My Annotated 2024 Reading List

What follows is a list of EVERY book I finished in 2024 (or at least every book I logged on Goodreads; I've been known to miss a couple), along with a note or two.

1. A TRAITOR IN WHITEHALL by Julia Kelly As this reading list will soon reveal, I'm kind of a sucker for a World War II historical of any shape or texture, so it should come as no surprise that I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it. Is the second one out yet?! (Yes, friends, it turns out that it is.)

2. WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS by Isabel Ibanez A lush historical with a healthy smattering of fantasy, adventure, and romance. This is just the sort of book that seems to be selling like hotcakes right now.

3. THE CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK by Jillian Cantor A fun YA contemporary from the author of IN ANOTHER TIME. I totally related to the socially awkward MC.

4. ALL MY RAGE by Sabaa Tahir I'm a few years late on this one, but I thought this book deserved every accolade it got.

5. LOVE AND GELATO by Jenna Evans Welch A charming YA contemporary romance set in the hills of Tuscany, this is the perfect book to get lost in if you need a break from real life.

6. AN IMPROBABLE SEASON by Rosalyn Eves I love historical romances, adult or YA (as long as they're not too spicy), but I also liked how this one included additional plot lines unrelated to romance.

7. THE ECHO OF OLD BOOKS by Barbara Davis I think I remember this one, but because I read so many World War II historicals, I may be remembering another book. Either way, reading the summary again made me want to read this book again, so I think you should, too:)

8. THE OTHER MOTHERS by Katherine Faulkner This domestic thriller walks the line between thriller and mystery, in part because the ending, though ridiculously intense, reminded me a bit of one of Agatha Christie's classics. (I'm not going to tell you which one so as to not spoil it!)

9. THE NEW COUPLE by Alison James Another taut domestic thriller that kept me turning pages until the very end. Maybe I just haven't read enough of these books yet, but I didn't see the climax coming.

10. REIGN by Katharine McGee To be honest, I remember the climax of book three better than most of this book four. Still, I've loved, loved, loved this series and am sad to see it end.

11. THE SPY AND I by Tiana Smith This romantic suspense is heavier on romance than suspense, so if that's your cup of tea, definitely give this one a try.

12. HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? by Nicci French As you're probably realizing, I got on a bit of an adult fiction kick this year, and this atmospheric mystery was a fine addition to the list.

13. THE DO-OVER by Suzanne Park I really enjoyed this rom-com, especially the absurdity of the setup. When a high-powered thirty-something misplaces her college diploma and calls her alma mater to replace it, she finds out she was actually a few credits short of earning her degree. Shenanigans ensue when she returns to college and reunites with her college sweetheart, who's still slaving away at his dissertation.

14. THE BROTHERS HAWTHORNE by Jennifer Lynn Barnes I thought this book read like two novellas squished together. It's basically a bridge book between the original Inheritance Games series and its spinoff (see below).

15. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU by Rebecca Makkai I read this one really quickly. I've noticed that a lot of mysteries use an unsolved murder in the past to drive the present mystery's plot, and I appreciated that the MC in this one was a principal player in both timelines.

16. THE LOST BOOK OF BONN by Brianna Labuskes After World War II, the Allies apparently brought in truckloads of researchers and archivists to get all of Europe's misplaced books (read: all the books the Nazis stole) back where they belonged. This story follows one such woman, who gets hung up on returning a book with a poignant inscription.

17. THE TURTLE HOUSE by Amanda Churchill A deliberately paced historical that spans the lifetime of a Japanese woman whose life was upended by World War II in more ways than one. I'm a sucker for World War II historicals, as this reading list proves, but this one stood out to me. I thought it was really lovely.

18. EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW by Kelly Loy Gilbert Ms. Gilbert is a master of interweaving social commentary with compulsively readable plots, and this book was no different. It had a lot to say about the effects of influencer culture on the influencers themselves.

19. HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER by Kristen Perrin A fun murder mystery--insofar as any murder mystery can be fun--about a woman who anticipates her own murder and sets her great-niece up to solve it. It doesn't seem like this concept should work, but I thought it absolutely did.

20. I WILL SHOW YOU HOW IT WAS: The Story of Wartime Kyiv by Illia Ponomarenko A most insightful glimpse into the first couple of months of the Russia-Ukraine war from the perspective of a native Ukrainian.

21. THE WOMAN WITH NO NAME by Audrey Blake A novelized account of the World War II exploits of Great Britain's first female saboteur. Though the book is literally called THE WOMAN WITH NO NAME, Yvonne Rudellat deserves to be remembered.

22. THE FIVE YEAR LIE by Sarina Bowen When the love of her life disappears without contacting anyone, Ariel is understandably heartbroken. Five years later, she's recovered enough to get on with her life, if only for her son's sake, when she receives a cryptic text from her old boyfriend that sends her down an increasingly dangerous path. I liked this one quite a lot!

23. MURDER YOUR EMPLOYER by Rupert Holmes This one also sort of read like three novellas squished together, but the prose was so delightful--and the concept so disturbing--that I didn't even mind.

24. SONG OF THE SIX REALMS by Judy I. Lin The worldbuilding in this one was definitely a ten out of ten.

25. THE CAUTIOUS TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO THE WASTELANDS by Sarah Brooks Set in an alternate reality in which a large swath of the Russian taiga has become infested with horrifying monsters and hallucination-inducing flora, this historical fantasy takes the reader on a train ride through a forbidding wilderness. I ended up liking this one even more than I thought I would.

26. A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA by Christina Dodd What if Romeo and Juliet didn't die and, when their firstborn comes of age, Rosie's betrothal supper turns into a murder mystery? The answer to that question is this book.

27. THE UNWEDDING by Ally Condie Anything Ally Condie writes is an insta-read for me, and though I didn't always agree with some of the choices she made, I thought this concept was fantastic. 

28. THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern If I'm a few years late on ALL MY RAGE, I'm more than a decade late on this one. Still, I found it riveting, just as I'd been led to believe.

29. ONE OF US KNOWS by Alyssa Cole A psychological thriller set on a remote island estate in which the MC has dissociative identity disorder. I'm sure that sentence alone has piqued your interest, so I'll leave my description there:)

30. THE GRANDEST GAME by Jennifer Lynn Barnes This struck me as the book Ms. Barnes was trying to get to when she wrote THE BROTHERS HAWTHORNE, as it basically resets the concept. More tightly plotted than the original, this book gets back to its roots.

31. MEDICI HEIST by Caitlin Schneiderhan A YA historical adventure featuring--you guessed it--a heist.

32. KISSES, CODES, AND CONSPIRACIES by Abigail Hing Wen I found this YA thriller a little hard to take seriously, but I could see other readers being swept up in the adventure.

33. THE ROSE ARBOR by Rhys Bowen A multilayered historical mystery that really drew me in. I enjoyed this one a lot.

34. THE COLOR OF A LIE by Kim Johnson An important YA historical that taught me, among other things, that some homeowners associations were developed to institutionalize segregation even as it was being ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

35. MY SALTY MARY by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows I'm a huge fan of the Lady Janies' work; somehow, though, I didn't realize that they were publishing a Mary series. Luckily, I spotted this one at my local library, so now I know. This irreverent continuation of the Little Mermaid's story imagines that, when Prince Eric decided to marry someone else, she was like, "Whatever. See you never, dummy."

36. EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES by Catherine Mack This one was just as tongue-in-cheek as the title makes it sound. An irreverent murder mystery set around a book tour through Italy.

37. TWELFTH KNIGHT by Alexene Farol Follmuth This contemporary TWELFTH NIGHT retelling was everything I wanted it to be. Two student council members hate each other in real life, but when they start playing an online RPG together, how they feel begins to change. Too bad only one of them realizes who the other is.

38. LOOK IN THE MIRROR by Catherine Steadman Of all the thrillers and mysteries I read last year, this is one of the few I really remember. I thought the nonlinear storytelling really enhanced the plot, which went in a direction I wasn't expecting.

39. THE LOST METAL by Brandon Sanderson On Goodreads, this book is labeled "Mistborn #7," which is accurate, I guess, but doesn't really tell you what the story is about. Even calling it "Wax and Wayne #4" might be a bit misleading, as this series has evolved pretty dramatically over the course of its run time. That said, I think this book is a fitting conclusion for this era of the Mistborn world, as they're clearly on the cusp of intersolar travel (which, given that their planet has already been infiltrated by people from other worlds, probably means they're also on the cusp of interstellar travel).

40. REVENGE OF THE TIPPING POINT: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell I'll give just about anything Malcolm Gladwell writes a try, and this fast-paced nonfiction read was a great follow-up to THE TIPPING POINT.

41. THE BRIAR CLUB by Kate Quinn This historical mystery was one of my favorite reads this year. You know from the get-go that there will be a murder at this all-female boarding house, but then the book rewinds several years and gives you the backstory on each of the occupants in turn. Though I didn't see the ending coming, I could look back and see how Ms. Quinn had set it up, which was brilliant, actually.

42. DALLERGUT DREAM DEPARTMENT STORE by Mi-Ye Lee I love k-dramas (who doesn't?!), so when I saw that this was a translation from a South Korean publication, I knew I had to pick it up. I didn't love it quite as much as the average k-drama I watch, but that might have been because I tend to stick to the more realistic ones and this was more fantastical.

43. SUCH CHARMING LIARS by Karen McManus I'd sum this thriller up as a heist gone wrong, which already makes this story feel unique, but what I loved about this book was all the relationships and how they changed and grew. Kat and Liam were stepsiblings for about forty-eight hours when they were little kids, so when they bump into each other at an old rich guy's birthday party, they're understandably surprised.

43. THE IMPROBABLE TALES OF BASKERVILLE HALL by Ali Standish As this reading list reveals, I'm reading less MG these days, but I still enjoyed this one. It's exactly what you'd want a boarding school mystery to be for eight- to twelve-year-old readers, especially if those readers also like some fantasy.

44. HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi An engrossing historical that spans centuries, this one stayed with me for a long time afterward.

45. THE BITTER END by Alexa Donne What do you get when you combine a snowed-in ski chalet, a school-sponsored senior trip, and a dead chaperone? THIS BOOK.

46. A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS by Ann Liang This book kind of blew me away. It was progressing in a fairly predictable way, and then the ending happened. I thought it elevated this story from an entertaining diversion to something much more meaningful. One of my favorite reads this year.

47. FOR SHE IS WRATH by Emily Varga A sweeping YA fantasy that could probably also be considered a YA romantasy. I thought it started kind of slow but picked up speed as it went on.

48. THE AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO MURDER by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White Three novelists who coauthor books together--even though they don't really like each other--go to a brooding Scottish castle to write and research their next book but end up embroiled in a murder investigation when the man who owns the castle, also an author (who they all happen to hate), turns up dead in his own tower. Given that this book was written by three novelists who coauthor books together, is it safe to assume that this is semiautobiographical?! ;)

49. HOW TO KNOW A PERSON: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks Of all the books I read last year, this is the one that changed me the most as a person. Basically, this book teaches you how NOT to be a self-centered conversationalist--which most people are by default--and why you shouldn't WANT to be a self-centered conversationalist. I practiced some of the skills I learned at a Christmas party last month, and it was incredible how much more in-depth my conversations got. Can't recommend this one enough.

50. THE CHRISTMAS CLASH by Suzanne Park My second Suzanne Park read of the year! Because I enjoyed THE DO-OVER so much, I decided to give this one a go to get more in the spirit. Though I didn't enjoy it quite as much as THE DO-OVER, it was still a fun read.

51. DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE by Maureen Johnson I LOVED Ms. Johnson's Truly Devious series, so picking this one up was a no-brainer for me. Though it didn't end up being my favorite of Ms. Johnson's books, I still enjoyed it. Her YA voice is truly inimitable.

52. THE TREASURE HUNTERS CLUB by Tom Ryan Set in a small town in Nova Scotia, this book pretty much has it all: buried treasure, long-lost heirs, and a down-on-her-luck author searching for her next idea. Oh, and killers--lots of those. I thought I had this one figured out, but then the author threw me for a loop, which delighted me immensely. I ended up liking this one even more than I thought I would.

Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did YOU think? And what books did I miss? Would love to hear your thoughts below!

One Thing I Enjoyed About EVERY Book I Finished in 2022: HarperCollins Edition

I said I'd come back and fill in these missing reviews once the HarperCollins strike ended, so here I am, a month or two late but hopefully no dollars short. I felt especially bad about omitting my reviews for Tiffany D. Jackson's titles, as I read both WHITE SMOKE and THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD last year and was blown away by both, so don't miss those ones below!

1. WHEN WE MAKE IT by Elisabet Velasquez I'd just started writing my first full-length novel-in-verse at this same time last year, so I picked this title up mostly for research purposes and got swept up in the story.

2. THE SEVENTH SUN by Lani Forbes Really vivid worldbuilding here (though I would have liked it even more if Ms. Forbes had differentiated her fantastical world from the Mesoamerican cultures she clearly drew from).

3. GREYTHORNE by Crystal Smith I really enjoyed Ms. Smith's debut, BLOODLEAF, and this sequel picked up right where the first book left off.

4. AN INCONVENIENT MINORITY by Kenny Xu This one really made me think. Though I didn't agree with all his points, they made me reevaluate my worldview as a human being of European, Asian, and Pacific Islander descent.

5. THE LITTLE BOOK THAT BEATS THE MARKET by Joel Greenblatt A quick, insightful read on stock market investing.

6. THE ONES WE'RE MEANT TO FIND by Joan He A beautiful and memorable YA dystopian.

7. THE YEAR OF SHADOWS by Claire Legrand Just the right amount of spookiness for an MG read.

8. LUCK OF THE TITANIC by Stacey Lee Ms. Lee's historicals are all lush and atmospheric, and this one was no exception.

9. SUGAR TOWN QUEENS by Malla Nunn Set in Durban, South Africa, this YA contemporary provided me a vivid peek into a culture that I previously didn't know much about.

10. BLACK WAS THE INK by Michelle Coles Told in alternating timelines, this YA novel combines a charged contemporary narrative with an in-depth look at the work of Black congressmen and aides during the Reconstruction era. Highly insightful and informative.

11. KNEEL by Candace Buford Football and social activism? Yes, please!

12. MANY POINTS OF ME by Caroline Gertler A poignant MG read about loss and grief. Bonus points awarded for the emphasis on art! 

13. THE TAMING OF THE DREW by Stephanie Kate Strohm Read and loved Ms. Strohm's LOVE A LA MODE a few years back and wanted to try another of her books. A fun summer read for all of you theater nerds (or for everyone who wishes they were a theater nerd!).

14. NIGHT MUSIC by Jenn Marie Thorne A lyrical YA contemporary romance featuring two musicians.

15. MAGIC UNLEASHED by Devri Walls An intense YA urban fantasy that takes place in two dimensions.

16. IN ANOTHER TIME by Jillian Cantor I'm a pushover for women's, historical, and speculative fiction, and IN ANOTHER TIME was a combination of all three. Read this one really quickly.

17. THE GIRL WHO FELL BENEATH THE SEA by Axie Oh A vivid retelling of a Korean folktale. One of my favorite reads this year.

18. AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS by B.B. Alston Harry Potter meets Men in Black, but with supernatural creatures. My thirteen-year-old and I both really enjoyed it.

19. THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES by Jennifer E. Smith I'm a huge fan of Ms. Smith's YA contemporary romances, and this one held my interest, too.

20. I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys A heartbreaking novel set during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Beautifully written as always.

21. HEALING HEARTS by Sarah M. Eden A sweet historical romance between a Wild West doctor and the mail-order nurse he also thought would be his bride.

22. THE SPLENDOR by Breanna Shields I love it when a book's setting is so lush and well-developed that it feels like an extra character. The titular hotel in Ms. Shields's THE SPLENDOR is both these things and more.

23. THE SLOW MARCH OF LIGHT by Heather B. Moore A novelized account of an incredible true story. When an ordinary soldier agrees to become a spy in Cold War-era East Germany, he never dreams that he'll get caught--until he winds up in a Soviet prison.

24. ASHES ON THE MOOR by Sarah M. Eden Can you tell I've got a thing for sweet historical romances? :) This one is set in a small mill town in Victorian England.

25. FLIRTING WITH FATE by J.C. Cervantes A delightful YA contemporary romance with a dash of fantasy and a touch of genealogy.

26. THE RED PALACE by June Hur A YA historical mystery set in the capital city when Korea was still called Joseon. I could have read this in one sitting.

27. THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN by Sarah M. Eden Another sweet historical romance, and probably the best one I read last year. Elizabeth and Fletcher are wildly successful penny dreadful authors who end up dueling behind their pseudonyms while falling in love in real life.

28. THE GENTLEMAN AND THE THIEF by Sarah M. Eden A companion novel to THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN that features two new leads.

29. DEFY THE NIGHT by Brigid Kemmerer Loved the fractured and multifaceted relationships in this first book of a new YA fantasy series.

30. THROW LIKE A GIRL by Sarah Henning The book combined two of my favorite things: football and YA contemporary romance.

31. FAMILY OF LIARS by E. Lockhart Ms. Lockhart's prose never disappoints. If you liked WE WERE LIARS, you'll almost surely like this one, too.

32. HEARTBREAKERS AND FAKERS by Cameron Lund A quick, breezy summer read featuring a love rectangle and a pair of jilted exes who decide to start fake dating and inevitably fall in love.

33. THE MERCHANT AND THE ROGUE by Sarah M. Eden Another companion novel to THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN. I could read these all day!

34. HOLLOW FIRES by Samira Ahmed A heartbreaking but important read.

35. ENDURING FREEDOM by Jawad Arash and Trent Reedy An incredibly impactful story that's essentially a novelization of how the authors met in real life during the war in Afghanistan. I had the amazing opportunity to hear these two talk last summer, while Mr. Arash was still in the midst of fleeing his homeland after the United States withdrew and the Taliban took Kabul.

36. THE SILENCE OF BONES by June Hur Another YA historical mystery set in Korea when it was still called Joseon. The relationship between Seol and the police inspector she works for was particularly interesting.

37. TIPS FOR MAGICIANS by Celesta Rimington A bittersweet MG contemporary with a dash of fantasy and a healthy dose of hope.

38. THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS by June Hur See THE RED PALACE and THE SILENCE OF BONES above. The setting in this one was especially atmospheric, and Ms. Hur clearly has a knack for coming up with titles.

39. I GUESS I LIVE HERE NOW by Claire Ahn I discovered k-dramas last year and must have been subconsciously drawn to other Korean stories because I randomly picked up a bunch at the library, too. I really enjoyed this book set in present-day Seoul.

40. KEEP YOU CLOSE by Karen Cleveland Found this one on clearance at my local grocery store! I don't read many adult thrillers, but this one kept me reading.

41. THOUGHTS & PRAYERS by Bryan Bliss Also found this one on clearance at my local grocery store! Tackling gun violence in a YA novel is a tall task, but Mr. Bliss took a unique approach by telling us what happened to three loosely connected survivors.

42. THE REVOLUTION THAT WASN'T: GameStop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors by Spencer Jakab A most intriguing look at 2021's weird stock market machinations. Nonfiction usually takes me a few days longer to read, but I galloped through this book.

43. THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova Very methodically paced, but as an homage to--and, in some respects, a continuation of--Bram Stoker's DRACULA, it was pretty much perfect.

44. YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS by Melissa See Another YA contemporary romance featuring two musicians. I also appreciated the disabled representation.

45. THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU THE MOST by Medina I randomly picked up a handful of books last year featuring adopted MCs, but this was the only one written by an adopted author. As a fellow adoptee, I appreciated that.

46. THE OTHER SIDE OF PERFECT by Mariko Turk A YA contemporary about a rising ballerina who suffers a career-ending injury and auditions for her high school's musical to find new meaning in life. As a midlist author struggling to find her place, I related to Alina and the emotional journey she went on over the course of this book. One of my favorite reads last year.

47. THE HIKE TO HOME by Jess Rinker An engaging romp just off the Appalachian Trail to find a legendary castle. I think this is just the sort of vicarious adventure MG readers want to go on.

48. THE PAPER GIRL OF PARIS by Jordyn Taylor Told in alternating timelines, this YA novel combines a charming contemporary romance with a historical spy thriller. Both timelines ended up holding my attention (which is really hard to do!).

49. WHITE SMOKE by Tiffany D. Jackson I don't read a ton of horror, and the horror I do read is generally of the MG variety, so I started reading this with a fair amount of trepidation. I needn't have worried. Ms. Jackson nailed the tension and the escalating stakes without drifting into gore. I especially loved the twist!

50. SOLO by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess THE CROSSOVER will forever be one of my all-time favorite novels-in-verse, so I'll pick up just about anything Mr. Alexander writes, no questions asked. The fact that this novel-in-verse was about a young man on the hunt for his birth mom was a delightful surprise.

51. THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD by Emily Henry This book is problematic from a representation standpoint, but it did hold my interest and compelled me to keep reading.

52. THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU by Sarah Henning Another of my favorite reads last year. A gender-swapped Princess Bride? Yes, please!

53. KIKI KALLIRA BREAKS A KINGDOM by Sangu Mandanna MG fantasies based on Indian mythology are quite common these days, but I really liked how this one incorporated art.

54. THE QUEEN WILL BETRAY YOU by Sarah Henning The sequel to Ms. Henning's THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU. If that one's concept reeled me in, this one's intricate worldbuilding and complex relationships kept me thoroughly hooked.

55. RIVALS by Katharine McGee The third installment in Ms. McGee's American Royals series. Am I aware these books are essentially soap operas? Absolutely, yes. Will that make me stop reading them? Absolutely not.

56. THE KING WILL KILL YOU by Sarah Henning A fitting conclusion to Ms. Henning's trilogy. Though the story did feel thinner (in all likelihood because Ms. Henning originally envisioned this as a duology), I was so wrapped up in the characters I couldn't have cared less:)

57. GALLANT by V.E. Schwab I'll always be a fan of Ms. Schwab's alluring prose, and though the pace of this book could be lovingly described as deliberate, I loved how much life she breathed into each of the book's settings.

58. THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY by Jennifer Lynn Barnes A fitting sequel to Ms. Barnes's THE INHERITANCE GAMES. Thank goodness Avery finally picks a boy in this one! :)

59. THE GIRL FROM EARTH'S END by Tara Dairman A sweet story about developing your talents to save a family member. I especially liked the lush fantastical world in which this novel was set.

60. THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD by Tiffany D. Jackson Saw this one at the library after reading WHITE SMOKE and immediately snatched it up. This book was creepy, heartbreaking, and incredibly brave. (And quite a bit bloodier than WHITE SMOKE, admittedly,  though I wouldn't say the descriptions were too graphic.) Maddy, the MC, turns out to be many things--including a mass murderer.

Would still love to hear your favorite reads and recommendations of 2022!

One Thing I Enjoyed About EVERY Book I Finished in 2022

Last year, I had a great time combing through my Goodreads list to come up with my top ten reads of 2021. This year, I decided to make a comprehensive list of one thing I enjoyed about EVERY book I finished in 2022. (Note that I've included every book I FINISHED, not necessarily every book I read. Sometimes I set books aside for one reason or another, which is such a subjective metric that I don't keep track of them.)

1. WHEN WE MAKE IT by Elisabet Velasquez I'd just started writing my first full-length novel-in-verse at this same time last year, so I picked this title up mostly for research purposes and got swept up in the story.

2. THE SEVENTH SUN by Lani Forbes Really vivid worldbuilding here (though I would have liked it even more if Ms. Forbes had differentiated her fantastical world from the Mesoamerican cultures she clearly drew from).

3. GREYTHORNE by Crystal Smith I really enjoyed Ms. Smith's debut, BLOODLEAF, and this sequel picked up right where the first book left off.

4. AN INCONVENIENT MINORITY by Kenny Xu This one really made me think. Though I didn't agree with all his points, they made me reevaluate my worldview as a human being of European, Asian, and Pacific Islander descent.

5. THE LITTLE BOOK THAT BEATS THE MARKET by Joel Greenblatt A quick, insightful read on stock market investing.

6. THE ONES WE'RE MEANT TO FIND by Joan He A beautiful and memorable YA dystopian.

7. THE YEAR OF SHADOWS by Claire Legrand Just the right amount of spookiness for an MG read.

8. LUCK OF THE TITANIC by Stacey Lee Ms. Lee's historicals are all lush and atmospheric, and this one was no exception.

9. SUGAR TOWN QUEENS by Malla Nunn Set in Durban, South Africa, this YA contemporary provided me a vivid peek into a culture that I previously didn't know much about.

10. BLACK WAS THE INK by Michelle Coles Told in alternating timelines, this YA novel combines a charged contemporary narrative with an in-depth look at the work of Black congressmen and aides during the Reconstruction era. Highly insightful and informative.

11. KNEEL by Candace Buford Withheld*

12. MANY POINTS OF ME by Caroline Gertler Withheld*

13. THE TAMING OF THE DREW by Stephanie Kate Strohm Read and loved Ms. Strohm's LOVE A LA MODE a few years back and wanted to try another of her books. A fun summer read for all of you theater nerds (or for everyone who wishes they were a theater nerd!).

14. NIGHT MUSIC by Jenn Marie Thorne A lyrical YA contemporary romance featuring two musicians.

15. MAGIC UNLEASHED by Devri Walls An intense YA urban fantasy that takes place in two dimensions.

16. IN ANOTHER TIME by Jillian Cantor Withheld*

17. THE GIRL WHO FELL BENEATH THE SEA by Axie Oh A vivid retelling of a Korean folktale. One of my favorite reads this year.

18. AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS by B.B. Alston Withheld*

19. THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES by Jennifer E. Smith I'm a huge fan of Ms. Smith's YA contemporary romances, and this one held my interest, too.

20. I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys A heartbreaking novel set during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Beautifully written as always.

21. HEALING HEARTS by Sarah M. Eden A sweet historical romance between a Wild West doctor and the mail-order nurse he also thought would be his bride. 

22. THE SPLENDOR by Breanna Shields I love it when a book's setting is so lush and well-developed that it feels like an extra character. The titular hotel in Ms. Shields's THE SPLENDOR is both these things and more.

23. THE SLOW MARCH OF LIGHT by Heather B. Moore A novelized account of an incredible true story. When an ordinary soldier agrees to become a spy in Cold War-era East Germany, he never dreams that he'll get caught--until he winds up in a Soviet prison.

24. ASHES ON THE MOOR by Sarah M. Eden Can you tell I've got a thing for sweet historical romances? :) This one is set in a small mill town in Victorian England.

25. FLIRTING WITH FATE by J.C. Cervantes A delightful YA contemporary romance with a dash of fantasy and a touch of genealogy.

26. THE RED PALACE by June Hur A YA historical mystery set in the capital city when Korea was still called Joseon. I could have read this in one sitting.

27. THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN by Sarah M. Eden Another sweet historical romance, and probably the best one I read last year. Elizabeth and Fletcher are wildly successful penny dreadful authors who end up dueling behind their pseudonyms while falling in love in real life.

28. THE GENTLEMAN AND THE THIEF by Sarah M. Eden A companion novel to THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN that features two new leads.

29. DEFY THE NIGHT by Brigid Kemmerer Loved the fractured and multifaceted relationships in this first book of a new YA fantasy series.

30. THROW LIKE A GIRL by Sarah Henning The book combined two of my favorite things: football and YA contemporary romance.

31. FAMILY OF LIARS by E. Lockhart Ms. Lockhart's prose never disappoints. If you liked WE WERE LIARS, you'll almost surely like this one, too.

32. HEARTBREAKERS AND FAKERS by Cameron Lund A quick, breezy summer read featuring a love rectangle and a pair of jilted exes who decide to start fake dating and inevitably fall in love.

33. THE MERCHANT AND THE ROGUE by Sarah M. Eden Another companion novel to THE LADY AND THE HIGHWAYMAN. I could read these all day!

34. HOLLOW FIRES by Samira Ahmed A heartbreaking but important read.

35. ENDURING FREEDOM by Jawad Arash and Trent Reedy An incredibly impactful story that's essentially a novelization of how the authors met in real life during the war in Afghanistan. I had the amazing opportunity to hear these two talk last summer, while Mr. Arash was still in the midst of fleeing his homeland after the United States withdrew and the Taliban took Kabul.

36. THE SILENCE OF BONES by June Hur Another YA historical mystery set in Korea when it was still called Joseon. The relationship between Seol and the police inspector she works for was particularly interesting.

37. TIPS FOR MAGICIANS by Celesta Rimington A bittersweet MG contemporary with a dash of fantasy and a healthy dose of hope.

38. THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS by June Hur See THE RED PALACE and THE SILENCE OF BONES above. The setting in this one was especially atmospheric, and Ms. Hur clearly has a knack for coming up with titles.

39. I GUESS I LIVE HERE NOW by Claire Ahn I discovered k-dramas last year and must have been subconsciously drawn to other Korean stories because I randomly picked up a bunch at the library, too. I really enjoyed this book set in present-day Seoul. 

40. KEEP YOU CLOSE by Karen Cleveland Found this one on clearance at my local grocery store! I don't read many adult thrillers, but this one kept me reading.

41. THOUGHTS & PRAYERS by Bryan Bliss Withheld*

42. THE REVOLUTION THAT WASN'T: GameStop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors by Spencer Jakab A most intriguing look at 2021's weird stock market machinations. Nonfiction usually takes me a few days longer to read, but I galloped through this book.

43. THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova Very methodically paced, but as an homage to--and, in some respects, a continuation of--Bram Stoker's DRACULA, it was pretty much perfect.

44. YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS by Melissa See Another YA contemporary romance featuring two musicians. I also appreciated the disabled representation.

45. THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU THE MOST by Medina I randomly picked up a handful of books last year featuring adopted MCs, but this was the only one written by an adopted author. As a fellow adoptee, I appreciated that.

46. THE OTHER SIDE OF PERFECT by Mariko Turk A YA contemporary about a rising ballerina who suffers a career-ending injury and auditions for her high school's musical to find new meaning in life. As a midlist author struggling to find her place, I related to Alina and the emotional journey she went on over the course of this book. One of my favorite reads last year.

47. THE HIKE TO HOME by Jess Rinker An engaging romp just off the Appalachian Trail to find a legendary castle. I think this is just the sort of vicarious adventure MG readers want to go on.

48. THE PAPER GIRL OF PARIS by Jordyn Taylor Withheld*

49. WHITE SMOKE by Tiffany D. Jackson Withheld*

50. SOLO by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess Withheld*

51. THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD by Emily Henry This book is problematic from a representation standpoint, but it did hold my interest and compelled me to keep reading.

52. THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU by Sarah Henning Another of my favorite reads last year. A gender-swapped Princess Bride? Yes, please!

53. KIKI KALLIRA BREAKS A KINGDOM by Sangu Mandanna MG fantasies based on Indian mythology are quite common these days, but I really liked how this one incorporated art. 

54. THE QUEEN WILL BETRAY YOU by Sarah Henning The sequel to Ms. Henning's THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU. If that one's concept reeled me in, this one's intricate worldbuilding and complex relationships kept me thoroughly hooked.

55. RIVALS by Katharine McGee The third installment in Ms. McGee's American Royals series. Am I aware these books are essentially soap operas? Absolutely, yes. Will that make me stop reading them? Absolutely not.

56. THE KING WILL KILL YOU by Sarah Henning A fitting conclusion to Ms. Henning's trilogy. Though the story did feel thinner (in all likelihood because Ms. Henning originally envisioned this as a duology), I was so wrapped up in the characters I couldn't have cared less:)  

57. GALLANT by V.E. Schwab Withheld*

58. THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY by Jennifer Lynn Barnes A fitting sequel to Ms. Barnes's THE INHERITANCE GAMES. Thank goodness Avery finally picks a boy in this one! :)

59. THE GIRL FROM EARTH'S END by Tara Dairman A sweet story about developing your talents to save a family member. I especially liked the lush fantastical world in which this novel was set.

60. THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD by Tiffany D. Jackson Withheld*

And that's my list! Which ones did I miss? Would love to hear your favorite reads and recommendations of 2022!

*I'm withholding my reviews of all HarperCollins titles in accordance with the wishes of their striking union members, but only if those books were HarperCollins properties at the time that they were published. When management starts negotiating and everyone goes back to work, I'll try to remember to come back and fill in these missing reviews.

My Top Ten Reads of 2021

I read sixty books last year, which honestly seemed a little low until I remembered that, thanks to the pandemic, I'm not getting to the library nearly as often as I used to. Still, sixty isn't nothing, and in the spirit of New Year's, I thought I would share my ten favorite reads with you (in the order that I read them, not the order that I liked them).

1. RHYTHM OF WAR by Brandon Sanderson Mr. Sanderson is one of my very favorite authors, and the books in his Stormlight Archive are my very favorites of his books. RHYTHM OF WAR is the fourth book in the series, so if you want to start at the beginning, check out THE WAY OF KINGS.

2. YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED by Michelle I. Mason I got to read this as an ARC, which is why it shows up so early in this list. Michelle is one of my oldest and dearest writing friends, but I would have loved YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED even if she weren't. The first few chapters, in which the MC finds out her very normal-seeming flight landed twenty-five years to the day after it took off, totally sucked me in.

3. BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER by Jewell Parker Rhodes I loved this book so much I paid my kids to read it, too, and discuss its themes with me. An age-appropriate but compelling look at race, unequal treatment, and genealogy--and did I mention that there's fencing? :)

4. FURIA by Yamile Saied Méndez Anyone who follows me on Twitter has probably figured out that I watch a lot of sports, so it stands to reason that I would love sports books--but FURIA is so much more. A worthy addition to Reese Witherspoon's book club.

5. EDUCATED by Tara Westover I know I'm exceptionally late to this party, but EDUCATED was just as impactful as I'd heard it was. Though it was hard to read in places, I also found it to be an excellent example of narrative nonfiction.

6. FADEAWAY by E.B. Vickers I love the true-crime trend that's making the rounds in YA (see my reference to A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER below), and though this starts in that same vein, it eventually develops into something much more meaningful. Must-read YA at its finest.

7. LOVE FROM A TO Z by S.K. Ali I heart Ms. Ali's YA romances because I feel such a sense of kinship with her YA characters. I wasn't raised Muslim, but my Christian faith came with a similar set of modesty and dating standards, so I wholeheartedly relate to Janna and Zayneb. This is my new favorite of Ms. Ali's books.

8. AS GOOD AS DEAD by Holly Jackson Ms. Jackson's debut trilogy, which starts with A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER, is a tour de force. That said, I didn't like this book--BUT I thought it was amazing. Ms. Jackson took some massive risks with her plot and characters, and though it pained me to see what her characters became, I couldn't help but tip my hat to her sheer audacity. How's that for contradictory? :)

9. CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS by Kaela Rivera This MG fantasy has it all: criaturas, brujas, and a courageous MC determined to consort with one so she can become the other (and save her sister in the process). A glittering debut that left me hungry for the sequel.

10. WHEN WE WERE INFINITE by Kelly Loy Gilbert My goodness, where do I start? I fell in love with Ms. Gilbert's writing when I read her debut years ago (that one's called CONVICTION, and you should also check it out), and thematically, this book hit even closer to home. Ms. Gilbert doesn't publish books nearly as often as I wish she did, but every time a new one comes out, it's a must-read for me.

Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think? And which books made your top ten?

Reading Roundup: August 2019

Well, I'm finally caught up on these monthly reading roundups! At least until tomorrow:)

1. SKYLARK AND WALLCREEPER by Anne O'Brien Carelli An informative MG historical set in a small French town during World War II. Certainly worth a read.

2. ALL THAT MAKES LIFE BRIGHT by Josi S. Kilpack A novelized account of the early years of Harriet Beecher Stowe's marriage to Calvin Stowe. This story was hard to read at times, as, in Calvin's mind, Harriet never seemed to measure up to his late wife's legacy, but I appreciated their keep-trying attitude. I also appreciated Harriet's preference for writing over cooking and cleaning:)

3. EVER THE HUNTED by Erin Summerill The first in Ms. Summerill's YA fantasy duology, EVER THE HUNTED follows the outcast daughter of the king's favored--and recently murdered--bounty hunter. When the king's adviser tells her that the crown's prime suspect is her father's longtime apprentice--and Britta's longtime crush--she sets off to hunt him down. This could have gotten bogged down in a flat journey motif, but Britta's main objective shifted relatively often, so it kept things interesting.

4. MISS WILTON'S WALTZ by Josi S. Kilpack The last in my most recent flurry of Josi S. Kilpack requests, this sweet historical romance was also the hardest to remember. I read it as quickly as the others, though, so I must have enjoyed it:)

5. THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN GIRLS by Erin Entrada Kelly Ms. Kelly is the queen of heartbreaking MG reads, and this one was no different. It might not be the right book for kids who've grappled with abandonment or verbal abuse, though.

6. BLOODLEAF by Crystal Smith I liked this one a lot more than I expected to. The first chapters reminded me of Mary E. Pearson's THE KISS OF DECEPTION, but even though the twists were easier to see coming, the plot diverged enough from THE KISS OF DECEPTION's that it very much held my interest. I'll have to keep an eye out for its sequel, GREYTHORNE, which comes out next year.

7. VOW OF THIEVES by Mary E. Pearson Speaking of Mary E. Pearson, her sequel to DANCE OF THIEVES came out this month, and it didn't disappoint! I very much enjoyed this duology.

Did I really only read seven books in the month of August? Clearly, I've been slacking!

Reading Roundup: July 2019

Here's the second installment in my reading roundup catch-up!

1. INSIGHTS FROM A PROPHET'S LIFE: RUSSELL M. NELSON by Sheri Dew Russell M. Nelson, the current president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been in the spotlight for as long as I've been in alive. Still, Ms. Dew managed to compile a pretty vast collection of lessons and anecdotes I'd never heard (or just forgotten). I liked learning more about his early career as a pioneering heart surgeon and the Christlike service he's performed in the United States and around the world. (Interesting side note: Ms. Dew is the president and CEO of the book's mainstream publisher. I wish I were the president and CEO of a mainstream publisher:) )

2. ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake The cliffhanger ending--almost literally--of THREE DARK CROWNS sent me scrambling for this book, but I ended up liking it a little less than I liked the first. That might have been because my favorite of the triplets, Katharine, was wildly different in this sequel. (She had a very good reason to be different, and yet I, along with Pietyr, still missed the old Katharine.)

3. TWO DARK REIGNS by Kendare Blake Perhaps unsurprisingly, I liked this third book in the series a little less than I liked the second. Whereas the first book's plot felt tight and expertly crafted, I thought this one's plot meandered. It made me wonder if the books were victims of their own success (i.e., if the publisher asked Ms. Blake to stretch them out).

4. ARCHENEMIES by Marissa Meyer A fitting sequel to RENEGADES. These books are super long, but the world is detailed enough--and the characters and their relationships are conflicted enough--that their overall page counts just let you sink into them.

5. WE HUNT THE FLAME by Hafsah Faizal I'd been looking forward to this YA fantasy for months (at least in part because Ms. Faizal designed this website!), and the opening chapters were super promising. But once the book settled into its unfortunately generic journey motif, it had a harder time holding my interest.

6. HER GOOD NAME by Josi S. Kilpack A Christian romantic suspense that reminded me of the sorts of books I read as a young teenager. Hooray for nostalgic reads!

7. DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY by Brodi Ashton A YA contemporary that poses an intriguing question: what shenanigans do diplomats' children get away with in our nation's capital? Ace reporter Piper Baird, who just won a scholarship to one of DC's top prep schools, is determined to find out. I thoroughly enjoyed Piper's voice and read this one pretty fast.

8. THE LAST WORD by Samantha Hastings I got to hear Ms. Hastings and several of her fellow Novel Nineteens talk at my local B&N, and this book sounded so fun that I had to pick it up. It didn't disappoint!

9. UNDER LOCKER AND KEY by Allison K. Hymas This MG contemporary was a rollicking read about a self-described retrieval specialist and a job gone wrong. I thought it was reminiscent of DON'T VOTE FOR ME in both setting and tone, and I think David and Jeremy would be the best of friends:)

10. THE LADY OF THE LAKES by Josi S. Kilpack A novelized account of Sir Walter Scott's in-real-life romance(s) that I quite enjoyed. (Did you know Walter Scott was knighted after discovering a cache of long-lost Scottish jewels? Because I sure didn't!) The book included chapter notes that separated fact from fiction, but I returned the book without remembering to read them. Still, the general premise made for a compelling story.

Have you read any of these, and if so, what did you think?

Reading Roundup: June 2019

I've fallen woefully behind in these reading roundups, but I'm going to try to catch up over the next couple of weeks. Read on for June's reviews!

1. TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green If John Green wrote a mystery, it would sound just like this book. *pauses to listen to earpiece* Ladies and gentlemen, I've just been informed that John Green did write this book, so there you have it. I was right. I know Mr. Green is sometimes criticized for writing teenage characters who are far wittier and engaging than, say, actual teenagers, but I'd rather read a book with characters who say cool stuff than characters who, you know, don't.

2. STELLA BY STARLIGHT by Sharon M. Draper A delicate MG historical with a message that's still timely (since we can't seem to figure out how to treat one another with kindness and respect). Ms. Draper mentioned that this book was loosely based on her grandmother's childhood, which is super sweet, but the storytelling may have suffered because she was trying to be true to a factual account instead of a made-up one.

3. THREE DARK CROWNS by Kendare Blake I FLEW through this book. Though the premise seems far-fetched--three triplet princesses with competing supernatural powers must kill each other off if they want to take the throne--Ms. Blake totally sold it.

4. THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS by Mary E. Pearson I LOVED Ms. Pearson's DANCE OF THIEVES, so imagine my delight when I learned she'd penned other books in the same well-thought-out world. The first half in particular completely sucked me in, and I must admit that I fell for Ms. Pearson's trickery hook, line, and sinker.

5. THE EMPEROR'S OSTRICH by Julie Berry No one does MG absurdity quite like Ms. Berry. Though I probably enjoyed THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE a little more, this was still a ton of fun.

6. THE KINGDOM by Jess Rothenberg One of my local librarians loves to talk books with me every time I check out, and this was one of her recent recommendations. I probably didn't love it quite as much as she did, but it was a diverting read.

7. FIELD NOTES ON LOVE by Jennifer E. Smith A contemporary romance with a ripped-from-the-headlines high-concept hook, this one's right up there with THE COMEBACK SEASON, THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE, and HELLO, GOODBYE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN on my list of Ms. Smith's favorites. (What can I say? I have a LOT of favorites...)

8. RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer This was a blind pickup at my local library, and it turned out to be a hit! Though the plot does move methodically, especially at first, I found both the characters and the world to be wonderfully developed. A much more nuanced look at a world controlled by superheroes than your average summer blockbuster.

What have you been reading lately?

Reading Roundup: April and May 2019

I'm a month behind again, but better late than never, right? Read on for my readlist (a term I'm totally trademarking)!

April

1. PAPER CHAINS by Elaine Vickers A thoughtful MG contemporary about family and friendship. I especially liked the hockey angle and the fact that Katie was adopted. As an adopted kid myself, I think we may be an underrepresented demographic in children's literature.

2. THE GLASS SPARE by Lauren DeStefano An adventurous YA fantasy with a super intriguing concept, this book stars Wil Heidle, a princess whose touch turns living things into gemstones. Sometimes I thought the plot took a backseat to Wil's relationship with an equally cursed prince, so if you don't like your fantasy with a healthy dose of romance, this might be one to skip.

3. FAME, FATE, AND THE FIRST KISS by Kasie West Ms. West always gets an automatic read from me, and this book might just be my new favorite of hers. I loved spending time on the set of a campy book-to-film adaptation of a best-selling vampire romance, and I also loved that Lacey's love interest turned out NOT to be her costar.

4. INTERNMENT by Samira Ahmed This near-future YA contemporary imagines a world in which our government has rounded up Muslim Americans for no other reason than that they're Muslim American and incarcerated them in so-called relocation camps. I'd really, really like to think we as Americans learned our lesson when we did this very thing to Japanese Americans in the 1940s, but if anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany, I guess anything's possible.

5. KING OF SCARS by Leigh Bardugo I read SHADOW AND BONE years ago and never made it past that book. Then I picked up SIX OF CROWS and was completely blown away. KING OF SCARS, in my opinion, was somewhere between the two--not as intricately plotted as SIX OF CROWS and its sequel, though the writing was pretty great. I got the impression as I was reading KING OF SCARS that the main characters were reprising roles from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and when I looked it up after the fact, that appears to be the case. That said, I didn't have a problem following the action even though I never read SHADOW AND BONE's sequels.

6. THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE by Ally Condie The first chapter of this book really took me by surprise, and then the rest of the book also kept me on my toes. I never knew where it was headed, which definitely kept me turning pages. The setting, a mining ship, was also super interesting.

7. THE GILDED WOLVES by Roshani Chokshi Set during the Roaring Twenties, this YA historical fantasy is definitely my new favorite of Ms. Chokshi's. The plot was multilayered, the characters leaped off the page, and the rich historical setting was a character unto itself.

8. THE CURSED SEA by Lauren DeStefano A fitting sequel to THE GLASS SPARE. I especially liked how Ms. DeStefano allowed the relationships between her characters to drive the story's conflict.

May

9. THE LIGHT OVER LONDON by Julia Kelly I'm a sucker for World War II epics, and I particularly enjoyed this one. Though they took some time to get to, my favorite scenes involved Louise and her anti-aircraft unit. The guns they set up around London to take down the Luftwaffe were manned in large part by women. They required a whole team to operate--spotters, calculators, and, like, coordinate inputers--and though, legally, only men could fire them, women often served in every other position. Who knew?

10. CONTAGION by Erin Bowman If you've been looking for a fast-paced sci-fi thriller, look no further than CONTAGION. The first couple of chapters were a little slow, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. I flew through this one.

11. THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR by Susan Meissner Ms. Meissner is another of my go-to, must-read authors; the fact that this latest book was also a World War II epic was just the icing on the cake. I didn't enjoy this one as much as SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE, perhaps because I was already familiar with the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II, but it surprised me to learn a handful of German Americans also found themselves imprisoned in these relocation camps. My favorite part was the last third, in which one of the main characters was repatriated to Germany (despite being born in Iowa).

12. THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E. Pearson I read Ms. Pearson's DANCE OF THIEVES a few months ago and absolutely adored it, so imagine my delight when I discovered that new series was a spin-off of The Remnant Chronicles, which started with this book. I enjoyed this one, too, though not as much as DANCE OF THIEVES. (Also, like THE GLASS SPARE, if you prefer the romantic subplots in your YA fantasies to remain subplots, this might not be the book for you.)

13. THE HEART OF BETRAYAL by Mary E. Pearson The sequel to THE KISS OF DECEPTION. I liked this one even better, as the plot was more detailed.

14. DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman This YA thriller scared the living daylights out of me, as I can imagine a metropolis in the American Southwest running out of water someday. Well worth a read.

15. FUZZY MUD by Louis Sachar Not as memorable as HOLES or as wacky as SIDEWAYS STORIES, but this MG sci-fi could definitely hook reluctant readers, as it's a quick and easy read.

16. LOVELY WAR by Julie Berry This World War I epic has a most unusual frame: Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, catches Aphrodite, his adulterous wife, red-handed and puts her and Ares, the Greek god of war, on trial in a Parisian hotel room. As a part of her defense, Aphrodite tells the stories of a pair of star-crossed couples who met during World War I. I was indifferent to the frame, but I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of our pair of star-crossed couples. In fact, I enjoyed them so much I went and bought this book after turning the library's back in.

17. CHARLIE HERNÁNDEZ AND THE LEAGUE OF SHADOWS by Ryan Calejo A fun MG adventure built around various elements of Hispanic mythology. The voice was also great. I think kid readers will really love this one.

18. MERCI SUÁREZ CHANGES GEARS by Meg Medina I really enjoyed this MG contemporary. I don't generally think of MG contemporaries as page-turners, but this one was for me. I guess that Newbery committee really does know what they're doing:)

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? If not, what are you reading? Anything I need to add to the stack on my nightstand?

Reading Roundup: March 2019

Time for another reading roundup! Here are the books I read last month, with a thought or two on each:

1. THE SOMEDAY BIRDS by Sally J. Pla Contemporary MG at its finest, this heart-breaking book has one of the sweetest MCs I've encountered in a while. A must-read for birders and MG lovers alike.

2. LOVE À LA MODE by Kate Stephanie Strohm If I were an agent, I would have pitched this book as ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS meets Top Chef. Of course, I would have had to pitch it AFTER reading it at once and e-mailing Ms. Strohm to offer her representation, but I would have done just that, because I loved it that much.

3. THE DARKDEEP by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs I don't generally read horror, MG or otherwise, but when I do, I read the stuff written for ten- to twelve-year-olds:) This one held my interest, though I wished the kids had learned more about the Darkdeep's origins. Maybe they will in the sequel...

4. ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME by Roshani Chokshi This one reminded me of Sayantani DasGupta's THE SERPENT'S SECRET (though the characters in this one spent more time in the real world). Other readers have reported that the plotting in both books feels kind of random and haphazard, but I don't really know enough about Indian storytelling to make that kind of judgment call. Not that my reluctant reader cares. I passed the book to him as soon as I was done with it, and the first chapter reeled him in. He's been learning about Greek and Roman mythology in school, so this is a nice complement.

5. CHECK ME OUT by Becca Wilhite Though this book was billed as sweet romance, I might have liked it a lot more if they'd made the MC younger and just billed it as YA. Her voice read really young to me, and she came across as immature.

6. DANCE OF THIEVES by Mary E. Pearson I ADORED this book. Honestly, I could probably gush for several paragraphs (at least), but I'll say just this instead: the characters' goals were so well-drawn and so at odds with one another that, when one of the MCs was faced with a terrible choice, I had no idea how the scene was going to play out because I couldn't picture her NOT making either decision.

7. THE SECRET OF THE INDIA ORCHID by Nancy Campbell Allen Part historical romance, part Mission: Impossible-style thriller, this book was kind of a departure for the author and the publisher. Though I applaud Ms. Allen for thinking outside the box, I often found myself wishing we could focus on the romance OR the hunt for the NOC list stolen British documents. Because it wanted to be both, I think it ended up as neither.

And that's it from me! What have you been reading lately? Anything I need to add to the stack of books on my nightstand?

Reading Roundup: January and February 2019

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been the best blogger in the last few months years (decades?). I LOVE interviewing writing folks and hosting blog contests, but those things take a lot of time, so I've had to cut back. Cut WAY back.

The one thing I haven't cut back on is reading. I LOVE reading maybe even more than I love writing, and staying up on market trends and what publishers are looking for can't be anything but helpful. What I'm trying to say is, I read quite a few books, and since we're all about books, I thought it might be nice to share.

I'm going to try to post a reading roundup once a month (and if we're REALLY lucky, I might be able to post something else in between, too). So without further ado, here are the books I've read since the beginning of the year, with a few thoughts on each:

January

1. BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck I loved, loved, LOVED Ms. Petruck's debut, STEERING TOWARD NORMAL--you can read my recommendation, if you feel so inclined--and like that book, BOY BITES BUG tackles a tough topic in an age-appropriate way. If you like MG contemporary that balances humor and heart, this one is worth checking out.

2. FULL TILT by Neal Shusterman Not the best of Mr. Shusterman's I've read, but he did write this book quite a while ago. (I found it at the library while I was browsing the YA section.) If you like gut-punching YA contemporary, try BRUISER or CHALLENGER DEEP; for amazing YA sci-fi--or amazing YA anything--definitely start with SCYTHE.

3. NOT IF I SAVE YOU FIRST by Ally Carter I don't know how I missed this one, as Ms. Carter is one of my go-to authors, but I'm so glad Michelle Mason put this one back on my radar! It was a fun mix of romance, adventure, and suspense.

4. THE CROWN'S FATE by Evelyn Skye I wasn't overwhelmed by THE CROWN'S GAME, this book's predecessor, but when I saw this one on the shelf at my handy-dandy library, I remembered it fondly enough to pick this one up. Happily, I enjoyed this one even more. Tsarist Russia lends itself so well to YA historical fantasy.

5. RESISTANCE by Jennifer A. Nielsen An insightful read about the work of Jewish couriers during the Nazis' occupation of Poland. Though I didn't connect as deeply with the fictional characters as I wanted to, I thought the story itself was extremely important.

6. REAL FRIENDS by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham I won this one in a giveaway and couldn't have been more excited, as I have a graphic novel fan who also happens to struggle with making the right friends. I got through this book in only a couple of sittings and immediately shared it with him.

7. FLAME IN THE MIST by Renee Ahdieh I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. Though the characters spent more time thinking than I would have liked, there was still plenty of plot, and their personalities really popped. (And in Ms. Ahdieh's defense, I HATE writing introspection, so my gripe probably says more about the quality of MY writing than it does about hers.)

8. SMOKE IN THE SUN by Renee Ahdieh The sequel to FLAME IN THE MIST, as you probably surmised:) I liked this one, too (though, since I read these back to back, I can't really separate them now).

February

9. DARE MIGHTY THINGS by Heather Kaczynski The concept here is great: several dozen young adults are vying for a single spot on a manned mission to...somewhere. Though the plot did develop slowly, it mostly held my attention (once I got over the fact that the characters are too old to be in a YA novel).

10. ONE GIANT LEAP by Heather Kaczynski The sequel to DARE MIGHTY THINGS, as you probably surmised again. This one was very different than DARE MIGHTY THINGS, as the climax of that book sends the concept spinning off in a whole new direction.

11. THE VANISHING STAIR by Maureen Johnson My mother-in-law took me to B&N for my birthday (hooray for mothers-in-law!), and this one was the book I picked. After tearing through TRULY DEVIOUS a few months ago, I knew I wanted THE VANISHING STAIR as soon as I saw it. (Thank goodness I didn't discover TRULY DEVIOUS until its sequel was about to come out!) I tore through this one, too:)

12. PROMISES AND PRIMROSES by Josi S. Kilpack A sweet historical romance that delivered on its promise (no pun intended). If you like this genre as much as I do, this one is worth a read.

13. WISHTREE by Katherine Applegate A quick read with an underlying message that's sorely needed right now. I even liked the tree-as-narrator motif.

14. IF THIS WERE A STORY by Beth Turley This MG contemporary was a little hard to read, as I could guess what was going on and my heart went out to the MC. Ms. Turley's repeated uses of the title phrase did get a little old, but on the whole, this one kept me turning pages.

15. CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi I thought this YA fantasy was kind of disappointing. That said, if the plot and characters had been as unique as the world-building, it would have been an awesome read.

16. A HINT OF HYDRA by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski This sequel to A DASH OF DRAGON was just as fast-paced and action-packed as its predecessor. In fact, I think I liked this one even more than the last.

17. LIES JANE AUSTEN TOLD ME by Julie Wright This contemporary romance reminded me of Shannon Hale's AUSTENLAND. It wasn't as good as that one, but I still enjoyed it.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? If not, what have you been reading lately?

Why We Need Diverse Books

I grew up in a mixed-race home, though I've never thought about it that way until just now. My dad puts the Anglo back in Anglo-Saxon, and I'm not far behind (though I do have enough Filipino and Hawaiian blood in me to work up a nice tan). My mom is half Filipino, but even that's understating it, since her dad was actually Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish. My sister is half Guatemalan, so between the four of us, we represent four of the six populated continents.

I was a teenager before it occurred to me that my sister didn't look like I did (or my mom, for that matter). We grew up in a very white community a few miles north of Salt Lake City, but for some reason, she never stood out. She was just Heather, whirlwind toddler, pint-sized playmate, and occasional stealer of my stuff.

That said, I think my experience was unusual. Most kids do notice race. The schools in our town are forty-five percent white, forty-five percent Hispanic, and ten percent everything else, and I-gots noticed the texture of his African-American classmate's hair on the second day of kindergarten. Luckily, he asked about it, which gave us an opportunity to explain that, even though this boy's hair was different, it had nothing to do with whether he'd make a good friend.

White parents might think it's enough to stick their kids in multicultural settings and expect them to be colorblind, but I don't think anyone is truly colorblind. We're different, we notice, and that's okay. The trick is to talk about the differences so they don't seem so different after all. That's the great thing about diverse books--they allow us to get outside ourselves and see the world for what it really is: a beautiful ocean of diversity, beautiful in many ways precisely because it is diverse.

#AvailableAlmostEverywhere

As I've been reading about Amazon's latest volley, one refrain keeps scrolling through my brain: "That could be me next year, that could be me next year, that could be me next year." When giants clash, it's usually the little guys who get trampled, and in this industry, there is no one littler than the debut novelist.

Douglas Preston and Stephen Colbert are going to be just fine. They're well-established and can easily reach tens of thousands--if not millions--of readers. But when you're a debut, you don't have a following yet. Except for your parents and your great-aunt Lillian (and maybe a few online friends), no one is going to seek your book out, so if the largest retailer in the land pulls the plug, where does that leave you?

In need of a little help.

In that spirit, I'm spotlighting OneFourKidLit members and Fearless Fifteeners today whose books are available almost everywhere (or soon-to-be available almost everywhere). I haven't read any of these books, so I don't know anything about them (other than what I gleaned on Goodreads), but if anyone deserves a blind shout-out, they do.

SALT & STORM by Kendall Kulper
(available on September 23, 2014)

A sweeping historical romance about a witch who foresees her own murder--and the one boy who can help change her future.

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe at sea, but her mother has forced her into a magic-free world of proper manners and respectability. When Avery dreams she's to be murdered, she knows time is running out to unlock her magic and save herself.

Avery finds an unexpected ally in a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane--a sailor with magic of his own, who moves Avery in ways she never expected. Becoming a witch might stop her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers her magic requires a sacrifice she never prepared for.

B&N | BAM | INDIEBOUND | !NDIGO | POWELL’S | GOODREADS

ILLUSIVE by Emily Lloyd-Jones
(available now!)

The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals.

When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist...She's also a thief.

After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn't?

The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against the government that could cost them their lives.

B&N | BAM | INDIEBOUND | !NDIGO | POWELL’S | GOODREADS

In the interest of full disclosure, you can still buy ILLUSIVE at Amazon, but without the regular discounts.

THE WITCH HUNTER by Virginia Boecker

(available on June 1, 2015)

The Witch Hunter is set in an alternative 16th-century London. In the story, pitched as Shadow and Bone meets The Tudors, the only girl in the king's elite group of witch hunters is framed for being a witch herself, finding freedom at the hands of the world's most wanted wizard.

GOODREADS

THE WITCH HUNTER isn't available for pre-order anywhere (yet), but if these shenanigans continue, it will get caught up in the same net, no doubt. So keep an eye out for fellow Fearless Fifteener Virginia Boecker's THE WITCH HUNTER!

Which of your favorite books have been caught up in this madness? Feel free to give them a shout-out in the comments! (They don't necessarily have to be debuts, but if they are, bonus points!)

What I Think of the Latest Attempt to Ban John Green's Books

You've probably heard about the latest attempt to ban John Green's books, but if you haven't, here's a quick recap: A teacher at Strasburg High School in central Colorado wants to teach an elective on young adult literature. The parents in Strasburg have taken issue with several of the books on the proposed list, so they've brought the matter before the school board, which plans to address it at a board meeting next month.

Curious about that proposed list? Here it is:

FEED by M.T. Anderson
THINNER THAN THOU by Kit Reed
DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver
UGLIES by Scott Westerfield
TAKEN by Erin Bowman
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME by Mark Haddon
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes
WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green and David Levithan
GO ASK ALICE by Anonymous
13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES by Maureen Johnson
PAPER TOWNS by John Green
IF I STAY by Gayle Forman
BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver
THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher
LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs
CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis

Other than the fact that this teacher wants to read pretty much everything that John Green's ever written, it's a pretty diverse list:) Of these nineteen books, I've read all or part of thirteen. Of those thirteen, I stopped reading four because I wasn't comfortable with the amount of profanity or the sexual content. (I've also put down books that I thought were too violent or gruesome, but for whatever reason, that doesn't happen as often.)

Now, several of the books I finished probably had the same amount of profanity or sexual content as the ones I didn't. Sometimes, I'm more sensitive, and sometimes, I'm just weak (which is to say that I'm too invested in the story or characters to put the book down, though I feel like I should). I really enjoy YA fiction, and I think I'll enjoy it for many years to come, but there are a number of books that I simply won't read because I find them too profane, too sexually explicit, or too violent.

In other words, while I applaud this teacher for wanting to teach current teen fiction, I also understand where the parents are coming from. But why are we always so concerned about the teachers and parents? What about the students themselves?

As a junior in high school, I was assigned to read John Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH. I only made it a few chapters in before I gave up. I thought it was dull as dishwater, granted, but the way the Joads talked really grated on me. I was a sheltered teenager, yes, but I preferred it that way. I knew the world could be ugly and was often cruel, but I didn't see the need to willingly expose myself to its ugliness and cruelty. Even if a book uses that ugliness as an example of how NOT to be, there's something about bombarding the reader with it that seems contradictory to me.

I stopped reading the book and participating in class discussions (if we even had any, that is). My English teacher that year was less, uh, stringent than most, so she only ever gave us one quiz on the book. It remains to this day the only quiz, test, or assignment I've ever failed.

I like to think that if the stakes had been higher--if my term grade had been on the line, say--I still would have had the moral courage to put the book down. But I guess I wonder if I SHOULD have had to put my grade on the line if it had come to that. Should we make students pick between their religion and/or ethics and failing a class? In the case of Strasburg High School, is it enough to say, "Well, you don't have to take it, so if you're concerned about one of the books on the list, just don't sign up"?

On the one hand, I think there comes a point when you have to trust your kids to make the right decision, but on the other, I don't think kids should be penalized for choosing not to read something. What I'd love to see in a YA literature course of this nature is a two-pronged curriculum in which every book is studied in tandem with another and the students get to pick which one they want to read (or they could even read both). Then you could pair a gritty, true-to-life book with another that addresses the same issues in a less provocative way. I'm sure it would lead to some rousing discussions about the impact of profanity and sexual content in a book and what it contributes (or doesn't).

And I'm sure kids would come down on both sides of the fence.

(Work-in-) Progress Report: Bonnie

Word count (to the nearest thousand): 73,000
Status: Line editing (as always)
Attitude: A little weary

I'm down to sentence-level changes on this latest draft, but the sentence-level changes are always the toughest, at least for me. I always feel like the clunkiest, wordiest writer on the planet when I'm trying to streamline my prose, and since I'm also trying to inject a bit more voice into the manuscript, the going on this pass is even slower than it usually is.

Voice isn't generally something I have to think a lot about; it just kind of flows. But somewhere in the switch from MG to YA, I lost some of my mojo. I know a lot of people think it's tough to nail an MG voice, but I, for one, find it much easier to write a precocious twelve-year-old than a mature seventeen-year-old who's interesting enough to spend three hundred pages with (and who doesn't bug me to death).

To that end, I asked my Twitter followers to share their favorite YA reads with non-slangy, non-snarky characters. I got some great suggestions, so I thought it would be fun to share them with you:

I'LL BE THERE by Holly Goldberg Sloan The best thing about this book is that it's written in third person, and not particularly close third, either. I'd forgotten how much you can do with an impartial narrator who kind of floats above the story. I considered whether or not it would be worth it to flip Bonnie from first to third but ultimately decided against it. Since Bonnie is so personal, I think switching it to third would create unnecessary distance between the reader and my MC.

THE QUEEN OF KENTUCKY by Alecia Whitaker The MC in this book had a very distinctive voice, but it read too young for me. Now in Ricki Jo's defense, she WAS only fourteen, so I guess she had a good excuse. As my mother can attest, I was a basket case at that age:)

SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT by Sarah Strohmeyer Of all the books I've read to educate my YA voice, this book was the one that spoke to me the most. I loved Gigi, Bea, and Neerja, who were interesting but not annoying, witty but not sarcastic. They were just the sorts of girls I would have wanted to hang out with in high school (if I'd been the sort of girl to hang out in high school, that is). If you love contemporary romances with strong, well-developed characters, definitely give SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT a read.

DAIRY QUEEN by Catherine Gilbert Murdock I'm not finished with this one, but I've already enjoyed it quite a bit. D.J. is a great character with a ton of voice and charm. Actually, I think she and Ella Mae would get along famously, which is the main reason I don't want to draw too much inspiration from this book. I just don't want to write the same character over and over.

Are there any other books you think I should pick up to educate my YA voice? And how are YOUR works-in-progress coming along?