#November 2022 TBR

[elizmanderson]

2024 wrap-up, part 2

part one | part three | part four

this year has been much better than last for reading! I did notice last year as I reviewed my reads that I wasn't reading a huge diversity of authors. so while I never set numbers-based goals for my reading, I did set the goal this year to make sure at least 50% of my reads were books by authors of color

I had SO MANY BOOKS by authors of color on my TBR already and even owned many of them, so I made sure to prioritize those books this year. and it was easy to hit 50% by making sure that any book I read by a white author was followed by an author of color (although I made a spreadsheet in November to make sure I was still on track). I'm a mood reader, but these books cover so many different genres that it was easy to diversify my reading once I prioritized that

another thing I tried this year but was less successful at was to prioritize reading in general by deciding to read one book a weekend

(this probably wouldn't work for a 500+ page book, but I have so little energy for such books anymore even though Lowercase E adored them)

the year started off strong with books finished in a single sitting on a Saturday morning/afternoon. but once April hit, my year got busier and I sort of never recovered

overall, however, I did read more consistently than I did in the last two years. while I don't have numbers for the last two years, so far this year I've read 37 books, which I'm 82% sure beats either 2022 or 2023 (which is nice even if I don't make numbers goals anymore)

top reads of 2024

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

not my usual genre (horror/dark fantasy), but a friend was clearing out her shelves a couple years back and the cover grabbed me. this was my first read of the year and is STILL one of my tops reads. holy shit it was so good. the worldbuilding was really cool, the book had a Gothic feeling that I always love (if I read horror, I usually reach for Gothic before other subgenres), the romance was just SO well done. partway through the book I found myself thinking, "wow, the only thing this book is missing is some queer characters" AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THAT VERY CHAPTER. this book was so good that I went online as soon as I finished it to buy Alexis Henderson's next book, House of Hunger.

note for anyone who hasn't read the book: apparently it's the first of at least an intended duology. the second book is postponed indefinitely, but honestly the first book can be read as a standalone. so if you're a "I won't read a series until it's done" person, I urge you to read The Year of the Witching nonetheless

...made myself want to reread this but alas I'm in Georgia visiting the parental units, and the book is back in Ohio

maybe I'll make it my first read of the year again lmao

link to The Year of the Witching on BookShop

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

all I can say about this book (aside from how masterfully done it is) is that I reached the end, flipped the page, found "acknowledgements" staring up at me, and said OUT LOUD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE POLE STUDIO* "wait what that's it???????" and then YELLED about the book to my instructor and other students

*class had not started yet, I finished the book while waiting bc I'd arrived early

there's apparently both a prequel and a sequel, and I am both looking forward to and scared to read them

link to They Both Die at the End on BookShop

Arsenic & Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

actually I read the entire Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries to date, which should tell you how good the first book was! I love a good cozy mystery, and the whole series is great. also: Tita Rosie and Jonathan 5ever oh my god they're so cute together and Tita Rosie deserves the best. if you're the type of mystery reader who likes recipes at the end of your book, this series is for you

I think there are five books so far with a sixth on the way! it's helpful to read them in order since the community in each book does build on the characters introduced in the previous book, but being cozy mysteries the plot doesn't super depend on you having read anything previous

(apparently she also has a YA mystery coming up?? hell yeah)

link to Arsenic & Adobo on BookShop

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

OBVIOUSLY I've been looking forward to reading this one ever since I learned about it, because it's a little old lady getting into shenanigans. oh my god it exceeded my wildest expectations. I love Vera SO MUCH. I laughed aloud a lot, I cried a lot, and I worried over who the murderer might be because of the multiple POVs and the found family...each member of which had a good reason to want the murder victim dead :,) I'm still devastated (positive)

we're getting a SEQUEL and I cannot overstate my excitement to get a second Vera Wong book

link to Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers on BookShop

...I was going to do a top five but honestly there are SO MANY good books left on my spreadsheet that I don't think I can choose between them to list just one more. so let's look ahead to next year instead

upcoming books I'm looking forward to

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

adult cozy fantasy featuring an undead rooster and elderly lesbians, so this is probably my number one book I'm looking forward to

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

adult cozy mystery and OBVIOUSLY I'm looking forward to this one

This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole

YA fantasy sequel to Kamilah Cole's debut So Let Them Burn

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah

adult fantasy sequel to Chelsea Abdullah's debut The Stardust Thief

(okay, I also listed that last one last year or the year before, but in my defense it kept getting pushed back)(actually so did the first one, but the first one wasn't on my radar last year)(the point is, I'm looking forward to both of them, and both of them are DEFINITELY FOR SURE coming out in 2025)

tune in later for part three!

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Books of 2024 - December and Wrap-Up

In contrast to November, I did get to both of my planned nonfic reads. I also ended up rereading a bunch of books I've been wanting to revisit; only one turned out to not hold up on a reread. And only one book this month was strictly audio; I really enjoyed taking it slowly with printed books as the nights grew longer. All in all, a lovely, cozy wrap-up to reading in 2024.

Fun fact: This is the first time in four years where I didn't read a C.S. Lewis book in December. (In 2022 and 2023, C.S. Lewis was my last read of the year.)

Total books: 10  |  New reads: 4   |  2024 TBR completed: 1 (0 DNF) / 36/36 total   |   2024 Reading Goal: 92/100

November | January 2025

potential reads

#1 - The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty - 4/5 stars (reread, audio)

This is one of those books I read several years ago, remember liking, and wanted to revisit. The first time I read it, I distinctly remember enjoying it--the writing style and world especially--but there were aspects of the plot that left me unmotivated to continue the trilogy immediately.

And then, just recently, I started seeing this series mentioned all over the place, so I decided to reread The City of Brass and see about finally continuing the series.

Upon completion, I find myself massively conflicted. Like.... What is the plot? What exactly is going on here? And why is it taking forever to get where it's going? My initial review called the writing "exhaustingly intense" which...I mean, yeah, if Past Me couldn't find a clearer way to say "I have no idea what's going on here and I'm feeling a little stupid about that, because I think something is going on?", sure. "Intense" works, I guess.

In fact, I'm so confused by this book that I'm breaking my own rule of never changing my initial rating of a book unless it's to give it a higher rating; with City of Brass, I deducted a star.

I love the world Chakraborty created. That's my favorite part. The writing style remains vivid and largely immersive (though sometimes the language shifts and I'm yanked out of the story), but it's so dense. It feels like The Final Empire all over again. (Another book I'd probably detract points from if I ever read it again.) I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters except, oddly, Muntadhir and Zaynab. Nahri kind of just let the plot happen to her. Ali was equal parts compelling and confusing. Dara is...Dara. And then there's whatever is going on with the politics.

I still have no idea what's going on with the politics.

Honestly, it feels like too much. I wanted to like it, but by about the 60% mark I was so bored, and kind of irritated, and just ready for it to be over. I think I can see why people like this story and it looks like it gets better in the second book, but I don’t have the patience for it.

More books featuring the elements I DID enjoy from "City of Brass": The historical fantasy angle and Nahri and Dara's early dynamic reminded me of the Winternight trilogy, and something about Ali's arc reminded me, for some reason, of "The Goblin Emperor". Note that this is all based on, like, the first quarter of the book.

#2 - The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff - 5/5 stars (reread)

The Lantern Bearers is the book in this series that everyone talks about, and I've always intended to read it, and I know you don't have to read this series in order to enjoy each entry, but I like reading a series in order. I had intended to get to this one next year; however, someone recently shared some fanart of Cottia and a bunch of my mutuals were passing it around the dash, and I had to start my reread early. So here we are, with me revisiting The Eagle in preparation for diving into the rest of the series.

First of all: I remember almost nothing about this book! There were a few vague images and impressions in my head, and some of the details came back to me as I read, but it was almost like reading a completely new book. I definitely enjoyed this just as much as, if not more than, the first time around. Marcus is a fantastic POV character, sympathetic, compelling, and charming, and the supporting cast are all colorful and delightful. Sutcliff's ability to transport readers into 2nd century AD Britain, across all of its landscapes and in all of its varying cultures, is breathtaking.

And then Sutcliff caught me by the throat in the last chapter and laid me out in a wreck on the floor. I had a great time.

This will be going on my regular rotation of books to revisit. I probably won't get to the rest of the series until next year, though.

More like this: It feels soooo much like "The Blue Sword" to me. I'm not positive why. And the setting naturally reminded me of Lawhead's Pendragon trilogy.

#3 - Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto by Tilar J. Mazzeo - 4/5 stars ('24 TBR)

The last of my official reading list for the year! This book has been on my TBR for years and I'm so glad I finally got to it.

In Irena's Children, Mazzeo explores not just Irena’s story, but that of her network of wartime co-conspirators and resistance fighters; and of Warsaw and Poland at large, in all of its intricacies and terror. That alone makes it worth the read.

As far as the writing itself is concerned, Mazzeo relays events in very short “scenes”, the majority of them ending on some grim or dramatic note suggesting future trouble for Irena and her friends; and yet the story (especially around the middle of the book) regularly gets waylaid by repetitive descriptions that time and again remind us how terrible and dangerous everything is. The writing also feels a bit scattered or choppy at times, making it difficult to follow the details of some events as they unfold.

It feels awful to judge a book with such a heartbreaking, breathtaking story as anything but perfect; and it was clearly well-researched and written with passion. I would definitely recommend it.

#4 - Q's Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books by Helene Hanff - 5/5 stars

Yes, yes, I chose to read this one now because it's a "Q" title, and probably the smallest "Q" titled volume on my TBR. In my defense, it has been on my TBR since I read 84, Charing Cross Road nearly two years ago.

That aside, I adored this one nearly as much as 84. Hanff's way with words is stunning. It's so gentle and unassuming and vivid and breathtaking. I teared up at several parts. And, like Helene with Q, I ended my reading with the urge to go out and buy all of the works mentioned here. Which, to me, is some of the best kind of writing.

#5 - The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein - 4/5 stars

Another book that came to me by ways I can't recall. I'm confident I learned about it on tumblr, but I have no idea from whom.

Thoroughly engrossing, with an easy, immersive style and compelling characters (plus a setting I always go ham for). And then it got a bit dark, a bit weird, and I ended it with a very befuddled, "Huh??"

I’m waffling in continuing the series because I don’t trust Wein not to hurt me lol.

#6 - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - 5/5 stars (reread)

I haven’t read this book in three years. I still love it.

#7 - The Girl and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - 5/5 stars (reread)

It was at this point that I said, "Hey, I could get to 90 books this year with just a little effort, and also I'm home all week...." So I snatched up an appropriately wintry book I've been wanting to reread, and here we are.

It’s a testament to Arden’s writing that this book has so many elements I typically hate reading about, and yet it has stayed with me since I first read it seven years ago. And it’s just as solid on a reread: the setting, the characters, the fairytale depth of it. Gorgeous.

More like this: The Vibes are similar to "Spinning Silver", though the styles themselves vary.

#8 - Stand Still, Stay Silent: Book 1 by Minna Sundberg - 5/5 stars (reread)

I have finally returned to this series to read through it for the first time! (I only got about halfway through the webcomic.) And it’s even better than I remember. This is a perfect introduction to the world and characters, with STUNNING artwork. I love it so much.

#9 - A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner - 5/5 stars (reread, mixed print and audio)

Sophos my belovéd. I am drawing hearts all over this book.

(Also hi hello turns out the last time I read this, in August 2021, was also the first time I read The Eagle of the Ninth, which is fun. Also fun is the fact that the first time I read The Thief, I was entirely neutral about it, and it took me coming back to it years later with tumblr's help to fall in love. As with The Eagle.)

#10 - The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff - 4/5 stars (mixed print and audio)

Aunt Honoria 🫶

I’m learning that Sutcliff’s writing is best enjoyed read, rather than listened to; or else the narrators so far haven’t done her work justice. I listened to portions all the same while working. Not quite as compelling to me as The Eagle, but I LOVED Justin and Flavius’s dynamic so so much, and I’m always one for a ragtag band of heroes coming together.

The question now is whether I proceed with the series from here in publication or chronological order....

Similar characters: Evicatos's background is very similar to that of Ed from Digger, so naturally I love him; and Cullen reminded me strongly of Randal from The Perilous Gard.

Honorable Mentions:

I completed another Bible read-through this year! It was all audio again, so definitely not counting it toward my reading.

DNF:

Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot - While I agree with Elliot's thesis (if perhaps not some of the finer details) I found her arguments vaguely frustrating. I managed to get about 40% of the way through this before she once again got to the cusp of a conclusion and then skipped right on to the next point. I think Elliot's aim was to lay out every aspect of her overall argument and then bring it together in the end, but it felt so scattered that she lost me.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty - Got nearly 10% in and still couldn't be bothered to care about any of these characters. And, purely personal, but the five-year time jump was a bit odd. I am willing to be convinced to give this another chance, however, especially because it has a higher average rating than the first book, and the third book has the highest rating of all.

All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor (reread) - I took forever to get to this, and then it was due back at the library and I had lost interest. Yes, there's a clock ticking down to system-wide destruction. Yes, there's a bunch of emotional investments to...invest in...if you can keep track of the characters involved. But there's so many little pieces moving all over the place--or perhaps it's that the scope is simply too grand, too broad--that the impact is gone. It felt like such a drag, and I had no enthusiasm for it.

For the series overall (at least the original trilogy): I had a decent time revisiting it, but it's not going on my shelf.

Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker - I picked up this book a couple of years ago because I loved the concept (war veteran abandoned on a dusty old planet just trying to get home to her daughter; Firefly vibes with her crew) but the writing was not it. Also I happened to glance at the content warnings and saw “graphic rape” so…. After years of it sitting on my shelf, I have to pass.

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill - Barnhill is a very hit-or-miss author for me. This one was a miss. (If I’m being petty, I gave up when a passage made me say “That is NOT how you shear sheep” out loud.)

2024 Reading Wrap-Up!

Off the bat, I think my personal best accomplishment in 2024 is that I read more. Not necessarily more books, but I managed to actually make myself sit down and physically read more than I did last year. Audiobooks, as always, got me through many an hour of cleaning at my second job, many an hour of driving and household work and winding down at night, but in the earlier part of 2024 I was starting to feel like my ability to focus on the page was suffering. Now I'm a little less worried.

My goals for reading in 2024 included:

Read 100 books - lol that was optimistic of me. I got off to a slow start right at the beginning of the year and never quite caught up. Ironically, that was because way back in February I said I only wanted to read physical books, no audiobooks, for a month and I failed splendidly. How times change. However, I marked off a lot of books this year, especially if we count my massive DNF list, and I read some larger books, and I found several new favorites, so I'm content.

Get to some of the older residents of my TBR - I did this! I still have a decent backlog of old TBR books I plan to dig into in 2025, but I cleared out a chunk this year and I'm so proud of myself. (See above about the sheer number of DNFs; I have a feeling 2025 will go the same way, but it still counts.) (And side note: I saw someone online refer to the books on her longstanding as her "TBR veterans" and I love that description.)

More nonfiction! - I did SO well with this one, too! I set up my reading plan for the year with two nonfics per month--one firm TBR, one a more casual want-to-read. Throughout the year, I confirmed I am as picky with nonfic as with fiction (I prefer narrative nonfic, or the almost investigative style that comes with journalists writing longer stuff). Even with my pickiness in mind, I managed to discover several fascinating stories; and I feel a bit smarter....

General Stats:

Total Books Read: 92 (90 last year)

Rereads: 28 (30 last year)

New Authors: 31 (31 last year)

Audiobooks*: 54 (62 last year)

Nonfiction: 15 (9 last year)

DNF: 47 (a definite record for me; only 14 DNF'd last year)

Alphabet Book Titles: 26 out of 26!

Pages Read**: 13,059 (significantly higher than last year)

Hours Listened**: 501 (lower than last year)

*including books where I read part in audio and part in print form

** estimate, including whatever I read of each book I DNF'd

2024 TBR:

Read: 22

DNF: 14

2024 TBR completed in December!

My Top Five Anticipated 2024 Reads:

Agent Garbo by Stephan Talty - 5/5 stars

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - DNF @ 15%

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein - 4/5 stars

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach - 4/5 stars

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - 5/5 stars

Top Five New Reads of 2024*:

Agent Garbo by Stephan Talty

Are Women Human? by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - favorite book of the year! shout-out to the tumblr circle for peer-pressuring me into this one.

The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

*can we please admire how only one of these is fiction? turning 30 did something to me.

2025 Reading Plans:

I'm aiming to keep it simple this year (ha). Instead of self-inflicted pressure to read a certain number of books, I want to:

Brave some of the huge books on my shelves and give them the time they deserve. (The average page count for the 24 books on my 2025 TBR is over 450. The average page count for the books I read in 2024 is around 300.)

Explore some new styles (like poetry and essays) and subjects (more nonfic!).

Mark off some classics that have been on my list for ages.

Dig into the backlists of some of my favorite authors.

All of this involves tackling my longstanding TBR. I was already building my 2025 TBR back in May, and the list included a bunch of the books I've had on my list for over five years. Several of these are marked as books I probably won't enjoy but can't bring myself to not at least give a chance. Hopefully I'll find a few gems in there! (Can I get my digital TBR down below 300? Unlikely--but! We shall see! It used to be over 500 and with some reading and a lot of weeding I've already thinned it out.)

Naturally, I am armed with lists! My actual list of must-get-to books in 2025 is very short, and largely comprised of familiar authors; then I built a second, much longer list, with books to choose from with less pressure. That list has the above assortment of classics, tomes, poetry, nonfiction, and iffy TBR residents I'll likely DNF.

And if I really can't decide what I want to read, I set up one of those online spinny picker wheels to choose for me! (Featuring only TBR books I own or have confirmed I can get from the library.)

Top Five Anticipated Reads of 2025

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

John Adams by David McCullough

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede

[aesthetic-solar-space]

King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair, 402 pages, published November 30th 2021 - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book has been on my tbr since it was announced by scarlet. After loving her Hades and Persephone books I was excited to see where she’d go with something that in my mind had more leeway since it was less of a story that’s been set in stone. Yet when it came out I was in a huge slump and decided to wait to read it, fast forward to December of 2022 and vampires have finally started to sound appealing again.. and my go to was to pick up this book and dive headfirst, which is exactly what I did and I loved it!! This was a perfect book to read to just get my mind off the stresses the prep for the holidays was giving me and to just escape into a good enemies to lovers action. I will say I’m excited for Queen of Myths and Monsters which is out now, yet it will likely be a little bit before I pick it up. Adrian and Isolde are going to literally drag me into war with them and I need to be prepared.

“All of the stars in the sky are not as bright as my love for you.”

[richincolor]

We've got a packed week with seven new releases on our calendar! Which ones are on your TBR list?

The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.

NerdCrush by Alisha Emrich Running Press Kids

Ramona Lambert is a typical shy, artistic sixteen-year-old. She has a best friend whom she’s known since they were in diapers; parents who love her; a love for cosplay; and a crush on the cute boy in her class.

The only problem? Her best friend moved away; her parents don't quite understand her love of cosplay; and she is pretty sure her crush has no idea she exists.

To escape her troubles, Ramona turns to cosplay and her original character, Rel, who gives her the confidence and freedom that she lacks in real life. Embracing this confidence, she decides to strike up an email conversation with her crush, Caleb Wolfe, from her cosplay account in the hopes getting to know him . . . and maybe win his heart. Then as Caleb and Ramona are swept up in their emails back and forth to each other, and Ramona falls even harder as he opens up about his hopes, insecurities, and his own geeky loves. However, as Caleb starts to grow closer and closer to Rel, he also strikes up a friendship with Ramona, who knows she can't keep the truth about Rel from Caleb but isn't sure she is ready to risk losing him. With an important cosplay convention coming up and the anxiety of her double-life weighing on her, Ramona has to decide if she’ll hide behind her cosplay character forever or take the chance and let Caleb see the real her--because he might actually like her for who she is. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood Wednesday Books

Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she’s worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travelers in a Jamaican jungle teeming with ghostly monsters.

When the boss denies Victoria an earned promotion to team leader in favor of Dean, her backstabbing ex, she’s determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she’s not the image the boss wants to send their new client, Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched gold supply deep in the jungle.

Thorn is everything Victoria isn't - confident, impossibly kind, and so handsome he leaves her speechless. And when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, turns to affection, turns to love. But the jungle is treacherous, and between hypnotic river spirits, soul-devouring women that shed their skin like snakes, and her ex out for revenge, Victoria has to decide - is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants? -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz Union Square Co.

#WhereisAmeliaAshley

The Influencer Amelia Ashley shares everything with her followers – her favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants, her best fashion tips, and her European trip-of-a-lifetime with her hot boyfriend.

The Boyfriend Josh has no choice but to return home without Amelia after she abandons him in Rome. He has no clue where she went or how her blood got in his suitcase. Why won’t anyone believe him?

The Hacker To Harper Delgado, Amelia Ashley is just another missing white girl whipping up a media frenzy. But with each digital knot she untangles about the influencer, Harper wonders: who is Amelia Ashley?

The Other Girl Two years ago, another girl went missing, one who never made headlines or had a trending hashtag.

The Truth Amelia’s disappearance has captured the world’s attention. What comes next? Watch this space…

Told through a mixture of social media posts, diary entries, and firsthand accounts, Going Dark is a gripping, suspenseful thriller about all the missing girls who fall off the radar, perfect for true crime fans and readers of One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus.

These Infinite Threads (This Woven Kingdom, #2) by Tahereh Mafi HarperCollins

(The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.)

Alizeh is the heir to the Jinn throne and fulfills a long-foretold prophecy of a Jinn sovereign destined to free her people from the half-lives they’ve been forced to live under the rule of humans.

Kamran is the heir to the human throne, and he’s being pressured to marry before he becomes king. When he falls in love with Alizeh and subsequently learns her true identity, he must question everything he’s been taught about Jinn and their future in his kingdom.

These Infinite Threads picks up at the explosive cliff-hanger ending of the New York Times bestselling novel This Woven Kingdom, and is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi, and Sabaa Tahir. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

The Long Run by James Acker Inkyard Press

(The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.)

Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being "Bash the Flash," fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro.

Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back.

When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that they’d risk everything for… -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

This Time It's Real by Ann Liang Scholastic

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep.

Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?

Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.

But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?

Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Eat. Dance. Fight.

This is the life of the girls who compete in the Isle’s elite, all-female fighting sport of Bowing. But it isn’t really Dirt’s life anymore. At sixteen, she is old and has retired from competition. Instead, she spends her days coaching the younger sisters of the Mud Fam and dreading her fast-approaching birthday, when she’ll have to leave her sisters to fulfill whatever destiny the Gods choose for her.

Dirt’s young sisters are coming along nicely, and the Mud Fam is sure to win the upcoming South God Bow tournament, which is crucial: the tiny Fam needs the new recruits that come with victory. Then an attack from a powerful rival leaves the Mud without their top Bower, and Dirt is the only one who can compete in the tournament. But Dirt is old, out of shape, and afraid. She has never wanted to be a leader. Victory seems impossible—yet defeat would mean the end of her beloved Fam. And no way is Dirt going to let that happen.

[more-than-a-princess]

【ME & 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗜'𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥】

⠀

- ALIAS / NAME: Rae

- BIRTHDAY: August 22

- ZODIAC SIGN: Leo/Virgo cusp and I absolutely live up to it. I have never felt like I'm solely a Leo or solely a Virgo. I'm a combination of both.

- HEIGHT: 5'8"

- HOBBIES: Writing, reading, watching a lot of TV and movies (sometimes for work, sometimes not), cosplay and fan conventions, fashion (especially luxury accessories and classic cuts and patterns. Though much of my style inspo comes from France and Italy! I love a timeless look with a nod to retro fashions, especially from the 50s-70s), visiting cafes, and dreaming of travel.

- FAVORITE COLOR: Sapphire blue! Both my engagement and wedding rings have sapphires for this reason.

- FAVORITE BOOK: This is an absolutely rude and cruel question how dare you expect me to choose-

- LAST SONG: This Is Taylor Swift playlist on Spotify, but mostly going through Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights tracks for RP reply inspo.

- LAST FILM / SHOW: I'm currently watching Only Murders in the Building with my husband and we're loving it! A few of my family members grew up and/or lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan so seeing all of the familiar architecture is entertaining. As well as the murders, the character personalities, etc. I still don't believe Steve Martin and Martin Short's characters are heterosexual in this show and it should be 'Selena Gomez and her two gay adoptive uncles' but I digress.

- RECENT READS: I finished House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas at the very beginning of February and I've had a book hangover since then! Not that I was 100% satisfied with the ending of Crescent City but it's been hard to get into something new. I've started book 1 in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, but I haven't managed to finish it or its sequel yet. After that, I'll probably go back to finishing the Letters of Enchantment duology by Rebecca Ross, The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black, or the Hades and Persephone saga by Scarlett St. Clair. I'm tempted to finally dive into some Leigh Bardugo works, some V.E. Schwab, or start Katee Robert's Neon Gods series.

I have 166 books on my Kindle and I've finished maybe 50 of those so far, if it's any indication on how long my TBR list is. And I haven't even mentioned my historical, contemporary, and/or gothic romance picks on that list...

I really love books, y'all.

- STORY BEHIND URL: It's how Sonia wants to be seen by everyone she meets.

- FUN FACT ABOUT ME: I got married in November 2022 but I'm finally taking my honeymoon next month in April 2024. My job takes most of the blame for this, but I'm very close to securing a promotion soon (which means I'll be able to assign some of my work to others!).

That said, a lot of April will be a long hiatus from this blog. I'll be coming back to write when I've returned, but leading up to the trip, two weeks on the trip, and coming back and catching up with everything means much of April will be queued aesthetic posts around here.

That said, I'm so ready for London, Paris, and Disneyland Paris!

TAGGED BY: @mechatiqe (thank you!)

TAGGING: @quickdeaths, @hxpelessnurse, @dcviated, @tacitusauxilium, and you!

[asteral-feileacan]

Fanfic writer interview

tagged by: @sinvulkt (thank you!!)

what fandoms do you write in?

Oh so many, with more to come. The ones I'm writing in right now, though, are: The MCU (specifically anything to do with Steve & Bucky, but I'll expand further down the line, maybe) Assassin's Creed (specifically Syndicate as of now, but again I'll expand in the future) Cold Mountain Hell on Wheels Star Wars (This one is a bit trickier for me to write in, but I do enjoy writing some fics in this fandom :3 I'm mainly writing some fics based on the SW D&D campaign I'm in with Sin, Pat and three others who I think aren't on Tumblr, so more on that soon!) Twin Peaks Avatar: the Last Airbender (Nothing published yet, but slowly chipping away at the gift requests I got from Sinvulkt in ATLA <3)

how many words have you published in 2024?

I published 39,617 words in 2024!

Considering the last "real" wordcount I have that isn't severely buffed up by the epic @fanfictasia 's fics they collabed with me (that I did like one chapter of and then dipped so not a fair collab, the three of them did all the work XD) is 1,581 in 2022, that's a big step up XD

I hope to beat my 2024 WC this year :3

what is your greatest achievement this year?

Hm... well, in terms of writing, in 2024 I finally bit the bullet and published the first chapter of my monster fic, The Bloodlines Retelling. I have another 7 chapters written, but I still need to edit them and re-figure out the direction I'm taking some stuff. Actually, on that note, I'll share my wordcount on it because I'm very proud XD My total wordcount on TBR is 29,296 words, although the doc is significantly longer due to some floating scenes that will be added later, and a TON of notes and interesting facts and stuff.

what are your top three fics you've written this year?

My favourites are coincidentally the longest ones I have, aka the ones I have the most agony over XDD

The Bloodlines Retelling - though there's much more behind the scenes so to speak, I've poured a lot of energy and love into this rewrite of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. I have a whole physical FOLDER dedicated to this thing, full of sticky notes, pages of the outline, random things, etc. It's also probably worth mentioning this also has several playlists, which I'll probably share in the notes of the next chapter or so since I need to do some maintenance on said playlists.

End of the Line - This was a gift request sent in by the lovely Tirana of Fanfictasia, my dear online sister. It was actually the first gift request I started at all, and it holds a special place in my heart, because I mean- a Steve and Bucky roleswap? I'm loving doing this, even though I'm a bit blocked on the next chapter. I can't wait for everything that comes next.

Aberration - Ah. This fic plagues me, in a good way. I watched Twin Peaks for the second time in 2024 and loved it even more than I did when I first saw it at something like 13 years old? I can't be sure, but I was fairly young when David Lynch made my brain explode, and now I'm obsessed with this show :3

what was your biggest pit of despair moment?

I hit a pretty low point in November regarding writing. I had - and still have, frankly - too much happening in my life to set aside much time to write, and I was just so blocked. I had decided to do NaNoWriMo, but I wrote something like 2,000 words in the whole month.

what have you learned?

I've learned to accept is that it's okay to take a long time to write. All your friends might be pumping out 70k in a month while you're sitting having barely scraped together a short chapter of your 14th ever fic, but that doesn't mean that you should compare yourself to someone else, because in all likeliness you're just in a different stage of your constant journey with writing. You will find your balance.

There is a flipside to this, though. It's all good and well to talk about writing, but I find there is great value in just DOING. It's very easy to put it off, make excuses, go watch a video on writing instead of looking at your doc, but the only way you're going to grow is by setting aside that time, even if it's just 5 minutes, to do something for your writing. Growing pains are difficult to go through, yes, but they're necessary. Your writing is a muscle, a habit that you need to love and train. I've put off writing far too much, but it helps to realise that I don't need to treat it like a chore. There's no point putting pressure on myself by thinking, "oh, I have to catch up to my friends!", but there's also no gain in sitting thinking about writing.

did you beta any fics? any faves you want to shout out?

I didn't really beta any fics this year, sadly, but I would love to in the future! Once I'm out of exam hell, I'm hoping to do a lot of things, and I'd be very open to beta-ing some fics :3

what three fics have you read this year that you love?

Away We Go by TexasBean

Katara gets separated from her friends while fleeing from Azula and her cronies. The only way she can think of ever seeing them again is hopefully meeting up in Ba Sing Se. --- Zuko is alone; Uncle is gone; and he’s a fugitive with no hope of ever returning home. He’s been wandering with no real destination in mind. --- Katara and Zuko of all the chances, run into each other in some nameless Earth Kingdom town. They come to a sort of truce and from there, things gradually begin to shift.

the world is brighter than the sun (now that you're here) by blujamas

“So. Scotland.” They stood by the sea, Anne with ribbons in her hair and Gilbert with his heart on his sleeve. Outside looking in, one might see a girl with suitcases by her feet and a boy wringing his hands behind his back, and conclude that they might be lovers saying goodbye. The truth was much more practical than that. // Long-lost family offers Anne Shirley-Cuthbert a chance at education in a prestigious university across the sea. Before she can go, however, there is one last loose end to tie up: Gilbert Blythe.

passerine by blujamas

“I understand. You heard the place you loved was in trouble, so you came back, but I don’t—I just—why didn’t you take me?” Here it was, at last. Catharsis, or something close to it. “I would have hunted them down with you, Philza, the people who did that to your town. I would have given you your vengeance on a silver platter. I would have given you the world.” Philza didn’t look guilty. He just looked tired. “I didn’t hunt them down, though.” // Or, that fic where Techno and Phil are old immortals, and Tommy and Wilbur are decidedly... not.

Cheating a bit, but these two were also amazing:

I Know Not, and I Cannot Know; Yet I Live and I Love by billowandsmoke

Severus Snape has his emotions in check. He knows that he experiences anger and self-loathing and a bitter yearning, and that he rarely deviates from that spectrum… Until the first-year Luna Lovegood arrives to his class wearing a wreath of baby’s breath. Over the next six years, an odd friendship grows between the two, and Snape is not sure how he feels about any of it.

Heart of the Monster by Eighty_Sixed

One year after Laura Palmer's murder, Coop resigns from the FBI and disappears. Harry sets off on a journey to find him.

what ideas are percolating for next year?

Dozens upon dozens of gift fic requests from my request form (open to submissions), some in ATLA, others in Star Wars, and many from my D&D SW group :3 I'm also slowly working on a secret (for now) collab project that will hopefully be something I can focus on soon.

Other than these, I'm intent on finishing some more fics this year and getting my yearly wordcount up.

who do you want to thank?

I'd like to thank @sinvulkt (their AO3), @pat-the-togorian (his AO3) and all the rest of the TAAOEJ gang - Xylian (Xyl's AO3), Zsömle and Cass - who are inspiring me to write every day and are helping me to make it a reality. Also @fanfictasia - Tirana, Rivana and Amina who listen to my rants on pretty much anything, and who have always commented on my fics, even when none of them knew the fandom. To my friend Vod, for dying mutually with me, and last but not least, my boyfriend, who may yet be persuaded into fic writing, for being a stellar fella, and who, through his lack of having seen many movies, is the perfect excuse to rewatch all my favourite films and thus get re-inspired.

Little shoutout to my brief writing group at my local youth theatre, who were great to write with.

tagging:

@thease2096 , @vase-eater @hellphrog @fanfictasia

If yall want to do this/are all writers, I'm only sure about like 2 of ye XDD

[missbookiverse]

Im Vergleich zum Vorjahr habe ich…

wieder mehr Bücher gelesen und gerereadet

deutlich mehr Bücher abgebrochen

weniger Bücher in Originalsprache gelesen (ich merke, wie mein Verhältnis zu deutschen Übersetzungen sich verändert, da ich 2023 ein paar hervorragende Übersetzungen gelesen habe)

noch mehr Bücher aus den letzten 3 Jahren gelesen

noch mehr Bücher aus anderen Ländern als den USA, UK und Deutschland und Übersetzungen (nicht aus dem Englischen) gelesen

jobbedingt wieder angefangen, eBooks zu lesen

zum dritten Mal in Folge Robin Hobb als meist gelesene Autorin gekürt, aber auch meine Édouard-Louis-Phase im Sommer hat sich bemerkbar gemacht

dieselben Genres in ähnlichen Anteilen gelesen, aber ganze 10% weniger Fantasy als 2022 (hat sich nicht so angefühlt)

mehr Bücher angehäuft, von denen ich noch nicht mal die Hälfte gelesen habe (zu meiner Verteidigung: Geburtstag im November, Weihnachten im Dezember und pünktlich zum Jahresende auch noch aussortierte Gaben von einer Freundin)

Am interessanten ist für mich die Erkenntnis, dass nur 36% meiner gelesenen Bücher von meinem TBR stammen. Ich hätte gedacht und wünschte nun diese Zahl wäre höher! Da werde ich 2024 mal ein Auge drauf behalten. Ich habe mir auch vorgenommen, endlich gezielt die ältesten Bücher auf meinem TBR zu lesen (und natürlich auch gern rigoros abzubrechen). Hoffentlich klappt es dieses Jahr, eventuell hatte ich mir das 2023 schon vorgenommen…

Letztes Jahr konnte ich außerdem gut beobachten, wie viel schöner ich es finde, bewusst ein einziges Buch zu kaufen, mich darauf zu freuen und es dann zu lesen. Größere Bestellungen oder Käufe sind mir eigentlich zu viel (aber beherrschen/entscheiden kann ich mich trotzdem nicht immer), 1–2 der Bücher lese ich dann relativ flott, aber der Rest geht unter und bleibt länger auf dem TBR. Manchmal ist das ok, manchmal aber auch schade, weil ich das Buch auch später noch hätte kaufen können; ich lebe ja schließlich in einer Großstadt. Ich mag es inzwischen auch lieber, die Bücher im Laden mitzunehmen (oder vorher dorthin zu bestellen) als sie unromantisch aus einer lieblosen Pappe aus dem Briefkasten zu fischen.

Was das Gelesene angeht, will ich mir 2024 gern regelmäßig Zeit nehmen, um öfter und genauer zu reflektieren, ob mir das, was ich gerade lese/höre eigentlich gut genug gefällt, um es zu beenden, ob es mir etwas mitgibt oder Freude bereitet. Ich will herausfinden, ob sich ein Buch für mich auch gelesen anfühlen kann (und darf?), wenn ich große Teile überfliege oder -springe, und ob ich das überhaupt muss, um ein Gefühl der Abgeschlossenheit zu empfinden.

Erzählt mir gern, zu was für Grübeleien euch eure Jahresrückblicke angeregt haben.

[taleforquill]

I completely forgot I could post things to Tumblr, so anyway, here's my June 2023 reading wrap-up! I'll be posting my other 2 retroactively.

I read 9 books this month, some of which I had been looking forward to since forever. Iron Widow was on my tbr for over a year, until my local library finally got it, and I'd been wanting to read The Yellow Wallpaper for a long time too.

I also continued my brave journey with the Shatter Me series. I read 2 novellas and 1 novel from this series this month and I feel very conflicted about the series as a whole. I really hated the novellas. And while I enjoyed the novel, I didn't enjoy it because it was good. I mostly enjoyed it because of the drama and the utter disaster of a plot.

When I was 13, I dropped the Shatter Me Series after the first book. But since it was gaining popularity again, I decided to retry it. After all, 13 year old me had very questionable taste and also thought the Hunger Games was bad. But 13 year old me seems to have been right in this case.

All of the romantic relationships in the Shatter Me serious are so incredibly toxic. It's unfathomable to me why people like Warner as a love interest. And no, reading the novella from his perspective did not help.

I currently have Restore Me, the next book in the series, borrowed from the library. I doubt I'll be able to find the motivation to start it any time soon. I don't know if I ever will. If anything, I might drop the series again.

Finally, I finally finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which I started in November of 2022 (!!!). It was such a big book with such a difficult and confusing writing style (and a story I didn't really enjoy), so it took me 7 months to read it in its entirety.

Curse me and my hatred for dnf-ing, I guess.

ART: In the Temple of Venus by Simeon Solomon (1863)

EDIT BY ME

[meowmageddon]

A Partial November TBR

We're mid-month, but I still want to bring over some of my reading updates here, so let's catch up on what I'm reading this month with a partial TBR list! My current reading process has up to four active reads at a time: a "Project" book, a Physical TBR read, a Library read, and an eBook. Most other additional books on my Goodreads or StoryGraph pages are things I'm behind on reviewing, mind your business 👀

So my four current reads are: Project: The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu, during my reread/completion of his Dandelion Dynasty series. It's my first time reading this, the third installment of the quartet. For those unfamiliar, the series is a "silkpunk" epic fantasy heavily influenced by Chinese history and culture!

Physical TBR: The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin, second of her Great Cities duology that just came out this month. The avatars of the worlds great cities must take on an extradimensional horror that threatens all of reality. Very NYC-centric.

Library: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty. This was at times marketed as a horror collection, but the stories are actually literary/contemporary. There are occasional encounters with potential spooky things, supernatural or systemic, but it's largely about complex family and friendship connections on the Penobscot reservation. One of my picks for Skoden Readathon!

eBook: The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope. I've been working on this for a while, not for any fault with the book, but because I don't gravitate toward the ebook format much. The book itself is very enjoyable, following a cast of characters including a clairvoyant woman, a musician, a con artist, etc. as they try to solve a plague of disappearances across the Black community in 1920's Washington, D.C.

Once I finish Night of the Living Rez, I plan to get to A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt for both Skoden Readathon and Enby Book Club. It's about a queer Indigenous student taking a break from his thesis to visit home.

This month got a lot busier than we initially expected, so that may last me til the end of the month, but otherwise, I hope to try to fit in White Horse by Erika T. Wurth. Was super excited to see it among Book of the Month's picks this month, and it would work for Skoden Readathon as well. It's about an Indigenous woman who has to discover the truth about the past when she ends up with an old family bracelet haunted by her mother's spirit and a dark entity.

For sure I'll get to it by the end of the year, though!

[jolieeason]

November 2022 TBR

October has flown by for me (I don’t know about you guys). It was a busy month Indie Authors/Publishers

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Books of 2023 - December (and a wrap-up)

And that's a wrap!

Extremely happy with my reading in general this year. I got to all but one of the books I absolutely wanted to get to in 2023 (and was only disappointed by a few of those); I revisited some old favorites; and I found plenty of unexpectedly delightful stories.

December was definitely a wrap-up month terms of finishing both my 2023 TBR (so. close.) and my impulse goal of reading a new-to-me book with a title for each letter of the alphabet. (That X, man.... That was difficult. I think I'll do it again next year.) There are about 30 titles left on my reading tracker, mostly stuff I threw on there to fall back on if I needed a change, or audiobooks I had on standby for boring days at work.

Audiobooks saved me this year.

And with that: my reviews, and then a little wrap-up and a summary of my plans for next year.

Total books: 5  |  New reads: 5   |  2023 TBR completed: 2 (0 DNF) / 24/25 total   |   2023 Reading Goal: 90/50

November | January 2024

#1 - Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (tr. Babette Deutsch) - 4/5 stars

It's so much more difficult to write reviews about 200-year-old classics than modern spec-fic. This book made me laugh, which is a solid point in its favor. I also survived my foray into novels-in-verse, which is another point.

As you were.

#2 - The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (tr. Aylmer Maude) - 5/5 stars ('23 TBR)

Next on my list of "one of those Russian guys", this time the book that Ruby read for school that made her cry.

And...woof. Yeah, I definitely cried. Not an easy story to read, but I am glad I read it.

#3 - Paradise Lost by John Milton - 4/5 stars ('23 TBR)

Well. I read it. Goodness knows why, but just managing that was a struggle.

The descriptions were vivid, and once I'd adjusted to the style it was engaging. It's definitely not something I'm used to, though, so it was an exceedingly slow read. That said, I do think it was a perfect book to finish right before Christmas. It felt right.

#4 - Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 1-3 by Hiromu Arakawa - 5/5 stars

Finally! Finally I have picked up this series! And I'm very glad I did. Needed something a little lighter after everything I've been reading lately.

As expected, it was delightful.

I chose to track reading with this series by the three-in-one omnibus volumes, given the relatively low page count per volume. I own the first three volumes as singles and just picked up a copy of four-through-six; the rest will have to come from the library, which will take some finagling.

#5 - The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis - 5/5 stars

Read this in one sitting to get to a round number of finished reads for 2023 and.... Wow. No thoughts. Lots of sticky tabs used. Just gonna...sit here for a bit.

Anyway.

2023 Reading Wrap-Up!

My goals for reading in 2023 included:

Read plenty of nonfiction: ok so I finished nine nonfic books, which narrowly beat out 2022's seven, but.... Yeah. We're gonna try this again next year. (I have at least two dozen on my reading tracker. I am nothing if not optimistic.)

Finish the Lord Peter Wimsey series: done and wowwwww

Get back into Discworld: I read the three Industrial Revolution books. So...not as much as I'd hoped to read but they were fun as ever! I plan to dive into the Witches subseries in 2024 and go from there.

Branch out into a few new genres: I generally didn't do so well with this one; gothic of any kind isn't for me. I will say I'm officially over general YA fantasy; I found a couple of MG books I enjoyed and will gladly recommend to the kids in my life.

General Stats:

Total Books read: 90 (84 last year)

Re-reads: 30 (including: all of the City Between series [10] in January; all but one of both Narnia [6] and the Fairyland Chronicles [4]; and all of Murderbot [6])

New Authors: 31 (24 last year)

Audiobooks: 62 (45 last year)

Nonfiction: 9 (7 last year)

DNF: 14 (19 last year)

Alphabet Book Titles: 26 out of 26!

2023 TBR:

Read: 19

DNF: 5

Didn’t Get To: 1 (currently reading this one)

My Top Five Anticipated 2023 Reads:

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - 4/5 stars

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 4/5 stars

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers - 5/5 stars

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - DNF @ 35%

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel - 3/5 stars

Top Five New Reads of 2023:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie

2024 Reading Plans:

Reading Goal: 100 books. Why not be obnoxious for once and actually set an unrealistic goal? (For the record, I had almost 100 books on my "potential 2024 reading list" back in September; I did my best to winnow it down but, with some carry-over from this year, it's currently at 88 books. Of those, 36 are hard-and-fast "to read in 2024" books.)

Get to some of the older residents of my TBR. There are some books that have been on my formal TBR for nearly a decade. I'm not even sure where a lot of them came from, but it's time to see if they're any good.

More nonfiction! Guys, I'm learning things! I feel like such an accomplished adult! Topics on the list for 2024 include cadavers, history and travel, murder, mythology, fungi, WWII hijinks, and pirates.

Another, less impromptu Alphabet of Book Titles challenge? In addition to the expected Q, X, Y, and Z, this year I struggled with R, F, and K for some reason? (I DNF'd three or four R titles and disliked the one I did finish.) I already have both a Q and a Z title sitting on my physical bookshelf at home and have a Y option picked out. X is still tripping me up (if I wasn't set on new titles I'd reread Xenocide). Since I'm that close already and I pulled it off in 2023, I'm tentatively going to try again.

Top Five Anticipated Reads of 2024

Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day by Stephan Talty

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

[slaughter-books]

Day 1: JOMPBPC: TBR This Month

My immediate TBR for November, 2022! 💗

[kattra]

What I’m Reading

BOOKS OF NOVEMBER The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor (AB) ** The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black* ** The Drowned Country by Emily Tesh ** The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawn Walton  Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King (SS)  Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire  Dark Waters by Katherine Arden Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn

Graphic Novels: Links by Natsuki Kizu ** My Little Monster Vol.10-13 by Robiko  Magic Knight Rayearth I + II by CLAMP * **

(152 books read / 150 books goal)

currently reading:  You’d Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson (P) American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson  The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller  Moonbath by Yanick Lahens  St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russel (SS)

* - re-read // ** - 4+ star-rating  GN - graphic novel // NF - non-fiction // P - poetry SS - short story collection // AB - audiobook 

TBR: Into the Windwracked Wilds by A. Deborah Baker The Book of Night by Holly Black  You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie My Dress-up Darling Vol.4-6 by Shinichi Fukuda (GN)

WHAT ARE YOU READING? :D

Find me on: GOODREADS | THE STORYGRAPH 

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (November 22nd, 2022)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

A Consuming Fire by Laura E. Weymouth

At Midnight by Dahlia Adler 

Of Cages & Crowns by Brianna Joy Crump

Other Side of the Tracks by Charity Alyse 

New Sequels:

The Last Field Party (The Field Party #7) by Abbi Glines

___

Happy reading!

[roseunspindle]

November TBR 2022

[daniellerenino]

My main characters as anime girls 🫙🫀✨

If you wanna know what’s up with the blood splatter, you should check out my book 😏

Whispers the Blood is free to read on Kindle Unlimited, paperbacks on Amazon or Barnes & Noble