Top Ten Tuesday: Autumn TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun.

Autumn is here, and I’m back at uni, so it’s time to think about what I might be reading soon. As ever, I’m writing this in advance, so I may have actually read a few books off this by the time it goes live!

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1. FINALE, by Stephanie Garber

I am finally, finally, finally, going to get around to finishing off the CARAVAL trilogy this year. It’s two years now since release, I think, so this is long overdue – and I’ve been saying that I need to read it for about that long!

I got an eARC of her next book, ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART, which is the start to a sequel series, so I really need to finish this debut series before reading that in order to follow what’s happening. (Hence I requested it – to get a much needed kick to read FINALE!) As such, I will have to re-read the other books as it’s just been so long and I cannot remember what happens.

2. ARU SHAH AND THE CITY OF GOLD, by Roshani Chokshi

ARU SHAH AND THE CITY OF GOLD is the finale to the Pandava Quartet. This was the first series in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint (and only one to get a UK publication.) The imprint basically publishes books that are similar premise to Percy Jackson – modern children discovering that their mythology is real – but written by authors from those diaspora. I think it’s expanded slightly since then to include other diverse, mythology-based MG books.

I read the other three books a few years back as part of a tour, but I actually need to read the ending of ARU SHAH AND THE TREE OF WISHES before this one, as the eARC I was sent missed the last 50 odd pages! I may simply re-read the entire series to remember what happens.

3. RISE UP FROM THE EMBERS, by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

RISE UP FROM THE EMBERS is the duology finale to the co-written SET FIRE TO THE GODS, set in a world of elemental gladiators who fight to resolve disputes between the various nations’ gods rather than letting them fight a much more destructive war. It’s inspired by Ancient Rome, and a lot of fun. Ash and Madoc both have grudges against gods, and are ready to destroy the whole system.

Except, now they have, there are quite a few problems – and they’ve discovered truths that change everything, threatening war. Time to get some allies and wage their own war!

4. THE TRIAL, by Laura Bates

THE TRIAL is Laura Bates’ second fiction book for teens, another standalone. Given who the author is, it is likely to be every bit as feminist and angry at the world as her fiction debut, THE BURNING. I’m not 100% sure how well that will go down with me, as my tolerance for hit-over-the-head messages has decreased in the last few years.

However, this is a Lord of the Flies inspired tale, which is a book I remember reading for school. I’m interested to see a modern take on it that includes girls, as that annoyed me greatly as a teenager. It should be pretty brutal, if it’s anything like Lord of the Flies, and not a contemporary in the same way her debut was.

5. THE UPPER WORLD, by Femi Fadugba

This UKYA thriller debut is set in Peckham, which I grew up not far from. It was all I needed to want to read it. Contemporary and thriller YA are usually American books here, with little bought from here. While these imported books often tackle important topics, there is something lost in selling abroad into a different cultural landscape, and I think it’s so important for UK children to be able to see the cities and towns they know on shelves. Therefore, seeing something set in a part of London near me that I know is so exciting.

I don’t know much about this, other than it’s a sci-fi leaning story – and I’ll be interested to see if I decide it’s more sci-fi or more thriller. Apparently it’s the first in a series, so fingers crossed I enjoy it!

6. THE EMBER DAYS, by Rose Edwards

The long-awaited sequel to THE HARM TREE, Rose Edward’s Old Norse inspired debut, THE EMBER DAYS will return us to Torny and Ebba’s world. This is not a world of Vikings and the Norse mythology you know, but an exploration of what happens when old and new religions clash and old magic stirs. The voice in THE HARM TREE was brilliant, really leaning into dialect to distinguish the two narrators.

I deliberately haven’t looked up much about what happens in this book – I just want to go in and be swept away without any expectations of what the plot might be. The twists and turns of the previous book were so surprising, and I want to experience that again.

7. VOYAGE OF THE LOST AND FOUND, by Aisha Busby

VOYAGE OF THE LOST AND FOUND is the first in a MG duology inspired by the Arabian Nights, and it won an award – or a commendation – I think. The covers are really nice, which is what drew my attention when I started seeing it on social media a fair bit.

It’s another book that I don’t know much about, but I’m always on the look out for MG fantasy to sweep me away (and to act as a bit of a quick read palate cleanser between longer adult and YA books), so I picked it up.

8. THE QUICKSILVER COURT, by Melissa Caruso

The second book in the Rooks and Ruin trilogy, THE QUICKSILVER COURT is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. This series is a sequel trilogy to Melissa Caruso’s debut Swords and Fire trilogy, set 150 years late and coming from a Vaskandaran perspective rather than a Raverran, which is a nice difference.

The world is in mortal danger, following the events of THE OBSIDIAN TOWER, and Ryx needs to find a way to save it. Good thing she has allies in the Rookery now, a cross-cultural task force that deals with this sort of thing a bit more regularly than her.

9. A KIND OF SPARK, by Elle McNicoll

The winner of last year’s Waterstone’s Children’s book of the year award, A KIND OF SPARK was Ell McNicoll’s debut (she’s since published another book), following an autistic protagonist written by an autistic author.

Addie starts researching the Witch Trials that happened in her town years ago, and starts to learn more about these women who might not have been very different from her. But as she attempts to get a memorial erected to their memory, she faces opposition.

10. THE SKY BEYOND THE STORM, by Sabaa Tahir

In an unintended, but nice, piece of mirroring, the final book on this list is another series ender that I really need to get around to mirroring. THE SKY BEYOND THE STORM rounds out the bestselling A\N EMBER IN THE ASHES quartet.

This is a series full of cruel twists and turns, and I am more than a little scared to see what finally happens to Laia, Elias, and Helene as war comes – both with the other humans, and with the Djinn. Probably a reason I’ve been putting it off.

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What are you reading this autumn?