Some Regal Reads and my last library haul of 2024

While there are still plenty of new books upon my TBR, fresh from the holidays, it always helps to start a new year off right with a few new releases of the first month there.

To that end, I selected a trio of Book of the Month Club picks that have a royal flair. Deciding to be bold and try an author new to me, Babylonia by Cortanza Casati was my first choice.

The novel tells the tale of famed queen Semiramis, who rose from rather humble beginnings as the adopted daughter of a brutish shepherd to wife of the local governor which ultimately lead her to the throne of Assyria , the only woman to do so in those times.

Such a climb was not without its price yet Semiramis was willing to pay for that path to power at any cost or was she..?

I paired this title with Casati’s earlier book, Clytemnestra, to get a good back to back read of the writer’s style here. Plus, something tells me that warrior queens are going to very much in demand this year and this is certainly a good way to get a head start on that trend:

To round things out, Fiona Davis’ The Stolen Queen has come along at the right time indeed.

The story is told between two women connected by a missing Egyptian artifact taken during the Met Gala in 1978.

Charlotte, a curator determined to redeem the reputation of legendary Queen Hathorkare, and Annie, a hopeful designer given a golden opportunity by Diana Vreeland, find themselves working together to retrieve this historic piece not only to reclaim it for the museum but to perhaps redeem their own reputations as well.

This pursuit leads them to Egypt, where Charlotte was hoping to never return, due to an incident from the 1930s that haunts her still to this day. Nevertheless, she’s not alone this time but that also means the danger is also double fold.

I do enjoy Davis’ takes on women and history within the New York landscape , plus this action adventure vibe of the plot puts me in mind of those Mummy movies with Rachel Weisz as the smart and savvy leading lady, a popcorn bonus to be sure:

Meanwhile, before New Year’s Eve arrived, I did make my last library haul of the year(I will be making more this year, most definitely!) and while I did pick up Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone On this Train is a Suspect (which I am reading now), I was able to add something even more thrilling than that.

If you’re unfamiliar with Chuck Tingle, many know him

best from his humorous ebooks chronicling the unusual romantic adventures of dinosaurs, space invaders and popular drinking cups, I kid you not on that last one!

Most recently, he’s been writing horror fiction with the first traditionally published one being Camp Damascus. The title refers to a conversion camp near the small religious town of Neverton where 20 year old Rose is sure that she’s never been. However, the bizarre visions that she has been having lately seem to be connected to that place and might be where she has to find the answers to her questions.

I have heard great word of mouth about this book and very eager to give it a try as humor and horror tend to walk hand in hand on the pop culture road there in rather scary harmony:

Also in the spirit of checking out new to me authors, I picked up my first Jodi Picoult novel.

By Any Other Name introduces us to Emilia Bassano, a vibrant writer during the Elizabethan era who may be the true author of Shakespeare’s best plays.

Her modern day descendant, Melina, is most certain of that and trying to produce a play about her predecessor’s life and times but not without some unsuitable obstacles in her way. How these ladies lived and loved in their day is the true heart of the story, it seems and as good a place as any to check out Picoult.

I do like a modern spin on preconceived notions, plus Picoult tends to have her literary finger on the pop culture pulse when it comes to storytelling and this book sounds quite timely to say the least:

Well, I certainly have plenty on my plate when it comes to books at the moment and given the upcoming events of next week, I will definitely need to send my imagination on a stress free vacation there.

Many folks are calling for taking some TV /social media time off on day and my two cents is if you need to, either the whole day or several hours, do so by all means. It doesn’t mean that you’re avoiding reality in this instance; just that your mental and emotional energy shouldn’t be given to those unworthy of such attentions.

If you’re able to binge watch something positive, I humbly suggest All Creatures Great and Small, the newer PBS version. Season Fuve has already begun and it’s a loving look at times gone by and what they still could be in terms of honoring our better natures. Plus, it’s based on books to boot! Winner, winner , reader’s dinner, if you ask me:

 

Tim Hanley shows us that Batgirl is Never A Sidekick

One thing I noticed around the holidays was bookish folk choosing their “ one to finish” during the festive season (or in some cases ten!) and while I don’t usually follow trends, this time out took me along that page turning path.

My Christmas Eve read was the latest comic book history by Tim Hanley, Never A Sidekick , which chronicles the journey of Batgirl as a heroine in her own right.

She originally began as Bette Kane, niece of Batwoman Kate Kane, back in the 1960s. The two female characters were introduced as a way to offset accusations of an “unwholesome “ relationship between Batman and Robin from the censorship crowd.

While Bette was a breath of fresh air, although briefly seen in the comics,it was the live action Batman TV series that really brought Batgirl to pop culture audiences

As played by the lively Yvonne Craig ,by day she was Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham’s police commissioner and local librarian; at night she became the Dynamic Duo’s secretive ally with her own theme song!

While her stint on the show was not as long as many of the fans would’ve liked, Craig did reprise the character for a public service announcement that promoted the Equity in Pay Act for women:

While Barbara Gordon managed to maintain her own identity within the comics, even becoming a political activist at one point, another live action appearance came in 1997’s Batman & Robin, a departure from the previous films in more ways than one.

Here,  as played by Alicia Silverstone,she was Barbara Wilson, the niece of butler Alfred Pennyworth with her big fight scene being against villainess Poison Ivy(Uma Thurman). 

While this wasn’t a well received film, it did give Batgirl a nice revival and if you think about it, the campy nature of this movie does reflect that earlier TV series that launched the character into the pop culture spotlight:

Speaking of the small screen, a newer incarnation of the Barbara Gordon version of the character was depicted in the sadly short lived CW series, Birds of Prey, in 2002.

Upon being assaulted by the Joker in the infamous comic book story The Killing Joke(which even its creators regret ), Barbara was paralyzed but far from out of the crime fighting game.

Developing stealthy computer skills, she became The Oracle, a guide and mentor to various superhero teams including the original Birds of Prey. This phoenix like turn to her character inspired many in the disabled community , who were pleased to be getting some proper representation.

Oracle/Batgirl was portrayed by Dina Meyers on the show and was a solid lead on the series, only putting on the Batgirl suit once to confront a former foe(with the aid of a cybernetic spinal implant for mobility). The series had potential but much like the all too recent dismissal of the lost Batgirl movie, didn’t get the chance it deserved to shine:

Much like his prior books about superhero themed ladies such as Wonder Woman, Lois Lane and Catwoman, Hanley gives us a thoughtful and engaging look into Batgirl  in her various versions, including other women who donned the cowl like Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.

He also talks about the ill fated Batgirl movie, the comic book revival of the character and her animated appearances on  the likes of Batman:The Animated Series and Harley Quinn.

 His sincere enthusiasm combined with excellent research and compelling writing makes him a go-to for comic book lore and I can’t recommend him highly enough!

I was very happy to have Never A Sidekick as my holiday weekend read but it’s a wonderful book to enjoy all year long. Hopefully, we will get the Batgirl film that does her justice someday but in the meanwhile, Tim Hanley gives her the applause that she truly deserves:

 

Ringing in the new with my Yuletide Spirit Readathon

So let us begin with a Happy New Year of Reading to all as I wrap up my last book challenge of 2024, the Yuletide Spirit Readathon hosted by Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading.

I was planning to read one new book and reread two from my personal library but as it turned out, I read two new titles and partly reread one(just didn’t have time to finish before year’s end). Hey, there’s always next time and the pair that I did complete gave me a fine good feeling for the season indeed:

Christmas with the Queen 

Co-written by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, this charming historical fiction spans several years from the first official holiday address given by Queen Elizabeth I in 1952 to her first televised address in 1957.

Connected by this annual event are Jack and Olive, old friends who parted no long after the end of WWII; he is now a widower working as one of chefs at Sandringham, where the Royal Family stays during the holidays, she is an ambitious BBC reporter and single mother who gets a golden opportunity to cover the Queen’s Christmas celebrations.

Over the years, Jack and Olive rekindle their friendship and perhaps more yet there is a certain secret that could put a stop to any romantic future before it even starts. Can these yearly meetings lead to a lasting relationship or has that moment gone for good?

Gaynor and Webb tell a lovely story that has you rooting for these characters despite the odds as well as paints a vivid portrait of post-war England for readers to fully enjoy. It’s also great that Queen Elizabeth occasionally enters the narrative without overwhelming the main plot and leaves her gently human touch upon the proceedings:

The other new book was one of my Book of the Month Club selections(yes, I swapped out one Christmas themed mystery for another) and it helped that Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year had a Christmas in England setting like I originally wanted this TBR to have.

Cozy mystery writer Maggie Chase is not having a great year so when she gets a surprise invitation to attend a Christmas house party in England with renowned author Eleanor Ashby, aka the Duchess of Death, it’s a sign of better things to come.

However, that pleasure is somewhat dimmed by the presence of Ethan Wyatt, popular spy thriller writer who vexes Maggie both personally and professionally-for one thing, his latest book was chosen over hers for a celebrity book club endorsement and for another, he keeps getting her name wrong!

When the two of them reach Eleanor’s estate and meet the other guests, including another writer and Eleanor’s contentious relatives, things start to become clearly not what they seem. 

In fact, the hostess herself goes missing and several other potential fatalities occur that force Maggie and Ethan to reluctantly team up to see if this mystery is a staged event or leading to a truly last Christmas for one and all.

I have to say that this was quite the lively holiday adventure, well wrapped in romantic tension and engaging moments of suspense. Carter certainly has a way with pairing up a smartly bickering couple with fun flair there; it was sort of like Agatha Christie meets Castle and hopefully,we get a sequel in our stocking next year:

My thanks to Michelle Miller for setting up these reading romps and I look forward to the upcoming Winter’s Respite readathon (still working on the TBR for that one!).

In the meanwhile, I am ready for new reads and new pop culture delights, in particular the return of many great TV shows such as Abbott Elementary(doing an amazing crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia!) to warm up the chilly nights ahead of us. 

Hopefully, we all can find things like that in common to keep us going through out the rest of this unpredictable year:

 

The three good things about my reading life this year

They say bad things happen in threes(which can be hard to deny) yet I believe that good things can also happen in the same way as well. Kind of a balancing point for the universe there.

With that in mind, I’m wrapping up my reading year with a set of three positive things that hopefully will set the tone for what’s to come in the new year,book wise:

I like Nora Roberts 

One of my reading challenges in 2024 was to read three sets of trilogies (made it to two out of the three) and the first one up was the Born In trilogy by Nora Roberts. I use to be a snob about romance novels and even popular writers like Roberts but fortunately, time has shown me that holding to such rigid limitations was only limiting myself and not in a good or productive way.

So, yes, I enjoyed that trio of heartfelt novels have only myself to blame for not diving into such rich and engaging storytelling beforehand. Roberts has a fine hand for character development and developing the setting of her tales in a way that reflects the emotional themes that they’re dealing with on page. Plus, she’s fun and fierce all at once! (yes, I do know about J.D.Robb but there are sixty books in that series so I might hold off on those yet)

Since then, I have read a standalone (Hideaway) and in the middle of another one (Tribute) with a couple of other titles on my TBR. Most recently, I picked up another trilogy-The Boonesboro Inn-which I have heard great word of mouth about. Looking forward to more Roberts reading-maybe some of her paranormal books?-and glad to say that is truly better late than never to discover a great author:

I Broke Two Author Slumps

“What’s an author slump?”

Well, as a reader, have you ever found a writer that you knew you would always be a lifetime fan of?

“Sure! I have so many…”

However, even among those favorites, have you ever just picked up one of their books one day and found yourself putting it back down, perhaps trying one or two after that to only discover that this just wasn’t clicking with you like it did before?

“Embarrassed shuffling of feet, with slight nod”

That’s what I call An Author Slump and first off, it’s not the fault of the writer or book; like Taylor Swift would say-hi, it’s me,I’m the problem.

Such slumps can be short lived or long term; hard to tell in most cases. For me, I was one of the last to read Daisy Jones and the Six and really loved what Taylor Jenkins Reid did there. Having Malibu Rising as one of my Book of the Month Club selections was awesome but after getting a quarter of the way into it, I put it aside and went on to other things.

I really thought that would be that for me and TJR but on on a library visit earlier this year, I added a copy of Carrie Soto is Back(a last minute decision) and wow, I was back onboard the Taylor reading train! It became one of those stay-up-all-night reads for me and now I am devouring The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (part of my TBR reading down challenge) and planning to give Malibu Rising another shot. 

I am happy to have recovered my groove with TJR and unlike that LL Cool J song, I have to call it a comeback in this regard. I’m not even a sports fan but this particular book just had the right dramatic hook to get me back into the game:

An author that I was more connected with, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I found myself to be slumping with after her great success with Mexican Gothic.

Try as I might, I wasn’t getting too far with her following works but when a horror themed readathon came up, I grabbed a copy of Silver Nitrate(a homage to old school fear flicks) and was delighted to be on the edge of my reading seat here.

That rekindling has me all fired up for her newest book, The Seventh Veil of Salome(ironically enough, Evelyn Hugo is also adding fuel to that literary desire fire) and two of her other novels that I have on hand. So happy to reconnect with a writer that I have enjoyed for years and now plan to appreciate for many more:

I took a book off of Pause

What I mean by “pause”, some would call DNF(Did Not Finish), however when it comes to pause, I do intend to give the book another try and even leave a bookmark in it to restart it at some point.

This year, FX aired a new season of Feud(the first one was about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford making What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and it was a hoot) and this time around , the theme was Truman Capote and his falling out with the high society “swans” of the fifties and sixties.

The show was a mixed bag of campy cattiness and sincere performances at best but I did get one very good thing out of that experience; taking out  and diving into my paused edition of Melanie Benjamin’s The Swans of Fifth Avenue, which covered this same story line in a much better way in my opinion.

Granted, this book is fiction but it felt more realistic than the Feud series(which had a nonfiction book as it’s source material) and if this novel had been the basis for an adaptation like this, the result would have been better appreciated by audiences and critics alike.

If they ever make another season of Feud, I truly hope that they find a good novel to use as the sturdy spine of their production; plenty of historical fiction writers do a great deal of research to enhance their story and characters and it does make all the difference. At least it got me to unpause this riveting emotional drama page by page:

With that, I wish you all a new year of reading and hope that this year gave you some bookish joy.

This is my last post for 2024 and LRG will be back in January, probably starting with a recap of the Christmas Spirit readathon, a review of Evelyn Hugo as well as the next Down the Reader’s Road book and more to come.

I know this year has been harrowing to say the least and the one upon to begin perhaps not much better than that. However, I do think that we as readers are a strong minded group that, along with many others, are determined to stick together during whatever form of chaos is headed our way and do what we can for each other.

Despair is quite understandable and ignoring your fears isn’t helpful but reaching out for support is always a positive thing to do. We’re more capable than we’ve been told and more braver than we might believe in times of crisis; history has shown us that.

Whether you are fighting the good fight against censorship or just passing on the good word about a wonderful new book and/or author, reading is the path worth taking towards a better world. Maybe this time, we will save the day or make it easier for those who can to find their way forward:

 

My first steps Down the Reader’s Road show me The Good Left Undone

As some of you may know, I was doing a trilogy themed reading challenge for most of this year but upon completing two out of the three sets of books for that project, I decided to pivot to a more achievable goal of reading down my TBR piles.

Thus named “Down The Reader’s Road”(yes, I enjoyed Agatha All Along very much!), I chose a number of my Book of the Month Club picks to tackle and the first one finished is The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani.

Thus multigenerational story introduces us to Matelda, an older woman living in the coastal village of Viareggio, Italy who is trying to preserve the family history for the next generation, particularly her granddaughter Anina currently engaged to be married.

Upon letting Anina chose a piece of heirloom jewelry as part of her engagement gift, Matelda finds herself sharing the story of her own mother Domenica, a woman well before her time who was determined to pursue a career in medicine and not hold back from doing what she believed to be right .

Her forthright approach got Domenica sent to France as a nurse and then later to Scotland just as WWII is gearing up. While over there, she meets John McVicars, a sea captain who becomes the love of her life and he hers:

This is more than just a love story, however; John comes to a tragic end after his marriage to Domenica due to being recruited to partake in the expulsion of Italian citizens from the United Kingdom as a pushback against Italy going forces with Germany.

These people considered themselves “Britalians”, loyal to their country despite their ancestry yet were punished for simply being who they were due to political reasons (a sentiment that is sadly still prevalent in the US today).

Trigiani chronicles this sad chapter in history as a natural element of the overall story without overwhelming the main narrative. She also skillfully showcases the emotional lives of her characters from one generation to the next in harmonious fashion, turning a tale of personal experiences into an universal meditation about accepting the challenges in life and making the best of the choices given unto you.

Granted, I had just finished rereading Trigiani’s Valentine series of novels before picking this one up, so perhaps I was in the right mindset to read this book at this time. However, even someone unfamiliar with her work would find much treasure to discover within these pages.

Ultimately, this is a book about one generation reaching out to another to appreciate what has been before and respect that knowledge on the road that lies ahead of them, something worth exploring at any time:

So, my next step on this bookish journey is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo  and so far, this is one of those “what haven’t I read already?!” titles.

I’ve read TJR before (the latest being Carrie Soto is Back) but not this particular book , which chronicles the life and times of a renowned actress in Hollywood of the fifties and onward with her secrets being told to a potential biographer chosen for mysterious reasons.

It’s a lively and engaging book that I might finish by the year is out but no rush here. As they say, it’s not about the destination, it’s the journey and I intend to take the scenic route indeed:

 

Brightening up my holiday spirits with a new BOTM box!

I ended my No-Buy November on books the day before Thanksgiving as it happened to be the exact same time that Book of the Month Club dropped their December selections online.

That works out well for my holiday shopping as I tend to give most of the box over to a family member to give to me as a Christmas present (trust me, it’s much easier this way).

I do however take one book out early, since it’s usually a seasonal read and therefore, better suited to enjoy before Christmas. This year, though, I chose two holiday flavored fictions and choosing between them is as hard as picking just one cookie off of the holiday dessert platter at your favorite relative’s house party.

A tough choice yet I think that Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year should be savored now.  Cozy mystery writer Maggie Chase is not looking to the holidays due to this one being fresh off of her husband’s running off with her best friend;quite the lump of coal there to say the least!

Getting the chance to spend Christmas at the English home of renowned author Eleanor Ashley promises to be a true delight, even if one of the other guests is obnoxious thriller writer Ethan Wyatt(who always gets her name wrong!). Yet, when the hostess herself goes missing, at first it seems like an elaborate party game but all too soon  ,it becomes clear that this is not meant to be a frivolous activity-rather it’s a dangerous test of the group’s detective skills.

Maggie finds herself teaming up with Ethan, hoping that her worst fears aren’t true, especially since she seems to be finding her new partner in crime solving a bit more entertaining than she’d like. Can this Christmas gathering be saved and will someone find heartbreak or happiness under the mistletoe?

This does sound like festive reading and an English country house mystery during Christmas feels like a warm cup of cocoa for my spirit right about now:

The other holiday themed novel , Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark, seems to be a fine storytelling feast that will sustain me throughout the winter months up ahead.

It’s the tale of the Belvedere siblings who are reuniting at their celebrity mother Babs’ house for the holidays, hoping to take this time away from their emotionally complicated lives to reassess their next steps in life.

Big sister Liz is hoping that her hit TV series is not a one and done for her show runner career (not to mention having a bit of a crush on said show’s leading lady) while younger sister Birdie is a rising stand up comedy star that appears to be burning out faster than expected.

Their brother Rafi seems to have the most ordinary life but when he proposes to his co-worker girlfriend in front of the entire company, the response he gets becomes rather epic.

By taking this break from their current reality, the Belvedere trio hope for just a nice quiet time together but fate and their rambunctious mother have other plans for them…

I have heard this book compared to Schitt’s Creek and that is more than enough to make me want to read this! A funny, heartwarming book about family and finding love is truly something we all need these days indeed:

Fortunately, the book that rounds out this triple decker gift set is a cozy fantasy affair.

Julie Leong’s  The Teller of Small Fortunes introduces us to Tao, a traveling fortune teller who can predict things such as when a farmer’s crops will get the rain that’s needed or how to find a lost household item thought missing for good. However, her true talent is greater than that and well kept under wraps for her own safety.

One day, Tao stumbles across the path of a missing girl thought dead yet is still very much alive. The girl’s father, a former mercenary named Mash, insists upon Tao’s help in finding his long lost daughter and since she does want to do the right thing for an innocent person, she agrees. However, more than one risk is assumed but hopefully, Tao can use her abilities to bring about some good in the world instead of increasing the harm others delight in.

I wanted to get this book sooner but I think that saving it for the holidays was a better idea. Such an interesting and enchanting story of finding your true path in life ought to be a good guide for our collective new year:

I will be getting more books for Christmas (and will highlight them here) and other things that will no doubt be just as fun. Speaking of fun, my BOTM box also includes a reading prize(a year long challenge for Book Club members; this year’s a hat) and some cool holiday stickers-you’re never too old for stickers, if you ask me.

And yes, I am giving a book or two to folks as well. Look, we all know that what lies in waiting for next year alone is not going to be pretty to say the least but regardless of that, a good way to recharge our spiritual batteries is to embrace the spirit of the season-Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza ,all celebrations are welcome and good for the soul here.

So, enjoy your holiday treats , whether it’s a holiday romantic movie or cookie baking or a holiday  romantic movie about cookie baking (they do exist!). However you indulge, let it be a way to bring you towards future joy as books tend to do for many of us, one page at a time:

 

The LRG Best Books of 2024

Let me start by wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving and may the rest  of your holiday season be enjoyable at the very least.

Now, with various end of the year round ups on the way, not to mention the final voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards set to begin tomorrow, putting up my personal Top Five Reads seems to be in order here.

With one exception, most of these books are new releases and for this mystery title, I must credit Booktuber Mara of Books Like Whoa for her enthusiastic recommendation of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett.

Told in the format of texts, e-mails and transcripts, this novel chronicles the rivalry between two reporters as they look into an infamous cold case regarding a bizarre kidnapping supposedly done by members of a cult that still leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

To tell any more of the plot would definitely spoil the spine tingling tense delight of reading this book and it’s one of those actual staying up all night to finish stories for sure. I’ve read another one of Hallett’s novels since then(The Appeal) and believe you me, this author is quite the talent to behold:

It’s been a very great year for witches in pop culture and my list happens to have a pair of unusual enchantresses worth being spell bound by.

For Jane Austen admirers, Melinda Taub’s The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch take a fiercely fun twist on Pride & Prejudice as the mischievous youngest daughter of the Bennet family has much to tell about her adventures as a budding witch who created a companion sister(yes,Kitty Bennet is an actual cat!) and her relationship with Wickham is truly diabolical in more ways than one.

Taub creates an elaborately creative world within Austen’s very familiar fictional realm that fits in as neatly as a puzzle piece that  charmingly expands upon the original storytelling portrait of society and romance perfectly.

 Also, by tapping into those off screen yet very active subplots involving Lydia from the source material, we get quite the “what if” version of P&P into the bargain:

As for the other witchy tale, it was my first read of a T. Kingfisher novel and wow, folks were not joking about the amazing quality of her work.

A Sorceress Comes to Call is set in a Regency era England where a young woman named Cordelia is constantly at the not so tender mercies of her mother , Evangeline, who uses her magical powers like a whip to keep those about her in line.

When Evangeline sets her sights on a gullible noble man as her next meal ticket, Cordelia finds an unexpected ally in Hester, who has serious doubts about her brother’s new acquaintance and is willing to believe the unbelievable to prevent her loved ones from being harmed.

This book is simply awesome, with moments of humor, suspense, romance and horror that are the perfect ingredients for a page turning plate of delicious fictional feasting that will leave you wanting seconds and perhaps more. This is one witches road that delivers on the promised tricks and trials with potential glory at the end:

When it comes to literary romcoms, this offbeat novel by Kristy Greenwood, The Love of my Afterlife, adds a dash of otherworldly charm into the mix.

When lonely Delphie dies via accident and lands in the netherworld, her afterlife counselor makes her wait in a laundry room style reception area, giving Delphie a chance to make an instant romantic connection with another arrival, a man who turns out to not be ready for the next world just yet.

Since her counselor happens to be a fan of romantic novels, she gives Delphie ten days back on earth to find this possible soulmate or become a candidate for an afterlife dating service. 

Eager to find true love as well as another shot at life, Delphie winds up working with her grumpy neighbor Cooper on this wacky quest. Turns out love wasn’t as far away as she imagined but will this deadline truly be the end?

This story is weirdly fun, with beautifully bittersweet moments and entertaining characters that wish were on a TV series so that you could watch them again and again. Truly a heavenly experience, reading this book was:

The only book on this list that is not a new release (it was published in 2019) is also my solo nonfiction pick here.

However, this graphic novel style of memoir is very well known due to its status as one of the most banned books in America.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe chronicles the author’s journey as a non binary asexual person and artist (pronouns are e/em/eir) seeking to find eir place in the world. Told with humor and heartbreak at times, this book urges the reader to embrace empathy, something that seems to be severely lacking in our society right now.

I  buddy read this book with a relative and we had many a good talk about the themes expressed within, not to mention just enjoying some of the great anecdotes that the author shares and appreciating the excellent art work.

Instead of being banned by the ignorantly fearful, Gender Queer ought to be more widely read by those both part of the LGBTQIA community and those who aren’t but would like to have a better understanding there. Young people, especially, would benefit from this honestly told story that shows just how human we all are:

Also, I do have a few Honorable Mentions to highlight as well:

Sex,Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne- a great modern day take on Sense & Sensibility that makes me hope that she does this for all of Jane Austen’s work (please do Mansfield Park!)

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez-she’s having an incredible year with her heartfelt romance reads and while this one does slightly connect to her earlier books, you can enjoy this one sincerely on its own merits.

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen-a rip roaring romantasy that has me eager for the follow up and fingers crossed that it’s a Book of the Month selection so that it matches my copy of this first part!

As we head towards what’s left of this year, it’s going to be hard to look forward to what lies ahead, no question about it. With any luck, we’ll do our best to push back against any negative forces out there and keep our collective spirits up, with the help of a few good books to talk about along the way.

I hope you all have had a great reading year and are planning on finding something to look forward to as the new year approaches, one way or another: