So I've decided to hold myself accountable by making a post of the 20 books I need to read this year. These are not necessarily the books I'm the most excited to read (post coming soon! Watch this space).
The majority of these books are ones that I've had on my shelves for years, and one of my aims for this year is to catch up on some of my backlist titles. So, I'm hoping to get to these books asap and finally cross a few of them off my list. Let me know if I need to get to any of these sooner rather than later.
1. Wool by Hugh Howey
This is the first book in a sci-fi/dystopian trilogy, and I've owned the whole trilogy for years now. The first book follows a dystopian world where humans live underground in a Silo because the outside air is supposedly toxic. But, our main character, Jules, doesn't believe people were meant to stay enclosed under the Silo's rules and regulations - this makes her dangerous. I've been really interested in reading more adult dystopian books (and I've heard this book is border YA/Adult), so I'm definitely looking forward to this trilogy, especially since I've only heard good things about it!
2. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
I first heard about this book on Reagan's channel (PeruseProject) years ago, and I'm still really interested in getting to it. This is a sci-fi novel that follows Harry August, a person who is reborn and lives the same life again and again. This happens 11 times until something finally changes. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside: 'I nearly missed you, Doctor August,' she says. 'I need to send a message'. This is the story of what Harry does next.
3. Night Shift by Stephen King
I always have Stephen King books on my TBR as I'm slowly making my way through his extremely large backlist of titles. Because I have so many King books, I tend to read one or two a year. Overall, I've found they're very hit and miss, with some being my favourite of all time (11.22.63) and some being fairly boring (Cell). This book is a collection of short stories that features: 'Children of the Corn', 'The Lawnmower Man', 'Graveyard Shift', 'The Mangler', and 'Sometimes They Come Back'. I've never actually heard of any these stories but I'm keeping my fingers crossed I enjoy them!
4. Insomnia by Stephen King
As I've said above, I'm trying to prioritise my backlist titles, and I got a lot of my King collection a long time ago from charity shops so I'm trying to read a few of these this year. I've already read around 25 of his books but there's still so many! This book follows Ralph Roberts who has suffered from insomnia since his wife died. But his insomnia is causing him to see strange things and maybe they're not actually hallucinations after all?
5. Lifelike by Jay Kristoff
I read the Nevernight trilogy by Jay Kristoff and really enjoyed it, so I bought this book in 2018 when it first came out. I don't actually know if I'll finish the entire trilogy, but I'll at least read the first book to see if I like it. I don't know a ton about this book, except that it's a sci-fi that has a similar concept to Robot Wars. I'm also just realising that a lot of these books are sci-fi, so I've clearly been putting off this genre!
6. The Reviver by Seth Patrick
This book was given to me by a friend for my birthday years ago and I absolutely need to read it this year. This is the first book in a sci-fi trilogy that follows Jonah Miller, a Reviver. He is able to temporarily revive the dead so they can say goodbye to their loved ones or help the police solve their murder. But during one of his revivals, Jonah senses a strange presence that everyone tells him is just a sign of stress. But is that all it is? This basically sounds like a murder mystery/sci-fi and I'm really looking forward to finally picking it up.
7. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
This is one of the only classics left on my owned TBR and I need to get to this. I first read Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier when I was at university and I loved it. I've heard that Rebecca is her best work though so I have high hopes. This is a gothic romance/mystery and it follows a woman in Monte Carlo who is swept of her feet by a dashing widower Maxim de Winter. It is only when they arrive at his country estate that she realises his late wife overshadows everything and there might be more to all of this than she initially thought.
8. Contagion by Teri Terry
I've read a lot of Teri Terry books over the years now and while I really enjoyed Mind Games and Book of Lies, I didn't enjoy her earlier Shattered trilogy which I DNF'd after book one. So I don't know how I'm going to feel about this one, but I'm hopeful I'll enjoy it as much as her other later books. My main concern is this being set in a pandemic and I find that difficult to read about these days (surprise, surprise - thanks COVID!). This book follows Kai whose sister is missing. When Kai meets Shay, a girl who saw Callie the day she disappeared, his hope is reignited. Their search leads them to the heart of a terrifying epidemic that is raging through the country. Will they both survive?
9. City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
This is a book I've been desperate to read since I first got a copy in 2017/18. The only reason I didn't pick it up initially was because I wanted to binge the trilogy when it all came out. The final book has now been released for about a year and I still haven't got around to this series, but this is the year I will finally read this trilogy! This is a YA/Adult fantasy series set in 18th century Cairo and I am so hyped for this setting. The book follows Nahri, a con-woman who doesn't believe in magic, until she accidentally summons a djinn warrior and she's forced to accept that the magical world she though only existed in childhood stories is real.
10. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
The first time I heard about this book was on LittleBookOwl's channel back in 2013 (wow, that's made me realise how long I've been watching Booktube). I got this book second hand because it sounded like such a moving story. It's an historical fiction about an Australian man and I know it also follows the story of a POW in a Japanese slave labour camp. It sounds intense but also important and I don't think I've ever read anything about this subject matter before.
11. The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
This is the start of the first trilogy in the second era of Mistborn, following the initial Mistborn trilogy. I first read the Mistborn trilogy in 2016 and I absolutely loved it. I've adored every Sanderson book I've read so far (both within the Cosmere and his other YA books). This is a fantasy western set a few hundred years after the first trilogy and, honestly, I don't know much more than that. This is one book I'm happy to go into not knowing a ton about it, and I'm looking forward to getting to more Sanderson this year.
12. Oathbringer Part 2 by Brandon Sanderson
Speaking of which, here is another Brandon Sanderson book. This is the second part of the third book in the Stormlight Archive. I can't believe I did this, but I read Part One of this book nearly two years ago now and then just didn't pick up the second half! I either need to read a recap of the first two books or I need to re-read the entire series at this point so I don't miss anything. I don't own Rhythm of War yet because I'm waiting for the paperback so I'm not in too much of a rush, but I do want to finish Oathbringer at least. This is a hard series to explain but it's an epic high fantasy series following a large cast of characters during a time of political upheaval (I may have just described a lot of fantasy books). The magic system is incredible (as with all Sanderon's books) and the characters are very memorable (we love Kaladin and Dalinar here).
13. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
And here's the third and final Stephen King on my list for the year. This is a horror/sci-fi about four childhood friends in a Quarantine zone when something crashes to earth. I also think there is an alien parasite of some kind. Now, I know King has said he doesn't like this book much as he said it was written under the influence of a lot of painkillers after his car accident, so I'm hesitant with this one. If I end up DNFing it, then so be it, but I at least want to give it a chance.
14. Jade City by Fonda Lee
Here is a book I'm ridiculously excited about reading. The third book in this trilogy came out in November, which means I can now binge the trilogy. This is an urban fantasy following two warring crime syndicates fighting over a substance called 'Jade' which grants superhuman abilities. I first heard about this book the year it was published and it's taken me so long to get to it so I'm very excited to pick this up.
15. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
This is the sequel to Carry On which I read in 2015. I will definitely have to re-read the first book in order to read this because I really don't remember much about it. I also don't know if I'll actually like these books now that I'm older, but I'm very interested to see if it's still a favourite. These books are a spin-off of the book Fangirl and it's a fictional story written within that book. It's basically a HP-type book but with a male/male romance. If I don't enjoy this, I'll probably unhaul all the books and DNF the trilogy, so we'll see how it goes.
16. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
I've never read a Cinda Williams Chima book before, but I know they are all young YA fantasy books that are beloved by so many people. I'm interested in finally reading one to see if they read too young for me, or if I actually enjoy them. The good thing is, if I enjoy this one, there are so many books by this author that I'll have to read. This book follows Jack who thinks he's normal until he learns the truth about himself: he is a Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. He has to take part in a magical tournament called The Game where each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death.
17. Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
My mum bought me this book for Christmas a couple of years ago and this is one of the Disney Twisted Tales stories. This one in particular is a Sleeping Beauty retelling/reimagining. I've heard very mixed things about these stories so I'm interested in picking this up to see what I think. I feel like I've heard better things about this book than some of the others though which is positive.
18. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
I read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty a few years ago and I actually read it in one sitting because it was so compelling and fast-paced. It was easily one of my favourite books of that year so I'm looking forward to reading more of her books. The synopsis for this is really interesting so I'm just going to leave it here to speak for itself: Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive...
19. Renegades by Marissa Meyer
This is the first book in Marissa Meyer's sci-fi superhero trilogy. I read The Lunar Chronicles a few years ago and really loved it so I'm excited to read more of Meyer's work. In this world, The Renegades are humans with extraordinary abilities who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society, establishing peace and order. But Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. This book also sounds a little bit like Steelheart, and I loved that book so I have high hopes for this one!
20. The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green
This final book is the first in a fantasy trilogy. I know very little about this because I received it in an Illumicrate box a few years ago. This is me giving Sally Green a second chance after DNFing her Half Bad trilogy when I heard it had a controversial ending. This novel does sound really interesting though so if I enjoy it I'll definitely continue with the series. The book follows a princess, a traitor, a hunter, and a thief. Four teenagers with the fate of the world in their hands and four nations destined for conflict.
Let me know in the comments if I should get to any of these quickly of if you enjoyed/disliked any of them. I look forward to seeing you in the next post!
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