Every year Goodreads keeps track of your reading progress and creates a beautiful display of all the books you’ve read at the End of the year. This is long overdue, but none-the-less here is my 2017 year in books!
Well it seems that I read quite a bit in 2017. Far more then in 2016 that’s for sure and with 22 books read so far this year already I think I’m on my way to making this following year even better!
Thanks for reading! What was one of your favorite reads from 2017?
-Till next time!
2017 was a fabulous year for me in my reading and I finished off the year with 99 books and 27,077 pages read and I know it is going to be almost impossible to narrow it down to 10 reads.
Here they are in no particular order:
1. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
This is the only book I will say IS in a particular order, because without a doubt this is the book that spoke to me and became my favorite of the year. Starfish is important to me because it tells a story of emotional abuse (similar to my own story) that was beautiful and vivid and more real and true to me then anything else I have ever read. Stories like my own are ones I pretty much NEVER come across and this is the first book that has ever portrayed emotional abuse from a parent that didn’t also include physical or sexual abuse, but also showed how emotional abuse could be just as impactful (in a very different way). I LOVE this book and I know I will reread it again and again in the future.
2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Bitterblue is home to the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read and was the brilliant conclusion to the Graceling Trilogy. Kristin Cashore is one of my all time favorite authors and I know her works will always be a part of my favorites as long as I live.
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
2017 was my introduction into Sarah J. Mass’s work and I was so happy that I started with the ACOTAR series! I could gush about these books and how they made me feel for hours on end (especially about how much I love Rhysand) book 1 and book 2 twisted from each other and caused me both pain and happiness and I can’t help but love this series. (Someday soon I will read ACOWAR… soon!)
4. Silence is Golden by Robert Thier
My happiness is continuously connected each week to reading a new chapter of this series as it is uploaded on Wattpad. Silence is Golden is the most recently complete book out of Robert’s Storm and Silence series and I live for it!!! These books make me laugh out loud and smile and make my heart beat faster and keep me on edge. I will always and forever be reading these books. They are BRILLIANT! Plus this one was set in the jungle and their was a woman tribe leader and chases and guns being fired and spicy romance and so much ice that you could feel the cold heat from every corner of the world and ahhhh!!! I love this series!!!
5. And I Darken and Now I Rise by Kiersten White
My HEART!!! These books fulfilled my need to have a character be unapologetically immoral in the best of ways. Lada is so badass and she will conquer the world one day. This historical fiction does not read like a historical fiction. There is so much action and intensity and tension and breaking familial bonds that I just had no reason to not love this book. It is written to perfection and I will love it forever!
6. Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula
These two have a special place in my heart. With the love interest I wish to have in my life and the interesting morbid charm these two have these two books will always be some of my favorites. This series is just too good!!!!
7. Berserker by Emmy Laybourne
A western horror that felt so raw and epic that I could not put it down this book has earned its spot as one of my all time favorite novels. It was bloody fantastic and everything about it made me fall deeper and deeper in love with it. I highly recommend reading this for an amazing good time!
8. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
This memoir/graphic novel was so beautiful and so needed in today’s times. I am so glad I got to read it and have a better understanding of Vietnam and what happened there as well as of immigration and motherhood. It’s so topical and beautifully written.
9. The Ship by Antonia Honeywell
The writing in this book was GORGEOUS! It made me think about so many things in such a deep and curious way and it made me feel lost yet full of hope in the most curious of ways.
10. The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan
A diverse horror novel that was beautifully written and full of heart. I ADORE The Hollow Girl. Everything about it was just so GOOD!
Honorable mentions (that I loved just as much as the rest on this list):
11. A Messy, Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Alan
Improve, love, mixed in with Heartbreak, and friendship and you get this funny and delectable gem of a novel! A Messy, Beautiful life was amazing and I adored it!
12. This Impossible Light by Lily Myers
This Impossible Light was delightful and beautifully rendered. What can I say? I am a sucker for prose poetry!
13. The Bone Season and The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon
These two were a bright light of happiness and fun for me to read. I devoured these books (just like I will devour the rest of the series as it is released). All I have to say is one name Warden, as one of the biggest reasons my heart races as these stories progress. I’m so in love and I can’t help myself!
14. The Diviners by Libba Bray
These was the PERFECT 1920’s novel. I felt like I was living and breathing in this era while reading, but terrified because of all the paranormal horrors prowling the streets. This novel was all kinds of cool and fun and amazing! I loved it!
15. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
What a gorgeous thing of beauty this novel was. The writing alone made my jaw drop. I wish I could write with an ounce of the beauty that Leslye does! Utter PERFECTION!
16. The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
So relevant. So beautifully written. So true. And so incredibly feminist! I adore this novel, but I am also awed by it. Everything about it was incredible!
17. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Labyrinth meets music meets my heart and I end up in LOVE! Wintersong was magical and a ethereal experience. I can’t wait to read book 2!
18. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
I wasn’t sure I was going to love this book, but after a few pages I was hooked! So funny, sad, and unique. If you haven’t read this book then you should so you can experience just why this book has taken the world by storm!
19. Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
This book has everything you could ever want in a contemporary. The romance is there, the friendships, but also the family ties. I love how critical family was to this storyline and the way everything flowed brilliantly together. Such an incredible novel!
20. Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
Bad by Michael Jackson comes to mind when thinking about this book. It was terrifying because it could have easily happened in real life and everyone was so humanely flawed in the most awful yet real of ways. An incredible thriller.
So You all came for a top 10 and ended up with a top 20, but I could not bring myself to leave out any of these amazing (and 5 star) reads. However, before I go I must say how proud I am of this list, mostly because it is a testament to how widely I read from historical fiction to poetry to horror, fantasy, contemporary, and even dystopian there is so much genre diversity in this list. I am so happy with the books I read in 2017!
-Till next time!
You never know what the world will bring. You can only hope that it will be something wonderful. The future is unforeseeable, but here are my hopes on how it will be.
Filled with books of sweet romance
With fantasy so my heart can dance
Also some books to make me cry
And others to bring me back to life
Maybe a dip into something magically real
Or something spooky to make my heart still
Maybe a long awaited series would be the biggest surprise
Or a copy of a book that I loved with every bit of my being
Maybe a classic to get to the roots of English
Or something thrilling to keep the mystery awake
Hopefully there will be some diversity
In race
Religion
Sexuality
& Identity
Hopefully I can continue some series
But in the end I will be happy with whatever adventures await me:
Thanks for reading! What books are looking forward to in the new year?
-Till next time!
Christmas is finally here!!!! I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s that are filled with love and joy and all around good times.
This Christmas I feel extremely fortunate for all the gifts that I have received and I look forward to enjoying each and every one of them.
However, there are some really special books that I have received this year that I want to share with all of you and also to have a special memory of the lovely day.
Here are my Books of Christmas Present for 2017!
The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina
Sonia’s entire village believes she has a gift, but it’s only in leaving home that she finds out who she truly is. A compelling tale from a rich new voice in young adult fiction.
Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl’s protective powers began. All her life, Sonia has been asked to pray for sick mothers or missing sons, as worried parents and friends press silver milagros in her hands. Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace?
Still, her conscience is heavy, so when she gets a chance to travel to the city and work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. At first, Sonia feels freedom in being treated like all the other girls. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly leave the past or her family behind.
With deeply realized characters, a keen sense of place, a hint of magical realism, and a flush of young romance, Meg Medina tells the tale of a strongwilled, warmhearted girl who dares to face life’s harsh truths as she finds her real power.
This book was a lovely giveaway surprise that arrived a few days before Christmas without me knowing. I consider this my gift from Santa that came just a tad bit early. I’m excited about this book because it is an own voices Latin-American magical realism novel with some hints of romance that sound like something that makes a very light and fun read. Plus the cover is absolutely gorgeous!
Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco’s haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?
This book came into my possession and I immediately began to read it. Stalking Jack the Ripper was on of my favorite books of this year and I am sure Book 2 is going to be another favorite. I missed my OTP so much and I was just happy to be able to dive into this world again. I’m hoping for some adventure and romance and some serious serial killer finding action!
Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?
One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.
The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.
Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.
Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.
Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?
This book was the biggest surprise I received among the books I got this Christmas. However, it was a very happy surprise as I have heard nothing but praise from everyone about this book. One of these days when I am in for an emotional rollercoaster I know I need to pick this one up.
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.
All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.
But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.
Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.
The labyrinth was one of those classic amazing movies that made me feel alive when I was young. So when I heard that Wintersong was coming out I knew I had to read it. What makes me the most excited for it is that it seems that the romance will be real in a way that it wasn’t in The Labyrinth and that’s enough to make me want to scream Hallelujah! This is one book I know I’m going to be reading very soon cause I don’t think I could resist it!!!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
“Nothing is a coincidence. Everything has a purpose. You were meant to come to this castle, just as you were meant to be an assassin.”
When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King’s Champion and be released from prison.
Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.
And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she’d have again: a friend.
But something evil dwells in the castle—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world.
FINALLY! I have this book finally! I have been wanting to read this series for FAR too long and finally I have Throne of Glass in my hands! I have been avoiding reviews and spoilers for what feels like years in order for me to experience everything that is Throne of Glass without anyone else to taint my judgement. (I could not avoid all the screaming fangirling that has followed this series for so long although I know there has been a decline in fangirling in recent times as well as some problems? With some of the later books. Others saying that ACOTAR is infinitely better but I have always wanted to read this so I’m excited!!!) I don’t know what is in store for me with this series, but I am so excited to finally be reading it!!!
Also, I also happed to get Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, and Queen of Shadows as well and I couldn’t be happier about it!!!
Another thing I want to say is how much I’m in love with the TOG series covers. They are full of a badass quality that makes me feel emboldened as a women. It honestly makes me want to go train with some weapons and then wear some awesome dresses and armor while I’m at it. That feeling is one of the biggest reasons I feel like I would love this series. Regardless of what happens I know that just by looking at these covers I can feel like a confident kick butt woman who is ready to take on the world. I’m just so excited to start this series!
That’s all for Christmas Present of 2017! Check out yesterday’s post books of Christmas Past to see what I got last year and stay tooned for tomorrow’s post taking a look at some books for Christmas future!
Thanks for reading! Let me know what books and items you got this Christmas. What was a happy moment you shared this lovely Christmas Day?
-Till next time!
Hello everyone! It’s Christmas Eve and it’s a time of anticipation, enjoying being with family and friends, and of hope for what’s to come. Firstly, I want to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and I want to thank you all for joining me in my blogging journey over the past year. Without you all in my life so many of the opportunities and friendships I now have would never have happened and for that I am eternally grateful.
Last year I started a series to celebrate the season with the things I enjoy most books! I created the Books of Christmas Past, Present, and Future!
In 2016, I got a lovely variety of books that I am sad to say I mostly haven’t read. So not only is this a reminder to myself to get my butt in gear and read those books that I have on my shelves, but also to appreciate some titles I have seemingly forgotten about.
Here they are:
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti
This book was one that I won in a giveaway hosted by the amazing Krysti Meyer from Ya and Wine! It was an arc that I did end up reading and loving for its quirky MC and its unique storyline. Read about my love for it in my review here!
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
I remember being so excited to have found this at a thrift store last December. I bought it as a gift to myself and it was one of the first books I read in January. This book was intense and it was such a hard read for me, but I think that’s what I love most about Ellen Hopkins books they rip you apart at the seams. Here is a link to my review here!
Replica by Lauren Oliver
I was so excited to see this under the tree and I really really wanted to read it, but I just never got to. Replica has one of the most unique formats I have ever heard of and I just really want to finally read it.
Sea Spell by Jennifer Donnelly
This was a fourth book in a series of which I read the first two books of. Looking at this title now I feel myself really missing the world and I am realizing that I really should get back to reading the series. I know I would have a ton of fun reading the final two.
Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
These two were books I also found at the thrift store without the first book to begin the series. I actually was only able to get the first book in September of this year so I don’t feel too bad for not having had time to read these yet.
Jane by April Lindner
I was super into Jane Eyre last year and so I was really excited to have gotten this retelling. However, with all the craziness that was 2017 I never got to read it so I’m hoping to give it a shot in the new year!
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
I devoured this book! Later on I eventually got the sequel and devoured it as well and I’m hoping to get the third book in the new year. (I’m just a little depressed with the cover change they did, but hopefully I can get over it). I am just so grateful to have received this book for Christmas last year.
Here are links to both the first and second book here and here!
Made for You by Melissa Marr
I have been meaning to read this book for SO LONG! This is another book that life has separated me from that I need to go back to and read. It sounds like such a good creepy and fun time and I just need to read it soon.
Venom by Fiona Paul
This book was a lot of fun. It was crazy, romantic, and a tad bit morbid, but truly I enjoyed it. Eventually I do want to read the second book, but in some ways I feel that if I never do I will always remember this book fondly.
Free to Fall by Lauren Miller
I really need to read this Intriguing Sci-fi! It is centered around an app that makes decisions for you and that just sounds like a super interesting concept to me. It’s just one other book that I didn’t get to read this year and for that I am pretty sad.
Last year I got a total of 11 books and I read only 4 of them…. 1/3rd isn’t too bad, but I really should read more of what is on my shelves. Honestly, I am just so grateful to the people who cared enough to get me something special like these books for Christmas. I am so happy to be where I am today and sometimes it is important to take a step back and look at where you have been to see a better way to the future.
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you all have a very lovely and Bookish Christmas!!!
-Till next time!
August was not the most productive of reading months. I only got to reading 4 different books in August. However I really enjoyed all of them and I think that is what is most important.
A Very New Day by Steven Salmon
A Very New Day is about a boy with Cerebral palsy, who goes to go regular school for the first time in junior high and uses Morse code to write. Rich Trout is unable to use his hands. Instead, he drives his electric wheelchair and writes in Morse code with his head. Rich doubts that he belongs in regular school after being isolated to special education classes only.
He is inspired by Mrs. Tilley, his English teacher, who treats him as a regular student and shows Rich that anything is possible. Rich has one dream, to be a writer. Mrs. Tilley introduces Rich to an author friend of hers, who also has Cerebral palsy, serving as an inspiration and role model.
Read my review here
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
Read my review here
The August Beyond The Surface book club pick of the the month:
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson.
Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.
There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution—Roman, a teenage boy who’s haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner.
Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together.
Read my discussion here
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
From Julie Murphy, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’ and Side Effects May Vary, comes another fearless heroine, Ramona Blue, in a gorgeously evocative novel about family, friendship, and how sometimes love can be more fluid than you first think. Perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Morgan Matson.
Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever.
Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she’s fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. Now, with her sister, Hattie, pregnant, responsibility weighs more heavily than ever.
The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona’s friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he’s talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected. With her growing affection for Freddie making her question her sexual identity, Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem.
I had the pleasure of buddy reading this book with a good blogging friend Amy @Burtingwithbooks. We always have the most amazing discussions together and this read a long was absolutely amazing!
Well, that’s all for August. I think it is a good sign for September that I have already finished more books then I did in all of August. Let’s just say I’m excited for the rest of the month!
Ahh August… A month full of young adult Releases that I feel like I just have to read. There are so many awesome releases coming out next month and I don’t see how or when I’m supposed to be able to read them all.
August 1st
Blight by Alexandra Duncan
When an agribusiness facility producing genetically engineered food releases a deadly toxin into the environment, seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres races to deliver the cure before time runs out.
From the author of the acclaimed American Booksellers Association’s Indies Introduce pick Salvage, which was called “Brilliant, feminist science fiction” by Stephanie Perkins, the internationally bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss. This stand-alone action-adventure story is perfect for fans of Oryx and Crake and The House of the Scorpion.
Seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres has lived on the AgraStar farm north of Atlanta, Georgia, since she was found outside its gates at the age of five. Now she’s part of the security force guarding the fence and watching for scavengers—people who would rather steal genetically engineered food from the Company than work for it. When a group of such rebels accidentally sets off an explosion in the research compound, it releases into the air a blight that kills every living thing in its path—including humans. With blight-resistant seeds in her pocket, Tempest teams up with a scavenger boy named Alder and runs for help. But when they finally arrive at AgraStar headquarters, they discover that there’s an even bigger plot behind the blight—and it’s up to them to stop it from happening again.
Inspired by current environmental issues, specifically the genetic adjustment of seeds to resist blight and the risks of not allowing natural seed diversity, this is an action-adventure story that is Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake meets Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion.
This is a sci-fi novel I need to read! It sounds so cool and fascinating with the scientific engineering and things gone wrong. I need it!
Love is Both Wave and Particle By Paul Cody
This achingly beautiful novel considers how to measure love when it has the power to both save and destroy.
Levon Grady and Samantha Vash are both students at an alternative high school for high-achieving but troubled teens. They have been chosen for a year-long project where they write their life stories and collect interviews from people who know them. The only rule is 100% confidentiality―they will share their work only with each other. What happens will transform their lives.
Told from the perspectives of Levon, Sam, and all the people who know them best, this is a love story infused with science and the exploration of identity. In Love Is Both Wave and Particle, Paul Cody looks at how love behaves in different situations, and how it can shed light on even the darkest heart.
This book sounds nerdy cute and nerdy cute is the way to my heart!
Of Jenny and the Aliens by Ryan Gebhart
When boy meets girl meets alien, the angst of first love gets an extraterrestrial intervention in a tale both outrageously funny and full of heart.
Ten years after Earth sent messages out into deep space, there has been an answer. Music from a distant planet has reached our radios. Are aliens about to invade? No one knows, and almost-eighteen-year-old Derek doesn’t really care, because at a wild end-of-the-world party, Jennifer Novak invites him to play beer pong. And things . . . progress from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all—marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. Jenny is The One.But Jenny has other plans, and they may or may not include Derek. He’ll try anything to win her—even soliciting advice from the alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien might just be the answer to Derek’s problem. But is Derek willing to risk starting an interstellar war just to get the girl? And just how far will he travel to discover the mysteries of the universe—and love?
This book sounds adork-able and also nerdy cute… again I need all the nerdy cute I can get!
The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby
“Jessi Kirby’s books just keep getting better and better, and The Secret History of Us is her best yet. It beautifully touches on all the most important things in life—love, family, friendship, memory, and bacon. I loved it.”—Morgan Matson, New York Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Everything
In this gorgeously written, emotional novel that fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy, a teenage girl must piece together the parts of her life she doesn’t remember after a severe collision leaves her with no memory of the past four years.
When Olivia awakes in a hospital bed following a near-fatal car accident, she can’t remember how she got there. She figures it’s because she was in a coma for a week, but as time goes on, she realizes she’s lost more than just the last week of her life—she’s lost all memory of events that happened years ago. Gone is any recollection of starting or graduating high school; the prom; or her steady boyfriend Matt. Trying to figure out who she is feels impossible when everyone keeps telling her who she was.
As Liv tries to sort out her family and friends’ perceptions of her, the one person she hasn’t heard enough from is Walker, the guy who saved her the night her car was knocked off that bridge into the bay below. Walker is the hardened boy who’s been keeping his distance and the one person that has made Liv feel like her old self…whoever that is. With feelings growing for Walker, tensions rising with Matt, and secrets she can’t help but feel are being kept from her, Olivia must find her place in a life she doesn’t remember living.
Amnesia is something I have always wondered about and I feel like the way it effects this story makes for the perfect storm of crashing emotion that I need. I really really want to read this book!
The Wood by Chelsea Bobulski
Winter didn’t ask to be the guardian of the wood, but when her dad inexplicably vanishes, she’s the one who must protect travelers who accidentally slip through the wood’s portals.
The wood is poisoned, changing into something more sinister. Once brightly colored leaves are now bubbling inky black. Vicious creatures that live in the shadows are becoming bolder, torturing lost travelers. Winter must now put her trust in Henry–a young man from eighteenth century England who knows more than he should about the wood–in order to find the truth and those they’ve lost.
Bobulski’s eerie debut is filled with friendship, family, and the responsibilities we choose and those we do not.
This book sounds creepy and atmospheric and all things that go bump in the night. I have heard amazing things about this book and I’m so excited for its release!
These Things I’ve Done by Rebecca Phillips
BEFORE: Dara and Aubrey have been inseparable since they became best friends in sixth grade. Dara is the fearless one, Aubrey the prodigy, yet despite their differences, they support each other unconditionally. However, as they begin their sophomore year of high school, cracks in their friendship begin to form, testing the bond they always thought was unbreakable.
AFTER: It’s been fifteen months since the accident that killed Aubrey, and not a day goes by that Dara isn’t racked with guilt over her role in her best friend’s death. Now, after spending a year away from home in order to escape the constant reminders of what happened, Dara is back at her old high school to start her senior year. Dara thought the worst thing about coming home would be confronting the memories of Aubrey that relentlessly haunt her, but she soon realizes it isn’t half as difficult as seeing Ethan, Aubrey’s brother, every day. Not just because he’s a walking reminder of what she did, but because the more her feelings for him change, the more she knows she’s betraying her best friend one final time.
The loss and the anger and grief that surrounds how this book is to me makes me want to open its pages today!
August 8th
Goodnight, Boy by Nikki Sheehan
A tale of two very different worlds, both shattered by the loss of loved ones. Tragic, comic and full of hope, thanks to a dog called Boy.
The kennel has been JC’s home ever since his new adoptive father locked him inside. For hours on end, JC sits and tells his dog Boy how he came to this country: his family; the orphanage and the Haitian earthquake that swept everything away.
When his adoptive mother Melanie rescues him, life starts to feel normal again. Until JC does something bad, something that upset his new father so much that he and Boy are banished to the kennel. But as his new father gets sicker, JC realizes they have to find a way out. And so begins a stunning story of a boy, a dog and their journey to freedom.
I feel like this book would have me in a tear fest. The raw emotion of thinking about a mistreatment that would equate boy and dog and then have them go on together to find freedom sounds like a rollercoaster journey I want to be a part of.
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
A stunning novel on love, loss, identity, and redemption, from Publishers Weekly Flying Start author Brandy Colbert
When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.
But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.
This book sounds like it is going to be amazing! Especially now that I’ve started a book club based off of mental illness. Bipolar disorder is one of the mental illnesses that fascinates me most and I enjoy seeing how it is delt with in different novels.
Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
The highly anticipated new book from the acclaimed author of The Accident Season is a gorgeous, twisty story about things gone missing, things returned from the past, and a group of teenagers, connected in ways they could never have imagined.
One stormy Irish summer night, Olive and her best friend, Rose, begin to lose things. It starts with simple items like hairclips and jewelry, but soon it’s clear that Rose has lost something much bigger, something she won’t talk about, and Olive thinks her best friend is slipping away.
Then seductive diary pages written by a girl named Laurel begin to appear all over town. And Olive meets three mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel, and her twin brother, Rowan, secretly squatting in an abandoned housing estate. The trio are wild and alluring, but they seem lost too—and like Rose, they’re holding tight to painful secrets.
When they discover the spellbook, it changes everything. Damp, tattered and ancient, it’s full of hand-inked charms to conjure back things that have been lost. And it just might be their chance to find what they each need to set everything back to rights.
Unless it’s leading them toward things that were never meant to be found…
This book has generated quite a whisper of anticipation within me. Everything about it is telling me that I should probably pick this book up and those instincts feel too right to be wrong.
The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones
A thrilling blend of sci-fi, paranormal horror, and romance-perfect for fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo
When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a devil–her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life–she finds her trade may be more than she bargained for. And becoming “heartless” is only the beginning. What lies ahead is a nightmare far bigger, far more monstrous than anything she ever could have imagined.
With reality turned on its head, Dee has only a group of other deal-making teens to keep her grounded, including the charming but secretive James Lancer. And as something like love grows between them amidst an otherworldly ordeal, Dee begins to wonder: can she give James her heart when it’s no longer hers to give?
The Hearts We Sold is a Faustian tale for the modern age that will steal your heart and break it, and leave you begging for more.
A deal with the devil count me in! The premise of this book sounds amazing and that is all I need.
This is Not the End by Chandler Baker
If you could choose one person to bring back to life, who would it be?
Seventeen-year-old Lake Deveraux is the survivor of a car crash that killed her best friend and boyfriend. Now she faces an impossible choice. Resurrection technology changed the world, but strict laws allow just one resurrection per citizen, to be used on your eighteenth birthday or lost forever.
You only have days to decide.
For each grieving family, Lake is the best chance to bring back their child.
For Lake, it’s the only way to reclaim a piece of happiness after her own family fell apart.
And Lake must also grapple with a secret–and illegal–vow she made years ago to resurrect someone else. Someone who’s not even dead yet.
Who do you need most?
As Lake’s eighteenth birthday nears, secrets and betrayals new and old threaten to eclipse her cherished memories. Lake has one chance to save a life…but can she live with her choice?
Talk about an amazing premise! Fascination doesn’t cut it for me with this book. The story and how it is going to be executed is the reason that I wish I had this book in my hands today.
A Map for Wreked Girls by Jessica Taylor
In this twisting tale of loyalty, betrayal, and love, two sisters must survive the wilds, if they can first survive each other—for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Gone Girl.
“Emotionally eviscerating. A gripping examination of the barbed-wire bonds between sisters that cut, protect, and don’t let go. Prepare to feel.”—Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
Emma has always orbited Henri, her fierce, magnetic queen bee of an older sister, and the two have always been best friends. Until something happens that wrecks them.
I’d trusted Henri more than I’d trusted myself. Wherever she told me to go, I’d follow.
Then the unthinkable occurs—a watery nightmare off the dazzling coast. The girls wash up on shore, stranded. Their only companion is Alex, a troubled boy agonizing over his own secrets. Trapped in a gorgeous hell, Emma and Alex fall together as Emma and Henri fall catastrophically apart. To find their way home, the sisters must find their way back to each other. But there’s no map for this. Can they survive the unearthing of the past and the upheaval of the present?
I don’t think you need my comment on why I want to read this book. It’s pretty self-explanatory with that synopsis.
August 15th
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popović
“Lush. Delicious. Bewildering. And darkly magical. Popovic has created a world that you tumble into from the very first words and wish you could stay in forever.” —Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown’s Game
“Wicked Like a Wildfire was like devouring a succulent fairy fruit—it will rob your time, settle into your dreams, and leave you starving for more.” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
Fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo will be bewitched by Lana Popovic’s debut YA fantasy novel about a bargain that binds the fates—and hearts—of twin sisters to a force larger than life.
All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love.
But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever?
Wicked Like a Wildfire is the first in a two-book series. Readers will be rapt with anticipation for the sequel.
Sprinkle some magic into a book and have a fantastic cover and I will surely need to read it.
August 22nd
The Arsonist by Stephanie Oaks
Code Name Verity meets I Am the Messenger in this riveting YA novel from Morris Award finalist Stephanie Oakes, in which three points of view are woven together in a story that’s part Cold War mystery, part contemporary coming-of-age, and completely unputdownable.
Molly Mavity is not a normal teenage girl. For one thing, her father is a convicted murderer, and his execution date is fast approaching. For another, Molly refuses to believe that her mother is dead, and she waits for the day when they’ll be reunited . . . despite all evidence that this will never happen.
Pepper Al-Yusef is not your average teenage boy. A Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy, serious girl problems, and the most useless seizure dog in existence, he has to write a series of essays over the summer . . . or fail out of school.
And Ava Dreyman—the brave and beautiful East German resistance fighter whose murder at seventeen led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall—is unlike anyone you’ve met before.
When Molly gets a package leading her to Pepper, they’re tasked with solving a decades-old mystery: find out who killed Ava, back in 1989. Using Ava’s diary for clues, Molly and Pepper realize there’s more to her life—and death—than meets the eye. Someone is lying to them. And someone out there is guiding them along, desperate for answers.
At turns heart-racing, hilarious, and heartbreaking, The Arsonist is an intricate tapestry—of love, loss, and the mysterious connections between us all.
Arson is another thing that fascinates me. Plus just look at that cover! It is gorgeous!
The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker
“History and mystery meld beautifully in this ghost story with depth.” (Kirkus)
Unearthing years of buried secrets, Rilla Brae is haunted by ghostly visions tied to the tainted history of a mysterious island in this haunting novel from the author of The Girl Who Fell.
Maine-bred, independent Rilla Brae is no stranger to the deep. She knows the rhythms of hard work and harder seas. But when she experiences the sudden death of her father, the veil between the living and the dead blurs and she begins to be haunted by a girl on a nearby, uninhabited island. The girl floats a song over the waves, and it is as beautiful as it is terrifying. Familiar and distant.
Then Rilla meets Sam, a University of Southern Maine archeology student tasked with excavating the very island where the ghostly girl has appeared. Sam sifts the earth looking for the cultural remains of an island people who were forcibly evicted by the state nearly a hundred years ago. Sam tells Rilla the island has a history no locals talk about–if they know about it at all–due to the shame the events brought to the working waterfront community. All Rilla knows for sure is that the island has always been there–an eerie presence anchored in the stormy sea. Now Sam’s work and the ghostly girl’s song lure Rilla to the island’s shores.
As Rilla helps Sam to unearth the island’s many secrets, Rilla’s visions grow–until the two discover a tragedy kept silent for years. And it’s a tragedy that has everything to do with Rilla’s past.
October is fast approaching and the paranormal aspect of this book makes it a must-have. I really would love to read this book.
August 29th
All Rights Reserved
In a world where every word and gesture is copyrighted, patented or trademarked, one girl elects to remain silent rather than pay to speak, and her defiant and unexpected silence threatens to unravel the very fabric of society.
Speth Jime is anxious to deliver her Last Day speech and celebrate her transition into adulthood. The moment she turns fifteen, Speth must pay for every word she speaks (“Sorry” is a flat ten dollars and a legal admission of guilt), for every nod ($0.99/sec), for every scream ($0.99/sec) and even every gesture of affection. She’s been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can’t begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she’s unable to afford.
But when Speth’s friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family’s crippling debt, she can’t express her shock and dismay without breaking her Last Day contract and sending her family into Collection. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: rather than read her speechrather than say anything at allshe closes her mouth and vows never to speak again. Speth’s unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.
This book for me is 1000% premise and the second I laid eyes on this many moons ago I was in love. This is definitely my most anticipated book of the month. It sounds truly incredible.
August 29th
Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
The highly anticipated, entirely new coming-of-age story for the world’s greatest super hero: WONDER WOMAN by the # 1 New York Times bestselling author LEIGH BARDUGO.
She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning. . . .
Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.
Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.
Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.
I have yet to read a Leigh Bardugo book, but I desperately want to. Plus ever since I watched Wonder Woman I have felt like I need more superheroes in my life.
Thank you for reading! I told you I was anticipating a whole lot this month. Hopefully I get to read all these in the future. Let me know which of these intrigues you most! What is your most anticipated book release of August?
-Till next time!
Another month and another set of books to enjoy and I could not have it any other way. This month I’m super excited for so many of the titles I will be reading especially as I am a good chunk of the way through with several of them. I just have a feeling that this month of reading is going to be amazing!
Currently Reading:
And I Darken
“Absolutely riveting.” —Alexandra Bracken, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Passenger
This vividly rendered novel reads like HBO’s Game of Thrones . . . if it were set in the Ottoman Empire. Ambitious in scope and intimate in execution, the story’s atmospheric setting is rife with political intrigue, with a deftly plotted narrative driven by fiercely passionate characters and a fearsome heroine. Fans of Victoria Aveyard’s THE RED QUEEN, Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING, and Sabaa Tahir’s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES won’t want to miss this visceral, immersive, and mesmerizing novel, the first in the And I Darken series.
NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.
From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first book in a dark, sweeping new series in which heads will roll, bodies will be impaled . . . and hearts will be broken.
Age of Asher’s
What if all the ancient myths are true?
Eighteen-year-old Chloe Zacharias is perfectly content being an outsider. But an ancient prophecy has different plans, plans to catapult her into the middle of an ages-old war between beings she only thought were mythical. Filled with magic, mystery, and sprinklings of Greek mythology, Age of the Ashers is a powerful fantasy adventure for those who love to lose themselves in the world of make-believe.
Zenn Diagram
Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them from clothes to textbooks to cell phones she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read a person’s fears and anxieties, their secrets and loves … and what they have yet to learn about calculus. This is helpful for her work as a math tutor, but it means she can never get close to people. Eva avoids touching anyone and everyone. People think it’s because she s a clean freak with the emphasis on freak but it s all she can do to protect herself from other people’s issues.
Then one day a new student walks into Eva’s life. His jacket gives off so much emotional trauma that she falls to the floor. Eva is instantly drawn to Zenn, a handsome and soulful artist who also has a troubled home life, and her feelings only grow when she realizes that she can touch Zenn’s skin without having visions. But when she discovers the history that links them, the truth threatens to tear the two apart.
Zenn Diagram, Wendy Brant’s sparkling debut novel, offers an irresistible combination of math and romance, with just a hint of the paranormal. Readers will swoon over Zenn and connect instantly with Eva, the most fully drawn prodigy in teen fiction today.
Protected
I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her. I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days old.
Hannah’s world is in pieces and she doesn’t need the school counsellor to tell her she has deep-seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn’t have problems?
Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn’t afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?
In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl’s struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.
A Very New Day
A Very New Day is about a boy with Cerebral palsy, who goes to go regular school for the first time in junior high and uses Morse code to write. Rich Trout is unable to use his hands. Instead, he drives his electric wheelchair and writes in Morse code with his head. Rich doubts that he belongs in regular school after being isolated to special education classes only.
He is inspired by Mrs. Tilley, his English teacher, who treats him as a regular student and shows Rich that anything is possible. Rich has one dream, to be a writer. Mrs. Tilley introduces Rich to an author friend of hers, who also has Cerebral palsy, serving as an inspiration and role model.
Rest of the tbr:
Now I Rise
Lada Dracul has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.
What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?
As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won . . . and souls will be lost.
The Book of Whispers
Tuscany, 1096 AD. Luca, young heir to the title of Conte de Falconi, sees demons. Since no one else can see them, Luca must keep quiet about what he sees, or risk another exorcism by the nefarious priest Ramberti.
Luca also has dreams—dreams that sometimes predict the future. Night after night Luca sees his father murdered, and vows to stop it coming true. Even if he has to go against his father’s wishes and follow him on the great pilgrimage to capture the Holy Lands.
Far away in Cappadocia, Suzan has dreams too. Consigned with her mute mother to a life in an underground convent, she has a vision of a brown-haired boy riding through the desert. A boy with an ancient book that holds some inscrutable power. A boy who will take her on an adventure that will lead to places beyond both their understanding.
Together, Luca and Suzan will realise their true quest: to defeat the forces of man and demon that wish to destroy the world.
The Wrath and The Dawn
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Sharp Objects
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows, a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.
The Enemy Within
Seventeen-year-old Max has always felt like an outsider. When the agonizing apocalyptic visions begin, he decides suicide is his only escape. He soon finds himself in an institution under the guidance of a therapist who sees something exceptional in him. Just as he begins to leave the hallucinations behind, Max discovers the visions weren’t just in his head.
There are three others who have shared those same thoughts and they’ve been searching for Max. Like him, they are something more than human. Each of them possesses certain abilities, which they’re going to need when a covert military group begins hunting them down.
As the danger escalates, Max doesn’t know which side to trust. But in the end, his choice will decide the fate of both species.
I feel like my reading is always really random and this month is no exception. Some of these titles (really *cough cough The Wrath and The Dawn cough cough*) have been on my tbr for ages and I am restraining myself from diving into them immediately and many have yet to be released or are newly released. There is a lot of diversity in my reading this month and not just genre wise and I’m so excited to see what I think of them all!
-Till next time!
I like to think of myself as a genre mafioso if you will. I’m willing to read anything and I have loved a book from most every genre. I have loved Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Contemporary, Romance, Auto-Biographies, Non-Fiction, Historical fiction, Literary fiction, Poetry, Paranormal, Horror, Graphic novels, Mystery (thank you Agatha Christie) Manga, and many other genres I am not thinking of at the moment, but the one big genre I seem to be missing to this list is this one: The Thriller.
I’m just gonna go right out there and say it: I’m scared of Thrillers. They intimidate the heck out of me. The only thriller I own is Sharp Objects and I haven’t even read it yet. As a whole I don’t even know where to begin with it. I peak out at thrillers through the bushes and wonder “Hey, could you possibly be for me?” It’s crazy because I love reading quite a few blogs who almost exclusively read and review thrillers and I stand in some sort of corner browsing and curious, but still in so many ways afraid…. and I have no idea why.
There are so many thrillers out there that have interested me in the idea of them, but when I go to pick them up I put them back down and say maybe next time. I even have some thrillers on my tbr that I’m super interested in reading, but there is something insane in my head that is keeping me from taking the plunge and letting myself enjoy the genre for what it is.
It’s also crazy because there are elements of thrillers that in theory should make it irresistible:
The psychological elements:
The mind is fascinating to me. Learning and reading about the minds darker parts reels me in.
The twisted nature:
(Why I love horror) To see how things can be warped and twisted to be something different from what it was but more grotesque and evil then it was before is fascinating to me. In some part of myself that’s an element that draws me more then any other.
The Crime:
I love crime TV. Bones, CSI, BlindSpot, Psych, even stuff like 24 and Prison Break (which are not really crime crime shows, but they are full of action and well crime so I’m including them) Their is something about the forensics and getting into the mind of a killer that is intriguing to me.
But then this is where I finally find my why. Movie thrillers and Tv Shows are so much fun to watch. They are fast-paced and entertaining and visually I’m always intrigued. However, I always wonder how that face-paced and live-action feel would be translated into written format in an entertaining way. (This is stupid logic I know, all I have to do is look at all the fast-based fantasies I own on my shelves to be proven wrong)
So here is my plead for you. If you have read a thriller that you have really enjoyed and feel like it would be a good read for me give me a recommendation. (BTW I’m a HUGE fan of cool premises, so if it’s a bit quirky or weird or you just find the premise to be really cool I’d love to hear about it) Help me get over my fear of thrillers! My fear doesn’t even make sense to me and I need some great books to knock some sense into my head.
Thank you for reading!
–Till next time!
June is pride month and I thought I would share some books on my tbr (that I don’t yet own) that I hope to get my hands on and read ASAP!
History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
“This book will make you cry, think, and then cry some more.”
—Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything
From the New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not comes an explosive examination of grief, mental illness, and the devastating consequences of refusing to let go of the past.
When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.
To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.
If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy (a copy of this book is on its way and I couldn’t be more excited!)
A new novel from Julie Murphy, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’, about family, friendship, and modern love.
Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. One of only two out lesbians in her small town and standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flakey mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. Now with her sister Hattie pregnant, her responsibilities weigh more heavily than ever. The return of her childhood friend, Freddie, brings a welcome distraction. Ramona’s friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where they left off, and soon he’s talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. Ramona is hesitant at first, but soon she finds herself called to the water in a way that makes all the other noise fade.
As Ramona falls more in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift as well, and she must decide if knowing who she is is more important than figuring out who she might become.
From bestselling author Julie Murphy, comes a sharp and thought provoking novel about modern love, family, and the labels that we just can’t seem to escape.
It’s Not Like It’s A Secret by Misa Sugiura
Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like that fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.
When Sana and her family move to California she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana’s new friends don’t trust Jamie’s crowd; Jamie’s friends clearly don’t want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore anymore.
Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy… what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.
Symptoms of Being A Human by Jeff Garvin
The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?
Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.
On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.
Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.
Dreadnaught by April Daniels
An action-packed series-starter perfect for fans of The Heroine Complex and Not Your Sidekick.
“I didn’t know how much I needed this brave, thrilling book until it rocked my world. Dreadnought is the superhero adventure we all need right now.”―Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky
Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world’s greatest superhero. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she’s transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny’s body into what she’s always thought it should be. Now there’s no hiding that she’s a girl.
It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny’s first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. Between her father’s dangerous obsession with “curing” her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he’s entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she’s in over her head.
She doesn’t have time to adjust. Dreadnought’s murderer―a cyborg named Utopia―still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can’t sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.
The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl.
On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long, and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl.
As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.
Adaption by Malinda Lo
When birds start flying into planes all over the country, it’s impossible to call that many collisions a coincidence. Then Reese and her crush, David, get in a crash of their own, and when she wakes up a month later, she has no recollection of what she missed. Her life only gets more confusing when she meets the beautiful Amber, and realizes she’s confused about more than just what’s going on outside; apparently her sexuality isn’t quite what she thought it was, either. As she works to solve the mystery of what happened to her during the month she was unconscious, she also must confront her feelings for both David and Amber, an issue which continues in sequel Inheritance.
A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo (a book I need ASAP)
The line between best friend and something more is a line always crossed in the dark.
Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. If nobody notices her, she’s free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more a curse than a gift.
As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences.
When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.
“It doesn’t even matter that she probably doesn’t understand how much she means to me. It’s purer this way. She can take whatever she wants from me, whenever she wants it, because I’m her best friend.”
A Line in the Dark is a story of love, loyalty, and murder.
There are honestly so many more books I could have included here, there are so many awesome LGBTQ+ books out there in this world and I can’t wait to start reading more of them. I see a fault in how much lack of LGBT representation are on my bookshelves and I’m slowly branching out and starting to read them. These are a list of books I’m hoping to obtain and read in the near future and I’m so excited for them all for so many reasons! Let me know which of these you are most curious and and intrigued by. Also if you have read any of these let me know what you thought!
The Book Raven 