Friday, May 10, 2024
Oops, we missed a year! Is it still valid to blame things like that on the pandemic? 😅
Sarah
My favourite reads for 2022 skewed more adult, although featuring young characters:
Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin — Nostalgic and clever with a friendship love spanning decades (my favourite kind of friendship tale).
Babel by R.F. Kuang — This is probably the most clever book that I’ve ever read. Language as power and currency? Empirical exploitation? Scholarship of the highest (and darkest) order? There is no end to the depth of love I have for this story. Obsessed.
They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howry — So much dysfunction it feels like real life, yet so much beauty to counterbalance that it feels like dreaming. Perhaps this is what it’s like to be an artist (a ballerina in this case).
2023:
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett — I wish I could read this book for the first time again, it's that charming. At least I have read the sequel this year (infatuated) so the final book in the series is going to be bittersweet.
Foster and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan — Keegan is a short story writer and these are my favourite of hers. These stories are so important and they haunt me. I think she's the cleverest human living right now.
The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell — Just read it! Oozing with enthusiasm for the natural world, from an author I've loved since her debut Rooftoppers.
Stephanie
2022:
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young — Earthy, witchy magic; beautiful writing; small town secrets; and intricate mystery. Her adult fantasies are my favorites of her books.
Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe — A Middle Grade Kiki’s Delivery Service. Super cute and I loved that the main character is not mysteriously good at everything.
Honorable mentions: The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones, Cackle by Rachel Harrison, and Gallant by V.E. Schwab
2023:
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young — Haunting, bittersweet, and moving. I loved how this story played with time and memory and still felt so grounded.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett — I really fell in love with this world and its characters. I’ve also never read an epistolary novel that blended diary entries with more present narration so seamlessly.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna — This was the coziest, most heartwarming book. The characters were so charming. Like The House in the Cerulean Sea but better.
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud — Middle Grade paranormal investigation and ghost hunting. Spooky but not too scary. Really loved the world building and characters. So sad they canceled the TV show after the first season!
Ingrid
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga — This is a middle grade novel-in-verse that had me hooked from the first word to the last. Brilliant.
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord — A sweet and endearing love story that also serves up plenty of tension and grit.
Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate — Wonderful story about friendship and understanding that transcends class, race and age.
2023:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus — FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR! I loved everything about it.
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Escape by Yeonmi Park — The harrowing true story of a girl's escape from North Korea. This was a tough read about an amazingly brave young woman and her quest for freedom.
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss — A Christmas romance set in a rural English castle with an authentic cast of well-developed characters...need I say more? PS The audio narrator was fabulous.
Three Keys by Kelly Yang — Just as charming as the first! I love how this Middle Grade series brings real life BIPOC issues to the forefront in an organic way, and discusses them straightforwardly, and with compassion and hope.
The Star Thief by Lindsey Becker — My daughter and I picked this up at random and read it aloud together every night at bedtime. So fun! It got her really interested in constellations for a while, and we also talked about how "good" and "bad" are actually not clear-cut, and that most of the time everyone has reasons for what they do, even if we don't know what those reasons are.
2023:
Family of Liars by E. Lockhart — Twisty and atmospheric, this was even better than We Were Liars, for me.
All My Rage by Tabaa Sahir — Unflinching, difficult, but full of heart. One of my favorite reads in a long time.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green — These essays were a great mix of informative and personal. John Green has a beautiful, brilliant, and compassionate mind, and I really enjoy spending time with it. His writing inspires me on many levels.
Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert — Did not think I could care about fictional influencers, but Kelly Loy Gilbert proved me wrong. This was about family, integrity, and finding direction after discovering that what you thought was true north was really just a broken compass all along. There was a surprising amount of "light" and humor though!
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins — I wasn't sure I could get into this villain origin story, but Collins knows how to keep you turning pages.
Monday, February 7, 2022
One of our favorite things to do every year is to share a round-up of the books that we loved most. Due to the pandemic, we accidentally skipped 2020, but now we're back! Here are the stories -- mostly YA, but some adult and Middle Grade too -- that captured our hearts and minds in 2021:
Sarah
Stephanie
Gilded by Marissa Meyer -- This book was perfection. I loved the rich world building and lyrical writing. The villain was haunting and legitimately scary, and the love interest is my favorite I've read in years.
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyde Jones -- Beautiful Welsh-inspired mythology and a zombie goat that made my heart happy.
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee -- Dark and twisty and witchy. Mystery that made me gasp out loud at one point.
Ingrid
A perfect bookish story for bookish people. The MC was quirky and endearing, I appreciated that the female friendships took up as much space as the romance, and I was giddy about the inclusion of a big, unconventional family--which can be tricky to pull off but was well executed here. Bonus if you love classic literature, but this is a lovely, light read either way.
Historical fiction set in the dust bowl era. Intense and authentic mother-daughter relationships. A riveting story of family and survival. There was so much good stuff packed into this novel, including a visceral sense of place that completely transported me to Texas and California in the 1930s. The audio narrator was amazing and the author interview at the end was as engrossing as the book itself.
After watching the Netflix series two or three times, I found the novel and wanted to see how far the show had deviated from it (not too much, actually, but enough to make it worth reading and re-relishing). I absolutely adore this story and these characters, and believe this is one of those rare gems that has a truly universal appeal.
Honorable Mentions: Stay by Allie Larkin, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi.
Kristan
Honestly, due to limited time, I was very selective about what I picked up, so every YA book I read last year was pretty good! Thus it's very, very hard for me to pick a top 3...
I probably have to give the #1 spot to WHEN WE WERE INFINITE by Kelly Loy Gilbert, because it struck so many chords with my personal experiences in high school.
After that, it's like a 6-way tie...
I also want to give a shout-out to two excellent Middle Grade books: FRONT DESK by Kelly Yang and THE SHAPE OF THUNDER by Jasmine Warga.
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Please tell us (because we never have a big enough to-read pile, haha!) what were YOUR favorite reads of 2021?
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Stephanie, Ingrid, Sarah & Kristan — we read, write, discuss and celebrate Young Adult lit.
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