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!
This week’s theme is ‘Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019’, so I’m going to be talking about the books published from January-June 2019 that I’m really excited for.
Last year I went pretty crazy and listed a whole bunch of books that had me interested, but this year I’ve decided to make a short list of the books that I’m genuinely interested in pre-ordering and reading as soon as I can get my hands on them. So, without further ado, here are my top ten!
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James: I have been waiting for this book for years. Throughout 2018 I got back into fantasy and I kept talking about how much I wanted to read more African and Asian-inspired fantasy. This African-inspired fantasy is the first in a trilogy, I believe, and it sounds so dark and cool and I am so excited for it.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: This book is a beast. It’s huge. And it sounds amazing. I haven’t read anything by Samantha Shannon, but I love the sound of this fantasy novel.
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo: You all know that I fell head-over-heels in love with Six of Crows in 2018, so naturally I cannot wait for Bardugo’s new duology – especially as one of the characters from Six of Crows is set to make an appearance!
Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett: I’m always hearing praise for Tor novellas, and I have a few, yet I never pick them up, but I’ve already pre-ordered a copy of this one due out in March. I don’t know The Tempest very well compared to some of Shakespeare’s other plays, but I love the sound of this one set after the events of The Tempest which follows Miranda at her father’s Milanese castle. It involves dark magic and, I believe, an LGBT+ relationship and it’s set in Italy, so I’m here for it!
The Furies by Katie Lowe: This debut features a girl’s boarding school, a clique and hints of witchcraft. I don’t need to know anything else to want to read it.
Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers: I really enjoyed the His Fair Assassin series, so I was very excited to hear that LaFevers is returning to this world and that she’s returning to Sybella and Beast who were my favourites.
The Familiars by Stacey Halls: Historical fiction about witches is one of my weaknesses, and this novel takes place during the Pendle Witch Trials. The Pendle Witch Trials are particularly special to me, as strange as that may sound, because I went to uni in Lancaster and loved it, and this meant I got to learn a lot about this dark part of Lancashire’s history because the ‘witches’ were kept prisoner in Lancaster Castle.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite: This black comedy set in Nigeria sounds right up my street. It’s not quite anticipated now because it was released on 3 January, but it’s still an early 2019 release and I didn’t want to leave it off my list!
The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe: More witches! I really enjoyed The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and ever since I found out Howe was working on another book with these characters I’ve been so excited for it. The blurb makes me a bit nervous because it doesn’t sound all that different to the first book, but I’m hoping to enjoy it.
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins: This is Collins’ debut novel and I’ve been keen to check it out ever since I heard it described as a Gothic novel with poc written back into it. I believe Collins wrote this novel because she loves Gothic novels, but she wanted to see a Gothic novel with a heroine who looked more like her at its centre. It sounds brilliant and that cover is gorgeous. I actually have a copy to review from NetGalley, so I may have already read this one by the time you see this list…
Jessticulates 
So many good books coming out in 2019, but I’m excited most of all about King of Scars, because Nikolai and Nina are two of my favorite characters ever 🙂
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I need to read the His Fair Assassin series first, but Courting Darkness looks good! The Familiars sounds quite good, I think I’d enjoy that one too! And Priory… honestly it is so scary long that I will just take everyone else’s word for it 😂
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I’m curious about Courting Darkness too, it sounds so good!
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I’m really looking forward to Temperance Hobbs! It’s been so long since I read Deliverance Dane though… probably a re-read is in order before I read the new book.
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Thanks for introducing me to Black Leopard, Red Wolf – I’m adding it to my tbr!
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I really like the sound of these books! I hope you love them.
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I love the sound of The Priory! I might have to get that one too…
Courting Darkness has my attention as well. 🙂
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Priory and King of Scars were both on my list this week too!
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Miranda in Milan and My Sister the Serial Killer both sound really good!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
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Oh, Tor novellas are fantastic. I hope you like Miranda in Milan.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by earlier.
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Thanks, I hope so too! I’ll have to check out some more Tor novellas this year, I think. 🙂
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I have yet to read Six of Crows but having a spin-off series of books that overlap with those characters must be so exciting! I hope you love it 🙂
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Thank you! 😀
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I’ve never heard of THE FURIES, but now I really want to read it!! Witches + boarding school is definitely a YES!!
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It sounds good, doesn’t it? 😀
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You make “The Priory of the Orange Tree” sound so interesting. I might just have to read it!
This is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
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Thanks, it sounds so good!
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Priory, King of Scars, and Courting Darkness are some of my more anticipated books to read in the coming months too, but My Sister the Serial Killer sounds intriguing too! I haven’t heard of that one, so I’ll have to look it up on Netgalley. Great post Jess! 🙂
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I’m hoping to read My Sister, the Serial Killer really soon – it sounds so fun! 😀
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I looked it up on Goodreads and sounds really interesting!
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Awesome list! I haven’t heard of Miranda in Milan but I’m definitely adding it to my list!
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It looks really interesting and I do like novellas – I hope you enjoy it!
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Oh I hadn’t heard of a ton of these and I’m instantly interested in The Furies and The Familiars (LOVE witchy stories). This week’s TTT is killing my tbr and Im not even sad. 😂
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The Familiars has the potential to be absolutely heartbreaking! I recommend looking up the Pendle Witch Trials if you don’t know anything about them – ten people were executed based on the testimony of a nine year old.
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