Top 5 Wednesday | Top 5 Books to Read on My TBR

This week's Top Five Wednesday is the top five 'books on your TBR'. These are the books you’ve been meaning to read this year but just didn’t get to in the first half of 2020. This is a slightly belated post but I love discussing the books I want to get around to reading. I've picked a couple of backlist books from my TBR and also some newer purchases. Here are my top five!

1. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I've owned this book for a few years now and I just know I'm going to enjoy it so it's about time I got around to reading it. Especially since the entire trilogy is now out and I own all of them. This book is set in a world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. The book follows Citra and Rowan who are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own. Very excited to read this twist on a utopian novel.

2. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

This is a recent purchase for me and I know it's being hyped all over booktube right now. Contemporaries aren't something I read too often but I do enjoy the occasional feel-good contemporary, so I'm looking forward to this one. Leah Johnson is also an own-voices black author and I'm so excited to read more black voices in books, because they are so underrepresented in publishing! This book follows Liz Lighty who is in high school and wants to go to college to study medicine. Unfortunately, she doesn't have enough money for tuition so she enters the Prom Queen competition in order to win the money to go to college. Another positive is that this book also has a sapphic romance!

3. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

This is a series that I've been desperate to read since I first heard about it. I now have the majority of the series and I adore a long high fantasy series so I'm excited to start it. I'm aware this has been on a few TBR's now so this year I'm determined to get to it! In this book, Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live. When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. The magic system in this book sounds incredibly unique so I'm looking forward to picking it up.

4. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

I would like to get to this entire trilogy this year realistically, although I've heard very mixed things about this first book. This is a YA fantasy that includes dragons and, in all honesty, that's all I needed to hear to sell me on this book. I adore dragon fantasies but finding one that's done well for me has been so difficult, so I'm hoping to enjoy this one. Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up hearing in hushed whispers of the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

5. Different Seasons by Stephen King

And finally, we have Different Seasons by Stephen King. If you've been following my blog for a few years then you'll know that Stephen King is one of my favourite authors and I try to read at least one or two King books a year, as I'm slowly making my way through his backlist. My then-boyfriend/now-husband bought me this book about 7 years ago and I haven't got around to reading it yet so I want to change that! This book is actually 4 short stories: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, The Body, and The Breathing Method. Since two of these have film adaptations that I love, I need to get this book so I can finally read the original text. Stephen King is fantastic at creating characters and small-town situations so I'm looking forward to diving back into his writing.

So, those are my top five books that I want to read before the end of 2020! Let me know what your Top Five are below, or if you have a blog post then link it! Just in case anyone is new to this, Top Five Wednesday was created by Lainey (Gingerreadslainey on YouTube) and is now run by the Goodreads Group so that people can share more of their favourite (or sometimes least favourite) books in an interesting way. The people in the Group create weekly topics each month so Bloggers and YouTubers alike to discuss books. The group can be found here! And if you want to see more of my previous Top Five Wednesday Blog posts, you can click here!