Top Ten Books of 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke & The Bookish. You can find a list of past and future topics here. I decided to go with my Top Ten favourites of all read this year, regardless of release date, but somehow they all wound up being 2016 releases anyway! These are in a tentative order except the first three which are jointly my absolute favourite - I love them all differently so it was too hard to choose!!

1) Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

This was my most anticipated book of this year and it definitely did not disappoint! I love the whole crew and there wasn't a single perspective I didn't enjoy - which is pretty rare for multiple POV novels! If you haven't already picked up Six of Crows then you definitely need to!

2) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I was actually a little underwhelmed by A Court of Thorns and Roses, partly because I didn't like Tamlin at all. But in this book Rhysand gets a lot more focus and I love him so much! Plus the plot was a lot more engaging. A Court of Wings and Ruin is now my most anticipated book for 2017! 

3) The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

This book blew me away. It's not an easy book to read and I definitely would suggest caution for younger readers. But it was so, so important and relevant. I cried a lot after finishing this book.

4) The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

I love this duology a lot, the characters are so compelling and the world is well created and seems believable to me. I preferred the plot of the first book but this was an excellent conclusion to the duology and I can't wait to see what Renee Ahdieh writes next!

5) Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Probably more action-packed than the first book. There were plenty of twists and surprises and a lot of science for me to wrap my brain around but I loved it! The third book is going to be amazing and I can't wait!

6) Imprudence by Gail Carriger

For some reason I thought this was a duology (it's not there are two more books planned) and I am very pleased that there will be more books with these characters who I have come to love. I love Rue and her friends and I love watching them get into (and then out of) trouble!

7) Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan's books just keep getting better and better. I love Percy and I always will (and I actually want to re-read his books soon) but I love this series and Magnus and all the side characters. Alex was the new addition in the book whom I fell in love with and I want more! 

8) The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

I can't believe how long it took me to read The Raven Boys but I am so, so glad that I now have. I just wish I owned the books so I could re-read them. Blue and her boys captured my heart and I was hooked right up to the last page. Maggie Stiefvater's writing is so beautiful.

9) Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

This is the first Ruta Sepetys book I've read but I hope it wont be the last because it was superb. She took an event that I knew nothing about and made me desperate to know more. I cared about the characters and I was heartbroken by all they had to go through.

10) Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey

This was just so light and fun and sometimes that's all I want. I left this book with a huge smile on my face and even now I smile when I think about it! Cindy Anstey is an author I will be watching out for!

It was so tough to narrow this list down to ten - whatever else you can say about 2016, there were a lot of great books released this year and I am so glad for all the ones I managed to read! Next week's topic will be Top Ten 2017 Debuts I'm Excited For and I can already think of a few so I am looking forward to putting that list together! Please leave a link to your lists in the comments - I would love to check out some of the books I missed in 2016!

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading.