I started keeping an official list of group recommendations, and this was the first series on it.
Now that I’m finally able to check out these books, others have enticed me more. For one thing, I remember a lot of reassurances to “just keep reading” because “it takes a while to get into”. I’ve been in the mood for more immediate gratification. Less struggle on my part. Because Real Life. But as my emotional horizons realign and rebalance, this will be just the ticket for escaping into off-world sci-fi that is thought provoking and culturally relevant.
I remain intentionally uninformed as to what this series is about. I want no preconceived expectations, I want to be swept away. What sticks with me is how excited everyone was to find a series that could hold their attention and ignite their imaginations after finishing all those Maas books — when everything else seemed bland and boring and lifeless — so I expect good things from these books!
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| The Illuminae Files trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff |
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra — who are barely even talking to each other — are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. 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 enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
BRIEFING NOTE: 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 year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra — who are barely even talking to each other — are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. 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 enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
BRIEFING NOTE: 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.
I’m sorry to say I don’t remember what anyone said about this series, only that it inspired many lengthy and positive comment threads. By the time it popped up in various groups, I wasn’t able to pay much attention. It does sound fascinating, though. I’ll be reaching for this in response to a future sci-fi craving for action-packed adventure and corporate espionage.
Kristoff is also the author of the The Nevernight Chronicle series, which is also potentially on my TBR.
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| Villains series by V.E. Schwab |
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates — brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find — aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge — but who will be left alive at the end?
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find — aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge — but who will be left alive at the end?
Here’s an author I remember a great deal of excited commentary about, but no specific book. Because Vengeful came out this year, I think it started the discussions, but everyone seemed to agree that Schwab’s Shades of Magic series was also excellent.
Since Shades of Magic is YA and Villains is her first adult series, I’ll probably start with Villains when the time comes! The author’s name is actually a pseudonym of Victoria Schwab, who has written a long list of YA books that I’m not familiar with.
And although there are already more books in this list than I can possibly read in a year, I can’t end my TBR list here. Because there’s one more very important book I haven’t even mentioned yet.
The return of Outlander and some bees
I’ve saved the best for last, but it’s actually first on my list. I’ll be completely immersed in this just as soon as it’s released in (rumor has it) September!! And, of course, that means a “quick” reread of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood to prepare.
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| Go Tell the Bees that I Am Gone (Outlander #9) |
I’m so excited to Hello the House and attend the grand reunion of all the Frasers from various geographical and temporal origins as they converge at-long-freaking-last upon Fraser’s Ridge. I especially look forward to Jenny coming face to face with Roger and learning his secret for maintaining his youthful appearance after 40 years!! How I’ve missed my Fraser family, and how comforting it will be to hunker down for some premium time with them at last.
I’m going to enjoy this book for two, because even though my Mother passed away last year, I know she’ll be at my side reading right along with me. I will dearly miss talking with her about it. We read the last Outlander book together on my sister’s back porch, and she sure hated to miss the rest of Claire and Jamie’s story. So it will be a bittersweet reunion for me, but one I know I will absolutely treasure.
What’s on your TBR list this year, Saucy Readers? We hope you’ll share. Because there’s always room for more on our lists!!
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