We’re back with another Top 5 Saturday! I might’ve missed last week’s topic but I will come back to it at some point 🙂 Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is: books to read while stuck inside/quarantined!

I’ve seen a lot of book bloggers making recommendation lists about what books to read while most of us are stuck inside, WFH, quarantined, self-isolating etc. We’re all looking for either comfort or an escape from what’s going on right now. I know I’m especially avoiding the politics of this pandemic and how the Indonesian government has been handling the situation (real piss poor for effort, mate). So this Saturday I’m going to be looking at five books on my immediate TBR that I’m planning to read during this quarantine period (that for me will last until the end of May)!

It is a year after the action of One of Us Is Lying, and someone has started playing a game of Truth or Dare. But this is no ordinary Truth or Dare. This game is lethal. Choosing the truth may reveal your darkest secrets, accepting the dare could be dangerous, even deadly. The teenagers of Bayview must work together once again to find the culprit, before it’s too late . . .

My first pick would be One of Us is Next. I love a good murder mystery and don’t often read them in YA so I’m really excited for this sequel! OOUIL sucked me in and I’m hoping this will do the job of taking my mind off reality. I’m also a total sucker for this paperback version that has awesome sprayed edges 😍

Darkness never works alone…
Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who–and what–he’s become. As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.

What better way to take your mind off how messed up reality is than by diving into the even more messed up world of Ruthless Gods? It’s gonna be bloody and definitely violent but I think I’m here for it! Especially since I’ll be buddy reading this one with Sammie @ The Writerly Way 😏

It’s true. I’m not what most people would call “pretty” and, well, high school was rough. Fast forward ten years and life is good… Until a bunch of jerks think it’s hilarious to put the “butterface” (AKA me) on a wedding Kiss Cam with the hottest guy ever—and that old humiliation hits hard.
I recognize him immediately. The sexiest cop in Waterbury and totally out of my league. But then he kisses me. And we totally forget the room, the crowd, everything. Then he tells everyone we’ve been dating for months. Soon everything starts to feel too real, from adorable fights over “necessary” tools to fix my broken porch to surviving a free-for-all dinner with his six siblings to picking up where our last kiss left off. But there’s something he’s not telling me about why he’s really hanging around, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with my mob-connected brothers. Because this is not a make-over story, and Cinderella is only a fairy tale… 

My list would obviously be incomplete without some romance! I’m looking forward to reading Butterface and who knows, perhaps discovering a new favourite series and contemporary romance author?! 😃

In the second fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea, Herbert and Violet team up to solve the mystery of the Gargantis — an ancient creature of the deep with the power to create life-threatening storms.
There’s a storm brewing over Eerie-on-Sea, and the fisherfolk say a monster is the cause. Someone has woken the ancient Gargantis, who sleeps in the watery caves beneath this spooky seaside town where legends have a habit of coming to life. It seems the Gargantis is looking for something: a treasure stolen from her underwater lair. And it just might be in the Lost-and-Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, in the care of one Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder. With the help of the daring Violet Parma, ever-reliable Herbie will do his best to figure out what the Gargantis wants and who stole her treasure in the first place. In a town full of suspicious, secretive characters, it could be anyone!

I’ve really been feeling MG reads lately and they’re one of the only books that’ve been able to keep my attention ever since the self-isolating. I got approved to read the eARC for Gargantis, which is book two of the Malamander series, and I’m so excited to go back to Eerie-on-Sea for more wild adventures!

Wunder is gathering in Nevermoor…
Morrigan Crow may have defeated her deadly curse, passed the dangerous trials and joined the mystical Wundrous Society, but her journey into Nevermoor and all its secrets has only just begun. And she is fast learning that not all magic is used for good.
Morrigan Crow has been invited to join the prestigious Wundrous Society, a place that promised her friendship, protection and belonging for life. She’s hoping for an education full of wunder, imagination and discovery – but all the Society want to teach her is how evil Wundersmiths are. And someone is blackmailing Morrigan’s unit, turning her last few loyal friends against her. Has Morrigan escaped from being the cursed child of Wintersea only to become the most hated figure in Nevermoor?
Worst of all, people have started to go missing. The fantastical city of Nevermoor, once a place of magic and safety, is now riddled with fear and suspicion…

I’m not a big MG reader but I’m adding another MG fantasy to this list! I’m really keen to continue with the Nevermoor series with Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow. I absolutely adored book one so I can’t wait to be back in Nevermoor and the Hotel Deucalion with everyone! 😍

Upcoming Schedule:

• 04 April 2020: Books to Read While Stuck Inside/Quarantined
• 11 April 2020: Books with a Color in the Title
• 18 April 2020: Sibling Relationships
• 25 April 2020: Books Under 300 Pages

What kind of books are you reading while stuck inside/quarantined? Would these books work their magic on helping you forget the current state of the world? Have any recommendations?!