Top 5 Reads So far this year! (Till Sept 2019)

Just like last year,I am going to do my five best reads till Sept ( see last year post here). 

Overall 2019 has been an okay year for me in terms of reading. I have read 51 books so far with lots of 4 stars but not many favorites. Still, I am going to discuss few books which genuinely touched my heart and mind....So here we go! (These are in no particular order)

WARBREAKER BY BRANDON SANDERSON -  If you love fantasy but do not want to commit to a big series, I will definitely suggest you to pick this one up. Great choice if you want some great characters with unique magic system and world building
Full Review here

GHOSTED BY JM DARHOWER - 'Ghosted' is a beautiful and emotional story of second chance in love, simultaneously dealing with some in depth talk of self love and parental love. Usually that kind of premise is either a hit or miss for me, but something about the way characters were written in this one (flawed yet likable) and their relationship, made this book memorable and heart touching for me.
Full Review here

HOW TO BE A NORMAL PERSON BY TJ KLUNE - TJ Klune is a hit or miss author me and with this series he was a massive hit! I especially loved this first book. Don't think I ever have that much fun reading from a character perspective as I had while reading from Gus's.If you love funny contemporary gay romance with awesome characters, this is one book for you. 
Full Review here

SEVEN AND HALF DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE - This has to be the most engaging book I have read this year. So while I am really not a very big reader of mystery thriller genre, I do sometimes come across the books with interesting premise that makes me excited to read them - 'The seven and half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' was one of them and I, not in the least was disappointed by the execution.This book has such an interesting plot and subplots within it, that I was completely hooked
Full Review here

PURE RAPTURE BY AJA JAMES - Pure/ Dark Ones is one series i started randomly with Pure healing and it gets better as it is progressing. 'Pure Rapture' is the fifth book in this series and have my favourite couple so far. Absolutely loved Tal and Ishtar, though Tal is going to be my all time favourite character in this series! Need to continue this series, but will probably reread this for the refresher first!

So, that's it for my top five list but I am really hoping to read few more good books and add them in my favourite list by the end of this year.

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Nostalgic Reread - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book #3)

Prisoner of Azkaban follows Harry's third year in Hogwarts. Things gets complicated for Harry, when a murderer named Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and everyone from Ministers of Magic to his Hogwarts professors tries to protect him from Black. He also faces his most terrifying fear in the form of Dementors, and gets a protector in the form of his new Defense against dark arts teacher. But when he gets the truth regarding the prisoner and his parents's death , he do not know whom to trust and what to believe.

Prisoner of Azkaban is a brilliant treat for all fantasy lovers who loves friendship,magic,adventure and awesome Hogwarts!

This was my second last read of December 2018 and a perfect read on Christmas holiday. This was also my favourite book out of all books growing up but I am pretty sure my ranking will be different this time. Still it was as fabulous as expected! Everything was so nostalgic and I realized this is basically the last less serious book in the series. After that, from 'Goblet of Fire',our characters are going to be grown ups taking up much serious and darker tone in the series. But yeah... this one was the most holiday and winter feel book for me out of all. Be it the way they spend their holidays and their first visit to Hogsmede. Perfect is the only way to describe it. Soon after finishing it I re watched the whole movie to complete the experience... Heaven! 😇😇

No Doubt... Full 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars from me!

Get it on AMAZON!

AMAZON India

AMAZON UK

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BOOK REVIEW | The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (AKA Sarah Monette)

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life.

MY THOUGHTS

This is one of those few books I coincidentally picked on my own while scrolling through Goodreads. 

And DAMN..... Did I Love This Book?

No..... I completely ADORED it!! 

Story follows our main character, Maia, who at the mere age of eighteen, unexpectedly finds himself taking over his father's throne under some unfortunate circumstances. As he has lived his whole life completely isolated from everyone, so when he finds himself becoming the emperor of elflands, he is not only alone and in danger, but also completely unprepared to deal with his new life among his skeptical courtiers and advisers. The rest of the book deals with his life at the court and how he tackles every obstacle along the way.

The Goblin Emperor is a complete character driven book but however little it is, the whole world building by Katherine Addison AKA Sarah Monette feels so whimsical and unique. I loved her writing, it was great but I did find it difficult to remember the names, places and different fictional words (Thank God we had Glossary for this in the book)

 I simply loved Maia as our MC, we initially see him from being a lonely innocent boy abused by the hand of his cousin to becoming the Emperor worthy of bearing the weight of whole empire on his shoulder. He is half goblin and half elf so he faces a lot of criticism due to his dark colour and different behaviour. You can feel for him and completely empathize with him as he struggles to learn about his court structure and the people in it. He is naive and innocent but mind you, not stupid. He is a great learner, determined and most importantly a kind hearted man, which makes him different from his predecessor. Watching him making his own path and choosing not to follow his father's example was my favourite thing in this whole book. This book was one fine example of character development done perfectly.

The other thing I loved about this book was Maia's  thinking and take on Women empowerment. I loved how he tries to understand his half sister's dream and ambition, which has never done by anyone else before. His insistence on building the bridges and understanding other's pain and thoughts before passing judgement is what made him a true leader. His dynamics with his personal staff (Csevet and his nohecharei) was awesome to read.

“Better to build new bridges, he thought, than to pine after what’s been washed away.” 

Overall, this is one book which gave me a new character to love. Great Protagonist,intricate political system and good characters (both good and bad), it has everything I Completely Loved!

We completely adored it! ;-))

Full ☆☆☆☆☆ Stars!

Get it on AMAZON!

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AMAZON UK

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Book Review | Blood Song (Raven's Shadow #1) by Anthony Ryan

SUMMARY

Blood Song follows 'Vaelin Al Sorna', as he is narrating his story to a historian of an enemy nation while travelling to face a duel that could be the last fight of his life. The whole story basically covers the narration of Vaelin's life and how he came into this situation. It starts when a ten year old Vaelin is abandoned by his father at the iron gate of the sixth order of the faith (faith is the dominant religion of the realm) to train as a brother of the order. The novice brothers of the sixth order are trained from childhood to be warriors to fight for the Faith and to defend Faithful. What follows next is an epic journey with the elements of school setting,training ,trials, brotherhood and the very main theme of the story.....WAR!!!

MY THOUGHTS

I really liked the whole setup and how it was crafted masterfully with engaging world and characters. Known to follow 'Kingkiller Chronicles' unique setup, which having not read yet, makes this first fantasy book with life story narration setup read for me and I completely loved it. Add the schooling/training aspect with interesting and engaging trials and I was completely hooked despite of my worst reading slump! Faith and religion was a very prominent part of this world and this society showed the intolerance among people for those who were not believers, which is a harsh reality of our society also.You can try to spread that belief , but you cannot condemn other person for not believing and following your path, which is the great moral and thing to understand. It was showed as a part of conflict in this world and I really would like to see it discussed further in the series.

This was one of the few fantasy books I have read where magic was not a very dominant part of the society. It is kind of taboo and unfamiliar to the world and that kind of made story even more exciting. All my favourite tropes grouped together created this awesome book!

I really liked 'Vaelin Al Sorna' as our main protagonist, even his life as a teenager did not bother me, which usually does when I am reading a YA book with all cliches I cannot stand, this gladly missed all that . Romance was a part of the story but not a big part which was a plus for me.

Writing was good and easy to read.There were lots of punctuation errors and this book could have done better with a proof reading. If you can ignore it, this can be an action packed- one - of the favourites kind of fantasy book for you guys too!

Blood Song really made me happy and eager to follow the second book 'Tower Lord'. I cannot wait for that one to pick!!

Full ☆☆☆☆☆ Stars!

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Get this Book on Amazon!

Blood Song - AMAZON UK

Blood Song - AMAZON India

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My Top 5 Reads So far this Year! (Till Sept 2018)

I have read around 56 books so far in the middle of september and while I have not read a favourite for last few months, I definitely have a couple of books to talk about as my favourites so far in 2018.
And guess what..all of them are either fantasy or mythology ( surprise!!! surprise!!...not).So here we go!!

BOOK NUMBER - 5

House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan -

After reading 'Mark of Athena' I did not think any other book in the series can top this. But I was wrong!! After the shocking cliffhanger of 'MoA', this book continues with our all heroes in the quest to defeat Gaea but.....SEPERATELY!.We see ourselves actually going through all horrendous experience in Tartarus along with Percy and Annabeth as if we are actually there. It was full of nervous anticipation for me. And the scene just before the ending literally WRECKED ME! I completely sobbed at that point.

It was Full of Action, Friendships and full of emotional wrecking moments for me. If you find first two book in the series slow and uninteresting. I would definitely recommend continuing with it and finish 3rd and 4th. Both were amazing but this one was my favourite among the all five books.

BOOK NUMBER - 4

Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta (you can also choose #2 and #3)

This is a brilliant high fantasy first book in the series, mostly about this kingdom (later queendom) called Lumatere and its neighbour countries in later books.This is a brilliant saga of a lost kingdom, its people separated due to a curse and how ten years later few people groups together to reclaim and rebuild what is lost.

The whole story of bringing people together in this book then seeing how its people picks their life together after 10 years of seperation and horror in the following books was great.This series went wayyy beyond my expectation.Its a highly recommended series from me.

BOOK NUMBER - 3

Captain's Fury ( Codex Alera #3) by Jim Butcher

This is the third book in six books high fantasy series called 'Codex Alera' with brilliant world building and fantastic magic system. It's a coming of age story of a boy name Tavi. Set in the world of Alera it is a masterpiece with lots of roman element in it. If you like elemental furies as magic powers and full in roman style battle and political intrigue. Pick this series for sure, you will not regret it.

BOOK NUMBER - 2

Magician: Master ( Riftwar Saga #2) by Raymond E Feist

This was a complete surprise to me. I read the 'Magician: Apprentice' , the first book in this series and really liked it, but I was not very hyped about the series. This book changed my opinion and made me hyped for rest books in these series.But mostly the characters were what made me loved this book and series as a whole.
Good thing is that it is a big universe with over 30 books under its belt so I will have a long reading experience with these characters , separately but present there never the less.

BOOK NUMBER - 1

King of Attolia (Queen's Thief #3) by Megan Whalen Turner

You can guess that I only loved Fantasy this year but...yeah..that's true.While I read all genres, fantasy genre is what grabs my attention the most!

This is my most beloved book of this year so far.I loved it and what made me love this book and series as whole was the characters, I loved them to pieces.The main queen's thief 'Eugendies' is my favourite character of all time.I love him!!

Very eagerly waiting for the final sixth book 'Return of the thief'. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

So that's it for my favourite reads so far. Will be updating this again by the end of this year!

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Book Read | Furies of Calderon - Book 1 of Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher

As part of my My TBR Plan discussed in previous post ,I picked this first book of a very well received yet little Underrated high fantasy six book series 'Codex Alera' by Jim Butcher 

Furies of Calderon

About Book -

This book takes place in a kind of old/falling Roman Empire named 'Alera' ruled by the First Lord 'Gaius Sextus' whose health is slowly declining and with no apparent heir to pass on the title,he is on the verge of possible attacks and conspiracies by many of his High Lords in the realm.
Just away from all these city nuisance is a valley called 'Calderon' which have different villages called steadholts and named after the owner of that village(stead).This first book is basically focus on Calderon Valley and the people in it.We follow four different perspectives,characters from both from Calderon and Alerian Imperial.

What I most like about it was the magic in this book.All people in Alera have the ability to craft and control elements called furies.Some people have one,some more than one and these furies can take shape of animals,images etc.Every Alerian after reaching an age of maturity gets fury except our protagonist 'Tavi' who at the age of fifteen, still not have achieved his fury. Furyless but Courageous and intelligent ,he makes up for the lack of craft magic with his wits and skill.I completely adored Tavi,he was my favourite among all other characters and I loved most of the characters in the book.It also had few despicable characters whom I wanted to smack so badly.

I loved Jim Butcher writing,it was good.My favourite part was the fury crafting and the world building.One third of the book was mainly about the war and battle and it completely blew my mind.

There were lots of questions and unanswered puzzles left by the end of he book which definitely will make the reader to rush towards the second book and I cannot wait to find out and read the next one 'Acedem's Fury' right away.

A ☆☆☆☆☆ Rated Book for me!

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Book Review | The Thief -Queen's Thief Series Book 1 By Megan Whalen Turner

Book Summary 

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skilful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. 

What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses

    Source - Internet

This first book in the Queen's Thief series is told from Gen's perspective. He is a thief, who wandering in the streets and wineshop of Sounis(a kingdom), claimed that he is the best thief and can steal anything. When he gets caught and sent to the prison, Sounis's king and the magus (king's advisor) bargains for his freedom in lieu of a quest to steal something for them. Something, which only heard in old ancient stories and nobody is sure of the existence of it.

Book gets into action from there, and the most first half of the book is about Gen with the magus, his apprentices and a soldier's journey to search for this treasure crossing the neighbour countries Eddis and Attolia.

I will admit there was a little bit more travel description in the first half for my liking and had a very slow pace. But I completely loved the dynamics of the group and how Gen analyzes them while travelling. I loved the Earth and the Sky's stories and how the creation of the world and people's beliefs in different Gods were mentioned.

The story progresses later in the book for better, and I loved the second part of the book more as compared to first. Loved the characters and the revelation at the end which was a pleasant surprise. The best part was Gen as the main character, I loved him completely. He was an unreliable narrator, but also very snarky, clever, mysterious and interesting with his point of view.

I will definitely recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and prefer character development over plot.

Story -4

Characters - 5
Writing - 5
Overall Setting and World Building - 5

Overall Rating - 4.75 Stars!

2nd Read (April 2019)-

Overall Rating - 4 Stars!

It was such a great reread! As expected, really loved the second half more than the first.
Dropped my rating because I know later books are much much better than this one.Cannot wait to reread the rest...It's going to be great!



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