Top Ten All-Time Favorite Fantasy Books

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten All-Time Favorite Books in X Genre.

1. The Dead-Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, # 2) by Carrie Ryan
2. Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, # 6) by Richelle Mead
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, # 6) by JK Rowling
4. Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, # 3) by J R R Tolkein
5. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, # 1) by Suzanne Collins
6. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, # 3) by George R R Martin
7. Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, # 2) by Cassandra Clare
8. Morning Star (Red Rising Trilogy, # 3) by Pierce Brown
9. Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, # 3) by Robin LaFevers
10. The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, # 1) by Rick Yancey

I've been in such a contemporary mood lately that I really wanted to feature some of my all-time favorite fantasy books. If you're a long time follower of my blog then none of these picks will be a surprise. What are your favorite fantasy books? Let me know!

Top Ten Best Sequels

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Best Sequels.

I'm not 100% sure what counts as a sequel. Is that only book 2? Or any book after book 1 in a series? In order to narrow down my list, I'm only going with book 2 out of a series.

The second book in a series usually takes a hit, especially in trilogies. Book 1 is the build up and either ends in conflict such as a cliffhanger, or the conflict begins in book 2. Book 2 is usually the down period where we struggle through to get to the resolution in book 3. That's just how it is. Keeping that in mind, it was actually harder than I expected to create my list.

While there are tons of series that I love the series as a whole, when I looked at book 2 only, I had to pause. What's funny is that in my list below, a lot of these books are actually companion novels or novels that switch to a different MC and thus don't carry on the story immediately following book 1. I'm counting them anyway. I also excluded books retelling the first book (i.e. Walking Disaster, Losing Hope, etc).

1) Rose Under Fire (Code Name Verity, # 2) by Elizabeth Wein (companion)

2) Fragments (Partials, # 2) by Dan Wells (lenghty but worth it in the end) (review coming soon)

3) The Dead-Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, # 2) by Carrie Ryan (swaps MC and years after the events of book 1)

4) Jet (Marked Men, # 2) by Jay Crownover (companion) (review coming soon)

5) Point of Retreat (Slammed, # 2) by Colleen Hoover (so emotional)

6) Fire (Graceling Realm, # 2) by Kristin Cashore (companion)

7) Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, # 2) by Cassandra Clare (major events take place)

8) Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, # 2) by Marissa Meyer (half companion, half continuation, enjoyed better than book 1)

9) Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, # 2) by Maggie Stiefvater (love Maggie S.)

10) New Moon (Twilight, # 2) by Stephenie Meyer (while I can't say I hated this book ever, I've changed my feelings on it and think it was a great sequel to Twilight)

11) Frostbite (Vampire Academy, # 2) by Richelle Mead (such a pivotal book in the series)

What are your top favorite sequels? Let me know!