Top Ten Tuesday - Summer Reading List

Summer is for reading! And this week's Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish invites us to share our summer TBR list. As a 4th and 5th grade teacher, I typically use the school year to read middle grade books. So, the summer is usually for adult and YA titles. I hoard them all year long, eagerly waiting to get started.

Last summer I read 26 books, including The Way of the Kings which is over 1,000 pages. This summer I'm hoping to top 30 books. Here are my top 10:

10. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
A famous, complex dragon fantasy. Apparently this is one of those books that I should have read in my adolescence, but didn't even know existed.

9. Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
I read the first two books in this trilogy in the spring. Talk about a messed-up protagonist who's maybe an anti-hero. These books are high level scheming, with lots of intrigue. They remind be of The Queen's Thief series, but with more violence.

8. Redwall by Brian Jacques
My wife love love LOVES the Redwall books. She had read every single one. So, now I'm giving them a whirl, even though they don't grab me for some reason

7. The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith and Doug TenNapel write some of the weirdest books ever. Oh - and Neil Gaiman. These gentlemen have strange minds, and sometimes it's fun to crawl inside and hang out for a while.

6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
I'm trying not to read too many reviews/synopses of this adult apocalyptic novel so that the reveals aren't spoiled. All I know is that lots of people who read great books love this one, so I'm all in!

5. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
This sequel to The Diviners is the only ARC on my Top Ten. The Diviners was one of the scariest books I have ever read, and it was also very compelling, so I'm curious to see where Libba Bray is taking us next.

4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My fellow Brandon Sanderson-loving friend, Devin, recommended this book to me for it's outstanding world-building. Summer is for epic adult fantasies!

3. Watership Down by Richard Adams
I have always wanted to read this classic. It's even on my Classics Club list. Adventures with bunnies!

2. A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab
Parallel worlds, some of which are magical. Schwab did masterful world building in Vicious so I can't wait to read her newest title.

1. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
I HEART Brandon Sanderson and I absolutely loved reading Way of the Kings last summer. At over 1,000 pages per book, the books in this series take a serious commitment so I have to read them in the summer. I've had this one (book 2) on my TBR shelf for months. Can't wait!

Let the summer reading begin!