Happy Wednesday fellow bookworms. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Thanksgiving is almost here, which means Christmas is almost here, which mean New Year is almost here! Can you believe it? This fits well with this week’s ‘Top 5 Wednesday’ topic: The 5 books I want to read before 2019. Oh my goodness, there are so many to choose from. Narrowing it down will be difficult but I shall do my best. Here we go:
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – I actually received this book as an ARC way back in February but I haven’t gotten to it yet because I am terrible. Just terrible. The release date for this book was 9/18/2018 here in the U.S., although it had released previously in the U.K. Overall, this unique mystery/thriller has received great reviews. The current Goodreads rating is 4.08 for 11,265 ratings – quite strong for a thriller on GR. This story follows Aidan Bishop as he wakes up every day at Blackheath House in a different body with the aim of solving the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day. I have never heard of a mystery book like this before and I am really looking forward to reading it. I plan to start this one by the weekend!
Love a la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm – Releasing on November 27th, I received this cute YA Contemporary from the publisher, Disney-Hyperion, as an ARC to review. I am planning to start this one by this weekend as well. This book follows Rosie and Henry, two American teen chefs, who travel to Paris to attend a prestigious cooking school run by celebrity chef, Denis Laurent. I expect this one to be humorous and heavy on cutesy romance. Sparks will fly – I can just feel it! I love cooking competitions on television, my favorite being The Great British Bake Off. As soon as I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I wanted to give it a try.
The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone – This horror novel, releasing on December 4th, is another book I have an ARC copy of which I received from the publisher, Atria Books. I really don’t know how to describe this one, it sounds very unique and like it could be a wild ride. Basically, it follows two computer programmers, Shawn and Billy. After a fallout, Shawn goes on to become rich and famous while Billy is a complete failure. Seeking revenge against Shawn for perceived wrongs, Billy sets up a ‘smart house’ computer program at an old mansion they used to live near and all hell breaks loose from there. I am not sure what I am going to get from this as the reviews have been mixed ((which you see a lot with horror novels)) but Ezekiel Boone is an author I have been curious about so I am looking forward to reading something of his.
Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas – This is the 5th installment of the widely popular Sarah J. Maas series, Throne of Glass. The 7th and final book of this series just released on October 23rd and it basically broke the internet. It is hard to stay away from spoilers so I really need to finish up with it! This is a YA-high fantasy series with a kick-ass female protagonist and a ton of REALLY great side characters and relationships. Maas knows how to bring the drama and her books never disappoint. This series keeps getting better and better for me so by the final book, my head may actually explode. We will hope not of course but there you go. 
Song of Susannah (Dark Tower #6) by Stephen King – The Dark Tower series truly is King’s Magnum Opus. The size and scope of this series has been mind-boggling to me from the very beginning. I am currently reading the 5th book in the series, Wolves of the Calla ((I have about 45-pages left)) and I can tell you I have purposefully slowed down my pace. It recently hit me that I only have two more books and then I am at the end. As a HUGE King fan this series really means a lot to me. I am sure that I will read it again in my lifetime, start-to-finish, but you only get that ‘1st time’ feeling once. This book connects so much to his other works and connects those works together until you could have one giant flow chart of King goodness that would make any Constant Reader ((King’s loving nickname for his fan base)) swoon. It’s really hard to explain this series. Suffice it to say it is an all consuming story of a tight-knit group of individuals (a ka-tet in Tower speak) from different times and different places who must band together to protect the ultimate good from the ultimate evil. It is a parallel universe story that is so incredibly constructed it will leave you shaking your head in awestruck admiration. Certainly not for everyone but the people who read it all the way through never forget it, I can tell you that.
So, that’s it folks! Those are my top 5 picks for books I need to get to before the end of the year. Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What are some books you are hoping to finish up before the end of the year? I want to hear about them. Leave a comment below or connect with me through any of my social media outlets – links to the right!
Cheers & Happy Reading!!