Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic: Books I Meant to Read in 2023
1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Empyrean #1
Page Length: 512
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
2. Foxglove by Adalyn Grace
Series: Belladonna #2
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Aug. 22, 2023
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Synopsis:A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous estate nearby. He’s hellbent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago…and now he’s determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost.
Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from prison if they will entertain his presence. But the more time the girls spend with Fate, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate’s past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide if they can trust one another as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate’s unexpected games—all with their destinies hanging in the balance.
Dangerous, suspenseful, and seductive, this sequel to Signa and Death’s story is as utterly romantic as it is perfectly deadly.
3. A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber
Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart #3
Page Length: 400
Publisher: Flatiron
Synopsis: Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.
Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.
Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.
4. Play For Me by Libby Hubscher
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: When her new job takes her to a New England boarding school, she’s surprised to find her roommates are all men – including a very handsome one who plays by his own rules.
Sophie Doyle has her dream job as the head athletic trainer for her favorite baseball team (go Red Sox!), a handsome boyfriend, and easy access to the finest cannoli in Boston. When she loses all three and the World Series to boot, she’s forced to apply for the open trainer position at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. The only available room is a glorified closet in an apartment with three guys: Jonas Voss, the aloof and attractive orchestra teacher, and his two rambunctious roommates.
Sophie knows that training a bunch of privileged high school kids whose idea of a play is A Chorus Line instead of a walk-off homer is going to be a big change from the pro athletes she’s used to. She wasn’t expecting that these students would have big-time talent and even bigger-time problems. Sophie has troubles of her own—Jonas is a full-fledged grump who clearly doesn’t want her near him or the precious piano he never plays.
With sunny optimism, Sophie sets out to win over Jonas and help the kids she’s growing attached to. But when her relationship with Jonas moves to the major leagues and plans change at the end of the season, they have to choose whether they are playing for keeps.
5. The Serpent & the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
Series: Crowns of Nyaxia #1
Page Length: 532
Publication Date: Aug. 30, 2022
Synopsis: Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.
The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.
But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.
Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.
But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.
6. Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton
Series: Sing Me to Sleep #1
Page Length: 432
Publication Date: June 27, 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Synopsis: Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill.
As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren’t for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince.
Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom’s brutal creature segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him-especially when they’re forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who’s plaguing the city. There’s only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer.
7. Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
Page Length: 304
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Synopsis: From the beloved, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne, a reimagining of the myth of Atalanta, a fierce huntress raised by bears and the only woman in the world’s most famous band of heroes, the Argonauts
Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero
When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.
Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis’s warning, she begins to question the goddess’s true intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world of men, while staying true to her heart?
Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, where she belongs.
8. That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
Page Length: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: Turns out you’re never too old for a summer camp romance. Or a change of heart. When a divorced woman attends a sleepaway camp for adults only, she reconnects with a man from her past–only to catch feelings for his sister instead.
Garland Moore used to believe in magic, the power of optimism, and signs from the universe. Then her husband surprised her with divorce papers over Valentine’s Day dinner. Now Garland isn’t sure what to believe anymore, except that she’s clearly never meant to love again. When new friends invite her to spend a week at their reopened sleepaway camp, she and her sister decide it’s an opportunity to enjoy the kind of summer getaway they never had as kids. If Garland still believed in signs, this would sure seem like one. Summer camp is a chance to let go of her past and start fresh.
Nestled into the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, Camp Carl Cove provides the exact escape Garland always dreamed of, until she runs into Mason–the man she had a premonition about after one brief meeting years ago. No matter how she tries to run, the universe appears determined to bring love back into Garland’s life. She even ends up rooming with Mason’s sister Stevie, a vibrant former park ranger who is as charming as she is competitive. The more time Garland spends with Stevie, the more the signs confuse her. The stars are aligning in a way Garland never could have predicted.
Amid camp tournaments and moonlit dances, Garland continues to be pulled toward the beautiful blonde outdoorswoman who makes her laugh and swoon. Summer camp doesn’t last forever, but if Garland can learn to trust her heart, the love she finds there just might.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon
9. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Series: Emily Wilde #1
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: January 19, 223
Publisher: Orbit
Synopsis: A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones–the most elusive of all faeries–lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.
10. Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim
Series: Spice Road Trilogy #1
Page Length: 464
Publication Date: January 24, 2023
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis: In the hidden desert city of Qalia, there is secret spice magic that awakens the affinities of those who drink the misra tea. Sixteen-year-old Imani has the affinity for iron and is able to wield a dagger like no other warrior. She has garnered the reputation as being the next great Shield for battling djinn, ghouls, and other monsters spreading across the sands.
Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother, who tarnished the family name after it was revealed that he was stealing his nation’s coveted spice–a telltale sign of magical obsession. Soon after that, he disappeared, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes. Despite her brother’s betrayal, there isn’t a day that goes by when Imani doesn’t grieve him.
But when Imani discovers signs that her brother may be alive and spreading the nation’s magic to outsiders, she makes a deal with the Council that she will find him and bring him back to Qalia, where he will face punishment. Accompanied by other Shields, including Taha, a powerful beastseer who can control the minds of falcons, she sets out on her mission.
Imani will soon find that many secrets lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes–and in her own heart–but will she find her brother?
Have you read any of these? What did you mean to read in 2023? Comment below!
I wanted to read Fourth Wing last year too. I hope we both get to read it this year. Great list!
Thanks, Hannah! 🙂
I really enjoyed Sing Me to Sleep and Spice Road! I hope you can get to these soon.
Thanks, Joanna! I need to make those a priority.
I read Fourth Wing earlier this month and absolutely devoured it! I definitely got swept up on the hype train and fangirled hard for those characters! I hope you enjoy it! Emily Wilde is also on my 2024 TBR list too, I’ve heard great things about it!
Oh yay! I’ve only heard good things about it, and I have a feeling I’ll inhale it too. lol
So many good ones on this list and I hope you get to read them soon!
Thanks so much, Yolanda! Hopefully I can squeeze them in soon. 🙂
Serpent & Wings is one that I got for Christmas, if you want to buddy read it? Fourth Wing.. I would wait until book three comes out and see if it’s better than Iron Flame bc it was a mess. haha.
Yes! That would be fun! I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and it definitely sounds like one we’d both enjoy. Oh no! I’ll def wait until the next book releases then.
Okay, awesome!! If I don’t DM you today, do it to me. haha. It’s been nuts with Finn this week. lol
I enjoyed Fourth Wing. I hope you get to it sometime in the future.
Thank you! It sounds amazing!
You need to read Fourth Wing and Emily Wilde’s. They both are so good!
I have a feeling I’ll adore both of them!!
I’ve read Fourth Wing… and definitely in the minority here, but I just didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I did love the Emily Wilde book! That Summer Feeling looks great. Hope you enjoy whichever of these you get to!
So sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it! I’m actually starting Wilde’s book next week. So excited!
I should have put Fourth Wing on my list as well, Julie. There looks like some great reading here, I hope you get to them all soon.
Thanks so much, Carla!
Wow, that’s a great list! Foxglove is one that I didn’t get around to reading either, which is annoying because I adored Belladonna. I think you’ll love Emily Wilde when you get round to reading it & Fourth Wing was fun, more vibes than excellent writing/plot, but a fun read all the same 🙂
Thanks. Becky! I’m doing a buddy read next week for Wilde’s book. SO excited!
Oooh enjoy!
Great list, Julie! At least you know that soon you’ll be able to tick at least one of these off your list after we read Emily Wilde! 😂 I thought I’d immediately start Foxglove when I got my hands on it last year, especially with how much I enjoyed the first book but oop, that definitely didn’t happen, lol. I hope you love all these books whenever you get to them!
Thanks, Dini! I can’t wait to start our buddy read. I’m surprised i didn’t read Foxglove yet, too. I adored Belladonna… hopefully, soon! We could always buddy read it when we have some free time?
While you have 3 books on this list I hope I can read in 2024, I’m on the fence of reading “Fourth Wing” because I know too many people who were “not that impressed” with the book overall. They said the book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t worth the hype. If I do get around to reading it, then I’ll see whether or not my thoughts are the same.
I’ve heard so many glowing reviews that I’m afraid it won’t live up to the hype. lol
We’ve read enough fantasy books to be as critical as we want to be.
Great list – and I’m not surprised to see how many books we have in common! I’m really excited to buddy read Fourth Wing with you, because if its as good as the hype, I’ll need you to fangirl with, and if it isn’t, I’m going to need to you whine to and send a variety of passive-aggressive gifs. 🤣🤣
Both options sound good to me! lol
Right? You’re the perfect person to go to with either of those things!
Love the cover of That Summer Feeling! I hope you get to pick some of these up soon. <3
Thank you! Fingers crossed