Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.
This Week’s Theme:
Top Ten Anticipated Releases
For The Rest of 2015
Initial Thoughts:
Hello all you kind readers of the world, welcome back to another week of me filling you in on what has my brains churning to be TBR’d. I have also provided you some (or all) of their blurby excerpts for the sole purpose of skewing your TBR piles (because I’m a jerk like that). All images link back to their respective Goodreads.
Hello, I Love You – Katie Stout (6/9/15)
Okay. So this one is actually released today and I’m actually pretty tempted to validate my feels to liking the negative reviews laden everywhere on Goodreads and picking up a copy this weekend (if I can find it). It is essentially a nightmare that I felt coming. You know what’s going to happen though? I’m going to read it and then yolo purchase tickets to the Big Bang concert when they visit Toronto just to fill the kpop void. (Yes, I’m slightly negative towards a book I have yet to read so who knows what will happen…)
Grace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who’s topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother’s breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start.
She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie’s twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can’t stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can’t deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol.
Ten Thousand Skies Above You – Claudia Gray (11/3/15)
Wtf? Seriously…I need to stalk who makes these book covers for MAKING ME TBR THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF THE COVER (I HAVEN’T EVEN READ THE FIRST ONE WHAT THE HECK?).
Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents’ invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions. Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul.
Illuminae – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (10/20/15)
This sounds so rad. I do have judgments regarding the protagonist’s skills in hacking (it’s just so convenient, yes?) but I can defer to that after (whenever?) I read this. But that cover tho…
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded. The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here – Patrick Ness (8/27/15)
OF COURSE. (Should I place a preorder for the UK version? Ahhh. I have decided though I think I like the UK cover over the NA glow-in-the-dark version…maybe).
What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.
Dreamstrider – Lindsay Smith (10/6/15)
YA Inception vibes, sort of. (Which is perhaps among my favourite movies of all time…)
Livia is a dreamstrider. She can inhabit a subject’s body while they are sleeping and, for a short time, move around in their skin. She uses her talent to work as a spy for the Barstadt Empire. But her partner, Brandt, has lately become distant, and when Marez comes to join their team from a neighborhing kingdom, he offers Livia the option of a life she had never dared to imagine. Livia knows of no other dreamstriders who have survived the pull of Nightmare. So only she understands the stakes when a plot against the Empire emerges that threatens to consume both the dreaming world and the waking one with misery and rage.
Mechanica – Betsy Cornwall (8/4/15)
So the premise seems inspiring and though I haven’t read Cinder—it does feel different than Cinder (although I can’t be sure). But it is still a Cinderella retelling.
Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.
But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.
The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin (8/4/15)
Holla. I can join in on the Jemisin funsies as I haven’t read her Inheritance series but this one is surely up my alley as well (and perhaps more accessible than a trilogy). I have also come to accept that I love it when our world explodes in fiction.
This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Dreamland – Robert L. Anderson (9/22/15)
Oooookay: aside from the “new boy changes girl thing” (which I shall just say: OF COURSE….) I do enjoy anything that seems to juxtapose reality and otherworldly. Plus. Dat cover is reminiscent of a lot of things I enjoy about covers.
Odea Donahue has been able to travel through people’s dreams since she was six years old. Her mother taught her the three rules of walking: Never interfere. Never be seen. Never walk the same person’s dream more than once. Dea has never questioned her mother, not about the rules, not about the clocks or the mirrors, not about moving from place to place to be one step ahead of the unseen monsters that Dea’s mother is certain are right behind them.
Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she’s had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that’s so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what’s real and what’s not?
I Crawl Through It – A.S. King (9/22/15)
I will just let the blurb do the rest of my explanation:
Four talented teenagers are traumatized-coping with grief, surviving date rape, facing the anxiety of standardized tests and the neglect of self-absorbed adults–and they’ll do anything to escape the pressure. They’ll even build an invisible helicopter, to fly far away to a place where everyone will understand them… until they learn the only way to escape reality is to face it head-on.
Zeroes – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti (9/29/15)
This book feels very…me.
Ethan, aka “Scam,” has a way with words. When he opens his mouth, whatever he wants you to hear comes out. But Ethan isn’t just a smooth talker. He has a unique ability to say things he doesn’t consciously even know. Sometimes the voice helps, but sometimes it hurts – like now, when the voice has lied and has landed Ethan in a massive mess. So now Ethan needs help. And he needs to go to the last people who would ever want to help him – his former group of friends, the self-named “zeros” who also all possess similarly double-edged abilities, and who are all angry at Ethan for their own respective reasons. Brought back together by Scam’s latest mischief, they find themselves entangled in an epic, whirlwind adventure packed with as much interpersonal drama as mind-bending action.
Afterthoughts:
And in true Joey fashion, I will likely find time to read only one of these (and I’m sure you know who that one will be LOL).
What seems to have your attention this second half of 2015? Let me know or leave a link to your list below!
Cheers,
Joey
connect: afterthoughtAn // twitter | anotherafterthought // goodreads
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
How did I forget Ten Thousand Skies Above You on my list?! I loved book one (Go check it out ASAP). Mechanica looks like I book I need too….hmmm…today’s topic is not good for my bank account 😉
Here’s my TTT.
LikeLike
Ha, none of these lists are ever good for our banks!
LikeLike
I LOVE the cover of Ten Thousand Skies! I read the first book because of the gorgeous cover haha
It seems like I’m on a Patrick Ness slump. As much as I absolutely love Chaos Walking and A Monster Calls, I really wasn’t a fan of The Rest of Us and Crane Wife, both of which I read both this past month.
– Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider silk
LikeLike
The second cover is even better than the first one…I think?!
I’ve heard a lot of readers didn’t enjoy The Crane Wife. That’s a book for sure I’ve read more negatives than positives for. Can’t say much about The Rest of Us–it’s still pretty new-ish.
LikeLike
Just the title and cover of the first book you listed had me like no way is this a Joey book. LOL.
Gotta admit the covers for those Claudia Gray books are spectacular.
Cinderella retelling? You have me intrigued!
LikeLike
Korean pop music and dramas were a large part of my life, I admit. So yes, it is a contemporary romance but some things you just gotta see for yourself how it’s represented in text form.
I feel like whoever designed those Claudia Gray covers has like an real life gallery of their works somewhere and it’s amazeballs. I wouldn’t even normally go to art galleries but I’d make an exception for this…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried to see Patrick Ness at BEA, but it was not meant to be. I did go to the A.S. King signing and grabbed her book. Illuminae and Zeroes looks really good!
LikeLike
Oh no–was it a scheduling thing? At least you still got to see other authors so it’s not a complete loss (compared to everyone else who are on the outside looking in haha).
LikeLike
I’m guilty of buying A Thousand Pieces of You, because I loved the cover so much. I haven’t read it yet, but I definitely plan to buy Ten Thousand Skies Above You….these covers though! They are amazing!
I can’t wait for Zeroes and Dreamland too! They both sound totally awesome and I need them…and again, covers. I’m totally guilty of buying books because of the cover. I’ll get e-books if it’s a book I want to read, but I don’t like the cover so much. lol.
I Crawl Through It sounds interesting. 🙂
LikeLike
HAHA. Don’t worry, I’ve also gone as far as walked out with a book unaware that I actually wanted it that much. It just happens, sometimes, you know?
I’m definitely not tired of saying that these upcoming seasons have wonderful releases that I’d probably enjoy. Authors gotta stop jumping outta no where with their scare tactics–my wallet isn’t pleased 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
My wallet is definitely not happy either. I’m pretty sure that is why I am so behind on important stuff that my money should be going to, haha.
LikeLike
I NEEDDDD Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
LikeLike
I had to search this up! But then I read:
“I’m the daughter of murdered parents. I’m the friend of a dead girl.
I’m the lover of my enemy. And I will have my revenge.”
and I’m like thinking “oh damn, shit’s about to happen!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly!
LikeLike
Exactly.
LikeLike
I added almost all of these to my TBR, I’d heard of a couple and can’t believe I forgot them in my own list. I agree the cover of Ten Thousand Skies Above You is amazing and I’m very curious about it.
LikeLike
I hear ya, this week wasn’t a good week for my TBR pile either!
LikeLike
Great list! I can’t wait for Hello, I Love You. It sounds like such a cute read. Illuminae sounds really excellent also.
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
LikeLike
I just hope I don’t bring in all of the negative comments I’ve read about pertaining to Hello, I Love You if/when I do read it haha.
LikeLike
I have Ness’s as well! (Don’t I just make you proud?) And I understand the A Thousand thingy. THOSE COVERS. I Crawl Through it sounds intense and both Dream Strider and Dreamland are intriguing. MechanicaDOES remind me of Cinder (tho I, too, haven’t read it).
PS. Are you a Scam?
LikeLike
Yes, I am a Scam. It’s all been a lie.
And yes, of course I am proud that you’re wanting to dabble into more of his works :)!
LikeLike
There’s a glow in the dark version of The Rest of Us Just Live Here? I want! And I agree, Dreamstrider does have that Inception feel to it and now I want it even more.
LikeLike
The glow in the dark version for The Rest of Us is the “NA” cover buuuut I still think I’d enjoy the UK version haha.
You definitely can’t go wrong with anything that’s remotely similar to Inception. I wonder if my brain will hurt (in the best way possible) after reading Dreamstrider though! (I’m kind of hoping it does…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great list of books – I’ve just seen the Ness book on another list and wasn’t aware of that one so it’s nice to know.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
This just means that these lists are doing their job in expanding everyone’s TBR!
LikeLike
Great list! We only have one in common on today’s TTT list, but there are four more of yours that are on my actual to-read list. 🙂 Zeroes especially sounds like just my kind of story.
And I completely agree with you on the cover for Ten Thousand Skies Above You. Just gorgeous, and #1 was on my list for pretty much the same reason. So pretty.
LikeLike
I’m sure if we were to list our “actual” rest of year anticipations it’d break 50 haha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, I forgot about the upcoming A.S. King! Several of these are in my want list, especially Mechanica, Dream Strider and Hello I Love You (somehow despite really disliking KPop, I find myself drawn to that book.)
LikeLike
Haha, that’s a new one! I feel like 95% of everyone else who TBR’d it are avid kpop listeners.
LikeLike
Great list, but two lolz – what is with #1. Is that a romance contemp? The cover screams romance contemp. Have me and Brandie finally gotten to you?? I think so. For your Ness pick, you say you want the UK cover over the NA cover. The NA cover, J! Not US. Is that a typo?! You love NA, admit it! 😉 R x
LikeLike
Indeed Hello, I Love You is contemporary romance. I can be a softie at heart. It’s just most books just bring out the inner rage because of obvious reasons of questionable writing.
And I say NA instead of US covers because if I say US then I’m basically admitting that Canada doesn’t exist…and I can’t do that to my motherland ❤
LikeLike
Ahh. I didn’t know you were referring to Canada by saying NA. Haha – I’m a UK person and don’t know of this abbreviation type thing. I thought NA meant New Adult in this context and that it was all up in your subconscious! R x
LikeLike
Dreamland and I Crawl Through It certainly look like great picks.
LikeLike
Right? Excited to hopefully get into those reads!
LikeLike
Oh my gosh, so I’ve been reading Hello, I Love You for the past week and I am having a very hard time getting through it. THERE IS NO REAL K-POP, JOEY. So read it if you really must.
But, I do approve of your thoughts about going to BB’s concert! 😀
LikeLike
Yeah, that’s what I hear too… it’s kind of devastating.
Tickets are mad expensive. Friend bought 4 for $800 CAD skyward. BANANAS!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so excited for The Rest of Us Just Live Here! I think I’m just going to buy both covers because they are so fricken beautiful. Seeing the sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You reminds me that I need to read it! Gahh! I am so behind.
I was really looking forward to Hello, I Love You but after seeing so many negative reviews from people I trust, I decided to stay away. Also Illumine sounds awesome! I’ve seen the ARC’s for this and it looks so beautiful!
LikeLike
I’m sure I’d so the same but I’ll probably but one now and one later when it’s discounted just for collection purposes.
I’m the opposite–all the negative reviews (in some weird way) fuel my need to read it because it’s pegged as kpop-ish related haha.
I’m so jelly that I can’t request the ARC of Illuminae over on NetGalley. Damn US rights!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m probably going to pick up a copy of Hello, I love you tomorrow. I just can’t wait any longer!!!
Super awesome list!!!
LikeLike
DID YOU END UP GETTING IT?!?!
LikeLike
YASSSSS!!!! But I haven’t started it yet ^_^v
LikeLike
*carries on flailing about Patrick Ness with you* Great list!
LikeLike
Bahaha yes–flailing is necessary!
LikeLike
Oh Mechanica sounds really interesting. It does sound different from Cinder.
LikeLike
I feel like Mechanica isn’t the only retelling of Cinderella to be released this year (or next). Or maybe there’s just a surge of fairy tale-ish books that has become a fad haha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m excited for almost every book on this list! Seems like we have very similar taste!
LikeLike
With so many awesome books getting released, I’m sure I could have swapped this list out for different choices and we’d have similar tastes then too!
LikeLike
The Rest of us Just Live Here sounds great! I love Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking series, and I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve never read anything else by him! I need to pick up some more of his books!
LikeLike
Everything else he’s written is standalone so they’d be easy to catch up on if you ever wanted to!
LikeLike
I just read A Monster Calls and loved it! I’ll be reviewing that soon.
LikeLike
Wonderful!
LikeLike
I KNEW The Rest of Us Just Live Here was going to be on your list. I’m kind of surprised it’s not at the top. It sounds incredible. I can’t wait for it. Illuminae and I Crawl Through It sound brilliant too! So many good ones to look forward to!
LikeLike
I feel like if I put it near the top every time people would stop reading immediately and sigh a “oh this book again” haha. The rest of this year really does sound wonderful for releases!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I picked up Illuminae at BEA after my friend insisted we HAD to have it. From the look, it’s a very unique book!
LikeLike
I’m super jealous (even though it looks like a huge book–600 pages?!) I wish territory rights didn’t restrict me from getting a copy over on NetGalley ahh woe is me.
LikeLike
It’s 599 pages. The ARC is in HARDCOVER. That never ever happens. It looks really unique too, told in a series of notes and files and such. I’ll let you know what I think about it when I delve in! Where do you live that you’re restricted by territory rights?
LikeLike
omg hardcover. even more beautiful :(!
I live in Canada. I’ve always been (or usually at least) rejected on NetGalley if it’s a region specific listing (i.e. typically US only or UK only)
LikeLike
Ahhh, gotcha.
LikeLike