Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR — January Edition

Top Ten Tuesday #41

Afternoon, book nerds!

Like last Tuesday, I’m double posting sans my #HolidayADVENTure series due to T10T and my stop along a harrowing memoir’s blog tour!

Which basically means, you’ll get a double serving of advent posts on Wednesday AND Thursday, FINALLY putting us back on track for the FINAL 5 DAYS! Just thinking about how much I have left to do before Christmas is actually giving me anxiety so let’s get this post wrapped up so I can go back to planning, yes??

By the way, I’ve never related to this Hamilton lyric more in my entire life. Why do I write like I’m running out of time? Um because I AM!

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Let’s push away that stress and focus instead on another round of:Hosted by Jana at ThatArtsyReaderGirl, this week’s prompt is “Winter 2018 TBR,” and as y’all know, seasonal TBR lists are one of the only prompts I don’t typically alter.

Typically.

But a minor tweak needed to be made and here’s why: 1) I couldn’t pick 10 titles from my currently owned TBR list. There were too many solid selections and it started to make me feel bad about how many titles I haven’t already read. 2) My solution? Focus on new releases, duh! 🙄 3) But then the problem became having too many anticipated 2019 releases so I decided to narrow the playing field from a whole season to a solitary month!

And thus my T10T list of  Most Anticipated January 2019 Releases was born!

*I should note I STILL had to make 3 separate lists just to narrow down next month’s picks to this Top Ten list…why am I like this??*

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1) The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

Current Rating: 4.61 Current # of Ratings: 138 Release Date: 01/08/19  

Early reviews for the second installment of the Daevabad trilogy, claim this historical fiction fantasy is even better than its predecessor. Set in the streets of Cairo, and full of magic and mayhem, this ownvoice novel is one I personally can’t wait to get into — if I can stop staring at the cover that is!

2) Slayer by Kiersten White

Current Rating: 3.88 Current # of Ratings: 171 Release Date: 01/08/19  

Y’all it’s inspired by BUFFY THE FREAKING VAMPIRE SLAYER. It breaks my heart to see that it’s not being reviewed as favorably as I’d hoped, but it’d take an apocalypse to keep me from reading this next month!

3) Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus

Current Rating: 4.33 Current # of Ratings: 334 Release Date: 01/08/19  

Although I had a love/hate relationship with McManus NYT Bestselling debut, I’m fooling myself if I think curiosity will keep me away from this sophomore title. Fingers crossed this one won’t use stereotypes or sexual orientations as plot devices!

4) The Kiss Thief by L.J. Shen

Current Rating: 4.48 Current # of Ratings: 83 Release Date: 01/09/19  

After falling hard for Vicious earlier this year (twice), I’ve had L.J. Shen on my radar. And this dark contemporary seems right up my alley! I’m worried it’ll center around a less-than-stellar trope, but even if it does, I refuse to believe that Shen will let me down.

5) The Binding by Bridget Collins

Current Rating: 4.31 Current # of Ratings: 216 Release Date: 01/10/19

It’s hard to discuss this book-centered historical fiction fantasy novel without giving too much away. Click that link and tell me that synopsis doesn’t give you serious The Giver vibes! Or for non-Giver fans, serious “pick me up asap” vibes!

*The publication date for this book is currently up in the air. Several sites listed it as Jan. 10, 2019 and now some are saying “originally published 1/10/19 but coming in April ’19…so here’s hoping it just sticks with the original publishing date!*

6) Our Year Of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Current Rating: 4.69 Current # of Ratings: 90 Release Date: 01/15/19  

Friendships, transplants, unrequited love, tears, AND leads with Jewish and LGBT rep? I imagine after consuming this diverse contemporary I’m going to need to a hug, some serious BFF time, and a time machine to speed up my wait time for Solomon’s next novel.

7) Song Of The Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Current Rating: 4.52 Current # of Ratings: 25 Release Date: 01/22/19  

I read an ARC of this necromancer fantasy’s first installment and was blown away. While there were elements that definitely didn’t work for me, I was shocked by how consumed I was with Marsh’s hypnotic writing style and bold plot twists! I can’t wait to return to the realm of Karthia and see what the gang’s been up to!

8) A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer 

Current Rating: 4.30 Current # of Ratings: 438 Release Date: 01/29/19  

BEAUTY 👏🏻 AND 👏🏻  THE 👏🏻 BEAST 👏🏻 RETELLING. 👏🏻 By the woman that blessed us with Letters to the Lost. That is all.

9) 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Current Rating: 3.96 Current # of Ratings: 380 Release Date: 01/29/19  

Here’s the deal. I’m one of the super small handful of people that didn’t lose their dang mind over The Hating Game. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but I definitely didn’t love it! Whether my interaction with Thorne’s first novel was “right book, wrong time” or me not remembering how awesome it truly was, I’ve decided to give her next book a chance. Here’s hoping the risk is worth the reward!

10) King Of Scars by Leigh Bardugo 

Current Rating: 4.61 Current # of Ratings: 166 Release Date: 01/29/19  

Nikolai Lantsov. ❤️

HA! I bet you didn’t think I could write a shorter summary than #8’s.  😉

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That wraps up another round of T10T! With SO MANY amazing titles hitting the shelves next month, I really hope I find the time — and funds — to check these off my list! Did we share any selections this week? Were any of these books introduced to you via this post? Let me know below and I’ll see ya again tomorrow for back-to-back #HolidayADVENTure posts!

And, as always: Happy Reading!

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