I can always trust KJ Charles to get me out of a reading slump. What a great leading pair, and I love the ongoing mystery that threads through the trilogy. The series takes inspiration from Victorian penny dreadfuls and it's delicious.

This charming little book was first published in 1938 and has aged remarkably well. The rules of charm really boil down to two things: be considerate and be kind. The rest will follow naturally.

While I didn't agree with everything in this book (how I dress is my choice, thank you), for the most part I liked it as an exploration of how sex is tied to a lot of other things, and when used as directed, it fosters connections and love. Christianity has had a complex relationship with sex since always, and it's always nice to hear a religious leader reminding folks that it is not, in fact, evil or dirty or gross.

I will read basically anything Rob Bell writes. I thought this was a great exploration of some tough questions, and I'll definitely be picking up my Bible more often now, and with a broader approach. Bell's style is very verbal and engaging; his stuff is always a quick but very substation read.

Not gonna lie, even though I'd heard great things about this book, a review that said "this was too sexy for YA" is what made me buy it. I am ALWAYS here for a good Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I love dangerous fairies and the Tam Lin story and wicked queens Under the Mountain. Fantasy is hit or miss with me but I devoured this one and plan to read the rest of the series.

This book was super trippy and darker than I was expecting but very very good. Like Saving Hamlet, it combines Shakespeare with high school drama (of both the theatre and personal kind). This one is more intense, and the emotions are very raw, but I couldn't put it down. The literary implications of Jaye's hallucinations are FASCINATING.

Hamlet re-telling in 1920s Oregon where the Hamlet equivalent is a biracial girl and the Horatio equivalent is gay? SIGN. ME. UP. I couldn't put this book DOWN. There are SO MANY clever references to the source material but it remains a riveting book in its own right. Please read it.

I AM STILL CACKLING. This book was hysterical and delightfully written. It's a loving homage to/send-up of all sorts of Victorian genres, and it was an utter treat. It's a farce in book form, complete with ridiculous arguments and cleverly drawn characters. An airy, lighthearted read.

Omg this exchange I'M SCREAMING

This is me. Also this book is hilarious. #amreading

Y'ALL. This. book. was. so. good. I love YA and I love romance, but YA romance can get trite/unrealistic quite easily, in my opinion. THIS, however, was a delight. The emotions were very true to life and the slow burn was SO SATISFYING. What a great start-of-summer read!

Everything Courtney Milan writes is solid gold. Ned is dealing with what is probably bipolar disorder before anyone even knows what that is, and it's treated with such wonderful (and, in my experience, true to life) nuance about what that's like. Kate is fantastic and her "hobby" of helping wives escape their abusive husbands made me punch the air with patriarchy-smashing glee.

After seeing the new Beauty and the Beast in theatres three times I thought I'd put my French skills to some use and take a crack at the original. (I'm actually reading the Villeneuve version, which was first, but doesn't appear to be in Litsy's system.) So far it's an enjoyable endeavor! #amreading

This book is an awesome examination both of the history of single woman and how that history has impacted the perception of single women today. Well-researched and intersectional, it made me feel like a badass. Plus, I started singing Beyoncé every time I picked it up. Highly recommended!

I read this in one sitting, which I think is how it's meant to be read. Arresting and painful and hopeful. My book-mad fairytale Heart loved it.

(I'm still alive, I promise, I'm just also a college student at the end of the semester so what is free time?)

I side-eyed this book a bit at first because of the title (and because the last book I had to read for this class was too snarky for its own good) but I really liked the historical angle Postman took. The touches of humor lightened the read but weren't distracting.

I marathon read this one in less than 24 hours and it was worth every minute. Part memoir, part literary criticism, Keenan introduces some (very well supported) alternate readings of Shakespeare, while interweaving her personal journey with her sexuality and how Shakespeare and his characters have helped her. I'm SO GLAD I'm not the only person who imagines fictional characters giving me advice.

This is *probably* a satirical work but Andreas Capellanus wasn't quite funny enough so instead it's been read for hundreds of years as an instruction manual on how to get girls even though EVERY MAN IN IT is a WOMAN BLAMING JERK. You want to know where plenty of our worst social expectations surrounding love come from, read this. Anthropologically important, personally infuriating.

I read this in several sittings over an extended amount of time because I wanted to savor it. It's a beautifully produced volume of very different love stories, and I adored them all in their own way. (But if I had to pick a favorite, it's gotta be Ruined. I mean. Regency romance. Comic format. Come on, guys.)

KJ Charles does a simply masterful job incorporating historical events into her books. I love the Regency era but it's a shame that much of the political strife and cultural production is glossed over in romance because it's so INTERESTING. There was so much William Blake in this book, you guys. SO MUCH. Also Mary Shelley. I loved it.

Had to read this one for class. It was an easy go but I found the author rather pretentious.

"High school stage manager falls through a trapdoor and ends up at the Globe in 1601"--sign me up! A geeky, fluffy read. Don't think about the time travel logic too hard; enjoy the EXTREMELY ACCURATE depictions of high school theatre and the Shakespeare nerdery.

Yesssssss everything KJ Charles writes is like catnip for me. Class differences! Amazing historical accuracy! Reappearances from characters from earlier books! Queerness! Seriously. Queerness everywhere. What a mood improver. 😊

#amreading as a break from stressful school reading and also general world terribleness. Romance--and nice heroes--make me so happy. 🙂 #romantsy

Othello, the Moor of Venice; or, This Is Why We Don't Trust White Men.

I know this is a science fiction classic, but what with it being all about war and toxic masculinity and with Orson Scott Card being a bigot, I just wasn't about it. Not technically a bad book, but not my thing. Had to read it for class.

This book is going to remain very dear to my heart, I can tell. The concept--a modern retelling of The Canterbury Tales--is wonderfully executed and the intertextuality is AH-MAZING. Also, LGBTQIA main characters and a road trip! What's not to love?

I get to read so much cool stuff this semester! Sooooo pumped for my classes on Race in the Renaissance and Pre-Modern Love.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is sensual and whimsical and romantic and an absolute utter delight. I found the characters and the plot completely enchanting. And it has so many layers! I'm so glad I finally read it. What an amazing novel to start the year with!

This was a delight! It had just the right amount of emotion but was pretty low on angst (important for me right now) and all the characters made me so happy. (Except Mariana. I mean. Ugh.) I love all the female friendship in this book, which is a great subversion of most fairytales that only have room for one nice girl. A good book to finish the year with. #romantsy

Read this one for the first time and I TOTALLY get what all the fuss is about. Jessica is such a BADASS. Also, I love her grandmother. #romantsy

Good Lord, that was an emotional ride. Annie and Charles deserve that HEA so hard after everything they've been through. This is the second in a duology and I highly recommend it, along with the author's nonfiction book Come As You Are (published under the name Emily Nagoski). #romantsy

The last time I was this bounce-up-and-down excited about a new release was Sarah MacLean's latest! #romantsy

My favorite part of every Courtney Milan book is the giddy anticipation I get within the first few chapters of how awesome it's going to be when the hero and heroine finally get together. Like every other book I've read by her, this one has deeply endearing characters and crazy intense emotions. Highly recommended! #romantsy

My lovely parents know that book gifts are my fave gifts, and bless them for getting me something that I can come back to again and again!

Dusted and reorganized my home bookshelves today! (This is but a part of one of four towers.) That empty space is my current excuse to buy more books, as if I needed one. 📚😊📚

This book is saved from being depressingly too real by virtue of its UTTER HILARITY.

"I don't need to be showered
With chocolates and wine.
A text with proper grammar
Would do me just fine."

This is the story of how I died, killed by a book that was too clever and cute and funny and hot for my own good.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH if you need a smile or a pick-me-up or the literary equivalent of delicious cake, please read this book. #romantsy

This is 100% how I feel about my own red lipstick.

As an English major with a concentration in early Brit lit, this book was total catnip for me. So immersive! The alternation between Sarah's first person and her confessor's third person prevented the story from becoming too claustrophobic, as Sarah is confined to her anchorhold. There is a lot of guilt and shame (it's the Church in the Middle Ages, after all) but I found Sarah's growth beyond that to be IMMENSELY satisfying. Highly recommended.

"Even if his ministers have no mercy, God does."

GET IT, SARAH. YOU TELL THOSE PATRIARCHAL CHURCH LEADERS.

I also have to give a shout-out to the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. I love the Emma Thompson film, but this BBC production is SO TRUE to the book and so beautifully done. Also, it has Matthew Crawley, Mycroft Holmes, Mr. Weasley, Dakin from The History Boys, and That One Guy from a Doctor Who Christmas special. Britain has like twelve actors.

#favoriteaustenadaptation

I KNOW I KNOW the 2005 Pride and Prejudice streamlines a lot of the book and definitely plays up the rom-com elements but I love the music and I love the acting and it's so GOSH DARN PRETTY. Also, sometimes I don't have time to watch the six hour miniseries, even though Colin Firth will always be the King of Side-eye/Heart-eyes.

Happy birthday, dear Jane, my favorite author and source of constant comfort. #favoriteaustenadaptation

"Are women made to bear the kind of pain that crushes them underfoot like grass trampled into the soil?"

This was such a good one! I loved the French Revolution backstory and the art and the family dynamics and the CHEMISTRY and honestly I've been a sucker for "seducing the governess" ever since I read Jane Eyre. This is the fourth in a series but the first book in it that I read. Off to put the other three on the TBR! #romantsy

This book is breathtaking. It's the feminist examination of love I've been looking for, and has really helped me define what I want from a relationship and what I want from my own personal growth. I will definitely be passing this on to my mom and I wish I could give it to every woman I know.

Just finished writing a final paper (my LAST final paper of the semester) on this gem, which Jane Austen herself called "light, bright, and sparkling". I love Elizabeth and Darcy about as much as they love each other, mainly because they're so willing to become better people because it's the right thing to do, not just because they think it'll land them a spouse.

One short reflective essay and two take-home finals to go.

This book was amazeballs. I loved the story (I'm a sucker for both restaurants and fairy lore/house spirits) and the interaction between the narrator and the main character. I look forward to returning to this one on rainy days. Also, now I wanna read the entire Scott Pilgrim series (same author).

I'm filing this under #romantsy because of the feels-inducing central love story. (I owe my love of romance literature to the YA romances I started with, so teenage kissing books have a special place in my heart.)

I was already sold on the premise of a Thousand and One Nights retelling (don't worry, it's different enough that you won't get bored), but the excellent writing and wonderful characters are what have me scrambling to read the sequel.

Re-reading for class this week--our last book of the semester in YA Literature. Like most garden variety American high school graduates, my education re: Indians ended with the Trail of Tears. This book is not only a good novel but was an important read for my white ignorant teenage self. Also it's frequently banned, and I love sticking it to the man.

I love the narration choice in this book! It's about a young man on trial for being an accomplice to murder and it's written like a film script because he excelled in his film class at school. Walter Dean Meyers is such an important writer; I'm glad I finally read some of his work.