We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is a Freebie!
Since this week is a freebie I decided that I’ll continue on from last week and post my top 10 for the second half of the year. I know it’s a little “early days” since we have the whole month of December to go and there’s still a chance that I’ll read another favourite in that time, but we’re going to roll ahead with this anyway. I struggled to narrow down my list last week but I reckon it’s gonna be even more of a struggle today! I had a fair few more 5-star reads in the second half of 2022 so… Let’s see how much I can narrow the list down today! 😂
I’m hoping all this narrowing down now will help me in the end when I (attempt to) pick my top 3, 5, and 10 of the year! For now, let’s take a look at my top ten reads from July to now. Books are listed in reading order starting from July!
Seatmate by Cara Bastone
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza by Laekan Zea Kemp
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Always Practice Safe Hex by Juliette Cross
Resting Witch Face by Juliette Cross
A few notable mentions I wanted to bring attention to. I really enjoyed these two book as well!
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
That was surprisingly less intense than I expected! I thought I’d definitely have a harder time picking but it turns out my reads in the second-half of the year weren’t as impressive as the first half… What are some of your favourite reads from July-now? Have you read any of these and did you love them too?
dinipandareads 
Love that some of our buddy reads made it on this list! I agree so good. I just but The Drowned Woods on my 12 challenge!!
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YES! I have to say though, our buddy reads have been mostly successful this year with only two ‘duds’ that I can recall for us? I hope you love The Drowned Woods, Leslie! I’m a fan of EmLoJo’s writing and storytelling. 😍
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Yes! I think we’ve had insanely great success with our buddy reads!! I have seen it all over recently, so I’m excited to get to it!
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The Girl Who Fell beneath the Sea and Belladonna would definitely make my top ten! I am looking forward to reading A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting.
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Omg YES how good are they?! 😍 I love those books so much. And I hope you love Lady’s Guide! It’s so much fun and very Austen-esque. Happy reading!
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The Drowned Woods and the Undertaking of Hart and Mercy definitely will make my top ten for the year, too! Great picks!
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Yaas, they’re so good! 😍 I’m glad to see you loved them so much too!
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Hart and Mercy was SO GOOD! I think it would make my favorites list too. Seatmate was a lot of fun as well.
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I want more Hart and Mercy, PLEASE! 😭 I love them so much! I really enjoyed the audiobook for Seatmate and I can’t wait to check out the other books in that series too.
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I’ glad all of these turned out to be such great reads for you! I haven’t read any of this list. I’ve been tempted to try The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea because of that gorgeous cover though.
My TTT:
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I’m so happy to say that the story inside of Girl Who Fell is just as stunning as the cover is. 😍 I hope you enjoy it!
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I’ve heard amazing things about Babel. It’s good to hear you liked it so much, and thanks for stopping by earlier!
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It’s such a fantastic read and I truly marvel at the genius that is Kuang’s brain. 😍
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These end of year top lists are always so hard to pin down! I’ve bought a copy of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy to read (maybe this month, probably next?) on your recommendation though 🙂
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They’re horrible to pin down and it honestly is only going to get harder to narrow down further now that I’ve got this rough top 20 list! 😂 Aah, I’m so excited that you got Hart and Mercy (also a little nervous cos it’s on my rec, LOL) but I hope you love it as much as I did, Louise! 😍
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Thanks Dini!
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I haven’t read any of these. I do have Hart ad Mercy on hold at my library, though! I should try a couple more too. Thanks for sharing these!
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I really hope that your library copy comes in sooner rather than later, Deanna! I loved that book so much 😍
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such great choices and I have so many of these on my physical tbr!
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I hope you enjoy them whenever you get to them! 😃
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I just finished Belladonna and loved it! I still have to get my hands on Babel. Great list!
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AH, YAY! I’m so glad to hear you loved it, Yolanda 😍 And I hope you enjoy Babel. I’m still in awe of Kuang’s brain, lol
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Great list! I’ve also read and loved The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. Seatmate also looks like a lot of fun!
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Seatmate is super fun and I would highly recommend the audiobook if you have Audible! The performances are so well done 😍
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Belladonna and Girl Beneath look FABULOUS. Plus that cover on Girl Who Fell Beneath… there are so many awesome covers now.
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omg YES both covers are stunning but Girl Who Fell is one of my favourite covers of 2022. It’s even more gorgeous in person with the colours and details! 😍 I love!
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Babel was soo amazing, it’s an absolute must. and i keep seeing Belladonna everywhere, i’m really looking forward to reading it! awesome picks, Dini! 🫶🏼
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Omg, I’m honestly still marvelling over how Kuang came up with the concept for Babel. It’s just mind-blowing and super wow! 😂 And YES! Belladonna was so great. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out. I hope you enjoy it, Alex! 😃
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I especially want to find this book and read it: As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh.
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It was a heartbreaking but also hopeful read. I hope you manage to find the book and read it, Deb!
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Good work! I just put As Long as Lemon Trees on my TBR–thank you for bringing it to my attention.
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Yay, I’m glad to hear it. It’s such a heartbreaking but illuminating and beautifully hopeful read. I hope you enjoy it if you do check it out 🙂
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i’m so excited to read the girl who fell beneath the sea!!
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YES, Kaya! You need to read it pls! 😍
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The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was definitely a stand out for me, too. And I just loved Death in Belladonna so very much. Great pics!
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Omg, Death was *everything*! 😍 Such a great complex character! I can’t wait for more in that series.
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It looks like you’ve found a lot of good reads this year. And thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-favorite-holiday-reads-2022-edition/
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It’s definitely been a great reading year 🙂
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It looks like you’ve had a great reading year! I enjoy Juliette Cross’s books too–but haven’t gotten to the two you featured yet. The first five you mention are all on my wish list. I love the covers. I hadn’t heard of Babel until browsing Barnes and Noble the other day. Now I want to read that one too! Thank you for sharing!
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Oh, I love these last two books the most in Cross’ series. The tension, the chemistry, the angsty mutual pining, the character growth… Everything progresses so nicely! I’m so glad I discovered this series this year 😍 Babel is an absolutely incredible read. I hope you enjoy it and all the other books on your wish list whenever you get to them. Happy reading! 😃
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Great idea to post your top ten from the last half year. I might do the same next week. LOL
Thanks for visiting my TTT about Christmas Reads this week.
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Lol, good luck narrowing down your top ten for the last half year! 😃 Thanks for stopping by, Marianne!
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I know, that’s always the worst bit.
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I’m glad you found so many books you love! Babel is on my TBR list.
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I hope you enjoy Babel! It’s so different to what I expected and to anything I’ve ever read but it was fantastic. 😍
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[…] #TopTenTuesday: My Top 10 from July – (Early) Dec2022 […]
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I really need to look into The Undertaking book. That cover draws me in
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Belladonna and Babel are both waiting on my shelf, so I’m happy to see them here on your top reads list. It’s great when it’s hard to narrow down favorites! It means you had a great reading year, right?! 🥰
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