I really enjoyed getting more backstory on secondary characters and the ever-expanding universe view and intergalactic politics going on behind the games. And that epilogue?? Things are about to go down!!

#12Booksof2025

I‘ve been trying to read more books by disabled authors, and this memoir-in-essays was fantastic!
#12BooksOf2025

Check for trigger warnings on this one because a main plot point came as quite the surprise to me, and I kind of wish I had known ahead of time…but I can also see how not knowing gives it more of an impact. Either way, this book really hit me in the feels ♥️

First book of 2026 and it was just okay.

By the 25% mark I knew where the story was going and its twist/reveal, so the rest of the book, I was just waiting for it to catch up. If I hadn‘t been reading this for a book club, I‘m not sure I would‘ve finished.

I did enjoy it being set in Australia, though.

I laughed, I shed a tear, I swooned 💞

#12BooksOf2025

I would read 10 Vera Wong books ❣️

A fantastic follow up to She Who Became the Sun!

Alright *cracks knuckles* I‘m diving into my first book of 2026!

Beat my reading goal for 2025 🥳

I started and ended my reading year with works from my talented friend!

This book is weird, and I loved it! You follow an infamous violin instructor who made a bargain where she must sell souls to a demon, a trans girl trying to find her way in the world, and a family of aliens from a distant planet attempting to fly under the radar at a doughnut shop. It‘s probably not going to be everyone‘s cup of tea, but it worked for me!

#12BooksOf2025

I just finished my 3rd read of this collection of essays, and it‘s still 5 🌟 for me. This has become a comfort read over the years. I feel my worldview and mental health struggles are similar to Green‘s, and these essays really speak to me. He wrote these essays in 2020/2021, so there is a lot of talk about Covid, so just be aware of that‘s triggering for you.

Steeped in Scottish folklore, I loved this sequel to A River Enchanted. Rebecca Ross gets lots of love for her Divine Rivals duology, but I enjoyed series a bit more 💖

#12BooksOf2025

This is the 3rd book in a series that reimagines the Arthurian legend with Merlin having twins and Emry, his daughter, as the court wizard. It‘s full of a diverse and queer cast of characters that I adored. The first book is “The Other Merlin.”

Did you receive any books as gifts during the holidays? I read the Jade City audiobooks a few years ago, and now I have these beautiful paperbacks for my shelves 😍

Next up!

It‘s always difficult to rate a short story anthology, but I did enjoy the interweaving of the setting of Sandy June‘s Drive-In and the magical realism aspect of it being set outside of time and space and appearing to people who needed it most. I didn‘t realize this was Young Adult, so a lot of the stories had to do with high school/coming of age.

I‘m a day late, but happy 250th birthday, Jane Austen! Here‘s my Austen collection 💞

My next audiobook!

This was a fun (and little less cozy) 3rd book in the Legends and Lattes series. I was bummed that there was so little Viv and her friends in Thune featured in the story, but that‘s also on me bc I didn‘t read the synopsis beforehand 😅 Fern is a fun character, and we get to meet lots of great secondary characters. Seriously, I hope we get a book about the goblin and her chaotic escapades!

Excited to return to this world!

I‘m rating it a “Pick,” but a soft one. I find it interesting that the cover copy of this book does not mention the third POV, Cameron. Probably because he‘s fairly insufferable. I get he has trauma to work through, but it was tough being stuck in his head for so much of the book. I wanted more Tova and especially more Marcellus!

I‘ve only dipped my toe into Romantasy, but I found this first book in this duology enjoyable. The world is a little confusing at first, but I loved the characters. (We ride at dawn for Gargoyle!!)

I‘m a sucker for irreverent senior citizens and the found family trope, which this book has in spades. There might have been too many storylines for one book (including multiple murders and a couple of off-page self-inflicted deaths) but the core characters were delightful, and I will be continuing the series.

My quick pitch for this series is “The Hunger Games meets Dungeons and Dragons—with aliens.”

DCC was an unexpected hit with my book club, and an instance where I think the audiobook really enhances the story, because the only person in our club that didn‘t love it read a physical copy. I‘m honestly in awe of the audiobook narrator (Jeff Hays)

The book isn‘t perfect, and there‘s lots of violence and gore, but boy is it a wild ride!

For years now, I‘ve just been logging the books I‘ve read and not writing reviews, and I want to change that. Call it an early New Year‘s resolution, but I‘m going to try and start posting here again with thoughts on the books I‘ve read!

I‘m so out of the loop now—who are people I should be following?

Happy Pride!

It‘s been a tough couple of months, but I‘m excited for the books I‘m planning to read this month!

I attended my first in-person author event in over two years! Schwab‘s talks are always wonderful, and I got my Vicious tote signed🙌🏻 (One More Page Books did a great job hosting— all attendees were required to wear a mask and show their vaccine card.)

February‘s book haul consisted of a couple books I‘ve been meaning to buy, two I just heard about, and this amazing LOTR edition I won in a bookstagram giveaway! 😍

It‘s been a loooong time since I‘ve read an Adult Fantasy book, and boy am I out of practice! 😅 The audiobook is like 19 hours long (😫) so it took me a while to get through, but it‘s definitely an interesting story. Full of family drama, clan power struggles, political intrigue, and a fair amount of violence. If that sounds like your thing, check it out!

Here‘s a stack of ✨ possibilities ✨ for the month. I‘m currently in the middle of a couple of books, but I‘d really like to get to Addie LaRue. I also reread The Night Circus every couple of years in the autumn, but I might have to audiobook it in order to squeeze it in. (I do love Jim Dale‘s narration.) What are you hoping to read in November?

This was a fun, quick read, and of course perfect for October.

I‘ve gotta say, the cover and title initially drew me in, and then I found out it‘s set in Edinburgh with Zimbabwean magic and I was even more intrigued! I‘m really looking forward to starting this one! What‘s a cover that caught your attention?

Looking for a series to read during spooky season that‘s not TOO scary? I recommend the Cassidy Blake series! Each book takes place in a different haunted city (Edinburgh, Paris, and New Orleans) and they‘re a lot of fun!

Booooks! It‘s officially spooky season, so I‘ve picked out some particularly on-theme reads, along with some book club picks. Will my brain actually cooperate and let me read all of these in October?? UNLIKELY…but a girl can dream, right?

I had a pretty good reading month in August that was unexpectedly color coordinated 😂

I‘m so glad this book was chosen for my book club bc it was not on my radar & I loved it! It‘s part memoir/part nonfiction, & I listened to the audiobook, which was great. I connected w/ him an a lot of things & kept pausing to go look up certain pieces of art mentioned, or pull up Spotify & listen to a song he talked about. He wrote this during the pandemic, so that brought a whole other level of intensity to some of the chapters.

This is the third book in The Brown Sisters romance series by Talia Hibbert, and OF COURSE it was wonderful and charming and I loved the characters! It was just what I needed. I love these sister! This series is like a warm hug and I can definitely see myself returning to them for comfort reads. If you haven‘t read these yet, you‘re missing out! The audiobook narrator is fabulous, too.

The concept is really cool, and I like how mythology was interwoven with timely social justice issues, but I feel like the story could have benefitted from more worldbuilding/ info on the magical beings.

I love the whole series, and this final book was a satisfying ending.

The online game created in SLAY is so cool! The descriptions of the different cards, settings, & battles were really immersive. I was able to follow along fairly well—even via audiobook, which is sometimes difficult for me when a book is description-heavy. I‘m not a gamer, but I still enjoyed the gaming aspects, & the real-world lives of the characters hit on a lot of important topics. (Also, hi, everyone! I‘m slowly coming out of a reading slump)

Gothic horror is not a genre I usually pick up, but the cover immediately drew me in, and I‘ve been hearing nothing but great things, so I decided to be brave and give it a try. The writing is beautifully atmospheric with amazingly detailed descriptions that become more horrifying and grotesque as you go. It starts as bit of a slow burn, but the underlying mystery kept me invested. More in comments ⬇️

I enjoyed the world of magic Bardugo created within these secret societies at Yale. It makes me want to visit the campus and take a walking tour via the book‘s map. I know people have complained about it being too long/too slow, but for the most part I was okay with the pacing. There were some flashback scenes that I found to be a bit unnecessary (or unnecessarily violent) but I‘m interested in seeing how things play out in the next book.

Long time no post! I spent the last month finishing up the first draft of my novel, which I‘m so excited about! I‘m starting on revisions in October, so I‘m hoping to read these non-fic writing books I‘ve heard great things about, as well as some spooky reads. 🎃👻

This book touches on performative allyship, transactional relationships, and the problems domestic workers face, along with some boy drama. It successfully interwove all of these timely and important topics into such a readable story, and I‘d highly recommend putting it on your TBR. It‘s on the Booker Prize long list, too, which is exciting!

I LOVED this book! I had high hopes going into it, seeing as it‘s Jemisin, and let me tell you— it did not disappoint. Is it subtle? No. But neither is NYC, so I think it works out pretty well. I thought the concept of a city having a soul and being born was so incredibly cool. It makes me want to go back and visit NYC for sure. All the stars for this one! I can‘t wait to see what Jemisin has in store for book two!

This book was so much fun! It‘s a cute YA F/F romance, but it‘s more than that. Liz struggles with a friendship breakup, trying to save enough for her dream college, homophobic school policies, and family illness (which taught me a lot about sickle cell anemia). Continued in the comments ⬇️

This was an interesting romance. It didn‘t shy away from the problems the couple was having in their marriage, and there was plenty of blame to go around. I guess I‘ve gotten to the age where people in their mid-20s who have only been married for a few years make me think “Oh, they have so much to learn” 👵🏻 😂 I loved the scenes of the Bromance Book Club meetings, & the excerpts of the Regency Romance book they were reading in the club was fun!

My July reads were all solid, and I‘m behind on reviews, but my favorite was YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN. Audiobooks ruled again, as I read 5 via audio, 1 ebook, and 1 hard copy. How was your reading month?
#readingwrapup