Top Five Tuesday – Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading this Summer

I’m going rogue this week, as I wasn’t feeling any of the hosted prompts for Top Tuesday.  Instead, I decided I’d flail about some books that I’m excited to read this summer, both backlist and upcoming releases!

THE GALLOWS BLACK by Sam Sykes
If you’ve been paying the slightest bit of attention to my blog, you know that I have a significant amount of love for this year’s SEVEN BLADES IN BLACK, which introduced the world to Sal the Cacophany. So it was with great delight that I received the news that the author wrote a novella prequel that tells the tale of how Sal met Liette, eventual ex-girlfriend, and a researcher who dives into all kinds of forbidden knowledge and magic. So excited to have a mini return to this world while we wait for the sequel!

WORDS OF RADIANCE by Brandon Sanderson
Time to return to THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVES!  After reading book 1, THE WAY OF KINGS last December, I needed a break to get back into the mood for another massive undertaking.  This 1000+ page book is going to be my priority in July, so I’m bracing myself for a little less reading that month!

THRAWN: TREASON by Timothy Zahn and ALPHABET SQUADRON by Alexander Freed
I’m grouping together the summer STAR WARS releases into one entry because I make the rules!  THRAWN: TREASON is the next entry in the  THRAWN series, and promises to push our favorite villain into a corner of choosing to serve the Emperor or his homeworld of Chiss.  But I’m possibly more excited for the possibility of ALPHABET SQUADRON, the first in a new trilogy.  As I’ve discussed at length before, the new canon books have focused almost exclusively on tie-in novels, and while there certainly have been some successes, I miss the days when Star Wars novels were allowed to focus on meaningful arcs for their protagonists.  ALPHABET SQUADRON takes place immediately after RETURN OF THE JEDI, and focuses on a squad of five non-cinema heroes flying against remnants of the Empire.

THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR Trilogy by Katharine McGee
Another multi-book entry!  As part of the Great Series Read Project, I want to finally tackle a backlist series that I already started.  THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR, a YA thriller set in a future skyscraper city, is a book that I really enjoyed, and I’ve had book two sitting on my shelf for a while.  So this summer I’d like to actually read it!  I’ll probably need to reread book one since it’s been so long, but then I’m going to read through the whole trilogy!

JADE WAR by Fonda Lee
As part of Wyrd and Wonder, I FINALLY got to reading JADE CITY, which has been on my Kindle for over a year.  It was AMAZING, so I am without a doubt very excited to check out the sequel when it releases in a little over a month!  While the first book focused on conflict and tensions within the capital city of Kekon Island, the next book will turn its eyes abroad, as rival nations try to get their hands on Kekon’s jade, which gifts certain people with enhanced abilities.

What books are you looking forward to reading this summer?