Guessing My Next Favorite Book | Five Star Predictions (1)

Hello all! Welcome to my first five-star prediction post! If you're unfamiliar with the concept, this is a post where I look through my physical, owned TBR books and guess based on reviews, synopses, author, etc. which ones I think will be five-star reads. This has recently made the rounds on the BookTube community (I've made a playlist of some of my favorites). I absolutely love the idea and wanted to bring it to my blog. It's a great way for me to get excited about reading books that I already own instead of constantly pining over books that I don't own or books that I have from the library. 

For these posts, I've provided goodreads links and (when applicable) reviews that made me want to pick up the book originally or a review that made me think I'd enjoy the book. I don't know how often I'll do these posts, but I'm thinking of doing a wrap-up after I read each of these books and telling you what I thought of the book and whether or not it became a new favorite. Today, I'll be sharing six books from my TBR shelf that I think will be new favorite reads.

goodreads | Connor O'Brien's review

This is the first book in an adult science fiction/fantasy trilogy that I haven't heard much about but what I have heard has been absolutely phenomenal. This won the Hugo Award in 2016, so clearly people like it. Additionally, this is a fantasy book that's written by a woman of color, which is basically a rarity in the genre, so I'm hopeful that this won't be your average interesting world-sexist characters pitfall that many fantasy books are prey to.

I don't know too much about the world. There is a magic system, and it has something to do with preventing earthquakes? (Don't hold me to that.) But, in this world, instead of four seasons there are five seasons. And that fifth season always brings a certain apocalyptic aspect (i.e. acid rain). This book starts at the beginning of that fifth season.

I've heard this has complex, amazing female characters, which is a breath of fresh air for fantasy. I'm so excited to pick this up.

goodreads | Ava's review

I won an ARC of this book, and I still haven't read it. *hides face in hands* But, I've been putting it off because I think I'll really like it and then want to read all of McLemore's backlist.

If you don't know this about me, I'm a Spanish major. I've read a lot of short stories and poems and a few books in Spanish and from Hispanic authors. They're always among my favorites. The writing is lyrical, often there is a magical realism element, and there's usually a strong family influence.

In addition to having all of those things, the main character in Wild Beauty is bisexual, which makes my little heart sing.

goodreads | Max's review

In a similar vein, this is book that has been translated from Spanish and into English. This one, however, is the first book in a trilogy that takes place in Barcelona, Spain during the 1940s. I have had this book on my shelf for years, and it's one of the only books I'll ever say that I'm ashamed I haven't read.

So this a book about books. It follows a boy who goes into a bookshop and gets one book by this author. After finishing the book, he searches for other works by this author only to find that someone has been destroying all of his works.

I'm excited to read this book, but I know that I need to be in a specific mindset to read this one. It's also one that I'd love to reread in Spanish after finishing the English translation just to see how they differ. (Because I'm a nerd.)

goodreads

There's no specific review or person that's made me really want to read this. I just want to read it because it's Leigh Bardugo. I haven't finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy, so realistically, it'll be a while before I can get to this book.

This is a collection of fairy tales and stories that exist within the Grisha world. These are stories that the characters would know and are referenced in the text. It's almost like The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but better because it's Leigh Bardugo and there are some stunning illustrations in this.

goodreads | Joce's review

Everyone loved Ng's previous book Everything I Never Told You when it released a few years back, and so when it was announced that she was releasing a new book, even people who hadn't read her first novel (AKA: me) were excited about this release.

I got this through my Book of the Month subscription because I knew that I needed to read it. Immediately after its release, it got countless rave reviews, got picked up for Reece Witherspoon's book club, and Ng even went onto Seth Meyer's late night show to promote the book. I don't know too much about this apart from that it takes place in a suburban town called Shaker Heights. This is one of those books that I don't want to know much about before going into it because I feel like it'll be best discovered whilst reading.

goodreads

A book that stays at no.1 on the New York Times young adult bestseller list for 30+ weeks is there for a reason, and I think it's bound to be a favorite. At this point, most everyone in the book sphere has at least heard about, if not read, this book already. I feel like I'm one of the only people that hasn't read this book yet, and I'm experiencing major FOMO.

As far as a five-star read goes, I'm really hoping this sticks that rating. Everyone has absolutely loved this book, even if they didn't give it a full five stars. I want this to be a five-star so badly, so here's to hoping that it is.

Have you read any of these books? Which one should I pick up first? (I feel like most of you will say THUG.) Tell me all your thoughts down in the comments!

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October Currently Reading + #Spookathon TBR

Currently Reading is a monthly feature on my blog, where I catch you up on the books that I'm currently reading (or at least attempting to read). Usually this goes up on the second or third Friday of every month, but it's going up on a Saturday this month because I got swamped with school.

This month's currently reading is going to be a bit different because there are some upcoming readathons that I wanted to talk about since this week is actually my fall break so I'll have more than thirty minutes a day that I can read.

CURRENTLY READING + READBYZOEATHON TBR

• DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES: This is my current audiobook. I am about halfway through it since it's only around five hours long. This is the sequel to Every Heart a Doorway, which I read recently and liked but didn't love as much as everyone else because it was a book that circled around the idea of portal fantasy without any actual portal fantasy. This is everything that I wanted the previous book in this series to be. This is a portal fantasy (aka my favorite subgenre of anything ever) that tells the story of Jack and Jill, two twin sisters that we meet in the first book. It's creepy and atmospheric and an absolutely delightful look at gender roles.
• THE POWER: I mentioned this book in my last post, and I have now officially started it. I'm about 100 pages into this, and it's so intriguing. The basic premise of this that suddenly young girls start developing an electric-esk power that can inflict others with pain--even death--with a flick of their fingers. Suddenly, women have the power and men lose control. It's told from four perspectives of people around the world as this phenomenon grows. I'm really liking this one, and I want to finish it ASAP. 
• PELUDA: This is a poetry book that I got approved for on Netgalley. This is from a spoken-word poet that I absolutely love, Melissa Lozada-Olivia. It's funny and personal and self-deprecating. I'm going to try and finish this today. 
• MARCH, BOOK THREE: I keep telling myself that I'm going to read this, and I keep putting it off because I know that this last volume will have the heaviest material. If I don't at least start this during Zoe's 24-hr readathon, you all have permission to send me annoying gifs on Twitter.

SPOOKATHON TBR

(announcement video)

• FULL DARK, NO STARS: I picked this up for a few reasons. This fits with the challenges read a book with a spooky word in the title (dark) and read a book with orange on the cover. I also wanted to read this because one of the novellas in this collection, "1922", is being released or was just recently released on Netflix, and I really want to watch it because I refuse ro watch It until it releases on DVD so that I can watch it from the comfort of my own home.
• MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: Another movie that's releasing soon, this doesn't really fit any of the challenges, but I want to read it. I've never read a Christie book before, and I want to read this before the movie releases in November.
• BIRD BOX: I recently read and loved Josh Malerman's A House at the Bottom of a Lake, which is a short but incredibly atmospheric and gripping story. The story was brilliant, so I want to read more of his books. This is the most popular one; I hear people rave about this constantly. I know almost nothing about it, but I think it takes place completely in the dark or the characters are blindfolded? Something like that. It sounds eerie and atmospheric, and I adore Malerman's writing. 
• HORRORSTOR: This is another book that I don't know much about. (It's the best wat to go into thriller/mystery books, okay?) This I think would qualify for the read a thriller challenge. I could probably also count this as read a book about a childhood fear because I was terrified of everything as a child. Among the countless fears was getting trapped in a store overnight, like getting left behind in a store and being locked up there for the night. I don't know, few of my fears made sense. But I believe this is following IKEA-type employees who volunteer for a graveyard shift at the store. Why? Because they're in a horror novel.

What are you guys reading this weekend? Are any of you planning on joining in on Spookathon? If you've read any of the books on my TBR, please tell me what you thought of them down in the comments!

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If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio | Review

For those of you unaware, this is a literary/general fiction book that’s also kind of a mystery/thriller. It’s not wholly a mystery, and I would debate calling it a thriller at all.

The premise is this: it’s 1997 and there are seven friends who are in their fourth year of the (Shakespeare-only) drama program at their university, and at the beginning of the book one of the friends—our main character, Oliver—is getting released from his 10-year prison sentence for something that happened in their final year of school. This book goes back and forth between 1997 Oliver and the 2007 Oliver that is explaining what really happened that year to a now-former police officer who just wants to know the truth.

Before we delve into my thoughts on this book, I need to put out a content warning for a few things that happen in this book: physical violence, suicide attempt, overall poor representation of sexuality, mention of an eating disorder.

If you’re curious about the discussion on sexuality, I’ll have to direct you to my goodreads review of this book since both the author and the novel treat sexuality as a plot twist and a spoiler. I personally don’t agree with this. Sexuality should never be a plot twist, whether your book takes place in 2017, 1997, 1827, or 4207. Rio’s handling of sexuality is almost entirely why I gave this book 1 star.

In my goodreads review, I also break down in detail each of the content warnings above, so please go check that out if those are things that will affect you.

NOW. Onto the actual review of the book.

Even if I could push aside my feelings about Rio’s poor treatment of sexuality (spoiler: I couldn’t), then this would have been at most a three star read but more likely a two and half. On my rating scale, 2.5 is just average and a 3 is average but still enjoyable. With a different ending, this could have been a three. Take out the “sexuality is a plot twist” aspect and this would easily have been a four star read.

This is the debut novel from Rio, and it shows in the writing. There are certain plot conveniences that happen because this story is told in first person and Oliver needs to be privy to certain information to make the story move forward.

Also, in a clear attempt to not use the phrase “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding” Rio uses “I breathe out a breath I didn’t know I was holding” which made me stop reading for a solid two minutes because I was laughing so hard.

Story-wise there’s nothing horribly original here. Many people (almost everyone) has compared this to The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but I haven’t read that book. While not able to speak with any level of expertise on the topic, based on reviews, there are a striking number of similarities between the two, but there is no mention of Tartt in the Acknowledgements or the Author’s Note so the similarities could be coincidental.

However, instead of classics, this group is obsessed with Shakespeare. So much so that they often have whole exchanges in which they are quoting the Bard like a conservative Christian would quote the Bible. When it's just a line thrown into the dialogue, it's not distracting and usually quite clever, but when they get into multiple page-long exchanges at too many points in the story, it's very easy to just skim over them.

It also made me feel very pretentious and frankly bad that I've ever enjoyed Shakespeare. I feel like I need to go wash my mouth out with As You Like It.

Would I recommend this? No, I gave it one star. If you really want to read it, I’d tell you to go ahead and read it for yourself. The things that bogged down my reading experience may not hinder yours at all, but they were things that I hadn't seen mentioned in reviews and had I known them, I wouldn’t have read this book.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Published: 11 April 2017 by Flatiron Books
Format - Length: Hardcover - 352 pages
Source: Library
Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Goodreads | My Goodreads Review

Enter the players. There were seven of us then, seven bright young things with wide precious futures ahead of us. Until that year, we saw no further than the books in front of our faces.

On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth, and after ten years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it.

Ten years ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extra. But in their fourth and final year, the balance of power begins to shift, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students’ world of make believe. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent.

Part coming-of-age story, part confession, If We Were Villains explores the magical and dangerous boundary between art and life. In this tale of loyalty and betrayal, madness and ecstasy, the players must choose what roles to play before the curtain falls.

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End of the Year | Book Tag

It's officially Fall! *throws leaves into the air*

Even though it's still 80 degrees outside and humid as all get out in the southern US, it's still technically fall, which means being stressed from school and being stressed because I've completed none of my reading resolutions for the year.

This tag was originally created by Ariel Bisset, and I'm a little bit in love with it. (And, true to form, I have more than one answer to almost every question.)

THE QUESTIONS

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

• THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY: Nothing says my aesthetic like true crime and serial killers. I must have watched too much CSI as a child (shoutout to my mom) and have always been fascinated by murder and serial killers. I always make my way so slowly through nonfiction, but this is genuinely so interesting.
• WELCOME HOME: This is an anthology all about adoption. The reason I haven't finished this one is due to the sheer amount of stories in this collection. So naturally, there are a few that I wasn't a huge fan of, but I think this is just me discovering that I don't really enjoy anthologies. 
• JURASSIC PARK: Jurassic Park is one of (if not my all-time) favorite movies. I got about halfway through the book this summer and just . . . quit for unexplained reasons. I was really loving it, but I think it's just so similar to the movie that I was wondering why I was reading it. But I must finish it.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

• IF WE WERE VILLAINS: This award actually goes to the book that I'm currently reading, which is M.L. Rio's debut novel. This is a literary fiction/thriller book about a group of seven friends that all go to this pretentious Shakespeare-only drama college in the Midwest. It's okay. I thought I'd love it more than I am, but perhaps it gets better. It does give off very autumnal-esk vibes because it does take place in the fall, but it doesn't read like most thrillers where you're constantly wondering what's happening because the narrator knows what happened. It's interesting, and I'm curious to see how it ends.

Is there a new release you're still waiting for?

OCT. 3 RELEASES

• THAT INEVITABLE VICTORIAN THING: I don't know much about this book, but with E.K. Johnston, that cover, and Victorian I don't want to know anything before going into this one.
• FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: I am a huge Star Wars nerd. I love the movies, the comics, the books, everything. This has so many amazing authors attached to this, and I'm so excited to read this before the movie releases.

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

• MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: This movie comes out fairly soon, and despite my skepticism around Johnny Depp, there are so many other amazing names attached to that movie that my dislike of him will just have to be pushed aside for the sake of Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, and Leslie Odom Jr.
• WILD BEAUTY: Bisexual latinx main character, beautiful cover, latinx author. I do not need to know anything else.
• SIEGE AND STORM: This was going to be pushed to my 2018 TBR, but with the announcement of the Nikolai book, I need to read this book ASAP.

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

• THE POWER: This is blurbed by Margaret Atwood? And it's supposed to be a very interesting and thought-provoking look at the patriarchy and feminism. I just got my copy of this, and I'm so excited to dive into it.

Have you already started making reading plans for 2018?

• No official reading plans, but a goal from this year that I will logistically never finish is that I wanted to read all the books I got in my Book of the Month boxes. I want to carry that over to next year and continue making my through all the books I have left on that list.

And that's it! What fun. So, so many books to read before the end of the year. Have you read any of these? If you have, be sure to tell me what you thought of them down in the comments. And be sure to tell me the books you're excited to read in the last few months of 2017 so that I can make my TBR longer.

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This Had Better Come to a Stop | Q3 Book Haul

*snaps* Someone stop me from buying books. 

This is getting absolutely ridiculous. If there are more than ten books in my Q4 book haul, I'm going on stricter book buying ban in the new year.

• THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE: 5 STARS - One of my absolute favorite books of the year. 
• DRESS CODES FOR SMALL TOWNS: Another absolute favorite that I gave 5 stars! I'm in love with Courtney's books, and I'm so looking forward to all her future releases. 
• BEFORE SHE IGNITES: I got this in the September Owlcrate. I'm so, so excited to read this because dragons. Need I say more?
• THE HATE U GIVE: Everyone has read this but me, and when I go to Target, I have no self-control.
• THE RING & THE CROWN: This is one that I don't know much about, but it's written by a Hispanic author and I don't want to know much more.
• HOMEGOING: Everyone loves this book, and this beautiful UK edition was only a few dollars at my local used bookstore so I snagged it (while in the checkout line). 
• THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Your girl couldn't say no to the BooktubeAThon discount and the book that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 
• LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE: My BOTM pick for September. Literally, everyone and their mother and Reece Witherspoon and Seth Meyers is talking about this book. I want to read it so badly.

• CAREER OF EVIL: This is the perfect example of "Monica buys the newest book in a series she hasn't read the previous release of" but I bought it because it was only about five dollars in the bargain section of B&N.
• OUR DARK DUET: I don't regret buying this, but I was definitely let down by this release. This was nowhere near the caliber of the first book, and overall it was a very disappointing finale.
• AMERICAN FIRE: This was one of my BOTM picks of the summer (the other is ↓) and, while I haven't read this one yet, it still sounds so interesting. This is a true crime story that about a series of arsons in Accomack County, Virginia. But the firefighters didn't put out the burning abandoned buildings and the police stopped searching for a culprit, so vigilante groups pop up in this rural area. It sounds fascinating, and I love true crime.
• FINAL GIRLS: (Not pictured; I've never unhauled a book this quickly.) *extended groan* It was okay, but for a thriller, I was neither thrilled nor surprised by the ending.
• LANGUAGE OF THORNS: I got to go to the launch for this in Nashville. It was lovely and wonderful. We got the announcement of her new book Monday night and we got free ice cream. (And I got a hug because there's nothing like a little cry with your favorite author about Crooked Kingdom.)
• SIX OF CROWS (French Edition): Emma @ Awkwordly Emma is the actual best because when she went to Canada this summer, she got me this absolutely lovely present because she knows how much I love this book and remembers my flailing over these gorgeous editions.

• THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER: I read this when I was a small and awkward high school kid. It was one of the first books I ever read when I started this blog and one of the very first "reviews" I ever wrote, but I've never owned my own copy until I snagged this from my used bookstore. I want to reread this ASAP.
• FULL DARK, NO STARS: This is a bind-up of novellas by Stephen King that I want to read during Spookathon this year. (And there's a movie of 1922, one of the novellas, releasing on Netflix soon!)
• STUDY TRILOGY (I, II, III): Unlike most people, I've never read this series, but I impulse bought all three in one go when I saw them all sitting together in my used bookstore. What is wrong with me?
• MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: Another book with a movie releasing soon! I'm a little more nervous for this one (*cough* Johnny Depp *cough*) but I need to read this before seeing the movie.
• WILD BEAUTY: I got an arc of this from a giveaway but have yet to read it because I am the actual worst.
• LION, originally published as A LONG WAY HOME: Now, I've already seen the movie for this one (it's fantastic, by the way; Dev Patel is a gem) but I'm really getting into nonfiction, so I grabbed this one when I saw it for 75 cents.
• BRAIN ON FIRE: Another nonfiction that I grabbed for under a dollar because I see people talking about it constantly and need to read it.

THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW | THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE | THE HORSE AND HIS BOY | PRINCE CASPIAN | THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER | THE SILVER CHAIR | THE LAST BATTLE

I recently finished this series for the first time this year. I'd read some of the earlier books when I was younger, but never really got into the series. I bought this horrible bind-up with all seven books a few years back, but it was so heavy and the words were tiny and altogether impossible to read. I've been on the hunt for good editions for a while and collected the whole series of full-color collector's editions secondhand through my used bookstore.

Whew. That's all of them. But seriously, I need to go on a book buying ban. But in the new year. Have you read any of these? Which ones should I read first? Let me know down in comments!

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The Best and Worst of Summer 2017

I don't think I've ever read so many books in a single season. (And I think July is topping the amount I've read in a single month ever.) But with the combination of an operation and recovery time and my lack of summer classes and the fact that most of my friends stayed near their respective universities for the summer, I had so much time to read.

And because I don't want to write this post out for twelve years, here is a quick rundown of all the books I've read between the months of July and September with my star ratings, and at the end I'll tell you my favorite and least favorite reads of the summer.

(Sorry if my graphics are wonky and weird, Pic Monkey is a dick and decided to basically shut down the entirety of their free services and I haven't found an alternative I like yet.)

Books marked with a single asterisk (*) were provided via the publisher or Netgalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

All links direct to my goodreads reviews of each book

WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI - 5 stars
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - NR**

A HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE - 4 stars
THE LAST BATTLE - 4 stars | HONOR GIRL - 4 stars

A MADNESS SO DISCREET - 4.5 stars | LUMBERJANES, VOL. 6 - 3 stars

THE ROYAL WE - 3.5 stars | THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED - 5 stars
GOLDIE VANCE, VOL. 2 - 4 stars | MARCH: BOOK TWO - 5 stars
SLEEPING GIANTS - 3 stars | GIANT DAYS, VOL. 5 - 3 stars
OUR DARK DUET - 2.5 stars | EXIT WEST - 5 stars

**I didn't rate Fantastic Beasts because rating it felt like rating an article(s) on a wikipedia page. This is all information I could have just gotten on the HP Lexicon or the HP Wikia, but I wanted to listen to Eddie Redmayne read the audiobook.

FINAL GIRLS - 2 stars | THE BACKSTAGERS, VOL. 1 - 5 stars

BLOODLINE - 4 stars | POE: STORIES AND POEMS* - 4 stars

DRESS CODES FOR SMALL TOWNS* - 5 stars | THE SIGN OF FOUR - 4 stars

BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME - NR**
THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE - 5 stars

**You can check out my Goodreads review, where I talk about each story individually. Overall, this book was kind of a mess. (Not going to lie, half the reason I didn't rate it was because it probably averages out to a 2/5 or lower, and I didn't want some booktube stans coming after me.)

GIANT DAYS, VOL. 6 - 4 stars | DEPRESSION & OTHER MAGIC TRICKS* - 5 stars

THE CHAOS OF LONGING* - 2 stars | SECRETS FOR THE MAD* - 4 stars

THE PENELOPIAD - 4 stars | GIANT DAYS, VOL. 7 - 4 stars

THE PARK BENCH* - 3 stars | THE HANDMAID'S TALE - 4 stars

OKAY

Whew. I'm actually so happy with the books that I read these past three months. There were a few flops, but they were vastly outnumbered by the amount of books that I absolutely loved and ones that I really enjoyed. I also read a fair number of adult books, which feels like such a big accomplishment. 

ALSO, I finished my 52 book Goodreads challenge!! *celebrates* *bakes cake* 

The arbitrary number that I'm shooting for by the end of the year is 80. I'm already past 60 at this point, so it's possible but I'm not holding myself to that number.

Now, onto . . .

None of these are bad books. Most of them just aren't for me. Additionally, most of these are victims of hype. I was too excited and expected too much from these.

• Because You Love to Hate Me: I think there were three stories out of thirteen that I actually enjoyed from this collection. Had this just been an anthology (sans booktuber essays and prompts) I might have actually enjoyed it. The villains weren't very villainous and the stories that I enjoyed the most were mostly from contemporary authors, which was a weird surprise.
• The Chaos of Longing: I think if you like modern poetry like milk and honey and the princess saves herself in this one then you will like this, but I'm not the biggest fan of that type of poetry and if I didn't have to review this book, I would have DNFed it.
• Our Dark Duet: I'm going to defer you to my Goodreads review for this one because I have a lot of thoughts. Mainly, this felt very contrived and didn't have much of a plot for the first half of the book. I wasn't impressed.
• Final Girls: This may be because I don't read a lot of thrillers or it may be because I start off reading thrillers with a much more skeptical eye than other books. But I definitely guessed the ending thirty pages in, and I wasn't on the edge of my seat or anything. Also, this book does that thing where a man writes under a feminine sounding name so that they gain an audience quicker. Not a fan.

I actually have a pretty even split between graphic novels/comics and actual real books for this list, which is exciting because it means that I had time to read multiple physical novels, which is always exciting.

COMICS & GRAPHIC MEMOIR

• Giant Days: I'm so happy that Giant Days is still on this list. It continues to be one of my favorite comics on the market right now, and I've never read seven volumes of a comic and still love the most recent issues as much as I loved the first ones. 
• March, book two: This is such an important and beautifully written memoir by Congressman John Lewis about his time and involvement in the Civil Rights movement. This specific volume talks about the freedom rides, the march on Washington, and more. 
• The Backstagers: I love finding new comic series, and this is an incredible one. If you like Lumberjanes and theater, you will love this. 

NOVELS

• The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue: BI-SEX-U-AL MAIN CHARACTER. Also, historical fiction. Also, alchemy. Also, a kick-ass female character. It was amazing. I'd be shocked if you haven't heard of it. It was so amazing, and I loved Lee's writing style. It was funny and also heartbreaking and I cried 1000% more than I thought I would.
• Exit West: Okay, this was absolutely fantastic, and my favorite adult book of the year thus far. This is a magical realism refugee story. It's so short, and if you need a push to pick this up, this is that push.
• Dress Codes for Small Towns: Duuuuudees. This is the best book I've read this entire year. Oh my gosh. Read my full review because I cannot coherently talk about this book in fewer than 500 words.

*gives you a cookie for making it to the end* You did it! Tell me what your favorite book of the summer was down in the comments. Also, have you read any of these books? Tell me what you thought of them!

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Books I Want to Read This Fall | 2017 TBR

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish to share lists (because we love them) about books and bookish things.

lol @ me for ever thinking I'm going to read all of these books in the first three months of my junior year of college. But it's not a post on my blog if I don't set goals that I ultimately won't meet.

On with the show!

• SIEGE AND STORM: I read Shadow and Bone last year, and for who knows what reason got about halfway through this book before just putting it back on the shelf and forgetting about it. Even though I've read the Six of Crows duology already (and I'm fairly certain that I know how this trilogy ends), I really want to read these last two books because I'm so excited for Language of Thorns to release is just (!) one (!!) week (!!!).
• JANE, UNLIMITED: I've never read any Kristin Cashore, but her Graceling series has always sounded so intriguing. I've heard fantastic things about her writing, and my dear friend Emma lent me her ARC of this so I need to read it ASAP.
• THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE: The running theme of this list is "I haven't read anything from this author, but I hear endless raving about them" and that's also the case for this book. I've had this on my shelf since it was released and it's about damn time I got around to reading it.
• THE DIVINERS: Fall seems like the perfect time to read this book because a) it's got a really spooky, paranormal vibe and b) the third book is releasing this season so if I like it, I can continue on with the series.
• WONDER: Literally everyone that I know that's read this book has loved it. I currently have it out from my library and desperately want to read this before the movie comes out.

• WILD BEAUTY: Another ARC that I have yet to get to but am incredibly excited to read. This is written by a Latina author with Latina main characters and it's magical realism. It's so many of my favorite things in one book. Also, look at that cover and tell me you don't want to read it.
• LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE: (see also: The Rest of Us Just Live Here) I just got this book from my Book of the Month box for September. I have zero idea what this is about, and that's how I want to go into this book.
• LOST STARS: I am a nerd. I love Star Wars. I need things to distract me from what will probably be the death of Rey's character development that will happen in Episode VIII. I loved Bloodline by Claudia Gray, and this audiobook is available through my library's overdrive.
• THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: I've been interested in this book since it released. A book about the underground railroad where it's an actual railway with trains? Sign me up. Also, it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, so I have high expectations.
• ARTEMIS: Even though I've heard some mixed things about this, I'm still really excited to dive into my early copy of Andy Weir's newest book. I absolutely loved The Martian, so I'm really anticipating reading his newest book that's set on the moon. 

These are the main ten books that I'm hoping to get to this fall. Of course, there are also a lot of comics and graphic novels/memoirs that I need to read as well, but I wanted to just stick with novels for this list because I like setting unrealistic expectations for myself.

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September 2017 | Currently Reading

Currently Reading is a monthly feature on my blog, where I catch you up on the books that I'm currently reading (or at least attempting to read).

• The Handmaid's Tale: I have been reading this book since March. I mean, I read almost the entirety of it in three or four days and then put it down until about a week ago because--let's be real--it was just hitting a little too close to home as a young woman living in the United States. But now, I only have about forty pages left in this book. I'm hoping to finish this today. *crosses fingers and locks self in room until book is finished*
• Wonder: This is such a cute and important middle grade novel about a boy with a facial deformity that goes to school for the first time. It's a little heavy-handed, but it's middle-grade so that's to be expected. (Also, I'm so excited for this movie. Daveed Diggs is in this movie and I'm so proud of him.)
• Lost Stars: Jesus Christ. I am such a nerd. Also, I stand by the fact that Star Wars has some of the best-produced audiobooks out there. There's music and character voices and multiple narrators. As far as the story, this is a YA dual perspective novel following a Rebel pilot and an Imperial officer. It feels a little Romeo and Juliet, which (in my opinion) isn't really an idea that works when one side is literally a space version of Nazis. I'm hoping it gets better, but if you're looking for a Star Wars book, I'd tell you to pick up Gray's Bloodline.
• Full Frontal Feminism: This is a book I'm reading for my Women and Gender Studies class this semester. It's a pretty interesting and informative read. It's talking about a lot of stuff and discussing a lot of history that I already know and am well acquainted with. Though, if you're thinking of picking this up, definitely grab the second edition; it's far better.

These are all the books I'm currently reading! If you've read any of these books, let me know your thoughts down in the comments, and tell me what books you're currently reading!

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My Life in Books | Tag

I saw this tag on Lauren @ Bookmark Lit's blog and, being a starved-for-ideas college student, wanted to do this tag. This tag was so much fun. I couldn't find the original tag, but I loved the questions and had to do it for myself.

Find a book for each of your initials:

M | Missoula by Jon Krakauer

G | Giant Days by John Allison

W | When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

I wanted to pick some books that I have actually read and liked because this is my name, the essence of my physical person. Picking a book for G was easy, but there are not enough books that start with M and W. 

Count your age along your bookshelf. What book is it?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower | I actually just bought this from a local used bookstore because I've wanted to reread this for some time. I loved this book when I read it absolutely ages ago and (controversial opinion) don't really like the movie (except Ezra Miller, he's a gem). This is probably the first book I ever read with queer characters, so it has a special place in my heart.

Pick a book set in your city/state.

Dress Codes for Small Towns | There are not a lot of books that take place in Tennessee, much less Nashville-area, Middle Tennessee so this one was actually pretty difficult. Most of Dress Codes takes place in a small town in Kentucky, but there are a couple of points in this book when the group will drive down to Nashville. I'm counting it.

Pick a book that represents a destination you'd love to visit.

The Shadow of the Wind | SPAIN. BARCELONA. I haven't read this book, but it takes place in 1940s Spain, and there is nowhere I'd rather travel in the entire world than Spain so that I can put my in-progress Spanish degree to work.

Pick a book that's your favorite color.

Exit West | Like most adults, I don't have a singular favorite color. I like black, but that's not a very fun answer. So, I picked Exit West which has some of my favorite hues of blue and also has some beautiful typography.

Which book do you have the fondest memories of?

The Invention of Hugo Cabret | In middle school, I was the nerd that volunteered to work in the school library and shelve books during our ''homeroom period" because it combined a few of my favorite things: books and being relatively alone. At the end of the year, all of the student volunteers got to skip class and hang out and eat in the library. The librarians surprised us all with brand new copies of this book. It was the first time I ever remember being properly gifted a book, bow and all, and I read it four times in a row because I loved it so much.

Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

The Scarlet Letter | The Puritans are not the most exciting people, nor is it the most exciting period in American history. This is a book I had to read for a class in high school and, admittedly, the only book I never fully finished for a class.

Which book on your TBR pile will give you the biggest sense of accomplishment when you finish it?

Anna Karenina | Not only is this book massive in page count, but also in density because it's a novel by a Russian author with so much Russian political and cultural influences and references. I've started this book a few times now, but always stop about 100 pages in because I have the attention of a squirrel and get distracted by new, shiny books.

Have you done this tag? Tell me down in the comments your favorite book that starts with one of your initials!

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