Having never read Lindy West before I wasn‘t sure what I was in for, Shrill has been on my tbr list forever. I decided to start here and go into this with fresh eyes and it was great. I love how she takes something small and makes huge important points out of them like love of Adam Sandler and playing video games. I loved her breakdown of twitter and what it‘s like being a fat woman on the Internet at any time. I really enjoyed reading this!

I don‘t really know where to start describing this book. It‘s fantastic for one, it‘s a memoir for two, and it‘s written in a style I‘ve never quite seen before. Her story of domestic abuse in a queer relationship and insight on living through it and studying it blew me away and made me cry. Her happy ending is deserved. If you are looking to read a nonfiction book this one left me confounded and amazed I highly recommend it for the story telling!

Zappia knows the way to my heart with her characters and this one included ghost! I saw this book in the store and it was a total impulse buy for October and I honestly thought it was an Addams Family spin-off, but no it was so much better! Zora sees ghost, and fights firestarters, she‘s sad, her moms missing, dads in prison, so much going on. The atmosphere and characters just come together to make a perfect spooky Halloween read!

A Library in Hell for unfinished works, who wouldn‘t love that dramatic concept? Then add in Claire the emotionally damaged librarian, Brevity her muse assistant, Leto a human who thinks he‘s a demon with amnesia, and a Hero from a book on an adventure to save the library in hell! Lots of villains to dig through, realm jumping, scary parts, and enough emotional upheaval to make me fall in love! It‘s definitely one of my favorite books of 2019!

Let me preface this by saying I‘d read a grocery list if Leigh Bardugo wrote it, I love her stories! Alex is mean, and bad, and perfect, a character thats been through hell and comes out fighting. I loved her so much! Dawes is the introvert I feel inside mixed with social anxiety and badass! This is urban fantasy with a few scares and a mystery added into this epic magical world I need to dive in and read more of! When is the sequel coming out?

This was so much fun to read and perfect for the spooky season! I always loved Poe in high school but it had been forever since I‘d read his stories and this book has them all laid out in the back with the reimagined works in the front. I flipped back and forth for every story and my favorites was the Annabel retelling and Lygia retelling, least favorite the Fall of the House Usher retelling. Also the black out Raven by Amanda Lovelace was great!

It‘s October! It‘s spooky book season! And this ain‘t it! I want ghost, I want monsters, I want horror and weird, and I thought the synopsis said it had all that but it was wrong! Instead it had a weird twist that I hated. By page 300 I was skimming the dialogue till the last 2 chapters because I no longer cared, I couldn‘t stay invested. The nature of this book will make it very polarizing, you either love it or hate it and sadly I hated it.

Gearing up for Halloween picked up a monster book to end September and start October and didn‘t love it! It suffers from the same thing most novellas do, there‘s so much story and not enough info for the story. I wanted more monsters and got more romance which I didn‘t hate but it wasn‘t fully fleshed out so I didn‘t get to enjoy it either. I‘ll read other books she writes and this was fun but maybe next time there will be more!

This is a book inside of a book with info dumping and dramatic villains and lots of words that took FOREVER to read. At the end it got exciting and lots of stuff was happening but the beginning wasn‘t worth the trip. There is also a couple trigger warnings for animal violence and self harm for the use of magic and it all adds up to an okay book that I‘m not mad I read but nothing to shout the roof off about either. I was glad to read the ending.

As everything Amanda Lovelace writes is amazing, so is this! It‘s one I can connect with but not on the level of Princess which is my favorite poetry book! Her writing is good and self care is recommended. Her story with her mother is heartbreaking and often a major part of her poetry, this one is no different discussing grief, letting go and, forgiveness. It‘s also heartwarming in the same book opening up both sides of the story.

A future where space travel to habitable planets is possible with new species to discover! It sounds fun and exciting but it was really just okay. I‘m not fond of the ending, which usually wouldn‘t bother me but really didn‘t work with this book. The main characters thoughts were interesting and did remind me of Long Way‘s main character but I needed more dialogue. I ended up wishing I‘d spent my night on something that I felt had a point to it.

Oh my god! I don‘t even know what I read besides it was the weirdest thing ever and I loved it. Gideon is amazing. I cannot express my feelings besides incomprehensible screaming! At first I was a little confused but as the world built and the excitement and suspense I got so invested. Gideon is just so sad, but perfect, hilarious, and amazing! I want to know these characters, I need the next book now, I want to live in this gothic horror show!

I was finally inspired to finish a book and Victoria Schwab was just the answer! I love Casa and Jacob, meeting new friends, roaming Paris, and the creepy atmosphere! The cover is perfect for this story, I just want to jump in and join in on their ghost hunts. This one surrounds a scarier ghost that‘s a poltergeist and a sad story down in the catacombs. I‘m in love with this middle grade series, perfect for Halloween and want the next right now!

I started this craving more historical romance and that‘s exactly what I got, expect sort of bland. Raphe is a dock worker and a bare knuckle boxer who learns he‘s a duke some how and Gabriella is a lady with a scandalous family who can‘t love a scandalous man too. It‘s okay, just average on what I usually read, I probably won‘t remember the characters in 15 minutes and there was no steam. It was okay, if somewhat over done and almost boring.

Hattie is my favorite romance heroine ever, she‘s strong, feisty, amazing and I‘m more than a little in love with her myself. The Year of Hattie kicked off with a strong start and an even stronger finish. I was unsure of how Beast would be as a hero but I ended up loving the ending. I had a few quibbles mainly with the fact no one communicates in romance novels and life would be so much simpler if they did but the happy ending is worth reading!

Tessa Dare can do no wrong when it comes to romance and this is no exception. Penny is strong, lovable, and so funny with all the animals. Gabriel is ruthless, conniving, and my favorite bad guy hero I‘ve ever read next to Chase in this same series. There was a hard story line running through this series I was so nervous at first but then just glad penny got the life she deserved and wanted. It‘s one of my favorite happy ever afters!

Maybe because it‘s baseball season that I want to make a stupid reference and say this book hit it out of the park! It is one of my favorite romances of the year, light, funny, with a great heroine! I didn‘t know how I would feel about the clown bit at first but it was fun! Travis hot and but the sex scenes were so steamy, had me blushing. I usually don‘t like the adult virgin storyline but I rolled with it and really enjoyed reading this book.

I decided to spend shark week reading about the U.S.S. Indianapolis and some of the heroes of WWII. It‘s a fascinating piece of history with heart breaking consequences and survivor accounts that deserve to be told. This book is personal, devastating, and also honest about so many mistakes made but not on who actually took the blame and his exoneration. I loved every page and am so glad I picked it up. It never should be about the sharks.

This was a solid written book with tons of body horror but an unsatisfying, unfinished ending. I loved the characters and I wanted it to go somewhere and it just didn‘t which I guess that‘s okay. It‘s not a book for everyone with horrid characters and missing eyes. The horror element is very Annihilation mixed with a female Lord of the Flies at boarding school and if you like those novels I suggest this one too. Overall a solid 3 star novel.

The Reluctant Royals series is my absolute favorite ever and this book is just adds to the love. Johan is just a perfect cinnamon roll that deserves all the love and therapy. Nya is strong, smart, and beautiful and my second favorite heroine in this series next to Portia. I loved the fake engagement storyline with an ambivalent beginning into happily ever after. I loved the updates on and meeting Johans family. Just the whole book was amazing.

Probably my favorite Wilde of the Lindow castle! Betsy is amazing, she‘s fun, she‘s sometime broken, and wild without the E. Jeremy is handsome, broken, and one of my favorite romance heroes because once he finds what he wants he doesn‘t let problems change his mind! I loved the drama and fun in this story, who doesn‘t love a good love triangle? Where have those been? I want more from this family, and this author! It‘s been a fun romance weekend!

The end of this fun series and probably my favorite! Enemies to lovers, secret dating, fun troupes all around! Also because I‘m in the middle of wedding planning myself I loved the mixed in drama of Alexa and Drew. It was just fun, and cute, and adorably romantic with lots of pizza included! Maddie was energetic the perfect love interest to Theo‘s quiet and smart! I need so much more from this author!

I love Leigh Bardugo. I was so happy to fall right back into the grishaverse and having Nina as a MC just filled all the holes in my heart. Nikolai is a war hero, trouble filled, love of a man I wanted to give a big hug to and let take a nap. Zoya is amazing and I need her happy ending. The main story here is that shock of an ending that I can‘t get over. I usually hate cliffs but I happily dived right off this one wanting more cause it‘s Bardugo!

I‘m so excited to have this graphic novel in my hands. The artwork is gorgeous, the writing fascinating and to read Maxim‘s story is a dream come true. I need all the things from the Shades of Magic world. V.E. Schwab is my favorite author and she writes pirates so well and Isra is a character I didn‘t know I needed much like Lila. I also loved the villain, she‘s so dramatic and horrid and I kind of love her for being her awful self.

Dessen has this uncanny ability to gut me and then put me back to pieces just with words. I grew up with her stories, fell in love with her characters, glad to see her worlds mesh and this book is no different. Emma Saylor hurt my heart but I knew that ending would just make me happy, and I was right. Roo is adorable and just the best lake kid every. I want a whole other book just with these characters, I want more of their story!

This was something. Tana French with magic is actually a really good comparison because I get the same kind of oh no feelings. It‘s a murder mystery set in a magical school and the main character has no magic and it‘s just tumbles down. I need a sequel, I want to follow this character into her next mystery. I wanted a different ending but also really love the one we got. It‘s just a good book, it‘s hard, fast, dramatic, I wanted to keep reading!

This is the most fun middle grade series I‘ve read in a long time! Morrigan is so relatable and fun and sometimes heartbreaking. I love the adventure, the friendship, the magic and learning all about wunder! I want to jump in and meet these fun kids and it‘s a book that brings out the happy! I need so many more in this series!

A new favorite book of 2019! This is pure fan fiction of what everything after 2016 should have been with a male male romance thrown in for the sexy fun. Henry and Alex were wonder, I laughed a lot, cried some for the world we could have, and just loved this book. Now where‘s Nora and June and Bea‘s stories?!? I need them now!

The most fun and the most emotional in this series, I loved this book! Lucia was so human and Tom just so lovable. His boyishness and playfulness was what made this the most fun of the series and I want more of their story. Also this is the steamiest mainly because the emotional connection felt more real to the characters. The build up to their relationship, their banter, and conversations felt like actual bonding. I need more Eva Leigh books!

This was a fun read through smuggling and law breaking with love in the mix! Tamsyn just wants to save the day and she‘s not sure how it‘ll come about, and Kit just needs some money. They find that in each other and also romance, surprises, lots of the good stuff. I loved Kit, he‘s roguish but broken and he‘s provably one of my favorite hero‘s in historicals that I‘ve ever read. It‘s just a good book, I don‘t really want the series to end.

Another fun romance but this time the woman‘s the criminal and the mans an honor bound duke who has gotten swindled! I loved that twist and Cassandra, but I wish she‘d have accepted herself more, who doesn‘t love a villain? Alex is the Duke of Greyland in love but doesn‘t know how to be loved and the HEA for him is really touching. I love the cover of this novel, and I love the odd adventure and can‘t wait to read the rest of the series!

There was so much emotional depth in this book the heartbreak, the past mistakes, I was surprised and emotionally invested in this story. Finn was amazing and loving and broken, and Vivi was strong, broken, and also so amazing. I loved how they clearly aren‘t meant for each other yet they love each other anyways. Love is work, opposites attract and then you have to fight for the relationship. It‘s an HEA, it‘s romance, what more is there to want?

I love historical romance. I could spend my life reading nothing but historicals with the same storylines over and over just different names. I haven‘t found one I don‘t just outright love yet and this one fits that bill too. Gillie is strong and sad and I want the whole world for her Thorne is manly and in love. I wasn‘t as fond of the poetic language during the kissing scenes but it‘s romance, what else is there to expect?

I started this book and finished it in one night. I love historical fiction and this is a time frame that isn‘t written about often. I loved the political element mixed with the personal feelings because it‘s often forgotten politics have real effects. Beatriz is such a strong character with big feelings and I loved reading from her perspective. Her knowledge of her dreams and willing to move over for those she loved was so admirable. I need more!

This hunk of a book took forever to read but was so good. I can‘t articulate how much I loved it. Ead is amazing, Sabran is amazing, even Tané who isn‘t amazing is amazing. The world building is so incredibly detailed, to the food they ate, how they slept, and what they wore. The dragons were the enemies and the friends and I need a sequel now! I want to know what happens, 10 years to the day. Also you will get a book hangover, worth it!

This book was fun and so good. I hope Leckie expands this story with more books because I loved the characters and need to know what happens next. The writing style was odd at first but once you figure out who‘s talking it gets so much better. I suggest reading the physical copy because there‘s no character change break on audio. If you love epic fantasy with hidden POVs this is a good pick it reminded me of The Fifth Season but slightly better.

This had such a good start, there was world building and fun criminals and then it went sideways to down right bad. I don‘t want to spoil anything, so I won‘t but the mystery was kind of ridiculous, and I really didn‘t like the twist. I love standalone fantasy so I did enjoy the fast paced movement of the book even if I didn‘t enjoy where it ended. Keralie was a good main character and I did enjoy the queens, it wasn‘t a total bust. So-so fits.

Such a sad poetic book that just... speaks to the state of America in the 1970s to today really. Still relevant both for the wrongful imprisonments but some on how women are often treated. It‘s good, it‘s hard, and I love the way Baldwin puts his words together. Now I plan on watching the movie.

This meet the band, where are they now fictional book set in the 70s blew me away. Just... I‘m reading at work and completely forgot what I was suppose to be doing. Daisy is so real you feel like you can touch her, Billy is perfect and awful. I loved their relationship and the band! Karen is so strong, Graham deserves love and god Eddie is pretentious. Every word had me on the edge of my emotions. I want to eat it, it feels so real. I love it!

This poetry series has meant so much to me and to see it end is sad but so good at the same time. Princess just put pieces of me together, witch called to my fire, and mermaid is about healing hurts we don‘t know how to get past. Lovelace told her story mixed with fantasy and fairytales and opened up so many people to the world of hurt women go through and it‘s amazing. I love mermaids!

Did I just read a style guide on writing for fun? Yes! Did I enjoy it like a textbook on grammar? Yes! It‘s fun but also full of grammar and rules so I don‘t think this would be for everybody. There are fun witticisms along with the rules and stories of copy editing through the 90s to now so it‘s kind of got a memoir feel but it‘s mostly grammar.

This book! Angie Thomas definitely does not suffer from the sophomore slump with her second novel. This is imaginative and fun and emotional and all the things a good book should be. I cried and laughed and she knows how conversations flow to make every page feel real. I loved the look at the city after THUG, I love Bri, I loved the real struggles Thomas wrote about being poor and the world around you seems to be making it. Honest, the best book.

This was the most fun middle grade with a morbid main character named Morrigan Crow and her upbeat friend Hawthorne! It gave me Harry Potter feels with magic and unicorns and it just hit all my mushy feeling spots with the ending! I hope this series never ends and I can‘t wait to read the next one!

A dystopian end of the world novel about a Chinese immigrant pregnant main character named Candace Chen just trying to survive. It was a weird juxtaposition between her going to work and everyone else forgetting and turning into non-violent zombies then hanging out with this group also trying to survive and looting. I liked it, didn‘t love it. It is better but in the same vein as Future Home of the Living God though.

Starting off the year with a bang and a little murder! This book is short and fun, full of stories about an elderly lady named Maud who just wants to be left alone for the most part. I loved it! She‘s funny, she‘s conniving, and she‘s a cold blooded killer. I don‘t know what else anyone would want, it‘s great! Also fits the translation challenge for #Readharder2019

I‘m still trying to read nonfiction through November and I‘ve got a few graphic novel memoirs and this one was on top. It‘s a fast read with a big impact on how addiction and a broken family effects the kids in the situation. It‘s about how those kids can grow up to become successful adults who still love their parents. His attachment to his grandparents means a lot to me as someone who adores my own. It‘s heartwarming and the art is fantastic.

A memoir by a girl who was sexually assaulted and her struggle to defend herself and tell her story while still being respected. It was good, I cried, it was hard to read because she does go into details of her rape and the extreme depression and panic she dealt with afterwards. But it‘s mostly a book about hope, about healing, about making friends and surviving after tragedy. She‘s strong and more women deserve to have their stories told.

This book was amazing, the inside look at her life from childhood to the days after the White House was delightful and could be serious but fun to read. Her commitment to her family while striving for independence and learning how to balance was something I think all women would enjoy reading. Her real take on the depression after 2016 was telling of her character and her dedication to her causes shows what anyone can be. I really loved this book.

Who knew I‘d be left crying at the end of a book about a library fire? My tears have a lot to do with the acknowledgement at the end but the book is wonderful. I loved the way she tells the story from the beginning to the fire in 1986 to now with the people who help keep the library running. It was delightful, informative and I feel like I got to visit a chunk of the world I‘ll probably never see with my own eyes. It‘s what I love about reading.

Well that was a twist! I wasn‘t thrilled with the characters in this novel, they all felt very on the service and shallow. I did end up enjoying the ending with the unreliability of several narrators. Also I don‘t really enjoy police officer characters and they didn‘t necessarily add to the story for me, more from the husband would have been better. It was a good interesting mystery and I enjoy this author as it‘s the second I‘ve read of hers.