Don't Be Afraid of the Dork: Top Ten Tuesday

I've been enjoying the Top Ten Tuesday posts on other folks blogs but had not yet jumped in because, well, it seemed like a lot of work and I'm lazy. But I'm going to start giving it a try because while I am lazy I also like to reflect on things and the discipline of the list-making might help books stick in my memory. And I do love a good plan!
Top Ten Tuesday is a bunch of listy goodness established by the lovely folks at The Broke and The Bookish Blog. Every Tuesday they designate a top ten list of books in a certain category and this Tuesday's is the top ten books you are most looking forward to this fall.
This one is a hard one for me to start with as it doesn't really jive with my reading style: 1) I don't read too many new releases or even keep an eye on when things are happening and 2) I mostly read on whim based on what I'm in the mood for and don't have much of a future plan. With that said I'll give it a shot:

1. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

This is the third book in Joe Abercrombie's gritty fantasy series known as The First Law. I loved the first two books in this series (The Blade Itself, Before They are Hanged) and have this one waiting on my ipod narrated by the terrific Steven Pacey. They are full of grey, unpredictable characters that are impossible not to care about for better or for worse. It's also full of devastating wars and a grand quest to rival Tolkien but this ain't no Tolkien.

2. The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson

I am a fool for series and I apparently have a few I'm in the middle of which is fun. This is the second in the Veneficas Americana series set in an alternate reality late 1800s America where magic is a thing. It blends Historical, Fantasy and Romance fiction. In book one, The Native Star, frontier witch Emily Edwards gets a big old rock stuck in her palm (literally embedded through the middle of her hand) and she must pair up with grumpy stuck-up warlock Dreadnought Stanton for a cross-country journey to get it removed. Adventure and a fantastic relationship ensue. I'm excited to see how the adventure continues!

3. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold

Another series! This book is 13th (or so depending on what order you follow) in Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. This is space opera at its best and I've read most of the series but missed this one along the way for some reason. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

4. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Ummm...this is yet another series but this time its the start if a new one! I've heard a LOT about Kate Atkinson and how fantastic she is. Her newest book, Life After Life, has been getting a ton of buzz and was on the shortlist for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction. Case Histories is the first in a crime/mystery series featuring PI Jackson Brodie which has also been made into a British TV show I'd like to check out (Hello to Jason Isaacs!).

5. Women in White by Wilkie Collins

It's a classic. It sounds gothic, creepy and awesome. It's also on my 100 Books Project List which I need to be getting on with.

6. The Sisters Brothers By Patrick DeWitt

This book made a big splash in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It's a western about brothers working as assassins. Part of the description on Goodreads "it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love."

7. Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

And just to prove I'm not totally behind the times, here is one 2013 release. I had a bit of a falling out with Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series but this YA novel set in the same universe looks pretty fun.

8. The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

I just recently read Ella Enchanted which was great and the consensus seems to be that this is Levine's second best book. Should be a nice treat during some especially stressful bits of the fall.

9. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym

I ended 2012 with Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and it was perfect. Quietly humorous and poignant but uplifting as well. No Fond Return of Love seems to have a similar main character to Excellent Women; a woman taken for granted and having trouble finding a true connection in the world. Sounds melancholy but it truly isn't which is, I think, Pym's talent. It sounds like an excellent way to spend a couple of winter days.

10. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Paired perhaps with The Woman in White for a couple of good Halloween reads. Shirley Jackson is very good at writing the bizarre that seems normal and creating an atmosphere of menace. Also on my 100 Books Project List!

Not a terribly "new" list I'm afraid, but now that it's put together, I'm quite excited to get cracking! Happy Fall reading everyone! What reads are you most looking forward to before 2014?