#sbos

1.       All’s Well by Mona Awad (tw for addiction, college professor puts on a production of All’s Well That Ends Well with mysterious benefactors)

2.       We Hunt the Flame and its sequel We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal (Arab-inspired fantasy world)

3.       The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale (character-driven ballet drama)

4.       House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (perfect balance of creepy and feminine)

5.       Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (everyone already knows this one, I know, but it’s so good)

6.       Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl (it’s hard to discuss this one without spoilers, so I won’t, but this author is excellent)

7.       The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Woman tries to uncover the truth about Vlad the Impaler)

8.       The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas (I know I’m late to the party on this, but it’s so good)

9.       Unlock Your Storybook Heart by Amanda Lovelace (poetry collection)

10.    The Belles by Dhionelle Clayton (What if plastic surgery, but magic?)

11.    Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (retelling of Taming of the Shrew)

12.    A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat (Thai-inspired retelling of Les Mis)

13.    Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough et al. (retelling of Little Women)

14.    The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (reread, but newly rated 5 stars, Think Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, but mostly light and fluffy with a gay romance)

15.    Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe (retelling of The Tempest)

16.    The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegal (tw for death of a minor, a group of au pairs experience Paris)

17.    Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (cute lesbian romance, third in a series_

18.    Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall (regency gay romance)

19.    Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (lesbian romance, quintessential lesbian reading)

20.    Sailing by Orion’s Star by Katie Crabb (seriously so good, if you read anything on this list, read this, Les Mis meets Robin Hood set during the Golden Age of Piracy)

21.    Gallant by V.E. Schwab (feels similar to Coraline, but less creepy)

22.    Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (retelling of the Ramayana, featuring one of its villains)

23.    Ballots and Barricades by Ronald Aminzade (academic text about class politics in France during the 1800s)

24.    Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman (poetry collection)

25.    The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (woman solves her father’s murder, featuring an old map)

26.    Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (think The Good Place, but gay)

27.    Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (cute lesbian romance)

28.    A Bite-Sized History of France by Stephanie Henaut and Jeni Mitchell

29.    King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye (retelling of Hamlet)

30.    Portrait of a Thief by Grace Li (Heist with an all-Asian cast)

31.    Ship of Theseus by Doug Dorst (basically an epistolary text between two college students trying to uncover the identity of an elusive author)

32.    Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (A poisonous princess learns to navigate her world)

33.    Macbeth by Jo Nesbo (MAJOR tw for drug use, what if Macbeth was a cop and Hecate was a drug lord?)

34.    Guardians of the Louvre by Jiro Taniguchi (translated comic about a man and his experiences in the Louvre and meeting artists)

35.   Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf (Scrabble tournament but add murder)

36.   Elektra by Jennifer Saint (feminist myth retelling, which is what Jennifer Saint does best)

Unprompted Kisses || Always Accepting!

@oadventurescall

Terence feels his heart take flight and soar at such a soft show of affection from his prince. It's a small and simple little kiss, but it sends blood rushing through him like a surge of adrenaline, and he finds himself wanting just a bit more.

So, boldly, he reaches forward and cups Dion's face within his hands. His eyes make contact with the breathtaking honey of Dion's, and leans forward to kiss him again.

I normally only post my 5-star list to facebook and I might also do that here, but I wanted to do something extra. 

I don’t want to say how many books I’ve read so far this year because it’s frankly a little embarrassing because the number is so high.

Here we go!

best book you’ve read so far? Ship of Theseus by Doug Dorst. It’s literally indescribable.

best sequel you’ve read so far? We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

new releases you want to read? Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean, The Hacienda by Isabel Canas (which I just got notified came in on hold), Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond, Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Change by Kirsten Miller, This is Not the Real World by Anna Carey, Out of the Blue by Jason June, Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour, Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen, A Little Bit Country by Brian Kennedy, and The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver

 most anticipated to still be released in 2022? Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber, Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong, Bloodmarked by Tracey Deonn, and The Shattered City by Lisa Maxwell

biggest disappointment? Hotel Magnifique by Emily Taylor. I heard it was so good and it’s a beautiful book, just poorly written

biggest surprise? Macbeth by Jo Nesbo. I finally finished the Hogarth Shakespeare series, and a lot of them were mediocre, but I was really impressed with this one.

new favorite author? Amanda Bestor-Siegal (The Caretakers)

new fictional crush? Claire from Delilah Green Doesn’t Care

new favorite character? Rene Delacroix from Sailing By Orion’s Star by Katie Crabb

a book that made you cry? The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

a book that made you happy? Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

most beautiful book you’ve bought? Either Fairyopolis (found for $3 while thrifting) or the MinaLima Harry Potters