Top Five Winter Reads

Hello!

So I have read a total of twenty six books so far this year and I can’t quite believe it yet but it’s true. I have also tried to pace myself but still ended up reading quite a lot of books. Oops.

Now that winter is over where I live, I thought why not follow Regan from PeruseProject by doing this, again! So today, we are here for the top five books that really earned their place in my heart.

Mind you, this is a personal ranking and in no way reflects everyone’s thoughts on the books. So, if you didn’t enjoy the following books, that’s fair and valid. Almost all of them are fantasy and it shouldn’t really be a surprise anymore. I mean. It’s me we are talking about. I will always choose fantasy over anything else. Oops? However there’s also a different genre this time so yay for personal reading growth?

Anyway let’s get into them, shall we?

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

A story about stories where in Zachary Rawlins finds a story about his own past in the book he’s found in a library. From there, it’s all adventure and heartache and wonder of finding a whole different world. It’s just simply stunning. If I thought The Night Circus was enchanting then The Starless Sea is something even more than that. I personally think I love this one more than The Night Circus because it’s just more my alley.

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Historical fiction wherein women suffered because of a man? Yeah, that’s not exactly the cheerful setting for a favourite but trust me when I say this, The Mercies has characters that are hard and living the life that’s been dealt to them after a tragedy and it’s not a happy book but goodness, the atmosphere, the writing and the characters….everything just really works. It also gave me specific knowledge about a previously unknown incident in the history of witches and stigma around them.

 Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma

This is a novella and technically, not something I would have added but you know what? This is my list, it’s gonna have this book because it deserves all the exposure and love it can garner. It is filled with family drama, it’s beautiful and it’s achy and it just leaves the reader with the same sense of wonder for Orme that the main character feels.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

My introduction to this author is a brilliant trilogy that is set in a world where gods can wreck or make lives. While I have varying opinions about each book in the series but overall, I can acknowledge the sheer brilliance of the writing and world building, Jemisin tackles with topics that I wouldn’t have expected and she also doesn’t make it easy for the reader as far as getting shocks or twists is concerned. I can’t wait to read more series from Jemisin.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

This might not settle into the fantasy well but you know what? It’s about a bookish person trying to live their best bookish life. I read it during the beginning of the quarantine and it’s just what I needed in life at the moment. There were a lot of moments I could really connect with and the humour is also a huge factor in this book being here. I definitely laughed while I read this one. The best thing about this book I could say is that while there’s romance, it’s not the focus of the book and that was very, very important for me. Sometimes romance really puts me off the book.

These were my top five winter reads of this year, what about you? Have you read any of these? Tell me about your favourites in the comments below.