It's Top 5 Wednesday again, and this time I'm sharing my five top favorite maps. 

For those of you who don't know what Top 5 Wednesday is or if you're interested in joining, it is a GoodReads group created by BookTuber GingerReadsLainey where she posts different topics each week and YouTubers and Bloggers are invited to make videos or write posts about them.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I love worldbuilding. It's been a longtime favorite hobby of mine, and I even took a special one-on-one course with one of my professors for worldbuilding last semester. One of the things I did to help flesh out my world and come to an understanding of how each culture interacted with each other was for me to draw a map. I think that books that have maps included help draw the reader in as it helps readers visualize where events are happening in correlation to other events. Now, some maps are better than others, but I generally like any map that is included. The maps that I chose are my favorites, partly because I love the worlds that they are placed in, but also because they are beautiful pieces of artwork in of themselves. Either way, if a book has a map, I'm guaranteed to love the book even more.

5. Inheritance Cycle map by Christopher Paolini (Full Map)

As an aspiring writer at a young age, Paolini was one of my role models. I loved looking at the map and the artwork that he created for his own novel, and that was one of the things that helped push me towards my own worldbuilding. I love how this map looks and I think it's a unique style.

4. Wheel of Time map by Robert Jordan (Full Map)

I haven't actually finished Wheel of Time and I'm only in the fourth book, which I started a while back and have yet to finish. I love the look of the map in this edition of the book that I picked up. I find myself staring at it a lot as the story progresses as I check where the characters were and where they're headed. It's a lot of fun to look at this beautiful map.

 3. The Hobbit maps by J.R.R. Tolkien (Full Map 1 | Full Map 2)

I was going to pick the Lord of the Rings, but I realized that I don't have any books that would have good looking maps in them (I have the trade paperback movie versions), and so I chose to use my copy of The Hobbit instead. I love the style of the maps and I just can't stop looking at them. I remember reading this book as a young child and being amazed at the maps that were included in this book.

2. The Way of Kings maps by Brandon Sanderson (Full Maps)

I have a confession to make, I haven't read this book yet. I love the maps though and that's partly why I picked it up. I just need to find some time to read this behemoth book. I'm sure I'll love the story in the book just as much as I love the colorful maps included.

1. Leviathan map by Scott Westerfeld (Full Map)

The map included in Leviathan is the most beautiful map I have ever seen in a book. The say in which creatures make out the map is what I love the most about it. It puts the land to life and begins to tell a story even before the words of the book begins. It also brings up my child imaginations of looking at the globe and finding creatures in the landmasses. Ah, this whole book is just beautifully made and I love having it in my collection.