“Top 10 Tuesday” is a weekly meme by The Broke and the Bookish
I think it’s safe to say that we both didn’t read as many books in 2016 as we had originally planned but of course that didn’t keep us from adding lots of new releases to our TBR or even buy them already so that we have still quite a lot to catch up on. Since a huge part of our TBRs looks exactly the same we decided to alter this week’s topic a little bit and turned „Top Ten 2016 releases we meant to read but didn’t get to (but totally plan to)“ into a post about intended buddy reads we didn’t find the time to do, that’s why there will be comments from both of us on each book on this list. Enjoy! 😉
Gemina – Amy Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Maraia: I had very low expectations for Illuminae but ended up loving it, and I’m hoping the same thing happens here. Also, Sebastian’s excitement was contagious when we buddy read the first book, so that should help this time as well.
Sebastian: I was definitely more excited for Illuminae than Maraia was and I’m glad that it didn’t disappoint, that’s why the sequel is an absolute must-read for me and I hope that it can live up to my expectations as well!
A Fever of the Blood – Oscar de Muriel
Maraia: I enjoyed buddy reading (the second half of) The Strings of Murder with Sebastian last year and even bought A Fever of the Blood so we could read it right away, but…that didn’t happen. Not only does this series have great characters and an interesting mystery, but it’s also written by a really friendly author and has the most gorgeous (and soft!) covers. I know January is a lost cause, but my goal is to read A Fever of the Blood in February.
Sebastian: It’s not a secret that I’m an absolute sucker for Victorian murder mysteries and so I had a lot of fun reading The Strings of Murder due to it’s thrilling plot and the snarky characters. Now that the third book in this series is almost out it’s definitely time to finally tackle the second one!
Epiphany Jones – Michael Grothaus
Maraia: As soon as Sebastian showed me this book, I knew we needed to buddy read it. But I have to admit, the cover creeps me out. XD
Sebastian: There were two reasons that made me want to read this book: 1) the amazing cover (shark!) and 2) that the female protagonist was compared to Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. Also the story sounds pretty dark and since the (few) ratings for this book are quite good I’m definitely having high expectations for this one.
Totenfang – Simon Beckett
Maraia: After Sebastian recommended this series to me, I binged the first three books in a single week and then impatiently waited for two months to buddy listen to the fourth book. Yes, the series is that addictive. Even though I didn’t like the third and fourth books quite as much as the first two, Johannes Steck’s narration is great, and I’m still looking forward to listening to the next book. The last one ended with a cliffhanger, of course, so hopefully we can continue before I forget what happened.
Sebastian: While I enjoyed Beckett’s David Hunter thrillers I wouldn’t say that I’m a super fan, especially since books 3 and 4 were not as thrilling as the first ones. BUT those books are one of the few thrillers that are narrated by Johannes Steck and that makes the audiobooks a must-read (or must-listen?^^) for me!
The Wolf Road – Beth Lewis
Maraia: I don’t even remember what the book is about, but I don’t care. Major cover love!
Sebastian: Definitely joining Maraia in not having a clue about the story anymore but I want to hold this pretty books in my hands so I guess I should better read it soon XD
Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil – Melina Marchetta
Maraia: Melina Marchetta is one of my all-time favorite authors, but since she writes YA contemporary and fantasy, I know I won’t have much luck convincing Sebastian to read one of them with me. So when I saw that Marchetta was releasing an adult mystery, I was even more excited! Normally I would have read a book like this as soon as it came out, but I think Sebastian’s reading one of my favorite authors is worth the wait. 😉 I am nervous that it won’t live up to her other novels, but my parents and aunt have all already read and enjoyed it.
Sebastian: I’m telling the truth: I totally forgot what this book is about – shame on me. But I’m completely relying on Maraia’s judgement when it comes to Melina Marchetta and that’s good enough for me.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
Maraia: I actually don’t want to read this. I’m perfectly content pretending it’s a bunch of really bad fanfiction. Chances are, Sebastian will be able to convince me to read it with him, though.
Sebastian: I wasn’t very excited when this script book was published but I’m not denying that I actually am looking forward to reading it. Definitely not regarding it as the eighth Harry Potter book but it’s an official Harry Potter story written by J.K. Rowling, so I just can’t ignore it for the rest of my life 😀
Time Siege – Wesley Chu
Maraia: I picked up Time Salvager after seeing Tory and Rinn’s reviews, never having heard of the author before. I’ve now read four of Wesley Chu’s books and met him at a book signing, but I’ve yet to finish this series. Fortunately, I have extra motivation, now that Sebastian has also read the first book. We buddy (re)read it for Sci-Fi Month last year, so, like all the other series on our massive list, I hope we can continue it before we’ve forgotten everything. 😛
Sebastian: I’m glad that Time Salvager was a successful recommendation by Maraia and while it didn’t blow me away it was definitely good enough to also make me want to read the sequel. Compared to the first book I’m now hoping for a bit more mindfucking time travel since I found the science behind it a bit too simple in Time Salvager.
Hex – Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Maraia: This is definitely not a book I’d pick out myself, but even Crini thought it was creepy, so I have a feeling it will be a fun buddy read. I’m not sure I want to read it alone at night, though.
Sebastian: I’m always looking for good and scary horror novels and since Stephen King himself praised the book for being creepy I really hope that Hex won’t disappoint me.
Nil On Fire – Lynne Matson
Maraia: When Sebastian told me back in May that he wanted to reread Nil, the first book in this series, in preparation for Nil on Fire’s release, we decided that it would be an entertaining buddy read. Although it will never be my favorite series and I wouldn’t read it on my own, I was definitely one our best buddy reads. We had lots of fun laughing about the instalove and all the swooning going on in the book, so I’m looking forward to the next two. Not surprisingly, though, we didn’t actually manage to continue the series as planned. We had better do it soon, because I don’t think I can bring myself to read Nil a second time (or Sebastian a third). XD
Sebastian: I really can’t say that Nil was one of my favorite books but I’m having a hard time thinking of a more entertaining buddy read than Maraia and I had with this first book in Lynne Matson’s trilogy. It just had the perfect ingredients for buddy reading: ridiculous cheesy and swoony parts that were definitely begging for making fun of them but also a quite exciting story that was addictive enough to make it through the book without getting too annoyed by the romantic parts. If the rest of the trilogy is like the first book than there’s definitely a lot of fun waiting for us in the future 😀
I had rocket high expectations for Illuminae but not a whole lot for Gemina due to all the mixed reviews. Let’s see how that goes for all of us.
Epiphany Jones sounds awesome! But yeah, that is one creepy cover haha.
Eeeee for Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil!
LOL I definitely plan on ignoring Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the rest of my life.
I so need to get to Time Salvager!
I’ll see how you guys like Hex then pick it up. I think it was on sale on Kindle last month but I was really unsure about buying it even then. =P
I’m just really counting on those low expectations to rescue me again. xD
Have you read Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil yet? It feels weird to have an unread Melina Marchetta novel.
The spoilers I’ve heard for Cursed Child are so ridiculous.
I think the elibrary has both the Time Salvager books now!
Lol, maybe we’ll get to Hex by next Halloween. xD
No, I haven’t and I’m really nervous about it. I have yet to read Looking for Alibrandi, too. She takes so long to write books that I’m not in a hurry to run out of them yet. =P
LOL the spoilers Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are out of this world ridiculous. I’m hoping it won’t end up spoiling Harry Potter for you!
Ooh, time to get serious about Time Salvager books now haha.
I’m glad I still haven’t seen a single Cursed Child spoiler and also my expectations aren’t very high, so what can possibly go wrong? XD
I got Looking for Alibrandi from a used bookstore when I was in Australia years ago, but I’m not 100% sure I read it. I *think* I did, though. I had no idea who Melina Marchetta was at the time, obviously.
How have you not seen ANY spoilers, Sebastian? oO
Illuminae has been sitting on my TBR forEVER – mixed reviews have made me extremely hesitant to pick it up :/
This is the first time I’m hearing of Epiphany Jones, and I am really intrigued by it. May just pick it up solely for the fact that Epiphany Jones is a wonderful name.
Thanks for stopping by So We Read This Book!
„Illuminae“ was really amazing, if you’re okay with the concept of the narration (documents, reports, files, chat protocols etc.) then you should definitely give it a try 😉
Right? I don’t think I’ve ever heard the name Epiphany before and I hope the character can live up to the name 😀
Thanks for visiting us in return 😉
Oh I actually cannot WAIT to hear your thoughts about Cursed Child. I have like zero intentions to read it but, well, I might be convinced. ? (Says she who’s read all the spoiler reviews so far, whoops. But I was curious!) And I’m the same as you both with Gemina! I’m a little worried it can’t possibly live up to Gemina though?!? But we can hope.?
Good luck with the immense TBRs this year, you two!!
You could read it, or we could just discuss all the spoilers. xD (No time for bad books, remember?! ;P)
Are you listening to the audiobook of Gemina before reading it? I really hope we love it!
Thanks!
I’m definitely a bit worried about „Gemina“ but I’ve already lowered my expectations a bit after all these mixed reviews and hope I can still enjoy it 🙂
I enjoyed Cursed Child more than most bloggers, but I tried to approach it as something a little extra, but one that I could totally cast aside and not include in my make-believe theories about the future of the HP characters. It definitely has issues and I don’t agree with the plausibility of much of what’s in it, but it is still a really fun read and I bet a stellar play.
That’s totally how I see the Cursed Child, for me it’s more like a bonus novella and I’m not taking it very seriously, but I’m just too curious about it to completely ignore it 😀
If I do end up reading it, that’s definitely how I’ll have to look at it. I would rather see it as a play, I think, but I have no idea when that will ever happen. xD
I’ve not read any of these either – they look like y’all could have some fun discussions about them! Wolf Road and Hex didn’t make my TTT but both are pretty high on my TBR. And someday I’ll get to Harry Potter and The Cursed Child – I’m of mixed feelings about it but I think it would make a great buddy read!
I’m definitely not expecting a lot from „The Cursed Child“ but I would still be a bit disappointed if it’s no fun at all.
I have really high expectations for both „The Wolf Road“ and „Hex“ and it would be a shame if they couldn’t live up to their pretty covers 😀
I agree, I think The Cursed Child will be more fun as a buddy read. At least that way we can laugh and gasp in shock and roll our eyes together, haha.
Considering you thought II REMEMBER YOU was scary, you should definitely not read HEX during the night Maraia LOL
Fingers crossed for you two to like Gemina. I’m still sad I didn’t enjoy it.
I will be SO disappointed if „Hex“ is not creepy and you definitely picked the wrong season for „I Remember You“ 😛
Just read HEX soon so you know what an actual creepy book is like XD
Hey, I Remember You didn’t actually give me nightmares or anything. It just made me a bit jumpy for one night. xD
HEX didn’t do that to me either but it’s definitely on another level
Gemina is an awesome sequel – I hope you enjoy it!
Lauren @ Always Me