Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is favourite 2016 releases so far, which is one of my favourite things to post about. I love recommending books and I’ve rated all of these either 4.5 or 5 stars. These are in no particular order and my full reviews are linked.
1. The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
This was my most recent 5 star reads. I absolutely loved everything about it. It’s a beautiful historical fiction novel set in the 1970s in Alaska, following four teens who are each dealing with personal struggles and how their stories collide. I’ll have a full review up on Thursday.
2. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Morgan Matson is one of my favourite authors. She’s an auto-buy author of mine because she writes the most beautiful and relatable summery contemporaries. The Unexpected Everything was amazing and I loved the characters soooo much!
3. Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
This was my first John Corey Whaley book and it didn’t disappoint. Featuring an agoraphobic and a wannabe psychologist, this book was moving, powerful and absolutely beautiful. The friendships and relationships in this book are GOALS.
4. Frankie by Shivaun Plozza
This debut novel absolutely blew my mind. Frankie was full of spunk, attitude and just screamed Melbourne and Australia to me. The novel made me laugh and cry and it was just such an experience.
5. A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty
This is the third and final book of Jaclyn Moriarty’s A Colour of Madeleine trilogy. It was mindblowingly good and wrapped up the series so beautifully. There were so many twists and turns and my heart was just beating out of my chest the entire time. If you want something magical and whimsical, this series will give you exactly that.
6. Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali
I love my WWII historical fiction and Max is the standout WWII novel that I’ve read this year. It’s translated from French and has such an interesting premise. It follows Max, a product of the Lebensborn program in Germany, from before he was born until the end of WWII. It was amazing and more people need to read this because it’s so underrated.
7. The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard
This book broke my heart and mended it at the same time. It was so beautifully written and had such wonderful relationships. The relationship between Alice and her brother, Joey, made me cry for ages during and after my read. It’s a must-read in my opinion.
8. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Another series finale, The Raven King is the fourth and final book of The Raven Cycle. It wasn’t everything that I expected it to be but what Maggie Stiefvater did give us was absolutely brilliant anyway. The characters are definitely the standout and I’ve enjoyed their journey immensely.
9. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
I loved this new Shadowhunters book so much!! It was an awesome start to a new series. It wasn’t quite as good as Clockwork Angel for me but I thought it was a superb first book with some really diverse and interesting characters.
10. The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis
Another amazing Aus YA book released this year. I really loved The Sidekicks, which is a story about three boys who are each dealing with grief in their own ways and what happens when they lean on each other.
These are just some of my favourite 2016 releases that I’ve read so far this year. I’m sure there will be many more amazing releases to come. What have been your favourite 2016 releases or 2016 reads?
I need to read Lady Midnight sometime this year. I adored Cassandra’s other series and I am looking forward to Lady Midnight.
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Lady Midnight was a great book! I devoured it in just a couple of sittings even though it’s a massive book! You’ll love it if you enjoyed her other books!
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I need to get to The Raven King like YESTERDAY. I can’t believe I still haven’t read it. I pre-ordered it, and it showed up on the DAY of the release, and it’s just been chilling on my shelf for 2 months. -.-
Lady Midnight was so good. I can’t believe I ended up enjoying it as much as I did. And I’ve seen that Morgan Matson book on EVERY list I’ve seen. I might need to order it. :3
– Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks
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Yes! You totally need to get The Unexpected Everything. It was such a great summery contemporary! And omg Aimal, you need to read The Raven King right now!!! It was such a good end to the series.
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Awesome list! I’m finishing off Blue Lily, Lily Blue now and I can’t wait to see how The Raven Cycle wraps up!
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I hope you enjoy the rest of BLLB. It was probably my favourite installment in the series.
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Reading “The Unexpected Everything” needs to be a summer 2016 priority. It looks like summer and I really enjoyed ‘Roger and Amy’ by Morgan, so I’m anxious to read another of her novels. 🙂
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Oooh if you enjoyed Amy and Roger, I think you’ll really like The Unexpected Everything too. It’s also super summery and has a super swoony love interest 😉
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I absolutely adored Highly Illogical Behaviour! 🙂 Such a good book!
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Yay! Nice to see that you feel the same way!
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Oh The Smell of Other People’s Houses sound so good from the way you just described it, I’ll be looking forward to your review! 😀
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Omg Marie, I loved it so much! My review does not do it justice haha
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I am sure you’ll make me want to buy it right away anyway. I CAN’T wait.
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SO many of those books are on my TBR, so I feel reassured by seeing them on your list 😀 The only one I have actually read so far is Lady Midnight hahaha
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Lady Midnight is a great one to have read though. I was kind of surprised by how much I enjoyed it because I didn’t really like Emma and Julian in City of Heavenly Fire.
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I think I couldn’t yet form an opinion on Emma and Julian back then. Also, they were still so much younger!
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I thought Emma was kind of bratty back then. I found her much more likeable in Lady Midnight.
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🙂 She turned into such a badass young woman!
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OOOOOH! The Smell of Other People’s Houses is so high up my TBR I can’t wait to get it. It looks SO SO pretty too!
AMAZING list and I hope you have a great week.
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I know, how great is the cover?!!! The story and its characters are also equally beautiful though. I hope you can pick it up soon!
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Last month I finally read Blue Lily, Lily Blue, so I should probably read The Raven King soon while the series is still fresh in my mind. I’ve heard awesome things about it, so fingers crossed that it lives up to my expectations!
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The Raven King definitely didn’t disappoint for me! There were some things that could have been developed a little bit more but overall I really enjoyed it as a series finale. Hope you love it too!
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I haven’t read any of these! I have been hearing the best things about ‘The Smell of Other People’s Houses’ though.
Stacy Renee @ Lazy Day Literature
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Omg it was soooo good. I highly recommend it! It’s one of my all-time favourites now ❤
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Yes for Highly Illogical Behaviour! I loved that book — it was also my first John Corey Whaley, but I thought it was very well-written, funny, and so full of heart. It absolutely blew me away with how enjoyable and heart-warming it is. ❤
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Totally agree with everything you just said. It made me want to read some of his other stuff so I picked up Where Things Come Back last week when I was at Dymocks!
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Oooh, have you picked it up yet? I’m thinking of picking up that book too, as well as Noggin’. Nogging? I can’t remember what the other book is called. 😂
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The Smell of Other People’s Houses was SO GOOD – I am happy to see it on quite few lists this week because I feel like it hasn’t gotten the kind of buzz it deserves within the blogosphere.
The Unexpected Everything was also pretty much perfection 🙂
Thanks for sharing these and HAPPY READING! 🙂
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I totally agree! The Smell of Other People’s Houses is so underrated! It needs so much more love because the story and the characters are absolutely wonderful! Not to mention the exquisite writing too!
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Great list. I found The Unexpected everything in many lists. And Smell of Other People’s houses is too intriguing a title, right? Hehe. It makes me laugh
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Haha I agree. The Smell of Other People’s Houses is a great title! And it ties into the story as well, which is quite impressive 😀
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I finally just bought The Raven King. Seeing it on your list makes me want to pick it up right away. I’m so happy it made your top releases so far. 🙂
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It was definitely a fantastic end to the series! I can’t believe the series is over now! I need more Blue and Gansey in my life!
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SO MUCH LOVE for the Unexpected Everything! It was fantastic and made it on my list as well! I STILL haven’t read The Raven King by some incredible force of will (I just don’t want the series to end). I will definitely have to check out The Colors of Madeline series; it sounds so good!
-Monica @ Tomes Project
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I can’t believe The Raven Cycle is over now! I need more Blue and Gansey in my life!!! It doesn’t feel like it’s over T_T. I absolutely love The Colours of Madeleine series and everything else that Jaclyn Moriarty has written! She just has the most creative ideas and really wonderful characters.
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I loved The Raven King! I was expecting a little more out of the ending but overall I thought it was a great conclusion! Also I loved Lady Midnight!! I agree, I didn’t like it as much as TID but it was definitely a great start to a new series! Great list 😀
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TID is a bit hard to top but I thought Lady Midnight was wonderful as a series starter. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would since I didn’t really like Emma and Julian when we met them in City of Heavenly Fire. They turned out to be wonderful characters and I love their relationship so much!
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I have been on a huge history kick this year so Max is an automatic add to my list of must reads. 2016 has definitely been a good year for books and it’s so hard to keep track of them all. My favourite 2016 release has to be A Gathering of Shadows and The Raven King. I still can’t quite accept that we’ve reached the end of The Raven Cycle. I need more.
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Max is just the most wonderful WWII historical fiction novel. It’s so unique and Max’s voice is so distinctive! I loved it so much ❤ I still really need to read A Gathering of Shadows. I brought it with me when I travelled to Florida in May but I didn't get a chance to read it. I'll definitely try to get to it in July!
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So many people have mentioned The Unexpected Everything and The Raven King as two of their favorite books of the year so far, so I’m definitely going to have to pick them up and see what all the hype is about. 😉 Thanks for sharing Jenna and, as always, fabulous choices! ❤
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Those two books are definitely worthy of the hype! The Unexpected Everything is just the perfect contemporary and the romance in it is so adorable!! As are all the dogs in the book ❤ I hope you give them a go and love them as much as I do, Zoe!
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This is the second time I’ve heard of Max, and I really need to read it. The premise is really unique, and of course, I read all WWII books 🙂
Awesome list Jenna!
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Hehehe I have no doubt that you will enjoy Max! Just read the first page and report back to me 😉
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Yup these ones definitely don’t surprise me at all! I will have to pick up Frankie soon. I’m glad there’s a good mix of Ausya reads in here too! The Unexpected Everything would be one of mine too.
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Shivaun Plozza is actually going to be the guest at the next YABookmeet so I’ll probably reread Frankie before then. Buddy read? 😀
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