

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This weekly shared “meme” has a different theme each week and is shared by many blogs. We’re aiming to come up with ten things between us each week so they won’t be in any particular order!
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. For a list of past and future Top Ten Tuesday topics and to find out more about Top Ten Tuesday, click here!
Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list
1. We are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas Goodreads blurb: When Eileen meets Ed Leary, a scientist whose bearing is nothing like those of the men she grew up with, she thinks she’s found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs to inhabit. They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers Ed doesn’t aspire to the same, ever bigger, stakes in the American Dream. Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house, but as years pass it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Through the Learys, novelist Matthew Thomas charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. The result is a riveting and affecting work of art; one that reminds us that life is more than a tally of victories and defeats, that we live to love and be loved, and that we should tell each other so before the moment slips away. Actually just started reading this – Natasha
2. Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
Goodreads Blurb: His whole life, Danny Kelly’s only wanted one thing: to win Olympic gold. Everything he’s ever done-every thought, every dream, every action-takes him closer to that moment of glory, of vindication, when the world will see him for what he is: the fastest, the strongest and the best. His life has been a preparation for that moment.
His parents struggle to send him to the most prestigious private school with the finest swimming program; Danny loathes it there and is bullied and shunned as an outsider, but his coach is the best and knows Danny is, too, better than all those rich boys, those pretenders. Danny’s win-at-all-cost ferocity gradually wins favour with the coolest boys-he’s Barracuda, he’s the psycho, he’s everything they want to be but don’t have the guts to get there. He’s going to show them all.
He would be first, everything would be alright when he came first, all would be put back in place. When he thought of being the best, only then did he feel calm.
Should we teach our children to win, or should we teach them to live? How do we make and remake our lives? Can we atone for our past? Can we overcome shame? And what does it mean to be a good person?
– Natasha
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Goodreads blurb: Tudor England. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing his divorce. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell – a man as ruthlessly ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
– Natasha
4. Paper Towns by John Green
Goodreads blurb: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life — dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge — he follows.
After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues — and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.
– Natasha
5. The Book of Days by K.A. Barker
Goodreads blurb: When Tuesday wakes from sleep for the first time at sixteen, she opens her eyes to a world filled with wonder – and peril. Left with only a letter from the person she once was, Tuesday sets out to discover her past with the help of her charming and self-serving guide, Quintalion.
Along the way she runs into one-legged mercenaries, flying cities, airships, and a blind assistant librarian. But danger lurks amidst the steam. The leader of the merciless Daybreakers is hunting her, convinced that she killed the only woman he ever loved. Tuesday will need all her wits about her to survive long enough to find out who she is and her connection with the mysterious Book of Days: a book that holds untold power…
Just met her at the Bris Writers Festival and I’m really looking forward to this magical steampunk story. – Angelya
6. The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas
Goodreads blurb: After spending the summer away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax) are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane. Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis quickly closing in.
Soon after arriving at school, though, Titus makes a shocking discovery, one that makes him question everything he previously believed about their mission. Faced with this devastating realization, Iolanthe is forced to come to terms with her new role, while Titus must choose between following his mother’s prophecies—and forging a divergent path to an unknowable future.
I loved the first one in this series (The Burning Sky) and have wanted to get back to Eton College ever since! – Angelya
7. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Goodreads blurb: The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn’t look at her like she might break down at any moment.
Now she’s just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that’s all she’ll ever be.
As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there’s a secret she hasn’t told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.
Lex’s brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn’t have to be real to keep you from moving on.
From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.
– Philippa
8. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
Goodreads blurb: Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.
She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.
She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.
She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others
– Philippa
9. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Goodreads blurb: Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn’t know she had. Except . . . her blood is Red.
To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.
– Philippa
10. Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly
Goodreads blurb: The city of Bryre suffers under the magic of an evil wizard. Because of his curse, girls sicken and disappear without a trace, and Bryre’s inhabitants live in fear. No one is allowed outside after dark.
Yet night is the only time that Kymera can enter this dangerous city, for she must not be seen by humans. Her father says they would not understand her wings, the bolts in her neck, or her spiky tail—they would kill her. They would not understand that she was created for a purpose: to rescue the girls of Bryre.
Despite her caution, a boy named Ren sees Kym and begins to leave a perfect red rose for her every evening. As they become friends, Kym learns that Ren knows about the missing girls, the wizard, and the evil magic that haunts Bryre.
And what he knows will change Kym’s life.
Reminiscent of Frankenstein and the tales of the Brothers Grimm, this debut novel by MarcyKate Connolly stands out as a compelling, original story that has the feel of a classic.
– Philippa
Michael @ Literary Exploration
Nice list, I do like that there is a mix of genres. Big YAY to Barracuda; but that is because I’m a Christos Tsiolkas (not everyone is)
Michael @ Literary Exploration recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring To-Be-Read List
Crina @ReadingAddict
You picked some awesome titles and I dunno what we’ll do because a ton of good books are coming out and I, personally, want them all. Happy reading! : )
Crina @ReadingAddict recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List
Mel@thedailyprophecy
Monstrous sounds so good, especially because I love the Brothers Grimm. I also can’t wait for Red queen, I’m in a huge fantasy mood lately. The orphan queen sounds good too, I love that my name is in it 😀
Mel@thedailyprophecy recently posted…Top ten Tuesday 38. Fall TBR list.
Rachel
I love your mix here of adult and YA and middle grade. I can’t wait to read Monstrous or the Red Queen either!!!
Rachel recently posted…Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List
Dee
Your list looks awesome…and it looks like mine just got longer 🙂
-dee
http://wp.me/p4K3p7-cD
Cora @ Tea Party Princess
You know, Wolf Hall has been on my TBR for ages – I really need to get round to it!
Great list 🙂
Cora @ Tea Party Princess
Cora @ Tea Party Princess recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #15
The Avid Reader
I’m interested in The Orphan Queen and The Red Queen. I just picked up The Burning Sky, can’t wait to start it!
The Avid Reader recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Fall To-Be-Read List
Jaime
I love Wolf Fall, it is absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to read The Red Queen eventually as well, I’ve heard good things.
Jaime recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Fall Reading List
Michele @ Just a Lil Lost
Oooh good call on Red Queen! That one looks so good! And I totally have to get around to reading the Hilary Mantel books.. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it!
Thanks for checking out my TTT!
Michele
Michele @ Just a Lil Lost recently posted…Top 10 Tuesday 103
Jenny
Great list. Barracuda is excellent as is Wolf Hall. love your old friend, Jenny