I read a lot and I do a very poor job of keeping track of the many books I get through each year. While I tend to lean towards quick-paced romance (contemporary, historical, or fantasy!), I do occasionally pick up meatier books. What can I say? I lik... Hope you find something here that might (re)spark that love of reading!
Sections
10
Read and would re-read: Romance Fiction
Read and would re-read: Literary Fiction
Read and would re-read: Historical Fiction
Read and would re-read: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Read and would re-read: Non-fiction
To be read: Romance Fiction
Read and would re-read: Romance Fiction
Family, Romance, Hijinks | Book #1 | If you've never had a meddling family that means well, this book is a crash course lesson. Mix together 1 (accidental) murder, 2 thousand wedding guests, a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family, and 4 meddling Asia...
Dial A for Aunties - Jesse Q. Sutanto
Hometown Romance | Bellinger Sisters #1 Spoiled party girl goes back to her roots and visits her deceased dad's hometown to refurbish and reopen the bar he used to own. Along the way, meets a reticent king crab fisherman and melts his tough exterior enough for him to take a second chance a...
It Happened One Summer - Tessa Bailey
Hometown Romance | Bellinger Sisters, #2 | Follow the younger Bellinger sister as she returns to the small fishing town and rekindles her friendship (and maybe romance) with the town's playboy. He learns to take things seriously in order to win her over.
Hook, Line, and Sinker - Tessa Bailey
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead characters | Rajes #1 The first in a series about the Rajes family - immigrant Indian family descended from royalty who have built new lives in San Francisco. A fresh new take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice featuring a brilliant neurosurgeon who judges an up-and-com...
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors - Sonali Dev
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead characters | Rajes #2 A fresh new take on Jane Austen's Persuasion featuring a chef who is trying to save her father's restaurant and prove to her estranged mother that she isn't a screw-up. She is asked to join a new reality TV show teaming chefs and celebrities and is p...
Recipe for Persuasion: A Novel - Sonali Dev
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead characters | Rajes #3 A fresh take on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility featuring a high achieving son who is California's first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate. A hate crime at a rally critically injures his friend, and he can't get back on the campaign trail w...
Incense and Sensibility: A Novel - Sonali Dev
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead characters | Rajes #4 A fresh take on Jane Austen's Emma featuring the youngest Raje whose life has always been charmed and Naina who was in a 10-year-long fake relationship with the other Raje son. Two passionate people with ideas to solve major problems in the world end...
The Emma Project: A Novel - Sonali Dev
Magic versus science. But also family secrets. To be fair, it was a little slow and jumps quickly but I thought the world building was so interesting. It reminds me a lot of the Iron Seas series in terms of the way it builds on a crumbled Europe (Eur...
Cold Magic (Spiritwalker Trilogy #1)
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #1 I'm a big fan of romance novels that have well-developed characters that go beyond your stereotypical cookie cutter white young lovers. While this family is white American (Swedish), the author includes really well developed characters with chronic i...
Only When It's Us - Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #2 Loved this story of a man who was more open and ready for love than the woman, a nice flip of usual tropes. I also love a good hockey romance.
Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #3 I related to this book so much with a male lead with anxiety and a female lead who has to choose every day to be comfortable in her body and body shape.
Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #4 The main female lead has a chronic condition that my partner also suffers from. While we've talked about it, it was nice to be able to read and understand more about the condition from a book so that I could get into the character's head more than I ...
With You Forever by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #5 Here's where I admit I've never read a romance book featuring a queer male lead and I was a little nervous since there are spicy scenes in the other books. However Chloe wrote this book exactly as she wrote the others, drawing you firmly into the cha...
Everything for You by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #6 Love a good bad boy with a golden heart trope and a hockey star, but I also loved that the female lead was just as much of a star in her own right.
If Only You by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Inclusive leads | Bergman Brothers #7 Was I a little devastated that this series ended and I wouldn't be able to get a peek into the Bergman family's life anymore? Yes. But was I also thrilled that Viggo finally had his love and it was beautiful? Yes.
Only and Forever by Chloe Liese
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead | Autism spectrum | #1 in series I loved the way Helen was able to develop a character who was on the autism spectrum and was worthy of love, and found a great love. The female lead is based on the experiences Helen has faced herself and I love the authenticity that she is able to b...
The Kiss Quotient - Helen Hoang
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead | Autism spectrum |#2 in series Brings the immigrant experience to life with a female lead straight from Vietnam. Her male lead is on the autism spectrum and has to learn to love himself to be able to love her. Made me cry, made me cheer for them, and overall a great follow up to t...
The Bride Test - Helen Hoang
Contemporary romance | Non-white author | Non-white lead | Autism spectrum | #3 in series Maybe what you're looking for isn't what you need. A high powered, highly ambitious and strong female lead who is feeling the pressure of being perfect. A male lead who doesn't think he has much to offer and needs to learn to love what he has to brin...
The Heart Principle - Helen Hoang
Read and would re-read: Literary Fiction
Resilience, love and the lack of love, and changing expectations | standalone novel
One of the books that I actually had to buy for my bookshelf (and not just rent!). For the girls who refuse to dumb themselves down to meet societal expectations. Early 1960s female chemist finds herself the host of a television cooking show and ends...
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
Family, Feel Good | standalone novel Former sitcom star (and proud gay uncle of niece and nephew) is suddenly forced to become the primary guardian after tragedy. His unique lifestyle creates a season of healing both for himself and the kids, and helps to redefine the meaning of family.
The Guncle - Steven Rowley
Read and would re-read: Historical Fiction
Historical fiction | WW2
Three women's lives converge during WW2: an American socialite who works at the French consulate, a Polish teenager who is part of the underground resistance, and an ambitious young German doctor who answers an ad for a government medical position. T... Beautifully written, I was immediately immersed into each of their lives and how they come together.
Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly
Historical fiction | WW2 | female lead A British spy plane (pilot and passenger are best friends) crashes in Nazi-occupied France. “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo and weaves her confession. With each scrap of paper, she uncovers her past, her friendship with the pilot Maddie, her view... Beautifully written, weaving between Maddie and Verity's perspectives, and made me sob at the end.
Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
Historical fiction | WW2 | Female lead Loosely connected to Code Name Verity. American ATA pilot is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbruck. She finds hope and courage from her fellow prisoners. More fictionalized but touches on some of the crimes committed on other prisoners at Ravensbruck
Rose Under Fire - Elizabeth Wein
Historical fiction | Pre-WW2 | Female lead The prequel to Code Name Verity, you learn more about “Verity” before she becomes a spy. Made me sob as I learned more about this character.
The Pearl Thief - Elizabeth Wein
Historical fiction | Mystery | WW2 | Female lead | Maggie Hope Series #1
Would highly recommend this series to anyone who is looking for another historical fiction / mystery. The books move at a great pace but allow for enough character development of both major and minor that you're affected by their journey in the books...
Mr. Churchill's Secretary - Susan Elia MacNeal
Historical fiction | Pre-WW2 | Female lead Bletchley Park in the 1940s was a place that stood outside the bounds of society - a place where bright minds took precedence over sexuality or gender (or at least more precedence than in the rest of society). This book follows the story of three fri...
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Read and would re-read: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Fantasy | Warrior Queen | Alternative Viewpoints | The Seven Realms Series Fantastic world building and two very compelling leads that switch off telling the story from their perspective. Fantastic example of two star-crossed lives. Raisa Ana'Marianna is a heroine you can root for the entire series. Start with The Demon Kin...
The Seven Realms: The Complete Series - Cinda Williams Chima
Fantasy | Strong female lead | A Woman in a Man's World | Tortall Universe | Protector of the Small Series My first Tamora Pierce book, actually purchased at an airport bookstore, that led me to finding my absolute favorite author ever.
Definitely also get the rest of the quartet: Page Squire Lady Knight
First Test - Tamora Pierce
Fantasy | Asian Mythology | Alternative Viewpoints | The Shadow of the Fox series #1 Loved this book - the trilogy had fantastic character development and the ending made me sob (pulled out so much of my emotion)
Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox Series #1)
Fantasy | Assassins, Magic, and Fae | Alternative Viewpoints | Throne of Glass series This book started a little slow and I had so many more questions than I had answers at first, however, by about halfway through, I was pretty invested. By about halfway through the series, I was absolutely hooked and invested in every character who h...
Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass Series #1)
Fantasy | High Fae and Faerie | A Court of Thorns and Roses series I resisted reading this for so long because the back book jacket description was so unappealing to me. However, so many women whose reading taste jibed with mine had recommended it to me that I finally decided to give it a go. It was just as slow of ...
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses Series #1)
Fantasy | Magic Loved this series - at first, I couldn't see the connection between the first and the sequel but this is one of those series where you trust the process. Eventually, you understand exactly how each book fits in and helps you better understand the oth...
FULL SERIES: Graceling Fire Bitterblue Winterkeep Seasparrow
Graceling (Graceling Realm Series #1) by Kristin Cashore, Paperback
Fiction? This doesn't quite fit neatly in this category, but this story imagines a near-future United States that has been pulled apart by polarization and how a second civil war might happen. The protagonist is a high schooler who joins the Idaho Army Nation...
Divided We Fall Series by Trent Reedy
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine Parasol Protectorate #1 Loved the world that was built - it wove in supernaturals (werewolves and vampires) seamlessly into Victorian England and made it work. I loved the female lead's logical way of blundering into problems and solving them.
Soulless (Parasol Protectorate Series #1) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine Parasol Protectorate #2 The world just keeps getting better! Getting to meet more of Conall's background is fascinating.
Changeless (Parasol Protectorate Series #2) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine Parasol Protectorate #3 Turning everything the scientific world knows on its head, Alexia flees to Italy after losing all of her existing protections.
Blameless (Parasol Protectorate Series #3) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine Parasol Protectorate #4 Alexia is back and restoring order to England, this time saving the queen from a conspiracy whispered by a mad ghost.
Heartless (Parasol Protectorate Series #4) by Gail Carriger, Paperback
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine Parasol Protectorate #5 Alexia and Conall go back to where it all started…Egypt. Here's where everything starts and here's where everything changes.
Timeless (Parasol Protectorate Series #5) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine | Custard Protocol #1 The world of the Parasol Protectorate continues with the story of Alexia and Conall's daughter, who is one of the most interesting and unique individuals in the known world. In this series, Prudence receives an airship and so the reader is brought al...
Prudence (Custard Protocol Series #1) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine | Custard Protocol #2 The dirigible returns to Egypt, where it all started. I loved the callbacks to events and characters first raised in Timeless (the Parasol Protectorate). The Spotted Custard also gets to explore more of Africa towards the source of the Nile and the d...
Imprudence (Custard Protocol Series #2) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine | Custard Protocol #3 This book is the first that focuses on the Tunstell twins - telling the story of Primrose who has been dragged into every scrap and scrape by Rue. It is a queer love story and told so beautifully in the world building that was created in the previous...
Competence (Custard Protocol Series #3) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Sassy Heroine | Custard Protocol #4 The Spotted Custard goes to Japan and we meet yet another shifter world. This book also ties back into the prequel series, Finishing School.
Reticence (Custard Protocol Series #4) by Gail Carriger
England | Female Detective This flips the usual Sherlock Holmes stories by introducing Charlotte Holmes who solves crimes under the Sherlock name. It adds another layer of nuance when you layer in how sheltered women are in Victorian England.
A Study in Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock Series #1) by Sherry Thomas
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Finishing School #1 This is a prequel series to the Parasol Protectorate and it's a really interesting view of the world and mechanicals. It introduces our plucky heroine and her band of friends and introduces us to a world where finishing school means finishing everyth...
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Series #1) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Finishing School #2 What do you expect to happen when you run a school for spies? Sophronia begins to learn more about how her world at school impacts the broader world and the society they live in.
Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School Series #2) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Finishing School #3 Sophronia and friends are returning their classmate to the werewolf pack she grew up with, but instead stumble (characteristically) into a plot that will throw their society into chaos. While finishing school agents may enter service under a number o...
Waistcoats & Weaponry (Finishing School Series #3) by Gail Carriger
Fantasy | Steampunk England + Supernaturals | Finishing School #4 The thrilling conclusion to Finishing School (besides the standalone novellas featuring some of the women in the school). Sophronia must use all of her talents to save her friends, her school, and London.
Manners & Mutiny (Finishing School Series #4) - Barnes & Noble
Read and would re-read: Non-fiction
Entertaining non fiction | Business | Movies and Entertainment Really interesting read to get a behind the scenes look at the development of some of your favorite movies... Also presents interesting examples about how to infuse more creativity in the work you do and how to create a work environment that fosters...
Creativity, Inc. - Ed Catmull
Nonfiction | Indigenous Wisdom | Nature | Interconnectedness with Environment I actually didn't read this book, it was one that I listened to as an audiobook narrated by the author. While I typically dislike audiobooks, I do enjoy them for nonfiction...
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer
Self-Improvement | Easy-to-follow I really liked how Designing Your Life takes design thinking and makes it applicable to everyday life. It's an easy read but thought provoking and I would recommend shelling out a little more for the accompanying wor...
Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life - Bill Burnett, Dave Evans
The companion workbook to Designing Your Life so you can follow along.
The Designing Your Life Workbook - Bill Burnett, Dave Evans
Anatomy | Self-Improvement | Sexual Health | Female Empowerment
If your public school sex ed was anything like mine, this is an eye opening book. It covers the physical and emotional aspects of our wonderful, amazing sexual organs that are too often buried under social stigma. Knowing thyself is so important - an...
Come As You Are: Revised and Updated - Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.
Social Justice | Worldviews | Anti-racism I actually didn't read this book, but instead listened to the audio book which was read by the author. I would recommend doing the same because the words have extra power when its read by its writer and you can hear how he pronounces them when emphas... Really interesting read and very thought provoking - led to some deep introspection. I read this in the summer of 2020 shortly after there was a large focus and presence on the US and the way it deals with its racist past.
How to Be an Antiracist -Ibram X. Kendi
To be read: Romance Fiction
Contemporary Romance | South Asian Family
From Barnes and Noble: This delightful debut rom-com follows the adventures of a woman trying to connect with her South Asian roots and introduces readers to a memorable cast of characters in a veritable feast of food, family traditions, and fun.
Sari, Not Sari - Sonya Singh
Romance | Contemporary
From Barnes and Noble: What she doesn't know about love could fill a book. With a successful career as a romance editor, and an engagement to a man who checks off all ninety-nine boxes on her carefully curated list, Lanie's more than good. She's killing it. Then she’s give...
By Any Other Name - Lauren Kate
Romance | Fiction |
From Barnes & Noble: Glamorous enough to enchant any reader, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a glimpse into the life of a Hollywood starlet better known for her romantic endeavors off the screen. At the heart of this scandalous novel is the bond between two lovers f...
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Contemporary romance | Magic | Lighthearted romance | #1 in series
From Barnes & Noble: Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch—daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family "feedback," Danica made a pact with her cousin: they'll...
Witch Please - Ann Aguirre
Contemporary romance | Magic | Lighthearted romance | #2 in series
From Barnes & Noble: Clementine Waterhouse is a perfectly logical witch. She doesn't tumble headlong into love. Rather she weighs the pros and cons and decides if a relationship is worth pursuing. At least that's always been her modus operandi before. Clem prefers being ...
Boss Witch - Ann Aguirre, Paperback
Historical Fiction | Bolshevik Revolution
From Barnes and Noble: In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has neve...
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
To be read: Literary Fiction
Historical fiction | Family saga | Korean Americans
From Barnes & Noble: In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant—and that her lover is married—she ...
Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
Contemporary fiction | Chinese Americans | Family Secrets
From Barnes & Noble: Set in modern Shanghai, a debut by a Chinese-American writer about a prodigal son whose unexpected return forces his newly wealthy family to confront painful secrets and unfulfilled promises. After years of chasing the American dream, the Zhen family...
What We Were Promised - Lucy Tan
Literary Fiction | Family | Adventure
From Barnes & Noble: The paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox uproots his family from their New England farm to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they've left. An individualist, Allie sees modern America as wasteful,...
The Mosquito Coast - Paul Theroux
To be read: Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction | WW1 |
From Barnes & Noble: Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit sixty-four nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows that the young nurses serving near the front lines of will face a challenging ...
The War Nurse: A Novel - Tracy Enerson Wood
Historical fiction | Irish Revolution | Mystery
From Barnes & Noble: A producer at the BBC and mother to a new baby, Tessa is at work in Belfast one day when the news of another raid comes on the air. The IRA may have gone underground in the two decades since the Good Friday Agreement, but they never really went away,...
Northern Spy: A Novel - Flynn Berry
Historical fiction | WW2 | Based on true story
From Barnes & Noble: Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet seems to have the perfect life with her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into the city, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, ... Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, ...
The Paris Library - Janet Skeslien Charles
Historical fiction | WW2 | Children of the Holocaust
From Barnes & Noble: Berlin, 1939. Before everything changed, Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. But now the streets of Berlin are draped in ominous flags; her family’s fine possessions are hauled away; and they are no longer welcome in the places they once considere... New York, 2014. On her twelfth birthday, Anna Rosen receives a mysterious package from an unknown relative in Cuba, her great-aunt Hannah. Its contents inspire Anna and her mother to travel to Havana to learn the truth about their family’s mysterious...
The German Girl - Armando Lucas Correa
Historical Fiction | WW2 | Children of the Holocaust
From Barnes & Noble: In 1936, the Nazi are little more than loud, brutish bores to fifteen-year old Stephan Neuman, the son of a wealthy and influential Jewish family and budding playwright whose playground extends from Vienna’s streets to its intricate underground tunne...
The Last Train to London: A Novel
To be read: Non-fiction
Entertaining Non-Fiction | History | Iceland
From Barnes & Noble: The history of Iceland began 1,200 years ago, when a frustrated Viking captain and his useless navigator ran aground in the middle of the North Atlantic. Suddenly, the island was no longer just a layover for the Arctic tern. Instead, it became a nati...
How Iceland Changed the World - Egill Bjarnason
Entertaining non-fiction | Cultural terrorism
From Barnes & Noble: In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that ...
“Part history, part scholarly adventure story, and part journalist survey...Joshua Hammer writes with verve and expertise” (The New York Times Book Review) about how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist from the legendary city of Timbuktu, became one o...
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu - Joshua Hammer
Entertaining non-fiction | Somali piracy crisis
From Barnes & Noble: All would still be there, were it not for Colonel John Steed, a retired British military attaché, who launched his own private mission to free them. At 65, Colonel Steed was hardly an ideal saviour. With no experience in hostage negotiations and no m...
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Colin Freeman
I've been thinking a lot about financial freedom and literacy, and I really appreciated Ramit's show on Netflix as an introduction. I don't know yet that I agree with his entire method, but I'm open to exploring the workbook and working through it fi...
I Will Teach You to Be Rich: The Journal: No Complicated Math. No More Procrastinating. Design Your Rich Life Today.
To be Read: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Veronica Speedwell #1 Interesting premise of an orphaned girl ready to resume world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry in Victorian England with a mysterious past.
A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell Series #1)
The daughter of a samurai, forced by virtue of being born a girl to hider her cunning and skills, is attacked on the way to meeting her chosen betrothed. As the only survivor, she escapes and plots revenge, infiltrating the group that attacked her co...
Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist Series #1) by Renee Ahdieh