Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This week’s theme is ‘Books I Hope I Find Under My Christmas Tree This Morning’, and I hope you all got what you asked for this year. For those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you’re still having a wonderful, bookish day!

I’ve been very good this year and only asked my parents, who are usually the ones I turn to with the books on my wishlist, for four books. That’s still a lot of books and I don’t expect them to get me all of them at all, but I always like to give them a selection of books I’d really like to add to my ever-growing shelves.

Akata Witch
by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a “free agent” with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.

Soon she’s part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But just as she’s finding her footing, Sunny and her friends are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a career criminal who knows magic, too. Will their training be enough to help them against a threat whose powers greatly outnumber theirs?

I’ve been meaning to read Akata Witch for years, and then this gorgeous new edition was released last year. A lot of you will know that I rediscovered my love for fantasy in 2018 and I’m keen to read more African and Asian-inspired fantasy, so I’d love to read this one soon.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World
by Steve Brusatte

Sixty-six million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a hugely ambitious and engrossing story of how dinosaurs rose to dominate the planet, written by one of the world’s leading palaeontologists. Using fossil clues that have been with state-of-the-art technology, Steve Brusatte traces these magnificent creatures from the Triassic period at the start of their evolution, through the Jurassic period, to their final catastrophic days in the Cretaceous and the legacy that they left behind.

Along the way, Brusatte introduces a cast of new dinosaur hunters and gives an insight into what being a palaeontologist is really like. He offers thrilling accounts of some of the most remarkable discoveries he has made, including primitive, human-size tyrannosaurs, monstrous carnivores even larger than a T. rex and feathered raptor dinosaurs from China buried in volcanic ash. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 200,000 years and we are already talking about planetary extinction, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures who ruled the earth before us.

When I was little, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. If I’d ended up being more scientifically minded than I am, I don’t think it would have surprised anyone if I went into palaeontology, and yet as an adult I haven’t read a single non-fiction book about dinosaurs. What’s all that about? I’ve seen great reviews of this one, though!

Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo

A glorious Collector’s Edition of New York Times bestselling, epic fantasy novel, SIX OF CROWS. Beautifully designed, with an exclusive letter from the author and six stunning full-colour character portraits. This covetable hardback with red sprayed edges is a perfect gift for fans, and a perfect way to discover the unforgettable writing of Leigh Bardugo.

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist: break into the Ice Court – a military stronghold that has never been breached – and retrieve a hostage whose knowledge could change Grisha magic forever. To succeed would mean rich beyond his wildest dreams – but he can’t pull it off alone . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Together they might just be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

You all know that I fell in love with Six of Crows this year, it immediately became one of my all-time favourite books, so how could I say no to this collector’s edition?

The Brilliant Death
by Amy Rose Capetta

For Teodora DiSangro, a mafia don’s daughter, family is fate.

All her life, Teodora has hidden the fact that she secretly turns her family’s enemies into music boxes, mirrors, and other decorative objects. After all, everyone in Vinalia knows that stregas—wielders of magic—are figures out of fairytales. Nobody believes they’re real.

Then the Capo, the land’s new ruler, sends poisoned letters to the heads of the Five Families that have long controlled Vinalia. Four lie dead and Teo’s beloved father is gravely ill. To save him, Teo must travel to the capital as a DiSangro son—not merely disguised as a boy, but transformed into one.

Enter Cielo, a strega who can switch back and forth between male and female as effortlessly as turning a page in a book. Teo and Cielo journey together to the capital, and Teo struggles to master her powers and to keep her growing feelings for Cielo locked in her heart. As she falls in love with witty, irascible Cielo, Teo realizes how much of life she’s missed by hiding her true nature. But she can’t forget her mission, and the closer they get to the palace, the more sinister secrets they uncover about what’s really going on in their beloved country—and the more determined Teo becomes to save her family at any cost.

Yet more fantasy, and this time Italian-inspired fantasy with an LGBT+ romance at its centre. I love reading LGBT+ romance and I love Italy, so this sounds like the kind of book I’ll love.

I hope you have a fantastic day, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, and if you do celebrate Christmas I’d love to know what you found under your tree this morning!