Happy May! We hope your spring is full of warm sunny days and lots of good stories. Here is a look at the books we’ve been reading over the past month:

Stephanie

I didn't have much time for reading this month, because I've been determined to finish my current writing project by the end of April. But I did manage to finish Exile by Shannon Messenger, the second book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, and I loved it so much. I'm really enjoying all the mind powers in this world.



Kristan

April was a slow reading month for me too. I did finish SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE by Ijeoma Oluo, though. It was an extremely worthwhile read, and equipped me with valuable tools and language to help dismantle systemic racism, both in myself and in others. Then I read the digital novella OPAL by Maggie Stiefvater. In her usual one-of-a-kind style, Stiefvater gives us a brief but enjoyable glimpse into the summer after the events of The Raven Boys series, focused primarily on Ronan and Adam (and Ronan's dreamthing Opal, obviously).



Sarah

Spring Break gave me a good two weeks to laze about with books. I finished the brilliant COURTING DARKNESS by Robin Lafevers and THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon, which easily took up most of my spare hours and has tucked itself into my top reads shelf. Definitely need to re-visit and re-read this one because it's just fantastic. I read LAMENT by Maggie Stiefvater and am now reading BALLAD and it feels a bit like time travel to the beginning of the YA renaissance. Remember when asked what made a book YA and people in the know would reply: voice. This early series is bursting at the seams with voice and that's why I love it.



Ingrid

Since our last check-in back in February, I've read the following: STARFISH by Akemi Dawn Bowman, THE UNTETHERED SOUL: THE JOURNEY BEYOND YOURSELF by Michael A Singer, UNBECOMING by Jenny Downham, TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard, NOTHING LEFT TO BURN by Heather Ezell, and LONG WAY DOWN by Jason Reynolds. What a rich, diverse set of stories to consume in a matter of weeks! I ventured outside my contemporary ya comfort zone to devour a novel in verse, a play, and a spiritual exploration of Enlightenment. I was swept away by the strong female relationships in UNBECOMING, disheartened and then rejuvenated by the emotional journeys of the MCs in STARFISH and NOTHING LEFT TO BURN, and devastated by the hard truths in LONG WAY DOWN. My literary well is full!

Spring is fast-approaching, and we're almost out of the dark. Remember, the best way to stay warm is by being active, so keep turning those pages! Here are the books that kept us warm this past month:

Kristan

Wow, I've read a lot since our last check-in!

In YA, there was MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork, THE LAST BEST STORY by Maggie Lehrman, and THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas. Of the three, my favorite was actually The Last Best Story, because I was totally a newspaper nerd in high school, and because I think the novel does a lot of difficult things well. (Including wit, tension, alternating perspectives, and remaking/updating an old story.) But Marcelo and T.H.U.G. were both very good too; I completely understand why they are so lauded. (In particular, I loved the voices and characters from Garden Heights.)

In non-YA, I read HERE AND NOW AND THEN by Mike Chen, a sci-fi novel that's really a father-daughter story at heart, as well as EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid, which follows a couple as they are forced to migrate around the world. I enjoyed both, so yeah, it's been a great month of reading!



Stephanie

This month I started the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger, read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, and finished off A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos. Of the three, The Hazel Wood was the one that stood out the most to me. It was dark and twisty, and I loved the fairytales within this story. After I finished it, I was poking around on YouTube and found this video of Melissa in conversation with Holly Black, which makes me think their books might be similar in style/tone? So I finally went out and bought a copy of The Cruel Prince for next month.



Sarah

This month I lived and breathed WINTER OF THE WITCH and there were some absolutely perfect moments that I can’t stop thinking about. I haven’t been this enamoured with a witchy character since CHIME.



Ingrid

In February, I thundered through the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, finishing up SCARLET, racing through CRESS, and wading knee-deep into WINTER. I also sneaked in a classic — REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier — and was swept away by the voice, story, and gorgeous setting. Finally, I stumbled across WILD BIRD by Wendelin Van Draanen while browsing online, ordered the book, and read it in two sittings. It's the story of 14yo wild-child Wren, who is sent to a wilderness therapy program for troubled teens in the Utah desert. It's exactly my kind of book — high on emotion and introspection, doesn't shy away from tough issues, and always maintains a slice of hope.

Happy February! We hope your year is going well so far and that you are greedily reading all the things. Here is what we've read in the past month as well as what are goals are this year. (If we have goals. Spoiler alert: not all of us do!)

Stephanie

GOALS

For the past several years, I’ve aimed to read 50 books a year. I’ve never once reached that goal. But this year is going to be the year! (Although, if not, that’s okay. This is all for fun, right?) I would also like to be less reliant on audiobooks this year and spend more time reading physical books.

WHAT I READ THIS MONTH

This month, I started the year off strong. I finished The Train of Lost Things by Ammi-Joan Paquette, which I started last fall. I read Legendary by Stephanie Garber, the sequel to Caraval. I am in love with this series and can’t believe I have to wait until May for the next book! I also read City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab. This is actually the first of her books I’ve read to completion, but now I need more! The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden took me by surprise. It’s so beautifully archaic that it felt hundreds of years old — in the best way. My quickest read was a collection of poetry, The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace, which I finished in just two days.



Kristan

GOALS

I do have a reading goal, mostly because it feels fun to set a "challenge" on GoodReads and then watch it get tracked throughout the year. This year my goal is 24 books, or 2 per month on average. Since having a kid, I've only managed to read 10-15 books per year, but I like pushing myself a little bit. This year I happen to be interested in a lot of Middle Grade titles, which might help me meet the quota, since they tend to be a little shorter than YA and adult works.

WHAT I READ THIS MONTH

So far I've read two books this year. First I finished THERE THERE by Tommy Orange, a much heralded (perhaps too much?) literary debut about life for modern day, urban Native Americans. It was powerful and interesting, but intense. Then I devoured ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW by Nicole Chung, a writer I've admired for awhile. The book is about her search for her birth family, intertwined with her becoming a mother. I found it extremely moving.



Ingrid

GOALS

Last year I set a reading goal of 40 books (twice as many as I'd read in 2017), and I reached it by the skin of my teeth! I hope to read close to 40 again in 2019 but I'm not setting a hard and fast challenge. My goals this year are centered around writing deadlines instead. That said, I read four books last month so I'm off to a pretty good start.

WHAT I READ THIS MONTH

The first book I read in January was EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover that was absolutely fascinating. Next, I read HERE WE ARE NOW by Jasmine Warga, a compelling coming-of-age novel about discovering your roots and accepting yourself. Plus: lovely writing. Finally, I gobbled up CINDER and SCARLET, the first two books of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. They were both endearing and entertaining, and I have a newfound love for sci-fi/fairytale retellings (thanks, Marissa!).



Sarah

GOALS

I have no reading goals; there isn't a number or a type of book that I'd like to tick off a list. I like the spontaneity of choosing and having the freedom to re-read, which I do a lot. Putting a goal on my reading seems like putting on a tie. A very tight and tiny tie. Maybe next I'll read a book on analogies...

WHAT I READ THIS MONTH

I’ve read THE WICKED KING twice and thought it was perfect. I’m now in the middle of THE WINTER OF THE WITCH. As usual, Fantasy dominates my reading choices.

Stephanie

I started this year with two and half weeks of flu and sinus havoc, so I'm off to a slow reading start. But I did squeeze in one book. I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and it was so so inspiring. It's all about giving yourself permission to be creative. I wanted to take a highlighter to half of it.


Kristan

I was sick at the beginning of the year too, but that actually gave me more time to read, haha, because I was too exhausted to do pretty much anything else. My first book of 2018 was STARFISH by Akemi Dawn Bowman, which was a really thoughtful story about anxiety and art and family, and becoming who you are. Because a lot of it is character-driven and internal, it reminded me a little of ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins.

Then I read THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING by Erin Chack, a collection of personal essays about life and love (and cancer) in the author's late teens and early twenties. These stories are so funny, and heartfelt, and clever, and well-written! I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from Chack in the future.

I just finished HERE WE ARE NOW by Jasmine Warga, and I loved it so much. It's a deceptively simple story on the surface, but then underneath it's this beautiful messy love letter to music, and to immigrants, and to the natural ups and downs of relationships of all kinds. Also, Jasmine is so good at narrative voice. And I absolutely adored the Lena/Julian chapters.


Ingrid

Back in December I was feeling so pumped for 2018 — my DEBUT YEAR, AHHHH! — that I decided to set a goal for myself to read at least 40 books. That's double what I read last year, and it means I have to read more than three books per month! I'm off to a good start, so hopefully I can keep it up.

In January I read FAR FROM THE TREE by Robin Benway - a wonderful character-driven novel about family, love, and growing up. SEVEN ALONE by Honore Morrow - this true story about seven siblings on the Oregon Trail was my fave when I read it as a 5th grader. Inspired by Kristan's pioneer book last month, I found a used copy of SEVEN ALONE on Amazon. Guess what? I love it just as much 30 years later! GIRLS ON THE LINE by Jennie Liu - you MUST check out this upcoming novel (out Fall 2018) about two orphaned girls in China making their way to adulthood as they dodge bride traffickers and family planning regulators. Heart-wrenching! THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED by Becky Albertalli - I really enjoyed the sibling relationship aspect of this book, even more than the fun love story threads. And...I'm halfway through ATTACHMENTS by Rainbow Rowell - more on that next month!


Sarah

This month I've been reading all things Holly Black. THE CRUEL PRINCE was compulsively good so I, of course, went back to the original "folk" trilogy to see which details I'd missed. With TITHE and IRONSIDE now swirling around my imagination, I'm cracking open VALIANT.