Top Five Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017

Another year almost over. Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's almost 2017. A lot has happened this year (beside from the obvious terrible stuff). I started my first job! And then after 11 months, I quit my first job with plans to do another degree, because obviously, I'm crazy (haha, I'm terrified. I'm signing up for it soon, fingers crossed everything goes okay. Why am I doing this to myself? Who knows). I also managed to reach my Goodreads goal again! I'm so happy with that, because I really thought I might not make it while working full time. I read a lot of great books in 2016 and have loads I'm looking forward to in 2017. Here's a list of the five I most want to read - enjoy! (A lot of them don't have proper covers yet, so I've just included placeholders.)

Top Five Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017 (in no particular order):

1) By Your Side by Kasie West - I love Kasie West. She writes the cutest contemps, and I am particularly excited about this one because - wait for it - it's set in a library. Two characters get locked in a library over the weekend. Does this not sound amazing to you? I want to read it now! Luckily, it's out end of Jan, so not too much longer to wait. I think it will be the perfect wintery read and I'm really looking forward to jumping into another Kasie West novel! I do have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of her last book, but, I'm hoping By Your Side will make up for it (because it really does sound amazing). I've been waiting to read it for so long, so hopefully the wait will have been worth it!

2) A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas - if you've read A Court of Mist and Fury, I don't need to explain this to you, because oh my God, the ending. THE ENDING! I am trying not to go into spoilers here, but just how is that going to work? How will they communicate? What is going to happen with the King? And you know all that other...stuff? I am slightly concerned that we are now getting like a bazillion books in this series instead of just three - I'm not a huge fan of shifting character focus in the middle of a series and dragging out things that don't need to be expanded upon - but I'll go with it until it starts to get rubbish (which I'm hoping it won't, as I'm still enjoying Throne of Glass!). Really looking forward to seeing how things play out for Feyre and Rhysand (I'm really hoping for a happy ending. Can we just have a happy ending. Please?)

3) The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud - book five in the Lockwood & Co. series. There's no cover for this book. There's no description. But oh, I am with this series until the end. I love the characters so much. And with every book, we learn new information about Visitors, or people we thought we knew, and it's all so intriguing. I am so excited for The Empty Grave. No clue what it will be about, but knowing Jonathan Stroud, it will be excellent. The Skull is one of my favourite characters (probably of all time), so I am very much looking forward to seeing if we will ever find out more about it. And here's to hoping we FINALLY see Lucy and Lockwood together (or any progress - I'll take anything at this point. I'll take a hug!).

4) The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan - a Rick Riordan book will probably always end up on this list. This time, I'm excited for Magnus Chase book three. So much happened in the last book, I honestly can't predict how book three is going to turn out (though I truly hope Otis plays a major part, because he's the best. Who doesn't like a constantly resurrecting talking goat?). Also...Percy? Yes? I mean, not that Magnus and the characters of this series aren't great, but I have a soft spot for Percy. We all have a soft spot for Percy. I'm just so excited for a Magnus, Sam, Alex, Annabeth, Percy team up. It probably won't happen. But it might. And it would be amazing.

5) Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare - yes, yes, another Shadowhunters book. What can I say? I really enjoyed Lady Midnight. It was really interesting following a new set of characters, and the way so many different worlds intertwined. I loved that we got to see all our old favourite characters (Tessa and Jem!), and yet got to really know the new ones too. I really loved Emma, and basically the whole Blackthorn family. And while the story was a bit weak in areas (Emma could totally just tell Julian about the parabatai thing), I am very intrigued to see what happens in the next book, because I just know something unexpected is going to occur and shock us all. There are so many unanswered questions, and at this point, anything could happen.

Notable mentions that didn't quite make it: if there were ANY information at all about the third book in the Trouble series by Stephanie Tromly, it would have made the list, but unfortunately, there isn't even a title, The Phobia of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell, King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard, Untitled Throne of Glass #6 by Sarah J, Maas, The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon (this was on last year's notable mentions too, but the release date got pushed back!), Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh (this was so close to being on the list, it's apparently inspired by Mulan?!), Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton and The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan.

And there you have it! Which books are you looking forward to in 2017? Any from my list?