Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands On, But Still Haven't Read

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish shareable, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

The alternate title for this blogpost could also be "A General Handful of Reasons My Brother is Deeply Annoyed With Me," being that - as the other major reader in the family - he's pretty regularly caught up in my mood reading shenanigans, and is either stuck behind me in line to get at a good read, or anxiously waiting for me to catch up with him after he's done speeding ahead. (To be honest, I think he'd even be a little justified about some of these qualms... but I'm the one painting his grad cap for him, so I'm relegating a limited amount of space for him to complain in the comments section.)

For the most part, I do have to chalk up a lot of these choices to being such a mood reader. And, of course, someone prone to buying excessive amounts of books at a time, so they just kind of hang out on my TBR for a while. And a fairly busy human being, who regularly suffers from some pretty intense reading slumps at times. But I'm working on it, all right? 

1. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather M. Fawcett

One of the most buzzy books in the Romance and Fantasy spheres' Venn diagram overlap last year, I picked this up for my Bloggoversary, and was eager to dive in... unfortunately, the intro was taking a little too long to get established for my liking, and I found the heroine difficult to connect to, so I stopped within the first 30 pages or so. But now that the sequel came out back in January of this year, I feel like I need to get my act together, or risk missing out on the hype train! 

2. Every Murderbot Book after Network Effect, Martha Wells

I absolutely demolished the first four books of the series back in 2021: for a series that I first picked up that January on a whim, I was through with Exit Strategy by early May, and had even dragged my brother and Dad into the fun with me! But after that, I seriously fell off, and only just finished the next up - Network Effect, the first full-length novella in the lineup - in December 2022, and haven't read another since. Maybe because it felt like the plot was getting a little too convoluted, or the genre elements were just getting a little too deep into the abstract chaos of SciFi for just casual reading, but I just couldn't drive myself to pick up another. I still have more books in the series on my shelves, and plan to read more... I just need to jump back into it. 

3. Each Time There's a New Every Heart a Doorway Book, Seanan McGuire

Like I said, I'm a mood reader, which means I'm not just a freak about putting aside books I'm not really feeling in a given moment, but also, have a tremendous amount of anxiety over "wasting" a great book on a mediocre day. Therefore, my deep love of Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway series means that I hoard them, like a dragon, dispensing them only for my enjoyment on special occasions, like a long vacation, or my birthday. My brother would probably rank this among my Top Five least-likable traits, because he doesn't read the books until after I'm done with them. 

4. Before the Devil Breaks You (Diviners #3), Libba Bray 

Speaking of books I read with my brother and series he's far outpaced me on, my love of Libba Bray runs true and deep and across genre and despite my ever-increasingly-no-longer-classified-as-Young-Adult age with pretty reliable consistency. (She has a new title coming out at the top of next year!). I absolutely adored the first two books in the Diviners series, but for some reason, this title and King of Crows have been sitting on my shelves, in hardback, despite having been purchased within the first few months of release. I think my reticence stems partially from the fact that I was warned that these two get pretty sad?  

5. Vengeful (Vicious #2), V. E. Schwab

I was a huge V. E. Schwab fan, back when her Darker Shade of Magic series first started making waves on BookTube (A series of which I have also, not foolin', only read one). I had just recently graduated college at the time - when books like Vicious and the This Savage Song / Our Dark Duet duology were published - and fully climbed aboard the hype train, but unfortunately, while I still believe she is an incredibly talented storyteller, I haven't read anything of hers since... not even the wunderkind YA novel that took TikTok by storm a few years back. I adored Vicious, though, and my enjoyment has only led me to pursue other similar superheroes-but-darker genre vibes in the time since. However, for some reason, Vengeful has stalwartly remained on my shelves: a Barnes and Noble Exclusive edition,  complete with an author signature and an additional short story, no less. 

6. Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1), James A Corey

Sometimes I really miss my Science-Fiction-loving roots. Every once in a while my genre dedication will rear its head again - Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente, Redshirts by John Scalzi, and the aforementioned Murderbot series are all SciFi faves - but you have to understand that I was a kid who fully grew up watching Kyle XY, Futurama, and Warehouse 13 every week, adored Disney's Treasure Planet in a way that formed load-bearing permanent structures in my brain, and genuinely, for serious, once brought a towel to high school for the day, to celebrate Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series with my friends. When I think about it too deeply, I get all moody and go to Barnes and Noble and buy something with spaceships on the cover, which at one point, was Leviathan Wakes... an appropriate title, because this book is a behemoth. Which is probably why I haven't so much as looked in its direction since. 

7. How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix

Diving back into my family's dedicated television viewing habits, a few years ago, my brother, father, and I developed a somewhat overly-involved fascination with a television show called Surreal Estate, airing on SyFy. Following a team of realtors who specialize in haunted houses, we were absolutely transfixed, for not only the first season itself, but the ensuing life-and-death tug-of-ware where the show was declared cancelled, then zombied itself back to life. (In the ensuing years, my Dad cut the cable cord, and my brother moved away for college... which means that his arrival home back in September after graduating works pretty well with the fact that all of season two is on Hulu, and the show was just picked up for a third season altogether). In the meantime, my sister became a total Grady Hendrix fan. This winning combo is why I not only pre-ordered it for her for Christmas 2022, but then, when she passed it on to me, immediately sent it along to my Dad. He thought it was okay. I still haven't read it yet. 

8. The Way Home, Peter S. Beagle

I picked this up for my Bloggoversary last year, after being completely blown away when I saw it on store shelves. How precious, I thought, running my fingers along the cover, and how significant, being that I had only just convinced my brother to read the book and then watch the movie with me (He preferred one over the other). However, it wasn't even until earlier this year, when I saw that another one of his books was forthcoming, that I realized Mr. Beagle wasn't nearly as dead as I'd previously assumed him to be. (In fact, he's 85, and recently come out on the other side of some seriously underhanded dealings that severely limited his access to his own copyrighted material, which is insane. As a fan, I'm pleased to hear of both his still-kicking mortality and his legal success). I'm saving this read for a special occasion, though.

 

9. Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

I was won over by TJR during a camping trip in 2019, on a lazy afternoon that saw me sobbing my tears into a sleeping bag while reading Evelyn Hugo. (Come to think of it, I finished Malibu Rising on a camping trip, too!). I read and loved Daisy Jones (but the TV show, not so much), and naturally, had to get a hardcover copy of Carrie Soto during an after-Christmas sale at Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, I didn't really love Carrie's character in Malibu Rising, and had heard some mixed reviews about CSiB, so it still sits on my shelves. 

10. The Candy House, Jennifer Egan 

It seems to be a general theme of this blogpost, of being enough of a fan to make something an auto-buy, but not enough of a fan to actually read the damn thing. In that vein, I'm a Jennifer Egan fan, and have been since I read Welcome to the Goon Squad back in my freshman year of college. I've read several of her books since then, like The Keep, which I greatly enjoyed due to its weirdness, and even managed to get halfway into Manhattan Beach, which I hated due to how normal and straightforward it was. But I still have Invisible Circus and Look at Me on my shelves, too, and haven't given them a chance either... it's just that this one was a hardcover purchase, the fact that it's the sequel to the WttGS, and I still haven't even tried it, which especially makes it kind of a bummer. 

What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

2023: My Worst Year in Books, Ever (No, Really)

The whole thing feels a bit like you've spent the afternoon wandering down a long, sandy, rainy beach. (I feel like a bit of an expert in these; the PNW happens to have a lot of them.) 

You've been flipping over any big stones, hoping to find some little crabs or something, looking for a tide pool or maybe scanning for movement amongst the gravel, only to look back once you've reached the end and see you simply left a lot of holes, but haven't unearthed a darn thing. Sure, you made the distance, got some steps in, and maybe found a little bit of cool bits of broken shell or thwacked your sibling in the leg with some dried seaweed, but for the most part? A lot of sand... and it's a longer way still to get back to the car. 

What I'm saying is, personally speaking, 2023 felt like a bit of a bust.

So, can we just say "Happy New Year"? I'm trying to stay away from broad, hyperbolic statements like "Surely, it couldn't get any worse," because if there's anything I've learned from countless hours of children's media, it's that the sky would suddenly break out into rainfall, the dam would collapse behind us, and a cloud of locusts might appear on the horizon. 

How about instead, we just recognize that the last couple of "new" years have, in fact, been a little bleak, and leave it at that. 

(The most frustrating thing about this this, is that we don't all seem to be on the same page: for instance, some people I truly adore in this world have spent the past year getting engaged, getting married, starting new jobs, starting new lives in new cities, having babies, getting published, going viral, what have you... but this post isn't about them. This post is about me... and maybe you too?) 

Let's start with the obvious: I missed my Goodreads Challenge goal. In fact, thanks to Goodreads and the power of dedicatedly logging all of your reading habits into a portal that the whole world can check on whenever they please, is that you know, straight up, all the "when"s and "how"s of a bad reading year... like, for instance, when you've been on decline for multiple years in a row, and even how you've had reading years where you've read almost double what you managed in this past one. 

I think it's time to trot out some excuses for myself. So, what gives? 

• I did a lot of travel last year. You would think this would help me read more, right? After all, I have put up plenty of vacation-style reading recaps in the past... but if anything, it made my regular daily schedules feel out of whack, and hard to settle back into, every time we went out of town. Either I was reading in unfamiliar locales, which was both hard to acclimate towards and made me feel incredibly guilty for not making the most of my new surroundings, or I was at home, scrambling to do all the things I couldn't get done while I was gone.
• My family is going through some major upheaval at the moment. But it's actually a good thing: one of my siblings got engaged in 2023, and will be getting married in 2024, with yours truly serving as a Maid of Honor (or Disrepute, Chaos, or Distraction, considering which sources you believe). With another sibling graduating college this year as well, it's been pretty busy around here.
• My volunteering hours have absolutely skyrocketed. Without giving too much away: whereas I used to serve a few key functions for the organization I dedicate the most time to, in the past year, that has increased exponentially. The good news is, I have gained several new key skill sets; the bad news is it feels like my free hours are still dwindling rapidly. Then again, I wouldn't be dedicating a minimum of four-to-six hours a week to this organization if I didn't care. 
• I started a new writing venture! As you might know, I now am also the author of not only this platform, but a monthly cooking Substack. Not only am I doing a very different kind of close reading these days, but I'm also dedicating several hours a month to both jam-packing the fridge with all of my necessary ingredients, and dishing up about exactly what I've been cooking on my newsletter. 
• I experienced a serious Reading Slump, from September through December. I'm not interested in getting into it, at least right now - you might have noticed that this platform has been pretty desolate for this last third of the year - but trying to get my brain to commit to consuming anything that wasn't a scrolling Tetris game or something easy on Food Network was a hard go of it, for sure. 

And things aren't slowing down. We've got a sister to get hitched - plus the accompanying Bachelorette Trip, Bridal Showers, Wedding Weekend, and more - coming up in 2024, as well as a college graduation and a sibling's subsequent move home, and that's just all the stuff that isn't even my fault. I'm still writing my Substack, volunteering even more than I used to, and to top it all off... I just started a new job! 

So, you know. Things are fine. 

Oh, right, except the fact that in 2023, I read eight books less than the year previous. 

(Kind of funny, once you consider that my total page count was down only 469 from the year before, too. So I guess I could have just read eight more books, around 60 pages in length, to meet 2022's numbers?) 

The shortest book I read was 114 pages - Time is a Mother, a poetry collection by Ocean Vuong - and the longest book was 592 pages, as Leigh Bardugo needed every last one of them to round out her King of Scars duology with Rule of Wolves. All told, my average book length was 320 pages, which is way up from 274 in 2022. 

The only thing I can say for consistency's sake is that my average score is still rocking at 3.6 stars! This has become something of a norm for me - occasionally vacillating upwards to 3.7 every once in a while - which is kind of nice. It means that I'm not especially loving or hating books out of the norm, at least on an annual aggregate basis. 

Outside of what stats Goodreads can hit me with - like bb pellets on the shin - there were some cool, non-quantitative things that happened this year, though. 

For instance, my best months for reading were in June and August, no doubt thanks to my annual propensity for getting real weird about the Seattle Public Libraries Summer Reading Challenge.  And I did, in fact, get three bingoes on my Summer Reading Book Bingo card, just like I shoot for every year.

I successfully completed a Book Buying Ban, and the only three titles I broke my promise for were during my Bloggoversary! (But more on this later.) 

In terms of favorite bookish projects that warranted a mention on the blog, I not only reread Jane Eyre by myself to start off the year last January, but I also collected every single word I had to google during that dedicated effort, and even published all of them for you on the blog, as well as some words of argument as to why we should all be learning new words, all the time. 

Off the blog, I launched my first ever attempt at a non-scholastic buddy reading experience with my younger brother, of the Sibling Shakespeare Book Club. We read the entirety of The Tempest together through the month of July, with weekly check-in Zoom meetings, complete with PowerPoint slide decks oriented around cultural significance, literary references, and deep-dives into popular quotations (me), as well as a lot of great memes and undeniable enthusiasm (him). It was honestly really cool to not only feel like more of an English major again, but also get to experience something like one of my favorite plays for the first time through someone else's eyes. 

It was pretty quiet here, on this platform, though: only 24 posts total from the year, averaging two a month... which is still the most posts I've had on the blog since 2019. Hooray? 

books of the year 

Despite the fact that I did end up reading significantly less than I have in recent years, I still managed to read a few books that really defined my bookish experiences in 2023... showing that even if you read less than you'd like, there's still a great chance that at least one or two of the titles you pick up are going to stick with you! Out of the 38 books I read, here are five that really made me feel like I got some good reading done.

Time is a Mother, Ocean Vuong

I'm not much of a poetry collection kind of gal, but in the past few years, that's been starting to change... and I've got the carefully-printed-and-taped entries onto the wall leading into my room to prove it. The actual action of reading poetry regularly, though, is still something I'm easing into. 

The last two summers have seen me spending time with poetry collections, thanks to various Book Bingo requirements, and Summer 2023 was definitely a highlight for that. Ocean Vuong is one of those social-media-famous poets not because of any kind of aesthetic pandering or pseudo-intellectualism in their messaging, but because their words are so incredibly intentional and deliberate, their messages are universally accessible, and their voice feels so specific and unique. I'm a big fan, and I can see why everyone else is, too.  

The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher

Just like Poetry, I'm not exactly too much of a Horror fan... though a youthful fascination with Stephen King short stories and a collegiate-born love of Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves might surprise you. (It all dovetails pretty neatly with how I stopped watching scary movies in college when I realized they made my anxiety so much worse.) But look at me now! I read two Horror books this past Summer, and they were both incredible. This one beats out Stephen Graham-Jones' The Only Good Indians for two specific reasons: this was just a little more straightforward in its intentions, and it was one of the most fun (and funny!) reads I experienced this year. 

I actually even read part of it while I was camping, if you can believe it. 

On top of that, it was one of two Kingfishers I read in 2023, and it's the one that made me a cemented fan. I actually just received two of their other novels as a Christmas gift from my brother - Thornhedge, a Fantasy novella, and A House with Good Bones, another Southern Gothic-style Horror, both published last year - and I'm so, so excited to read them. 

How Far the Light Reaches: a Life in Ten Sea Creatures, Sabrina Imbler

Again, yet another hit from the mysterious inner workings of SPL's Book Bingo. The square was for "Sea Creatures," and the mega-hyped title everyone was trying to grab was Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures. To be honest, I am still planning on reading that title eventually, but by the time I got to it back in June, the library holds list already stretched to hell and back, so I decided to veer towards Imbler instead, and I am so ecstatic I did.

It's both informative and engrossing, matching a very genuine enthusiasm for marine life with a careful and considerate perspective of their own life, too. Imbler is thoughtful and made interesting connections, treated everyone in their social circle with intention and focus while still holding their own perspective in the foreground, and overall, I just got the very intense feeling that they're someone I'd really love to sit down to coffee with. 

(Maybe that's just one of those joyful things about memoirs; it's all of our opportunity to get coffee together.) 

Now that I'm released from the self-manufactured cage of a Book Buying Ban, this is a title I'm actively interested in securing for my own shelves, so I can reread it again later, or lend it to as many people as I'd like. 

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, Kikuko Tsumura

Okay, so apparently, all of the biggest and most important books I read this year came from Summer Book Bingo?? Good grief. This one was used to fill a block that called for "Worker's Rights," which is a pretty generous stretch of relevance there, on my part, but a choice that I still stand by. 

Truly a testament to the awe-invoking power of a book's ability to change the way you experience your own life, this not only set me on a more hopeful and positive job search path this past year, but is something that I genuinely believe helped make the difference in me finding the one that I did. 

A Japanese translation that was absolutely gorgeous to read, it was also a bit of a trip, matching a sense of magical realism and surreality with the mundane aspects of holding or maintaining unconventional jobs. I think I've brought this book up in conversations this year more than anything else I've read... it really is something you need to experience yourself, though, so I'm pretty unwilling to give a lot of spoilers for it. 

It's also definitely the reason I'm going to be look to read more translations from Japanese novels in the future. Like with Imbler's HFtLR, I'm trying to add a physical copy of this title to my personal bookshelves as well. 

Shubeik Lubeik, Deena Mohamed

I was looking for a bit of hope while suffering under my slump, and inspired by Goodreads' incredibly bone-headed decision to eliminate the Graphic Novel from this year's iteration of the Goodreads Awards, I placed a few on hold at my library, and picked this one up in December. 

I mean, come on. When's the last time a Graphic Novel made you cry? I still have pictures of dialogue sections from its pages saved into the Camera Roll on my phone, because I like to go back and look at them when I need another dose of perspective. 

It's a pretty unique combination of sociocultural landscape and Fantasy influence, wherein a modern-day Cairo lays the stage for interactions between regular, everyday people and genie wishes available for purchase. Where contemporary politics meets historic pain; economic status interchanges with differences in identity and opportunity; where the overarching magic seems to stem from, once again, human connection and the people we share our lives with. 

Absolutely incredible, and well worth how thick it is. I read it in two afternoons - bisecting only thanks to various family gatherings - but it would also be a great way to spend a free evening. I promise you will be grateful for the bit of peace you might feel in reading this. 

That's it for 2023. I give the year no warning about whether or not the door should hit it on the way out; I'm too wrapped up in trying to scramble as hard and as fast as I can towards 2024 to care. I'm hoping it will be kinder, or - at the very least - it will be slightly easier to manage, and that unlike in the past few years, I will somehow manage to find both more time and inclination to read again. 

But of course, there's still a little bit we have to talk about before we wrap up the past year completely. There are two major Challenges that are still under discussion... one distinctly more effective and complete than the other. 

More on that later. Until then! 

How did your reading year go in 2023? What were some of your top titles of the year? Let me know, in the comments below!

A Last-Minute Bookish Gift Guide: Perfect Presents, Without Blowing Your Budget at Barnes and Noble

Here's an uncomfortable truth I've observed about the world: we're only few days away from Christmas Eve, and for many, there's still a lot of panicked, last minute shopping to be done. 

Listen, you were preoccupied, you didn't prepare, and now, every parking lot you enter is a warzone. Stepping through the doors of Target, at this point, could be classified as reckless endangerment of self and sanity. This is not the time for donning rose-colored glasses alongside your gay apparel; instead, this is crunch time, and lest you be the one who gets crunched, you need to find a good present ASAP. The good news is, be it a Work Secret Santa, a Family White Elephant, or what have you, there's always joy to be found in delivering a new book-shaped present to the pile under the tree. 

And yet, here's an additional wrinkle: the damn things are certainly getting expensive these days, aren't they? I recently fell into a bit of a quandary while shopping for my brother, and realized that one of the titles I had been planning on picking up from B&N was currently going for over $40 in hardcover. While sliding a new freshly-printed set of titles off of the shelves might be easy, it certainly isn't cheap. 

The good news is, there's something we can do about that. In fact, by combining a new recently-procured read with a few other budget-friendly and easy-to-find basic pieces, not only does your bookish present come across as thoughtful and deliberate, but they'll never know how many parking lot brushes with death you avoided to do it. 

Consider the following method: 

A GREAT BOOK + A BUDGET-FRIENDLY BOOSTER + A FUN CONSUMABLE

Note: I understand why some people don't like combining multiple presents in one package. In the words of one of the family's most-quoted seasonally-appropriate SNL music videos of all time (which is now, horrifyingly enough, seven years old), you might think that "that just makes each gift seem smaller and dumb." But to be fair, maybe you want to repay a special amount of kindness this year, or maybe you're dealing with someone who has a tendency to get extravagant with their generosity... and besides, I'm not advocating for buying two gifts. I'm saying go for three!

1. first, focus on a great read

First of all, we need to pick out a Really Good Book, one that you know they're going to enjoy. 

Consider how to best select a great bookish present (in a very sneaky way):

• Ask them what some of their goals are for 2024... a really good friend would want to help them achieve those goals! Are they looking to try their hand at penning some words of their own in the new year? Try Stephen King's On Writing. What about spending more time in the kitchen? A cookbook or piece of food writing could be really beneficial here. Want to explore more classics? Pick out one of your favorites, one you know will hold their attention. Use your own experience, but don't be afraid to look up a good list of recommendations or two. Just try to make sure you're aligning with what they've got envisioned for themselves! 
• Check out their home shelves, especially their favorite genres. For best practices, you should probably have an idea of what they have and haven't read already - if only so you can avoid buying a duplicate of something they already own - but it can also tell you what they gravitate towards naturally. For instance, if they've got every single copy in the Murderbot series, then you've got a decent sense they might appreciate Martha Wells' latest release, Witch King, or something like Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot series. 
• Think about ebooks and audiobooks: not every likes reading on ink and paper! Maybe they've got a long commute that lends itself to an engaging audiobook, or maybe they live in a small space that can't accommodate a ton of shelf room. Amazon or Spotify giftcards may ensure they actually use your present in a way that works for them! An easy way to "upgrade" it, of course, is to accompany it with a list of recommendations that you think they might want to look at when they're thinking about how to spend it. 
• Casually ask them to tag along, and help you pick out a present for someone else. While you're doing your own "browsing" watch carefully for what they pick up and put down. If there's something they mention or focus on in particular, something that grabs their attention, you know what to do! 
• And here's the big alternative: ask your friend what kind of reading year they've been having in 2023: if there's something in particular that's been keeping them from reading lately, it might not be the year for a bookish present; maybe something like a Hello Fresh delivery or a homemade "in-house babysitting" coupon would help them enjoy some reading time, more than just another book sitting on their shelf! 

2. something they can reuse + a treat to up the ante

Once you've got your book in hand, it's time to put it together with a few budget pieces that will really make the package perfect. By including something they can reuse time and again, you guarantee that your present has some mileage on it, and with a fun consumable accompanying alongside, they can start enjoying your gift as soon as they open it! 

For instance, lets say your best friend's favorite kind of coffee talk is dishing about The Great British Baking Show, and she can't stop pointing out all of the butter-related Christmas ornaments that all seemed to hit stores this year. Naturally, you've decided to pick her up a copy of one of Paul Hollywood's cookbooks, like Bake, or maybe you grabbed something penned by a past contestant, like Ruby Tandoh's Cook As You Are, or Nadiya Bakes by Nadiya Hussain. What next? 

Well, stopping by a HomeGoods or chef supply store could easily add to the conversation, with something like a large mixing bowl, a set of kitchen towels, a cutting board, or interesting cake tins. Rolling pins and spatulas are typically in pretty good supply, and the same goes for cookie cutters. Then, all you have to do is swing by the local grocer and pick up a pretty baking mix, or favorite ingredient - nice baking chocolates are always appreciated, but you could also try a pretty jam or even just a slightly nicer-than-normal bag of flour -  and voila! You've got a great set of ingredients for a very happy afternoon spent in the kitchen. 

Or lets say you've got a real Romance reader on your hands. Sure, you could just walk down the mass market paperback aisle at your local Fred Meyer with your arm outstretched, and aim for anything with a brightly-colored color block illustration on the cover... but chances are, if you give a girl a Romance, she's going to need at least one or two favorite beverages to enjoy it with. What about a set of pretty thrifted wine glasses or champagne flutes, and a great bottle of something to sip on? If she's a Historical Romance girl, a set of gorgeous thrifted teacup-and-saucer combos and a box of her favorite tea go together like the leads in your favorite Tessa Dare or Eloisa James story. 

Someone who lives and dies by their latest Self Help obsession - think bullet journals, 5am wakeup calls, and reformer Pilates - might appreciate yet another paradigm shift before the new year. James Clear's Atomic Habits is a best seller for a reason, but they might have picked that one up already; look for displays nearby to guide you into what titles generated some buzz this year, or has people looking forward to 2024. A thrifted crock and a new bag of coffee beans, or maybe a thrifted mug and a sampler set of coffee syrups would definitely give this present some pizazz, but something like a fresh, pretty notebook and a can or two of their favorite energy drink works just as well: whatever will help inspire them to start generating their next life upgrade! 

The list could go on and on, really. Your favorite fast-paced Thriller or bone-chilling Horror from this year would pair perfectly with a cozy blanket and a chocolate bar to keep them toasty while things get tense; a buzzy new celebrity memoir - what about those published this year, from Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? - would go great with a new pair of fun sunglasses and some bubblegum to chew. Why not get your Fantasy reader some unique thrifted glassware (aka, goblets and decanters, which I always find while shopping secondhand!) and pair it with one of their favorite sodas? The list goes on and on. 

The point is, of course, that you make the whole thing feel like an experience in itself. It's not just the book, but the environment you create around the book... and besides, this way, even if that title ends up getting a two-star review on Goodreads, your friend still ends up with something cool they can reuse, and when's the last time you turned up your nose at a tasty treat? 

3. don't have time to think that hard? just go with the bookish vibes

Listen, I get it: the last minute always isn't the best time to think creatively. Sometimes, you just need a guaranteed win, something that doesn't require combing the thrift store's homewares section or a Target snack aisle for just the perfect touch. 

Here are a few easy ideas for pieces that can amplify every bookish present: 

• a snack pack, with something salty, something sweet, something crunchy, and/or something chewy, for them to enjoy while making their way through a new stack of books!
• a container of their favorite hot chocolate brand, preferably with marshmallows or peppermint sprinkles alongside!
• a big ol' candle for them to light to set the mood while they're reading. Bonus points if you manage to make it match the book cover! 
• fuzzy socks or slippers. It is a truth universally acknowledged that whether you're playing video games, watching a movie, or reading a book, that your feet are going to get cold. Everyone could use some cozy toes!
• a new journal or notebook, especially when paired with a set of really good pens!

4. make it personal

If you've managed to read this far in this blogpost - or if you've somehow made it out into the Target parking lot with all of your bags, extremities, and sanity intact - then chances are its because you really care about the person who will be on the receiving end of this present. It never hurts to tell them that sort of thing yourself! 

Regardless of what book you buy them, or what you're stashing into your cart alongside, I think it's always a great idea to write a card, too. Listen, you've already established that you're shopping for a reader; why wouldn't they want to read what you might have to say, too? Just a few brief sentences about why they are important to you, and why you chose that particular book out for them, will really make your gift feel special and deliberate.

It's the thought that counts, and when you're putting this much care and attention into giving someone a present, it will undoubtably be one of the most meaningful things they find under the tree this year. 

(Never mind the fact that you waited until the night before Christmas to wrap it.)

Are you done shopping for everyone on your list? What's your favorite present you've purchased for someone this year? Let me know, in the comments below!

Top Ten Tuesday: Mainstream Popular Authors I Still Have Not Read

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish shareable, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

The year always starts out with the best of intentions: I'm going to post a new blogpost four times a month! I'm going to read at least one book a week! I'm going to actively engage with my blog-affiliated social media platforms! 

And then you're staring into your computer screen at midnight on a Monday because you realized earlier that day that you haven't read anything new or posted on your blog in over a month. And that is NOT the way this year is going to go down! I've still got a month and a half to course correct this tilting vessel before it sinks entirely. 

Hence, the last-minute post assembly... someone's going to do the heavy lifting around here, and if it can't be the Spirit of Slow, Deliberate, Intentional Action possessing me, it's going to be the scrambling, beady-eyed Demon of Late-Night, Stream-of-Consciousness Word Vomit that has been a recurring figure in my life since college (They're a regular around these parts in November, anyways). 

Anyways. 

Recently I was putting together a short list of recommendations for a friend, someone who is already a fairly robust reader in their own right, and who required a little bit of extra thinking outside of the box, in order to hit upon something widely enjoyed, that she wouldn't have already read before (I eventually settled on Martha Wells' Murderbot series, Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, and Erik Larson's Devil in the White City). 

Trying to pick out books that are much-loved, without being already-read, is tough. But then again, there are oodles and oodles of much-loved authors out there, who I've heard of regularly, and haven't had the opportunity or inclination to pick up yet myself. 

There are plenty of buzzy authors that I HAVE read, of course... to varying degrees of success. Sarah J Maas was a college fixation for me, who now feels like she occupies a weird grey area between too juvenile and too adult, too complex and too basic; J. R. R. Tolkien has served as the focus for an excruciatingly inaccessible read for me, ever since I struggled my way through Fellowship in my freshman year of college across the course of an entire month; Sally Rooney's distracting attention to aesthetic choices overshadowed her artistry, in my opinion, which is why I haven't attempted her since; Taylor Jenkins Reid, probably one of the most popular authors currently publishing today, still owns acreage in my brain and bookshelf due to Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones, but has lost some of my attentions because of how unmoving I found Malibu Rising to be in comparison. 

So the "Top Ten Tuesday" topic of the day - that of popular, "mainstream" authors whose work has somehow never ended up getting consumed by my brain - felt appropriate to the kinds of thoughts I've been having recently anyways. How convenient that one of the collections posted on Goodreads last week was "Goodreads Members' 76 Most Popular Books of the Past Decade," so I could have an easy-to-scroll place to go over where my personal proclivities had been represented... and more importantly, had not. 

1. Rebecca Yarros

Yarros' Fourth Wing has been unilaterally adopted by what feels like the entire Internet, which means I've been aware of "that one horny dragon book" for a while now. And to be honest, I was so close to not even being able to include her on this list, being that I had waited through five months of a library holds line to get my hands on it this past summer... only to totally bail when it conflicted with my rigorous Summer Reading Challenge plans. 

To be honest, I have heard a LOT about this book at this point, and who knows if I'll end up picking it up in the future. But I know what it's like to have a highly-anticipated read come out when you're obsessed with a series, which meant the recent Reels I've seen on Instagram of people getting excited about Iron Flame's drop were still pretty darn fun to see. 

2. Patrick Rothfuss

If we were able to organize my physical TBR shelves by which books have languished on them the longest, The Name of the Wind would rank among some of the most... patient. Dusty. Long-suffering? I was recommended this title personally, by a friend, back in my college days, but despite the hype, it just hasn't been in the cards yet. One day, though. I think? 

3. Pierce Brown

Even my relatively Sci-Fi-averse younger brother has managed to read through Red Rising, which makes it all the more embarrassing that his Sci-Fi-enthusiastic older sister hasn't. I think it might just be because of the impact the first page has... it's the kind of thing that makes me feel like I'll have to be in a particular mood to read it, and that mood just hasn't actually managed to land quite yet. 

4. R. F. Kuang

Despite the fact that Babel came through the bookish universe like a wrecking ball when it was published; despite the fact that not just one, but several people have recommended it, including the "Staff Sections" bookshelf in practically every bookstore I've entered in the last year or so; despite the fact that it sounds absolutely incredible... I just haven't been able to swing it yet. Again, the curse of being a mood reader! But I don't just have one, but two, of Kuang's books on my shelves... I'll have to get around to The Poppy War eventually, too! 

5. Brandon Sanderson

Listen, whatever mean names you want to call me about this one, I can guarantee you my younger brother has already done so much worse in his head. It is probably one of the most irritating sources of regular heartache that he experiences, that I have never picked up a Branderson book... especially because quite a lot of his other friends haven't read them, either, and he just really, really needs a buddy to talk about them with. And unless I suddenly get struck with some kind of Superman-esque ability to focus on complex tasks for a consistent, lengthy amount of time, that's not going to happen for me for a while. 

6. Celeste Ng

This is going to sound nuts, but I occasionally have a really hard time working up the interest to read a particular book, when I know a TV series adaptation exists somewhere out there in the universe, too. Even if I have no intention of watching it! I don't know why that is... I don't even particularly like TV. So the problem is that despite the fact that I know several people who really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere, I don't think I'll be picking that one up any time soon. 

(I feel like there should be an honorary mention for Liane Moriarty in this bullet point, as well.)

7. Colleen Hoover

I don't know, depending on what kind of circles you run in, this is either an affront of the most dramatic proportions, or you're fully on my side. As opposed to quite a lot of the other entries on this list, whom I at least feel a general sort of sense of getting around to reading eventually, I am completely uninterested in reading Hoover. Part of that is due to an issue of genre - I can't stand Thrillers, so they are generally not found on my shelves - but also due to a general sense of writing style and audience; simply put, I don't particularly think these are books that are written for me, and that's totally okay. 

 

8. Kristin Hannah

I'm a fan of Historical Fiction - as a kind of holdover from my Dear America-loving days back in middle school, I guess - so Kristin Hannah has been on my radar for quite a while now. But there also seems to be a pretty regular sense of discussion, even by those who love to read her books, as to which ones hit at their hardest, or not, and that her canon of work - though plentiful - might be fairly uneven. While I know that she's a popularly-selling author, her books also rank among the ones I see the most regularly on the bookshelves of some of my favorite thrift stores. That's how I picked up my copy of The Four Winds, which I have, but haven't read yet. 

9. Emily St. John Mandel

I know so many people who love Station Eleven. Like, "got tattoos of references to it immediately when they could get back into tattoo parlors during Covid" kinds of ways of loving something. And I am happy for them, I really am, but as it stands right now, I'm not really capable of seeing any kind of future for myself in reading a book where the catalyst of the current structure of society was a big ol' pandemic. And yes, I know she's written more than just this one, but that book is the one that everyone loves the most! 

10. Katee Robert

Speaking of loving, I'm obviously a fan of a well-written Romance novel (and to be frank, quite a lot of the ones who aren't well written. Have you seen the rest of this blog?). And I have the utmost admiration for writers who know their audience, and know their market, and utilize all this knowledge to build a career, and I know that Robert possesses that knowledge in spades. But some of her books feel a little too much like gimmicks for me to buy into fully... and after the frustrations I had after reading Lore: Olympus earlier this year, I think it's going to be a long, long, long time before I bother picking up a Hades and Persephone retelling again. 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Fall TBR

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish shareable, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Let's get two things straight, right off the top: I am three days deep into the flu, and I am a proud mood reader, who is absolutely terrible at following a TBR plan. 

If there's anything I can guarantee you right now, it's that 1. There is only a negligible chance that I will recall even a single selection that makes it onto this list by the time I emerge from my Robitussin haze come morning, and 2. There was only a snowball's chance in Florida that I will actually manage to follow this plan to begin with. 

That being said... isn't planning out a TBR kind of fun? 

It's the same reason I make huge To-Do Lists for the Fall season, or big ol' themed posters that hang up in our kitchen during Advent. Because sometimes, it's nice to daydream about all of the cute seasonal things you want to do, while you're trapped in the rushing torrent of a schedule that cares naught for your whims. By the time you actually manage to drag your flannel-bedecked compatriots to the pumpkin patch for an apple cider doughnut, or drop off that meticulously-wrapped package to the family Secret Santa gift exchange, you'll be glad you did it, of course... so much so that you're more than willing to overlook the eight or nine checkmarks on your list that didn't get completed in time. 

So to be honest, if I manage to finish even one title off of this list, I'll be pleased. Because it will mean I indulged in a read that makes best use of the advantages of the Fall season... and because it means I will not have died from the flu. 

(I'm not dying, I'm just very peeved. It's my personal guardian angel's way of striking me down after complaining so hard about the marathon traveling I was compelled to do for the past month or so. "Oh, multiple air plane flights, ferry trips, and numerous hours in a car have you feeling worn out? Then it's time to sleep, idiot."

Trust me, from the bottom of my soul, I'd rather be reading.) 

Fall Vibes

because some reads just conjure up those "I'm wearing a sweater, there's apple cider in the Crockpot, it smells like rain outside and it's getting dark at 5pm now" vibes

1. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

Listen, my college-aged younger brother inhales books like he's Kirby, which means he travels through his library holds at a blistering pace I simply cannot match... but because he tends towards reads by people like Brandon Sanderson, I don't take it too personally. 

Until, of course, he started coming for my English Major cred, and now I have to put up some stalwart defense to retain my title of Nerd Supreme of the family, by trying to read or reread at least one work of Classic fiction a quarter. Because otherwise it's hand to hand combat, and the kid is built like a truck. 

2. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

To be honest, I haven't read this book since my Freshman Year of college, and being that that was now eleven years ago (*insert gagging noise here*), I feel confident enough to say I remember almost nothing of the specifics, just that I really like it, and found it to be very atmospheric. 

However, I still possess its sequel, and I wouldn't be happy removing one from my shelves without at least consulting the other first. Besides, how many times do you think to yourself, "Man, I wish I could read this book for the first time again." Now, I pretty much can! 

3. The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin

Sometimes, we've just got to call a spade a spade: this book has leaves on the cover, and they're the same colors your kindergarten teacher would choose for Fall leaves, and sometimes, we just don't have to think that hard about things, okay? 

Besides, I feel like the vibe of "mysterious fortune teller informs a group of siblings of the ways they all eventually die" feels kind of October-y. 

Spooky Season

because my family goes all out for Halloween in the decor department, and heaven help me if I leave something out of theme on the coffee table

4. A Dowry of Blood, S. T. Gibson

This particular read gained some rave reviews on that bedeviled clock app last year, and the resulting hype spilled over to Instagram, including the posts of some people I really like and trust. So I took a gamble and picked up a copy for myself at the Barnes and Noble Hardcover Sale in late December last year, and it's been sitting on my shelves ever since, waiting for October reading. 

Because, vampires! Blood! Fangtastic fun! 

5. How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix

So my family is obsessed with this kind of sleeper Syfy show Surreal Estate, which was somehow miraculously brought back from the dead (cancelled) to gain a second season, which will be premiering in a few weeks. It's about a real estate firm that specializes in the sale of haunted houses, and it's one of the best scripted shows on TV I've seen in recent memory. I have been informed that this book is literally nothing like the completely unrelated show, but the similarities are too fun not to mention, and I will do just about anything to make sure this show does not get cancelled again. 

But also, various members of my family are very into Grady Hendrix, and even though I'm not exactly a Thriller fan, I've been informed that this one is fun enough that I'm willing to take one for the team. I think it only took me two or three days to finish Final Girls Support Group, so at least it should be quick. 

6. Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3), Libba Bray

I am a Libba Bray fan - one of the many bookshelf holdovers from my adolescence - and I was actually on track with reading The Diviners series as they came out... until the third one. And then it just kind of sat on my shelf for a little bit. And then aforementioned brother asked if I had anything to read, and I recommended these, and he, again, blew through them like a wolf and a house made of dandelion fuzz, and finished the whole series without me while I wasn't paying attention. 

And yes, it's been three years since that last one in the series was published. I'm still trying to knock out that third. But being that these books really ARE that spooky, I'm going to need all the lights in the house on when I do it. 

Just for Me, Just Because

sometimes, you've got to just do some things not because they're aesthetic, or because they're on-theme, but because your brother will yell at you if you don't

7. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Alanna #3), Tamora Pierce

Okay, sorry to bring up my brother again - actually, you know, by this time, you should be used to it - but when the then-teenaged kid came to me when Covid locked down the libraries and asked if I had anything new for him to read, I handed him my stacks of Tamora Pierce with a nonchalant "Meh, I don't know if these are really your speed." Smash cut to him outpacing me in pretty much every kind of trivia, having read each of the Tortall series multiple times. 

You can imagine how much it smarted when he then turned to me, and asked if I really hadn't read any of the Alanna books before. (To be fair, my Tortallan introduction was completed somewhat laughably out of order). So I'm trying to get through the Alanna books - in a boxed set he bought me - by the end of the year, so I can finally stop feeling the eyes of my little brother boring into the back of my head. 

8. Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6), Martha Wells

Your honor, I would like the record to show that I read them first. Me! Not my brother, not my Dad. I was the one who brought Murderbot into this family, but it's not my fault my family members have the laser focus of machinery themselves. Some of us like to read from multiple genres and not simply blast our way through an entire series, mind you. 

So yes, it's taken me some time, but I'm very much still on track. And at least this one is another novella; that novel of #5 was good, but Science Fiction can really burn you out in large quantities. So I'm taking my time. 

9. The Art of Eating In, Cathy Erway

Okay, so this is really a kind of placeholder for any number of Food Writing selections I might whimsically whisk off of my shelves come November. 

Preparation for Thanksgiving in this household starts in early October, and is treated like a one-day event in the same way that the Olympics are just like Field Day at the local elementary school. I like leafing though a Cookbook or an engrossing Culinary Memoir when all of the couches are haphazardly Jenga-stacked next to the TV, to make way for the three long serving tables we use in the Family Room. And of course, I need something cool to fill in the commercial gaps when we're watching the Parade. 

10. Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2), Leigh Bardugo

So, Netflix's Shadow and Bone Season Two came out in mid-March, right? And I pretty much immediately read a spoiler that said you really should have read all the way through Rule of Wolves before attempting the new season. But my schedule was full-out blockaded until the first week of May was over, and I only had a few weeks to read before Summer Reading Book Bingoes started up on June 1st, and my attentions were required elsewhere through the end of August....

Now we're finally into September, and during a chance conversation with my brother (I know, I know) he revealed that he hasn't watched any part of Season Two, either... because he's been waiting for me. 

Buddy, I promise, we're making it through Season Two before December. 

Just... give me a little time, okay? I might still be in bed, recovering from this damn flu. 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

I Read Five Romance Novels in Five Days (And I Still Didn't Get a Bingo)

It may be September now, but around this time last month, I was in the process of slowly losing my mind. 

A week-and-a-half on vacation was yielding its way towards one last run at freedom, before prep for a double-header of flights down to LA and ferry rides to Roche Harbor, two weekends in a row. Temperatures were dropping, thoughts of Summer were plummeting sharply without any sort of mercy, and I was facing an abrupt, vicious ending to those lazy sunshine days, by somehow being forced onto a slalom course of social engagements, family expectations, and packed luggage, without poles. 

Now I'm still here, slowly losing my mind, on the other side; my personal distress has resolved itself into a defeated state of exhaustion. My sleep schedule, digestive system, and extroversion threshold are completely wrecked, and for every meeting that gets added to my calendar, another month is taken off of my life. The only trips I plan on taking for the foreseeable future are to Costco; the only pictures I want to post to Instagram are of my cat. 

And yet, we must press on. 

While I was busy covering my ears, with Summer's swan song blaring through the open windows, I decided that I really should hurry up with the whole Reading Challenge thing. Unwilling to sacrifice so much of my season without even a bingo to show for it, I decided to spend a week powering through, with the project goal of finishing at least three before I left for vacation. 

I ended up reading six books total across the course of one week, and five Romances specifically, over five days. 

So while I'm still sucking down water to recuperate from the dehydration caused by persistent, unregulated stress, I figured I might as well send off some reviews. If I end up dying from prolonged social exposure - by being forced to leave my house, and into unforgiving environmental conditions that wore on my psyche - at least you'll have something to remember me by. 

You can't always talk about a Romance without dishing on a few important plot points, so heads up: here thar be spoilers. 

SPL Bingo Square: "Audiobook or EBook"

Ripped Bodice Romance Square: "Kissing for Science" 

(note: I don't really think this matches this square, based on the narrative; I simply saw someone else who had marked it as this choice and thought, "Well, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me," and moved on. I mean, there are equations on the cover!)

The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang 

A math whiz with Asperger's seeks to "cure" her aversions to a sexual relationship, by hiring on a pro to help navigate her through the basics... but gets more experience than she bargained for, when she falls for real. Will this illogical pair find a way to make their love last in the real world, or is the outcome just too improbable? 

This particular Romance feels like it comes unilaterally recommended across the internet fandom for Romance in general. Its sequel gets high praise, too, for its heart, humor, and #OwnVoices perspective (but from what I understand, the third in the series doesn't so much). Romances with an autistic heroine are unfortunately few and far between; same for an Asian-American couple as main characters. The fact that the novel is also well-written makes for what should be an obvious draw: as romances happen with people belonging to these communities out in the real world, shouldn't they also be lovingly rendered on paper? 

Ironically enough, the reason I didn't quite like this novel was because of how unrealistic it was. Yes, she was autistic... but also came from absurd wealth, is obsessed with performing a high paying skill in a lucrative field, owns a nice house and drives a Tesla, is abundantly remarked upon being beautiful and petite, and occasionally becomes so consumed by work, she just forgets to eat. He, on the other hand, is an escort... but also a gifted tailor and aspiring fashion designer, who drives a motorcycle, is very accomplished in martial arts, and is so good looking, that it is regularly commented on in the context of how other people respond to his beauty. It was like all of those other desirable factors were there to somehow, for some reason, make up for the fact of her being autistic, or him being a sex worker. You don't have to be dripping with wealth or carved from marble to be worthy of respect and love. 

I also really didn't love the very patriarchal bullshit present in his eventual courtship of her, at the end. Stalking, sending lavish gifts in a public space, continuing to show up to her place of work, getting jealous about the other men in her life... very deeply strange, especially when stood up against an undesirable rival who also refused to take no for an answer. 

I can totally get why people liked it... it just wasn't for me. 

Two and a half stars. 

SPL Bingo Square: "Recommended by an Independent Bookstore"

Ripped Bodice Bingo Square: "Vigilante S#!t"

The Duchess Deal, Tessa Dare

A seamstress trying to collect on payment for a wedding dress, sewn for a bride who never made it to the altar, is propositioned by a disfigured duke: quietly marry him, and bear a male heir, and she will be taken care of for the rest of her life. However, it becomes clear that there is more going on with the Duke of Ashbury than his gruff and straightforward demeanor would suggest... and that Emma is unlikely to follow his orders without testing his limits, too. 

I am a huge fan of Tessa Dare, and have read numerous other titles of hers, to varying degrees of success. She will forever be one of the first ever authors in the Romance category I really became a fan of, when I first started reading them back in 2018, and so carries that estimation whenever I encounter her newer material. I really enjoyed Books #2 and #3 of this series, but have been saving #1 for a rainy day, being that it is generally the favorite amongst them as determined by fans. 

Well, maybe not a rainy day... but what about a sunny, late-August one? After all, The Ripped Bodice Book Bingo Card had an "Alliterative Title" square, as well as the one I ended up choosing. Being that the Ripped Bodice itself is an independent bookstore, I felt it was more than appropriate to use on both cards. 

This selection from the series was generally enjoyable, but it was just that something kept me hanging back from falling all the way in love with it. The banter was funny and consistent, the side characters were a lot of fun, and it was silly and campy in the way that Dare writes very well. 

Maybe that was the problem? It felt too much like Dare's other works, and her other foibles I've encountered in my extensive readings of her work already. The dynamics and general conceit were over-the-top unbelievable, the sex scenes felt repetitive and weirdly male-gaze-y, the repeated misunderstandings between characters required just a little too much mental contortion to make fit. By the time it got to the reveal of a "real" wedding ring at the end - a ruby, cut into the shape of a heart, set into a gold band - it all felt almost juvenile.

Maybe I've finally outgrown one of the first Romance authors I really fell in love with in the first place? 

Three and a half stars. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "Swimming"

Him, Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Four summers ago, Wes made the biggest mistake of his life, by pushing Jamie too far during a friendly bet at hockey camp. The two haven't spoken since. When a chance run-in during a tournament in their senior year of college inspires a reconnection, they find themselves sharing a bunkroom at the same place they trained as teenagers. Maybe they can go back to the way things used to be... or even something better, if one of them can just manage to break the ice. 

What on earth is it about Gay Hockey Romances Written by Dual Authors that manages to so easily reinvigorate my faith in the Romance genre as a whole? As not a gay man, nor a hockey enthusiast (or even a sports fan, in general), nor someone who generally enjoys co-author situations, I really shouldn't have such strong feelings about these kinds of books... but somehow, both Him and Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn's Goalie Interference have easily become some of my favorite Romance reads ever, let alone from the past year. 

Each was an incredibly caring and nuanced portrayal of a relationship forged in a subculture that isn't always welcoming, and has rigid structures around perspectives of masculinity and patriarchal values. They depict two people genuinely learning how to care for each other in a not-always-comfortable environment, with other kinds of people and relationship dynamics to consider, and social expectations about how they can and should behave. They call into discussion issues around greater topics, like class, family values, and more. 

And yeah, they're pretty steamy. Really great heart, but absolutely scorching heat. These are very much still Romance novels, after all. 

What sets Him apart is that it really feels interior and earnest; thanks to a trade-off POV for each of the main characters, you feel very intimately aware of Jamie and Wes' emotions, their past traumas, and how their actions are informed by those experiences. They're two people who genuinely care about each other, but are still figuring out how their lives fit together in an organic way, particularly in how they navigate a relationship with that shared harm behind them. It's a person learning how to let someone in, whose walls might not have been built to endure this kind of heartbreak again, and another figuring out that what he thought was his guaranteed life plan suddenly feels a lot more subject to uncertainty. Both are vulnerable in ways they haven't had to be before, and are not only learning how to cope, but help each other move through it... together. 

And, again. Spicy as hell. 

Four stars. 

SPL Book Bingo Square: "True Crime or Crime Fiction" 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "We Have the Same Job"

Wolf at the Door, Charlie Adhara

The bodies keep stacking up at a remote state park, and Cooper Dayton's on the case to track down the killer for the BSI, a department of the FBI specializing in crimes of a... different nature. It's his first chance to prove himself on his own merit, away from his legendary partner; too bad he's been attached to the reserved and mysterious Oliver Park, who has his own paranormal perspectives to offer. Can the two work together to catch a killer? Or will Dayton's past come back to bite him... literally? 

This book was just... the happiest surprise. 

Take, for instance, the fact that for over half of its narrative, it reads straight out of a gritty crime procedural, like in a True Detective kind of way. A series of mysterious disappearances have been ravaging a tourist town, two unidentified corpses have been unearthed in a secluded forest, and yet another missing local seems to have heralded yet another death, if something isn't done in time to stop it. Cue the entrance of two polar opposite detectives, called to partner up across different departments, in order to collaborate on putting an end to the killings once and for all. 

The only difference that separates this from any other run-of-the-mill Thriller, is that it's actually, definitely, a Romance. The two detectives - cue the shock and awe - end up stripping down and getting REAL interdepartmental around the 62% mark through the book. 

Well, that, plus the fact that one of them is also a werewolf. 

That's right, this whole dark-and-dangerous tale also takes place in a world where not only are werewolves real, but there's a whole secret subdivision of the FBI dedicated solely to werewolf-related crimes. One of our lovebird detectives is a human, used to simply hauling in the nearest wolf to the crime in handcuffs; now, the nearest wolf is a hunky past-English-professor-turned-werewolf-Trustee-agent who he just can't seem to keep his own paws off of. 

And it's SMART. The entire thing is a well-written-and-carefully-structured metaphor, about conflicts between the greater justice system and persecuted populations, who have been historically forced under the thumb of unfair governmental prejudices. It's for anyone who's had to hide who they were and are. It's like every other person is either gay, or a person of color, or a werewolf, or all of the above. It's GREAT. 

I'm so glad I already own the sequel, because I don't know how I'd get through this Book Buying Ban if I didn't. I'm already planning it for my TBR for October, so I can enjoy it the week of my Birthday. 

Five stars. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "It Was Supposed to Be One Night" 

The Rake Gets Ravished, Sophie Jordan

After her dissolute, social-climbing, ne'er-do-well brother barters the whole of their family lands on a game of cards - literally betting the farm - during a drunken night out in London, Mercy decides to secure the deed back by breaking into the personal quarters of a gambling hell kingpin. She definitely didn't plan on distracting him with an unexpected night of seduction. And she certainly didn't account for him following her home. He claims he's only interested in protecting what's his, and she has her mind set on doing the same... but maybe what she should be protecting, is her heart. 

Okay. So. Talk about starting with a literal bang, and ending with a metaphorical whimper. 

This book got off to such a blistering start that I was giggling and kicking my feet in the air like a teenager at the back-and-forth banter. I read up to the 48% mark in one night, and went to bed completely won over by what was, at the time, blisteringly hot pacing that verged on the Erotica genre. 

Unfortunately, things were not as sexy in the light of day. It seems as though Jordan decided to do nearly the whole plot backwards: by having the main characters experience their hottest scene the second they meet each other, there's no way the tension or stakes are sustainable throughout the rest of the narrative. By the end of the novel, hearts are expected to flutter at the fact that they're kissing in bed, having finally made it to the happily-ever-morning-after for the first time? I don't think so. 

Additionally, by beginning on such a spicy note, it makes the main heroine seem a little flighty and disingenuous by the end of the novel. That goes double for when she catches her younger sister in the same compromising position she's indulged in numerous times throughout the plot already, and totally flips out; her 17-year-old sibling, whom she was responsible for raising, is totally warranted a bit of a teenage meltdown about it. 

Not that she's warranted to much else. Both of the heroine's siblings are utterly infuriating: Grace was undoubtably supposed to come across as a spirited and romance-minded menace of a young woman, but ended up an egregious flirt and an unrepentant brat, while Bede was so intolerable that up to about the 95% mark I genuinely thought that there was no possible way the book could have a happy ending without him dead (He ends up getting shipped off to New Zealand instead). 

Not to mention the hero's own threadbare excuses for pretty much any of his actions, which was also incredibly frustrating. 

Three stars. 

But that was last month; now, we're well into September, and I've had the same books staring at me from my coffee table since before I left for LA at the end of August. What on earth will I read next? 

Well, there are some OTHER Romance novels that require my attention...

Did you read any good Romances this summer? Let me know, in the comments below!