Top Ten 2016 Releases So Far

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. There is a new subject each week and this week's theme is "Top Ten 2016 Releases So Far This Year".

I still have some books to catch up on  and I'm sure this list will change but here are some of my favorites from 2016 so far:

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I really liked this moving companion novel to Between Shades of Grey featuring Lina's cousin Joana and other teenage refugees in East Prussia during WWII.

Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

While not quite as good as Ink and Bone I enjoyed this fantasy novel set in a world where the gift of literacy is only for the nobility and the slaves who tutor future kings.

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

This YA novel is set in the Netherlands during WWII and details the story of a grieving young teen who grudgingly joins the resistance movement when she is asked to find a missing Jewish girl.

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Beatrice Nash is the new school teacher in the English village of Rye where she is looked on with suspicion by some but welcomed warmly by a few including Agatha Kent and her nephew Hugh. Things become darker over the course of the idyllic summer as social rivalries give way to fears of coming war. While not as good as Major Pettigrew's Last Stand this is still an excellent historical novel for fans of British TV shows like Downton Abbey (don't worry Beatrice is nothing like Miss Bunting) and Home Fires.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

I've become a big Morgan Matson fan. I loved her other books and this fun summertime read is just as good.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

While this sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses won't please everyone, I thought it was even better than the first book and can't wait for the third book.

The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

I loved Secret Daughter so I was very excited when I found out about The Golden Son. I think Secret Daughter is better but this was still a very good story about the lives of two young people in India--Anil, a future doctor on his way to a medical degree in the States and Leena, his childhood friend and now a young bride. If the main character had been Leena instead of Anil, it would have been fantastic.

Somewhere Out There by Amy Hatvany

This is the story of three women--Jennifer who made many mistakes as a young parent and Brooke and Natalie, the daughters she gave up for adoption. Brooke grew up in group homes while Natalie was adopted by a loving couple. Now their paths meet again.

I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows

This book hasn't been published yet but I read an review copy so I decided to add it to my list. I liked the setting and learning about this time period through the eyes of a family that starts to fall apart during the drought and Dust Bowl.