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Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5… P, Q, R, S, T

Good morning bookworms!
Today’s Top 5 Tuesday post is ‘P, Q, R, S, T’! Yes, we are making our way through the alphabet. My A-E post is HERE, the F-J post is HERE, and the K-O post is HERE. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by the super lovely Shanah over at the Bionic Bookworm. You can visit her here, and join in for Top 5 Tuesday by checking out all the amazing topics that are coming up!
This week is pretty fantasy heavy… but in a strange twist of fate, also heavy on the Aussie authors (which it’s always nice to barrack for your home team)!!


OK, P is for Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. To be honest, I don’t really talk about the NINE novels (plus novellas) in this series enough. Poison Study is the start of the Chronicles of Ixia, and also where we meet Yelena, Valek, Ari, Janco, and the Commander, and I fell in love with a new-to-me-author that has now become an auto-buy. Snyder is pretty damn amazing, and I can’t recommend this series enough.

Q is for Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde. This is our only contemporary today, and the start of three back-to-back Aussie authors. Taylor and Charlie are BFFs, but they are crazy different from each other. Like, polar-opposites. But, you can never underestimate the power of a great bestie. It’s also about anxiety, mental health, dealing with fame, falling in love, and being true to who you are. IF you like this, then Jen Wilde’s other books, The Brightsiders and Going Off Script are also set in this world with some minor crossover characters!

R is for The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. ARGHHHHHHH!! I love this books so much, yet rarely get the opportunity to scream about it. It’s about Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany – Welsh spelling, story of my life) and how she wakes up surrounded by bodies with no memory and no idea who she is or how she got there. BUT, if there is an amnesia trope (I mean, surely there would be) this one is done beautifully. Myfanwy has to assume her former life with the help of a series of letters left for her (by the previous Myfanwy) and she just happens to work at a secret government agency for mutants. (It’s always annoyed me that the cover of the book says MI5 for wizards, when it should be MI5 for X-men…) Anyway, if you like paranormal / urban fantasy books set in London, and you’re not super squeamish, I highly RECOMMEND IT!!

S is for Sabriel by Garth Nix. The Old Kingdom is seriously one of my favourite fantasy series ever. There’s necromancy, creepy woods, adventure, magic, people finding themselves, and my FAVOURITE non-cat cat in the world. Yep, Mogget just beats Mister Kindly out for the top spot. But like, only just. (Also, we still have a Mister Kindly book coming, so it’s entirely possible he may get the crown yet.) However, this book is not even slightly creepy even with all that going on. It’s just amazing world building and great characters, with brilliant plot. Plus, there’s a giant library in the second book.

T is for Tithe by Holly Black. I mean, for starters, it is THE beginning of Holly Black’s fae world. If you’ve read The Cruel Prince, then you really should go back and read this (and then ValiantIronside, and The Darkest Part of the Forest before re-reading The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King before The Queen of Nothing comes out in November – just my opinion). Also, it’s just been re-released with the other two books in the Modern Faerie Tale trilogy so it’s actually perfect timing! There is so much world events crossing over and affecting storylines and politics in small but important ways, but also character cameos and I love this world even more for all of it. FYI, neither Jude nor Cardan are in this, but you’ll probably love Kaye and Roiben just as much!

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