Remember all those months ago when I said I was making my comeback to the blogging community?
Well, clearly it didn’t happen. But I’m back, most likely irregular still, but I wanted to talk about all the books I’ve read so far! I’m about seven books behind on my Goodreads book goal for this year, which is 70 books, but I’m planning on taking all the reading energy I’ve got right now to catch up (fingers crossed).
I’ve had some major life events happen this year, as I’m sure many others had, and that really set me back on my reading goal. I’m trying not to let it affect me too much and I’m hoping I won’t break and change my reading goal to 50 books, but we’ll see in the coming months. Speaking of coming months, does anyone else really feel that conspiracy theory of us living in a simulation even stronger now? Just me? Okay.
Books I really enjoyed
- Turtles All the Way Down by John Green: No surprise here! Although there were a lot of mixed feelings about John Green’s fifth novel, I enjoyed it. It was an easy read with a lot of heart and good intentions and great writing. What’s not to like there?
- Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett: I always appreciate Jenn Bennett’s love stories; they build well and I always get tingly reading her books.
- Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill: My first thriller-y book that I can remember. I loved the MC’s perspective on everything and the pacing of the story and untangling it.
- Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland: This novel was so poetic to me, from the characters to their motives to the setting descriptions, ugh. I could read this book again and fall in love again.
- The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan: Two words: Briggs Henry. That’s it. I’ve discovered the best male voice in a young adult book ever, and it’s Briggs Henry’s voice.
- American Panda by Gloria Chao: Super cute! Asian representation! Nice and easy writing!
- A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen: A beautiful story with a lot of heart, I loved reading the story play out and seeing where things went between the two characters. Even if I knew how it would play out, I stayed with the story because of how good it is!
- Autoboyography by Christina Lauren: The relationship between the two MCs! LGBTQIA+ representation set in a very positive relationship that also showcased growth between two individuals.
- Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz: I always feel like this is a watered down version of Call Me By Your Name, even though the two stories are told totally differently and have no connection whatsoever, but Ari & Dante are two gorgeous characters I could spend all my time with if I could.
- Let’s Talk about Love by Claire Kann: So incredibly diverse, from an ace woman of color MC to a Filipino best friend to a Japanese (from what I remember) significant other. I loved that this story didn’t focus on explaining asexuality, but just had a character with an obstacle she needed to get over, if that makes any sense.
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin: James Baldwin is a legend, that’s all.
- Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index by Julie Israel: A fresh take on an old tale involving death in a family, a sister learning to get through it, and building friendships.
- The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis: Boy friendships! I love it.
- Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo: One of the few adult novels I read this year. I loved reading about a different culture’s way of life and how partners in marriage deal with their obstacles. It was quite dramatic but in a good way!
- Noteworthy by Riley Redgate: My first Riley Redgate novel and I really enjoyed it! I’m happy about how diverse Redgate wrote the novel to be, and am equally happy that the MC was constantly questioning everything about herself. At the age she was at, I was questioning everything, still am really, so it just made her voice more authentic.
- The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding: So cute, lovely character development and story telling, LGBTQIA+ and Latinx representation!
- Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner: A really wholesome love story!
- Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee: I’m squealing, I love the friendships in this story and Tash really stole my heart. She reminds me so much of myself.
- The History of Jane Doe by Michael Belanger: Heart breaking but also very laugh out loud funny. Each character was so important. A very fresh take on stories like Looking for Alaska.
Books I did not vibe with
- The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma: Really lovely writing, I just kept drifting off or spacing out because I don’t normally read magical realism and this book kept confusing me.
- Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han: This was cute but I didn’t feel like this series needed to stretch out to three books, or two for that matter.
- Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan: Yikes, the problematic jumped out! Slut-shaming, a really downright mean character with no real significance, and just overall bland story telling. I was very disappointed in this book, especially because this includes LGBTQIA+ Muslim representation, and I’m sure it wasn’t meant to portray anything negative of both parties.
- Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler: A big yawn. Not bad per say, I just would’ve enjoyed this if I was younger.
- Keep Her by Leora Krygier: Really pretty writing but I couldn’t connect to any of the characters, which is a shame because I feel like this story had some good intentions.
- Perennials by Mandy Berman: Really confusing most of the time because of how often it would jump perspectives.
- #PrettyBoy Must Die by Kimberly Reid: I was so sad I didn’t have fun reading this! I recommend this to anyone middle grade, though!
- The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes: There was nothing really worth remembering about this book.
- The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander: I think I could’ve enjoyed this more, but I just felt how unnecessarily slow the pacing of this was.
Book I could not finish
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent: More like My Absolute Last Choice of a Book to Read, Even if It Was the Last Piece of Literature Available to Me. You can see I have strong feelings about this one.
And that’s all, folks! I know, really wordy, not very gif-y, but I figured if you didn’t wanna read any of my opinions, you would’ve been gone by now.
See anything you wanna re-discuss? Maybe your favorite that I hated, or trash you found treasure in? Let me knowww!
ericka on paper 
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