Anyways Kelsey, what do you recommend?: Part 1

January 12, 2020 · 3 Comments ·

So, because I lovingly screech about books all the time, I’m frequently asked what I’d recommend someone read. This is great news for me, because it means I can screech more about books, but it’s also kinda tough because any good book recommendation has quite a bit of meat to it and has several different types of books thus it doesn’t always easily fit into a Facebook comment or in a text to a friend. I’ve developed this bullet-proof book rec list for your convenience (and so I can screech about books obvs).

Scifi

1) My precious Obi perched on the futon while I staged The Illuminae Files. 2) I binge read The Collapsing Empire in the bath!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is the first in a trilogy of YA scifi. It’s a story told from documents, transcripts, notes, etc. The format works beautifully for this story and it’s incredibly engaging. If you aren’t hooked within 27 pages (on the hard cover), I’ll be shocked. I’d highly recommend reading this book without knowing much about the pitch other than that it’s AMAZING. The plot twists and characters are SO GOOD. I’ve heard the audiobook is excellent, and I read the physical copy. I would not recommend the ebook on a traditional ereader due to the narrative format, though if you use a tablet or phone to eread I’m sure it’d be fine.

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi is the first in a trilogy of adult scifi, of which the first two books have been published, with the final book slated to come out this year. The premise is that humans have colonized other star systems which are connected via a hyper-speed “flow.” All societies are interdependent on each other to survive, which is a huge problem when the Flow begins to collapse, leaving people stranded on planets without crucial resources. I thought this book was fascinating and also very stressful to read. I think it’s a great book for both veteran scifi fans and those new to the genre. This is an excellent book published by Tor.

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson is a delightfully weird adult scifi novella. This is the kind of scifi that mercilessly throws you in with no context and just expects you to keep up. If you’re into people with cyborg octopus legs doing some time travel… 10/10 do recommend. If you have no idea if that’s your thing, it’s a novella, so it’s much shorter than a typical novel, so it’s the perfect book to dip your toe into the scifi genre. This is also published by Tor, so if that’s your publishing flavor, go for it!

Fantasy

1) My gorgeous Throne of Glass series stack. 2) Laney’s ears were very cute as I reread A Court of Thorns and Roses. 3) Read an ebook copy of The Fifth Season in my backyard in my bunny pajama pants and a beer! 4) Also a h*ckin cute pic of Lane with The Fifth Season. 5) I have 0 cute shots of the Stiefvater catalogue, but I did get a great picture with her signing my books!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas… If ever there were a series for me to screech about, this is the one. Throne of Glass starts out as a somewhat predictable and enjoyable YA Fantasy novel with a love triangle and a dramatic contest to the death. It gets a great deal more complex as you can imagine considering the story ultimately spans 7 full-length novels and one short story collection. I’ve recently read some YA fantasy series that never really seem to develop after the plot pattern the first book sets; thankfully TOG will not leave you disappointed in that regard. It’s got an incredible cast of characters, at minimum half of which are women. (Women! Doing! Things!) The romance is sizzling and the way it grows as the characters grow feels authentic to me. I love all of it and reread it almost every year!

My only important warning regarding this series: While it begins very safely in the young adult category, the final books include material that I wouldn’t recommend to most 12yo (the younger range of YA audiences). Just like when we were growing up reading Harry Potter which grew with its audience, if you start a young teen reading them, be prepared to try to slow them down so they can age up into the later books. And I’d always recommend a parent read them first if they’re concerned about appropriate content!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas is the first in a trilogy that I would say falls in the Fantasy Romance genre, if that was a thing that existed. The story opens with desperate Feyre who, while hunting for food, shoots a massive wolf that might have been an incredibly powerful Fae. Soon, Tamlin, a furious Fae, shows up at her door to demand penance by taking her into the Fae-lands for the rest of her life, forcing her to leave her destitute family behind. It’s a sweeping fantasy story with a page-turning romance. This trilogy is definitely New Adult (NA) due to the age of the characters and the sexually explicit content. The second book is really where the story takes off into complexity and every time I reread it, I’m shocked by the new things I notice.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is the first in the Broken Earth trilogy. This is an amazing adult fantasy series and every book won the Hugo Award for its publishing year. This is one of those fantasy series that almost operates like a good scifi — it’s best that you don’t know much going in and acknowledge that there will be times the narrative will leave you confused and expect you to just keep reading anyways. It builds to an incredibly satisfying conclusion, both for the whole series and in the first book.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is the first in a 4-book YA Fantasy series. Blue is the fierce, feminist daughter of a psychic and avoids associating with any of the rich, snobby Raven Boys that attend the local prep school. Her life becomes intertwined with a few such Raven boys in a series of witty, fateful interactions they just can’t seem to avoid, and all their lives are shaped by those relationships while they search for a dead Welsh king in Virginia. This series has a unique voice, pacing, and the characters are all three dimensional and beautifully written. Honestly the biggest problem with this series is that there’s nothing else like it and once you read it, you’ll have a book hangover. The audiobooks are narrated by the actor Will Patton and I could not recommend them more. I suggest you check out the audio from your local library or purchase it via Libro FM which also supports your favorite indie book store!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is the first in a YA Fantasy Romance trilogy. Shapeshifting werewolves? Check. Adorable book-reading male love interest? Check. Quiet, thoughtful female love interest? Check. This is such a soft, sweet romance with an excellent fantasy twist. It’s set in Minnesota, and is further proof that Stiefvater knows how to write settings. One cool thing about these books is that the text is printed in the color of the cover, so the first book actually has blue font, the second has green font, etc. I’ve never found another book that toys with these details! I read this in high school and have reread it via audio as an adult. It holds up on the reread!!

Superheroes

1) My Lois Lane trilogy stack. 2) The unjacketed copy of Catwoman SoulStealer and a lounging Willow.

Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond is the first in a YA series about a teenage Lois Lane. The jacket blurb said something about “Veronica Mars” and I was sold. Lois has some really good evil plots to take down via high school investigative reporting and meanwhile, she’s also got an adorable flirty internet romance going with some guy in another town named Clark. Obvs, I’m a Lois Lane fan (My dog is named after her), but even if you’ve never felt particularly drawn to this character before, these books will have you cheering her on like never before!

The DC Icons series is one of the most delightful things that I’ve seen get published in recent years. Here’s the pitch: four popular YA authors get to write YA novels about four wildly popular DC superheroes: Wonder Woman, Batman, Catwoman, and Superman. These are loosely titled a “series” in the sense that they’re based off the same marketing plan, even though none of them seem to occur in the same universe or narratively intersect. However, I’m a completionist and wanted to read all of them, even the ones I didn’t expect to like, and they ended up being one of my all-time favorite series. I listened to the audiobooks of Batman and Superman – I can confirm both are very enjoyable. I can also confirm that both Wonder Woman and Batman now have graphic novel adaptations if that’s more your style!

That’s it for the first half of my all-time recommendations list! Stay tuned for the second half which includes realistic fiction, graphic novels, romance, and historical fiction picks! In the meantime, have you read any of these recs? Did you love them, hate them, or something in between? Let me know in the comments!

An Incredibly Books & Brews Package

January 10, 2020 · Leave a comment ·

Full Disclosure: Today happens to be my wedding anniversary, and my plans to blog and read all day were disrupted by my wonderful partner. We instead spent the day shopping the clearance sales at various stores at our local mall, which was super fun but also means my planned blog post is a little under-written at this moment in time. So, you get a treat! Today’s mini-blog post is only a preface to tomorrow’s planned post! I know! Two posts in one weekend! It’s like Christmas, but for readers!

Some pics of the OwlCrate box as I opened it!

Speaking of reading gifts, OwlCrate had this great sale right after Christmas that I could not ignore. (I tried. I failed.) And when I got home today from our anniversary-inspired clearance sales, I had this lovely package waiting for me!!

I got a beautiful signed copy of Pride by Ibi Zoboi which has been on my TBR for ages! It also came with a bookmark and author letter! The author letter reads,

Dear Reader,
Welcome to Bushwick! I loved writing this sweet story set in the neighborhood I grew up in – it’s filled with love, laughter, hopes, and dreams. In the heart of it all is
ZURI BENITEZ – a girl caught between the community she loves and the boy who challenges her ideas about him, herself, and the world.
This P+P remix has a beat of its own, but the rhythm is familiar. So step into these pages as if they’re a big block party and ENJOY.
FROM BROOKLYN W/LOVE, Ibi Zoboi

Unboxing pics of The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White.

I also could not resist buying a gorgeous OwlCrate alternative cover and signed edition of The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White. The normal cover is blue and gold which is also stunning, while this one is more teal and green tinted! Her author letter reads,

Dear OwlCrate Reader,
Sometimes we need an escape, so I decided to run away… to Camelot.
I’ve always been drawn to Arthurian legends. Magic vs. order. Old vs. new. Love vs. duty. The sweeping romance of a city based on the idea that together we can build something better than what came before. (And the creeping sorrow of knowing it can’t last.)
But rather than a king and his sword, I wanted to follow a girl and her heart. A girl who is not a princess, but a changeling, put in an impossible situation no one prepared her for.
Don’t we all sometimes feel like imposters in our own lives? Hoping to find friends and companions who can help us see who we truly are?
Come to Camelot with Guinevere and discover it for yourself. Wishing you wonder and magic…
XOXO Kiersten White

I adore Kiersten White, as anyone can tell from my previous blog posts and I love her sweet author letter which somehow got me more hyped for this book than I already was. I am so excited to have both of these gorgeous books in my personal library and I can’t wait to read them! But I know what you’re thinking, “Kelsey, you only bought books, how is that a perfect Books and Brews package?” Well…

TA-DA!!!!!

A book themed tea sample. Yep. I went there.

I got this tea sample based on one of my favorite romance books (you’ll hear more about it in tomorrow’s blog post!) and it’s made by The Tea Spot, which is one of my favorite tea companies!

I’ll leave you with that teaser for the content of tomorrow’s post and these questions — Did you snag any perfect book deals with your Christmas cash? Have you sampled a new brew recently? Let me know in the comments!

Reading Challenges!

January 3, 2020January 24, 2020 · 1 Comment ·

Reading challenges are a lot like fad diets, in my opinion. Yours is fascinating to you and you only. Of course, I love talking about my reading challenges. I am super passionate about them and they make me feel accomplished and productive. They feel like something I should be sharing with the rest of the world. And yet, I get the feeling that nobody else really cares that much? Just because it’s taking up a shockingly large space in my brain doesn’t mean it’s particularly engaging or entertaining conversation material for someone else!

Talking about reading challenges is challenging for other reasons too. If your goal is strictly numerical – “I want to read X books this year” – it invites comparison with others. It almost seems to demand that kind of negative comparison. “Why don’t I read as many books as that person does? How on earth do they even read that much? Am I a real reader if I only read Y books each year?” We all know comparison is the thief of joy, but that has yet to stop me from engaging in it anyways!

Thanks to crapitalism, I feel the need to quantify how I spend my downtime so that it feels like it has purpose (i.e. if it’s not making me money, it feels like a waste of time). For me, reading is restorative. It lets me refuel after a long day or regain some energy in the midst of a busy work week. That ought to be enough of a reward, but through a reading challenge, I can add some extra purpose to my downtime. “See, Anxiety, I’m not just reading during my lunch break to restore energy to my soul; I’m also checking off a book on this reading challenge!”

Okay, but how do I read more?

One reading goal I hear a lot is folks just wanting to read more in general. I do have advice on that front! Over the past three years, I have increased my reading overall by 41 books per year, which is pretty impressive as far as reading gains go! The main way I did so was by implementing three reading rules:

Read what you’re genuinely excited about in this very moment.
Quit on any book that doesn’t comply with Rule 1.
If you’re in a reading rut, read something in a different genre or medium.

1. Read what you’re genuinely excited about in this very moment.

So each month, I add a month-specific TBR* list to my Instagram story. It’s fun to look at what library books I have checked out and what I feel like I might want to read each month. But, here’s the catch: I give myself full permission to completely ignore it whenever I want. If I’m picking out my next book and just suddenly can’t find the motivation to read what I had planned to dive into next, I don’t. I read what I’m excited about. Sometimes that means I’ve been blogging and posting for weeks on Instagram about a new release I’m super excited for and then when I finally can read it, I decide instead to pick up a true crime novel that I just got from the library. *girl shrugging emoji* It be like that sometimes.

2. Quit on any book that doesn’t comply with Rule 1.

It’s a similar story for Rule 2. I sometimes find myself reading a book I know I’d normally adore, but maybe now is not the right moment for it. I put it down. Whenever I force myself to finish a book, I always, ALWAYS, end up in a book slump**. Any time I make reading into a chore, it kills my motivation to read. Quit on books you don’t want to read. It doesn’t mean they’re bad books or that you hate them or that you’ll never return to them later! It just means it’s not the book for you right now.

3. If you’re in a reading rut, read something in a different genre or medium.

Rule 3 is also super helpful for me because I’m often reading genre fiction, and I’ve noticed if I read several books in the same genre back-to-back, I get less satisfied with each one. Switching genres keeps it fresh. If I’ve read a lot of scifi, I switch to romance. Romance is actually my standard genre reading rut fix. They’re so easy to get hooked in and feel so rewarding to finish! If I’ve binged through an audiobook, I’ll try to find something that interests me on my ereader or maybe a graphic novel. Graphic novels are also my go-to fix for a medium reading rut. They’re so fast to read and there are pictures!

For those of you that opened this post hoping to read about the challenges I’m taking part in, I don’t wish to disappoint you. If you view reading challenges like diets, skip to the next paragraph; I won’t be offended. :] I’m participating in two reading challenges for 2020. I’ll continue my trend of upping my goal on the Goodreads Reading Challenge — this year my goal will be to read 120 books. I read 127 in 2019, so I think that’s realistic, but will still require my attention. I’ll also be doing the Reading Glasses Reading Challenge, which is pictured below. This is a great challenge for readers of all reading speeds to take part in. I think it’s achievable for most people, but still asks you to stretch yourself in new ways. Plus, a few of the tasks tie into my reading rules in this post!

Fun Challenges I’m Not Doing

If you’re looking for new popular reading challenges to take part in, I’ve heard great things about the POPSUGAR, Book Riot’s Read Harder, and Reading Women Reading Challenges. I participated in Read Harder in 2019 and completed about half of it before my reading rules made it difficult to “read a book set in Oceania” when that wasn’t something I was excited about right then. However, the half that I did complete introduced me to many of the authors and books that made it on my Best Books of 2019 list! Even incomplete challenges can still be really helpful!

Regardless of how you choose to challenge your reading this year, be kind to yourself. Reading challenges can be fun ways to motivate yourself and make reading feel productive. They can also be really cool ways to engage in an online community while experimenting with reading books outside of your comfort zone. If it starts to feel like a thing you’re using to shame yourself, ditch it quick.

Are you doing any reading challenges this year? Do you love them or loathe them? Let me know in the comments!

*Lingo Definition: TBR means “to be read” and generally just details all the books that we’re planning to read. Some folks keep lists on a Notes app on their phones or an Amazon wish list. I keep mine on Goodreads.)
**Lingo Definition: A book slump is an indeterminate amount of time in which a reader is not reading. The reader may have attempted to read since but it just isn’t happening. Book slumps can be caused by very bad books “Yikes that was so terrible; it stopped me from reading for ages” and very good books “I’m still hungover from that book; no other book is as good.” A book slump is different from a reading rut (at this point I’m getting overly pedantic but I feel the need to explain my language!). A book slump is being unable to read books. A reading rut is just being vaguely dissatisfied with the books you’re reading.

My Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2020

December 31, 2019January 24, 2020 · 9 Comments ·

So, now that you know what I loved from 2019, let’s talk books that I’m hyped as all hell for in 2020! Each book listing includes the release date, why I’m excited for it, and how I plan to preorder it or pre-request it! Let’s get HYPED!!!

Release Date: January 7, 2020

Subtitle: Yikes there goes all my money! RIP!

Digital image of book cover "Chosen" by Kiersten White

You knew it was coming, so don’t act surprised! I’m so so excited to read the next installment in the Slayer series, Chosen by Kiersten White. Slayer made the Honorable Mentions section of my Best Books of 2019 list! I love a book about powerful, flawed women saving the world, but I love it all the more when it’s set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe! Kiersten White has long been on my list of beloved authors, so I feel really at peace with having her playing around in one of my favorite fictional worlds. I have preordered it from Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore so that I can get a signed copy, since I also purchased a signed copy of Slayer from BookPeople earlier this year. I do so appreciate when my books match!

Digital image of book cover "One Of Us Is Next" by Karen McManus

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus is the sequel to One of Us Is Lying, which was an incredible YA murder mystery with The Breakfast Club vibes. I was very nervous originally about reading One Of Us Is Lying, because I think many of the recent teen murder mysteries seem to come to the conclusion that people, and, by implication, teens are trash people devoid of empathy and compassion? And I was really pleased to find that McManus wrote a book that felt sincere and genuine in my experience of dealing with teens. I’m excited about the sequel, because she’s proven that I can trust her character and plot choices. I’ve pre-requested it from the library!

Digital image of book cover "A Heart So Fierce and Broken" by Brigid Kemmerer

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer is the sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which made my Best Books of 2019 list! It continues the story of a gorgeous and lush retelling of Beauty and the Beast. One of the things I LOVED about this book was that it took a disabled heroine and placed her in a medieval world, which really forced me to reevaluate how I viewed both worlds and their accessibility. Honestly, this was the first book I binged through this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel and see where it takes me next! I’ve pre-requested this one from the library!

Release Date: January 14, 2020

Advanced Reader Copy paperback of A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen

This has already been mentioned once on this blog in the Honorable Mentions of my Best Books of 2019 list, but I can’t not do it again! A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen hasn’t officially been released yet, but the ARC I read blew me away. It’s a deeply human story that follows multiple characters dealing with the trauma of a post apocalyptic world. It’s endearing, heart warming, and horrifying. I loved every minute and cannot wait to see it out in the wild when it releases!
Blogger’s Note: ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy. These copies are usually available at specific events or sent to book bloggers ahead of the release date of a book so that reviews can start gaining circulation online. ARCs still need a final proofread so there are often typos in these copies. They also don’t usually include final features like any photos that might be included in the story or sometimes they have only a generic cover rather than the official cover. They are not supposed to be sold for profit, and often end up getting donated to Little Free Libraries or other not-for-profit book collections after release day.

Release Date: March 3, 2020

Digital image of book cover The Lady From the Black Lagoon by Mallory O'Meara

The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara releases in paperback this Spring. This book already made my Best Books of 2019 list, because it does a deep dive into the history of the original, uncredited creator of the creature from The Creature from the Black Lagoon, with added narrative from the author on her own relevant experiences as a film-maker in Hollywood. I’m excited to have it release again in paperback because O’Meara has announced there will be added new material regarding the lost legacy of Milicent Patrick! I just cannot miss out on whatever news is noteworthy since this book originally was published! I’m preordering a copy from my favorite indie book store (BookPeople in Austin, Texas), probably the day after this post gets published on January 1st since they’re offering a one-day only 20% discount!

Digital image of book cover When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey is one of those books where I just *heard* about it and instantly placed it on hold at the library. Sarah Gailey writes beautifully with intense plots and excellent characters. This book has it all: secret magic, secret queer love interest, and secret accidental murder. (That’s what you want your books to have, right?) I pre-requested it from the library with such little information this fall that I was shocked when the librarian responded “We promise to buy this book… when it comes out… in MARCH.” I get really hyped about new Sarah Gailey books, okay?

Digital image of book cover Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

I’m very excited to read the debut into the adult demographic by Sarah J. Maas with Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood. If you’ve seen my home page, you know I’m a Maas fan. Her previous two series, Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses, are some of my favorite series I’ve ever read. My main concern with her first two series were that they were marketed towards young adults, when they really seemed to me to be adult-content, especially in regards to sexually explicit content. It’ll be relief to read this new series and feel comfortable knowing it’s being marketed as an adult book, rather than to teens. This series will absolutely feature another sizzling romance full of character chemistry, as well as a plot with high stakes in a fantasy world. And it’s gonna be 816 pages long?! Yes, please! It’s an automatic preorder for me, likely from Barnes & Noble, because ya girl finally became a B&N Rewards member this year and I’m all about that discount!

Release Date: April 7, 2020

Digital image of book cover Sword in the Stars by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Sword in the Stars by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy is the sequel to Once & Future, a scifi LGBTQIA+ retelling of the Arthurian legend. I really enjoyed the first book, and it had lots of good teen angst for that expected Guinevere/Arthur/Lancelot love triangle. I do love a book with ANGST!! It’s already been pre-requested from my local library.

Release Date: April 14, 2020

Digital image of book cover The Last Emperox by John Scalzi

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi is sure to be an incredible close to an amazing series. If either of the first two books in this series had been released in 2019, they would have absolutely made my Best of 2019 list. This will be the third and final installment in the Interdependency series. It has one of the coolest scifi premises I’ve ever encountered– Humanity has colonized planets all over the universe that are connected by a flow or river of fast travel and all are interdependent on each other to survive. Then, suddenly, the flow begins to disintegrate, leaving civilizations of people stranded without access to resources, technology, communication, etc. It’s terrifying and incredible. I can’t wait to see what happens next! I pre-requested an ebook copy from my library.

Digital image of book cover Network Effect by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells is the first full-length novel in the series. If you haven’t yet experienced The Murderbot Diaries, please, I beg of you, dive in!! They are the perfect book binge. Murderbot is a Security Unit “SecUnit” robot who has hacked their governor module so that they can stream tv shows while on the job. They are incredibly relatable; you cannot help but adore Murderbot. The first four books in the series are novellas and such fast reads! I’m not sure if they’re available in physical format, but I read them on my ereader courtesy of my library catalog. I pre-requested an ebook copy from my library.

That wraps up my top 10 most anticipated reads of 2020! You might have noticed all of these are books that are sequels or written by authors I already know I love. I often don’t know what I’m going to read and fall in love with at the start of the year. I’d never read anything by Sarah Gailey, John Scalzi, Mallory O’Meara, Mike Chen, Martha Wells, and more before I started 2019. Discovering new favorite books along the way is one of my most favorite parts of reading. Even after compiling this list, I’m still really excited to find out what didn’t make the list, what I still have to discover! What books are you most excited about reading in 2020? Are any of your anticipated reads on my list? Let me know in the comments!

Best Books of 2019

December 28, 2019January 24, 2020 · 10 Comments ·

My top 10 reads (give or take) published in 2019

Romance

Phone screen showing the audiobook of Red, White & Royal Blue with purple bluetooth headset. — I thoroughly enjoyed the audio of this book on my libro.fm account supporting my local indie bookstore, BookPeople!

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is absolutely the best romcom of the year (and it’s GAY). Enemies to lovers trope between the US president’s son and Wales’ prince. It’s so witty and funny and genuine, and I was blown away that this is the author’s debut! I adored every minute of the audiobook and have actually considered relistening, which is pretty rare for me and audiobooks! It also won the Goodreads Choice Awards for Romance and Debut Novel this year!

Nonfiction

A few of my favorite shots celebrating The Lady From The Black Lagoon, including Malbec posing with this amazing book, my signed edition, and meeting the author on book tour!

The Lady From The Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara is the best nonfiction of the year. It’s a deep dive into the history of who designed and created the creature in The Creature From The Black Lagoon, as well as plenty of personal history from the author as she researched this book and her own experiences in Hollywood as a woman film-maker. It’s a great read even if you don’t know anything about the subject! Give some love to Mallory O’Meara, who is also the cohost of my fav podcast, Reading Glasses, and buy this book!

Graphic Novel

I will have read four seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer comics by the end of this year, so you can assume one of those is my fav. I binge read them, so I don’t have an idea of which individual volume was my favorite, though I was definitely more partial to seasons 9 and 10 than I have been to 11 (I just received the final volume of Season 12 from the library and plan to finish it before the end of the year), but I love Buffy and recommend this canon comic series to Buffy fans.

Scifis

I read these books either in the bath or with a drink of water. Scifi makes me want to incorporate H2O somehow… Also how cool is it that Recursion and my water bottle match? That is one of my favorite yellows!

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen is a time travel story that is shockingly human. A time travel agent gets stuck in the past, makes a life there, and then gets picked back up 20 years later and taken back to the future/his original time. The timeline actually makes sense and the characters are amazing. It was also a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction this year!

Recursion by Blake Crouch is an amazing story about memory, time travel, and identity. It’s best to read it without any prior info, imo. It also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction this year!

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James is a great YA scifi about a girl born on a spaceship. She’s only ever known her parents and they are both gone by the time the story begins. Spooky, fascinating, and fast-paced. I loved all of this book!
Blogger’s note: after doing more research, it turns out this book was originally published in 2018, with the paperback releasing in 2019! My bad on the misinformation. I stand by the recommendation though! If you’re dying for a 2019 rec, The City In The Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders was a great weird scifi set on a tidally locked planet; I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. It was also a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction this year! The author is trans if you’re looking to diversify your reading voices!

Some bonus pics, including my view while reading it at Camp Allen, of The City in the Middle of the Night… a scifi that I loved that was *actually* published in 2019. Also included original artwork the author had commissioned to promote this book, which I asked her to sign in lieu of signing the book itself, since I read it from the library.

Fantasies

Snagged that shot of Magic for Liars with that beautiful background at Family Business Beer Co in Dripping Springs — Yes, the one co-owned by Jensen and Danneel Ackles! A Curse So Dark and Lonely got some reading time at the Whole Foods bar during our family’s quarterly trip to Whole Foods for cheese and a dark beer! Husband made me a delicious Chocolate Martini to indulge in while I read Ninth House by the fire, with Lane gazing on in the background!

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey is like Jessica Jones meets adult Hogwarts? So good, so readable, so flawed. It’s a very dark book, please research trigger warnings before diving in, but in my opinion, it’s absolutely worth your time! It was also a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy this year!

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a YA retelling of the Beauty and the Beast with a disabled heroine! I am eagerly awaiting the sequel. I generally love all fairy tale retellings, especially Beauty and the Beast, so this is right in my wheelhouse with the added bonus of disability rep! It was also a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy this year!

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo is a very dark fantasy with trigger warnings for all the things. I very rarely read books with sexual assault depicted, and this was a rare exception to my rule. Be gentle with yourself when reading this one. It also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy this year!

Here’s some bonus pictures of me attending Leigh Bardugo’s book tour event in Austin and my signed copy with a special free bookmark they gave us for attending!

Anthology

Pictured are the first page of the book, the cover shot taken before I knew I could remove those yellow sticky tabs marking it as a hold item for me at my library, and the short story I was most excited to read which is set in the world of The Shadow, a book series by Lila Bowen that I loved. Bonus image of Hex Life on my e-reader with Willow perched in the background. Also in this last pic is my library copy of On a Sunbeam, which I read in tandem with Hex Life.

Robots Vs Fairies edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe pits classic scifi and fantasy elements against each other in short stories written by a host of well-known authors. I only read one other anthology this year but I think I’ll be searching for a few years to find one as good as this one!
Blogger’s note: Can’t believe I have to say this again, but apparently this book was *also* published in 2018! The funny thing about this one is that I checked the date multiple times and repeatedly thought to myself “Yes it was published in 2018! Perfect. This is that year!” …I regret nothing! If you are dying for a 2019 anthology recommendation, I also enjoyed Hex Life edited by Rachel Autumn Deering and Christopher Golden. It’s an anthology of short stories about witches! Very enjoyable. The only reason I preferred Robots Vs Fairies for this list is that some of the stories were a bit darker/spookier than I was prepared for in Hex Life.

Honorable Mentions

I pre-ordered a physical copy of Call Down the Hawk in the spring so that I could get one of her special doodled copies and have it signed. I prefer to enjoy her books via audio, so the physical copy is just for show! (But it’s such a pretty show amiright?) The Starless Sea is an equally gorgeous book and seems tailored to match my new BookBeau!

I’m currently reading The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater. These current reads will both likely be favorites of the year but I feel weird posting them in the full list since i’m not even halfway done with either. Sometimes I binge-read stories I know I love, sometimes I savor them. *girl shrugging emoji*

A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen (releases on January 14, 2020 but I got an ARC and read it early) is a great post-apocalyptic story about human reactions to trauma. 10/10 would recommend pre-ordering it or pre-requesting it from your library! Mike Chen is an author I want to see more material from!!

Hardcover copy of Slayer by Kiersten White with the text "This book ruined me" in all caps in the bottom right corner of the image. — One of my Instagram stories from earlier this year. I seriously adored this book!

Slayer by Kiersten White bc I love all things Buffy, if you hadn’t figured that out yet, and all things Kiersten White! This is the perfect approachable book for long-time fans of Buffy or folks that might want a YA introduction to the Buffy universe. You definitely don’t need to be a super-fan to enjoy this book!

That wraps up 2019 for me!! Thanks for reading! What were your favorite books for 2019? Did I miss your fav? Let me know in the comments!

About Kelsey

December 28, 2019June 12, 2023 · 2 Comments ·

I am Kelsey Cooper! I’m in my early 30s, happily married, six tattoos (three of which are bookish), and one nose piercing. I love books and tea more than almost everything on this planet. I like dark chocolate and dark beer. By day I serve as an Episcopalian Youth Minister, by night I am a lap for my cats while I read whatever catches my eye!

Why did I do a blog? I’m Very Online already, so I post pictures on #bookstagram whenever I can, and I tweet sometimes about books I love (although I do not publicly share my twitter acct #sorrynotsorry). I keep track of all my book reading on the Storygraph and a physical book journal. And it’s occurred to me that I really love talking about books!! I love gushing about a book I read recently. I feel the need to critically consider and articulate when I didn’t enjoy a book and what I loved about the ones I did. I wanted a long-form option for talking about my favorite things and shouting it into the void of the internet via this blog feels more cathartic at this moment than forcing my husband to sit still and maintain eye contact while I ramble about characters and plots he’ll never experience.

This is my first attempt at maintaining a blog! So, here’s a little of what to expect:

Reviews of books I’ve read! These will be typically positive, and if I choose to blog about a book I didn’t love, I’ll never tag or direct the author towards that review. That’s just common courtesy! Generally speaking, I like the books I read, so this will be a largely positive space.
Lists of books I’m pumped about, planning to read, and why I’m so hyped!
Books and brew pairings! I really enjoy having a drink with my book, whether that’s my water bottle, tea, coffee, beer, wine, whiskey, etc. So I’ll be posting about what I’m responsibly indulging in when I read!
Oxford commas! I believe in them. Be prepared.
Thoughts on reading mediums! This includes ereading, physical books, libraries, audiobooks, visual novels, etc.
Book recommendations! Whether you’ve never felt like much of a reader, used to love reading but have been in an eternal book slump, or are a voracious reader and are looking for your next read, this blog is for you! I’ll share why I think someone else might like a book and what kind of reading experience it was for me.
Hot takes on film adaptations! Film really is deeply connected with the book scene and I want to talk about it. As an aside, this will almost never include like, fancasting for adaptations I want to see. My brain doesn’t really work like that for some reason. But this will definitely be a place where we can talk about book-film-adaptation news.
Book culture explained! What does it mean to DNF? Why is everyone obsessed with a TBR? What is #bookstagram? I got you, boo.
Chocolate and snacks! I will definitely evangelize my favorite brand of chocolate and talk about the new vegan cream cheese I’m obsessed with and the best healthy snack for when you’re reading in the tub. These are my reading snacks and I want to share them with you.
Ways to incorporate reading into your life! With so many ways to read, there are always more cool ways to add in more of what you love into your day!
Library love! There will absolutely be tips on how best to utilize your local library (US-based) and updates on my holds list, reading progress, etc. All the library love on this blog!
And probably a lot more! Ya girl is a bit scatter-brained and has a lot of thoughts about books and brews!

I’m really excited to dive into this process and share my book thoughts with anyone who cares to read them. If you have any feedback or comments, please send them to booksbrewsblog@gmail.com.