I’ve been browsing my TBR
shelf recently (as you do) and it’s got me thinking about the books I currently
own that could potentially be new favourites. I’m terrible at buying books in
the heat of the moment and then not picking them up immediately, but of late I’ve
been pondering the books that I own which could be future five star reads. I wrote
a post like this one last year and my predictions were interesting so I wanted
to share the books that are currently my top contenders for being my favourites
of the year.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
1992 • 629 pages • Penguin Books
I feel like one of the few
people to not have read this book and it saddens me because I think I’m going
to love, love this one. A group of
college students who gradually go beyond moral boundaries and slip in to
corruption and evil? Sign. Me. Up. It’s
been on my shelves for a little over a year, and I did in fact take it away
with me last year with the full intention of reading it whilst I was on holiday
in sunny Spain. However, the timing felt off and I wasn’t feeling compelled to
pick it up and the time. The last thing you want is to taint a book by reading
it at the wrong time so I decided to save it for when I really wanted to read
it. That time may be almost here because it’s been drawing my eye of late and I’m
so excited to finally get stuck in.
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
2016 • 536 pages • Orion
I read Six of Crows, the first book in this fantasy duology, at the back end
of last summer. It was a fun, fast-paced story that again I felt everyone on
Bookstagram had read apart from me! I was curious and wanted to see what all
the fuss was about and I’m very glad I did. I enjoyed it and went ahead and bought
the sequel, Crooked Kingdom, shortly
after. And I haven’t read it yet. Oops. I know I’m going to enjoy this one, I
can feel it in my bones. Leigh Bardugo’s writing style is engrossing and each
of her characters has their own unique voice so I’m keen to revisit this
well-crafted fantasy world. Again, I think I’m just waiting for when I feel
truly inspired to pick it up.
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
2019 • 560 pages • William Morrow
Paperbacks
One of my anticipated
release for 2019 by one of my favourite authors. It’s been a couple of years
since Quinn released The Alice Network
– a historical fiction set between the two world wars which I absolutely loved.
Now she’s back with another post-war novel about three individuals who all
cross paths with a Nazi murderess known as The Huntress and it sounds so, so
good. The way Kate Quinn writes characters and makes history come to life is
amazing and I’m forever in awe of her work as an author. I’ve read all of her
books to date and she’s not disappointed me yet so I’ve no doubt The Huntress will be one of my
favourites of this year.
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
2014 • 599 pages • Virago
Remember earlier this year
when I wrote a post saying one of my reading goals was to read all of Sarah
Waters published works? Well, it’s six months in to the year I have yet to put
that goal in to action but worried I am not because The Paying Guests is increasingly looking more and more appealing
to me. As Waters’ most current novel to date it’s a chunky one even by her
standards but I’ve been reading my fair share of ‘big’ books lately (in fact, I
realised while writing this that all of the books in this post are over 500 pages)
so I’m not letting that put me off. Set in 1922 this is another post-war novel about
the lives of an impoverished widow and her daughter as they welcome a lodger
couple in to their lives. In true Sarah Waters fashion, I have no doubt this
will be an engrossing and evocative read so this is one I’ll be adding to my
summer to-read list for sure.
Which of your unread books do
you think hold the potential to be new favourites? As always, feel free to let
me know if you’ve read any of the books I’ve mentioned and what you think of
them!