scaifea's 2024 Challenge

Hey, everybody!

I'm Amber, a one-time Classics professor, turned stay-at-home parent/lady of leisure, turned part-time library assistant, turned back into Classics professor, turned back to librarian. When I'm not at the library, I spend my time sewing, writing, knitting, baking, and, of course, reading.

I'm 48 going on 12 and live in Ohio with my husband, Tomm; our son, Charlie; and our two dogs: Mario the Golden Retriever and Agent Fitzsimmons the Border Collie.

This is my sixth year in the Category Challenge. I won't set any particular goals for my categories again this year, but instead just list the books I read in each one and see how many I get through. My categories are pretty much the same as last year, with a couple of small changes.

For my theme this year I'm going with some of my favorite villains. I do love a bad boy (or girl).

Currently Reading:


What I'm Reading Now:
-In the Key of Us (CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners)
-Gnomes (CAT#2: 1001 Fantasy Books You Must Read Before You Turn Into a Newt)
-My Hero Academia vol 16 (CAT#3: Manga)
-The Postman Always Rings Twice (CAT#4: Mysteries)
-A Little Village Blend (CAT#5: Romance)
-Year Million (CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist)
-Ghost Wall (CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist + CAT#7: Audiobooks + May RandomKIT: Art & Architecture)
-The Princess Saves Herself in This One (CAT#8: Beauty and the Beast Retellings)
-Sinner (CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies)
-Wayward Son (CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves)
-Dancing in the Streets (CAT#18: Library Display Books)
-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (BingoDOG#21: Reread a Favorite Book)

BingoDOG



1. featuring twins: Fangirl
2. epistolary or diary format: Attachments
3. featuring water: The Last Mapmaker
4. Written in another cultural tradition: My Hero Academia vol 14
5. a current or recent bestseller: Fourth Wing
6. on a topic about which you have specific knowledge: Babel
7. title contains a person's name: Anna and the Swallow Man
8. an ugly cover: N or M?
9. fewer than 100 copies on LT: Iveliz Explains It All
10. word "big" or "little" in title: Big
11. paper-based item in the plot: The Ten Thousand Doors of January
12. themed around food or cooking: Maizy Chen's Last Chance
13. read a CAT: Linger
14. author 65 or older: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
15. short story collection: A Stroke of the Pen
16. POC author: Breathe and Count Back from Ten
17. three word title: Life with Father
18. book from a "similar library": Carry On
19. set in a city: The Words We Keep
20. involves warriors or mercenaries: Katherine
21. reread a favorite book:
22. about friendship: The Prince and the Dressmaker
23. set in multiple countries: When the Angels Left the Old Country
24. only title and author on cover: Dark Matter
25. publication year ending in -24: Billy Budd

AlphaKIT
January: A&Y: $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America & By Your Side
February: F&E: Galileo's Middle Finger & Honestly Elliott
March: H&R: A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting & All My Rage
April: U&O: The Men Who United the States & The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot
May: N&P
June: J&B
July: I&S
August: M&G
September: V&C
October: D&T
November: L&W
December: K&Q
Year-Long: X&Z

RandomKIT
January: Early Birds: Anna and the Swallow Man
February: Escape or Rescue: When the Angels Left the Old Country
March: World Wildlife Day: Cruel Beauty
April: Enchanted Garden Visitors: The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:

Pitch Black, from Rise of the Guardians

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
I've been reading the Young Adult Library Services award winners for years now, and I love it. It takes me about a year to get through all of them from the previous announcements, so it works out well.

1. Light from Uncommon Stars (Alex Award)
2. The Last Mapmaker (Newbery Honor Book)
3. Maizy Chen's Last Chance (Newbery Honor Book)
4. The Words We Keep (Schneider Award)
5. Breathe and Count Back from Ten (Schneider Honor Book)
6. Honestly Elliott (Schneider Honor Book)
7. When the Angels Left the Old Country (Stonewall Medal + Printz Honor Book)
8. Iveliz Explains It All (Newbery Honor Book)
9. I Kissed Shara Wheeler (Stonewall Honor Book)
10. All My Rage (Printz Award)
11. Icebreaker (Printz Honor Book)
12. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (Alex Award)
13. Cross My Heart and Never Lie (Stonewall Medal)
14. Stars in Their Eyes (Stonewall Honor Book)
15. The Eyes and the Impossible (Newbery Medal)
16. Babel (Alex Award)
17. Library of the Dead (Alex Award)
18. The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot (Alex Award)
19. Daughter of the Moon Goddess (Alex Award)
20. Fourth Wing (Alex Award)
21. How Lucky (Alex Award)

Severus Snape, from the Harry Potter series

CAT#2: 1001 Fantasy Books You Must Read Before You Turn Into a Newt
This one comes from the list curated in The Green Dragon group a few years ago and captained by Morphidae.

1. The Farthest-Away Mountain

Tomura Shigaraki, from My Hero Academia

CAT#3: Manga
Charlie helped me get interested in manga and I'm loving it.

1. My Hero Academia vol 14
2. Black Butler vol 2
3. My Hero Academia vol 15
4. Black Butler vol 3

Moriarty, from Sherlock

CAT#4: Mysteries
I do love a good mystery.

1. N or M?
2. And Then There Were None
3. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
4. Fatal First Edition

Dracula (Gary Oldman is my favorite)

CAT#5: Romance
When I started working at the library, this was the genre I had the least experience with, and since many of our patrons enjoy romances, I thought I'd better get a working knowledge. As it turns out, I enjoy them too!

1. Fangirl
2. By Your Side
3. Katherine
4. The Seven Year Slip
5. Check & Mate
6. Mistress of Mellyn

Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
Years ago I started a wishlist on Amazon as a way to keep track of books I'd someday like to read. It's now so long that it takes *forever* to scroll down to the bottom, and since the people who used to use it for gift ideas are now all folks (mostly family) amongst whom we've all agreed not to exchange gifts anymore (and instead just enjoy our holiday gatherings together gift-free - ie it's not because we now hate each other or anything), I decided I should start whittling away at it, and so I am requesting these titles one by one from the library and I'll only actually buy the ones I love and want to keep on the shelves.

1. $2.00 a Day
2. By Your Side
3. Anna and the Swallow Man
4. Practical Magic
5. Galileo's Middle Finger
6. The Men Who United the States

Loki, from the MCU

CAT#7: Audiobooks
I listen to books while housecleaning, sewing, driving, and working on cargo at the library, so I get through a fair amount in a year, generally.

1. Fangirl
2. $2.00 a Day
3. By Your Side
4. Anna and the Swallow Man
5. The Last Mapmaker
6. Maizy Chen's Last Chance
7. The Ten Thousand Doors of January
8. The Words We Keep
9. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
10. Breathe and Count Back from Ten
11. Honestly Elliott
12. When the Angels Left the Old Country
13. Galileo's Middle Finger
14. I Kissed Shara Wheeler
15. Camp Damascus
16. Attachments
17. A Stroke of the Pen
18. All My Rage
19. Billy Budd
20. Icebreaker
21. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting
22. The Three-Body Problem
23. Babel
24. Library of the Dead
25. The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot
26. Daughter of the Moon Goddess
27. The Men Who United the States
28. Dark Matter
29. Fourth Wing
30. How Lucky

Mr. Gold, from Once Upon a Time

CAT#8: Beauty and the Beast Retellings
A couple of years ago, for reasons I can't recall, I decided that I should read through all the B&B retellings I can find.

1. Cruel Beauty
2. Beastly

Crowley, from Supernatural

CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies
There are a handful of authors whom I love so much that I want to read All. The. Things. So this is where I'll catalog those. Right now the list is John Boyne, Agatha Christie, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Moore, and Maggie Stiefvater.

1. Linger
2. N or M?
3. Forever
4. And Then There Were None

Muzan, from Demon Slayer

CAT#10: National Endowment for the Humanities Timeless Classics
This may well be the first book list I ever acquired. I don't remember where it came from, but I know that I got it at some point in high school, in the form of a tri-fold pamphlet. I didn't start working through it, though, until around the same time as I started the Newbery winners and the 1001 Children's Books list.

1. Life with Father

Kylo Ren, from Star Wars

CAT#11: National Book Award for Fiction
This one seems clear on its own, I guess. I do love award winner lists.

Dark Willow, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

CAT#12: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Another award list.

Imhotep, from The Mummy

CAT#13: Book-a-Year Challenge
A few of years ago, I made a list of books by year, just to see both how far back my reading goes and where/when there are gaps. I'm now working on filling in the gaps, so that I'll have read a book from every year for as far back I can go.

Kilgrave, from Jessica Jones

CAT#14: Shakespeare
I'm doing a full-on reread.

Ricardo Diaz, from Arrow

CAT#15: Unread Books from My Shelves
I have books on my shelves that have been there, unread, for YEARS. I need to work on that.

Angelus, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
I have a couple of shelves full of books that I really want to get to soon.

1. The Prince and the Dressmaker
2. Unwind
3. The Moth Keeper
4. Unwholly
5. Wayward Son

Ronan, from the MCU

CAT#17: Books from My Stack of Book Riot Book Lists
Yeah, I may have a problem with collecting more lists when I already have too many.

1. Katherine (24 Best Romances of All Time)
2. Mistress of Mellyn (24 Best Romances of All Time)

Team Rocket, from Pokemon

CAT#18: Library Display Books
Two of my colleagues are in charge of all of our adult book displays, and I like to support their efforts.

1. Snow (books with "snow" in the title)
2. The Seven Year Slip

Aziraphale & Crowley, from Good Omens
(Aziraphale would pitch a hissy fit at the accusation of being a villain (but he kind of is) and Crowley insists that he is when he really isn't.)

CAT#19: Everything Else
I'll list here the books that don't fit any of the above categories.

1. How to Be a Girl in the World
2. A True Princess

Welcome back! I am paying the closest attention to your Shakespeare re-read... because I like Shakespeare, not because of the category photo ;)
(narrator: it was because of the category photo.)

I am loving the villains (especially Loki and Angel). Good luck with your reading in 2024. I will return to pick up more BBs and follow your Beauty and the Beast retellings.

Alan Rickman and David Tennant play some great villains! And Christopher Moore is one of my favorite authors too. Favorite Authors is a great category!

Great pics! Good luck and I'll be lurking.

>24 lowelibrary: I have an absolute soft spot for a good villain, Loki in particular, and it doesn't hurt that Hiddleston is a very pretty person.

(I have to tell you that every time I see your username, I think of one of my favorite regular library patrons, whose last name is Lowe. She used to be a librarian herself and has the funniest stories!)

>25 Charon07: Oh, agreed! Rickman and Tennant were practically born to be bad! And yay for another Moore fan! Few authors can make me actually laugh right out loud, but he's definitely one of them.

I always love your themes and the pictures you choose! Happy reading in 2024!

Hi Amber, I love your set-up and I am happy that I can drop by and see pictures of David Tennant whenever I want!

Happy reading! I'll be checking out your mystery and romance categories.

Thanks, all! I have so much fun putting together my themes each year.

Glad to see you here again, Amber. Your thread is always so much fun.

Great to see you, Amber!

Thanks, folks! Happy new year!

CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#1: Featuring Twins

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Cath and her twin, Wren, are off to their first year of college, and it seems to Cath that her sister is already pulling away from her, leaving Cath on her own to adjust to a new roommate who seems to hate her and whose maybe-boyfriend, Levi, is absolutely always around, making Cath even more uncomfortable than her normal anxiety-induced level of discomfort. She also worries about being away from her father, who suffers from manic episodes, and just the thought of trying to figure out the dining hall is too much for her. Thank goodness for fanfic, her safe space, and which she’s really very good at writing. She finds comfort in her fic stories – and so do her thousands of online followers. But when her creative writing professor gives her a failing grade on a fanfic story she turns in, her writing partner betrays her, and her maybe-friendship-maybe-something-else with Levi seems to go south, Cath nearly gives up and moves home. She’ll need to find some self-confidence in her very real abilities to get back on track.

I’m very, very late to the Rowell fan bus (I read my first of her novels – Eleanor & Park – last year and thought it was okay but that it didn’t really live up to the hype), but I’m definitely on board after this one. An excellent range of characters, all believable and well drawn, an interesting story and good atmosphere (I felt like I was right back on campus), and I loved the fanfic angle, especially that Rowell included bits both of Cath’s writing and excerpts from the ‘real’ books. I also love that she’s gone on to write (or so it seems – clearly I haven’t read them yet but I absolutely want to) the story that is Cath’s fanfic. Very cool.



CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
CAT#7: Audiobooks
January AlphaKIT: A

2. $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin
A look into what poverty looks like in the states, the history of government welfare, and how it has tragically and repeatedly failed those who need it.

I recognize this as an important subject (which is why I wanted to read about it), but the delivery here is very dry and I just couldn’t keep my mind on the task.

>35 scaifea: I've loved many of Rowell's novels and would especially recommend my favorite, Attachments!

>36 christina_reads: I've just put a hold on that one already!

CAT#5: Romance
CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
CAT#7: Audiobooks
January AlphaKIT: Y

3. By Your Side by Kasie West
Autumn and her friends were studying in the public library late one night before heading to a cabin out in the woods for a fun, snowy weekend, when the craziest/worst thing happens: as they’re packing up their vehicles, Autumn runs back into the getting-ready-to-close-for-the-night library to use the bathroom, and by the time she’s finished, somehow her friends have left without her and she’s locked inside the library for the entire weekend. She does her best not to panic (it doesn’t help that her anxiety meds are in her friend’s car), but then she soon discovers that she’s not alone; another student from her high school has been locked in with her, although he chose to be there…

A fair-to-middling YA romance. I found the MC to be juuuust this side of too annoying, but the main love interest (yes, there’s a triangle, which is slightly ugh, but fine) is an interesting character. There’s also a very predictable and solidly frustrating third act split, but it doesn’t last too long, and the ending is sweet. Honestly, the worst part is that you really have to stretch your tolerance for the unbelievable to swallow all the circumstances needed for them to be trapped in a public library all weekend, and I was irritated that it was merely a setting to get the Unlikely Couple in the same space for long enough instead of being a featured part of the atmosphere. I mean, hello, you’re IN A LIBRARY. And you have it ALL TO YOURSELF. That’s the romance, right there.

>38 scaifea: Haha, that does sound like an ideal romantic setting!

Interesting categories. I am especially interested in Beauty and the Beast retellings.

>39 christina_reads: On the days that I open the library I'm sometimes the only one in the building for 30-45 minutes and it's a pretty cool feeling. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to share it even with a handsome dude!

>40 Zozette: I'm fascinated by retellings of all kinds, but something about the B&B story just calls to me. So far I've read some real duds, to be honest, but it's also led me to some of my now-favorite books that I may not ever had read otherwise.

Love your villains! Rickman is the best, but I'm also pleased to see Spike again...

>42 MissWatson: Thanks! That's possibly my favorite version of Spike, too. Vampire Billy Idol is such a dream.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners

4. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
A family of aliens have traveled light years to escape a devastating war and are running a donut shop in the San Gabriel Valley. An older Japanese woman, who is a virtuoso violinist whom no one has heard play in many, many years, is buying back her soul by handing over the souls of her students to the demon who has hers. An Italian woman runs an instrument repair shop but doubts her abilities because the family trade secrets were only handed down from father to son. And a young transgender runaway with an extraordinary musical talent will bring them all together, changing all their lives as she struggles to find her own place in the universe and the strength to believe she deserves it.

So good. So very, very good. Unbelievably good. Strange and quirky and funny and gut-punching and just so, so good. The entire time I was reading I felt as if the story were just barely in my control; at first I had no idea how the characters could ever come together and share a plot, and then once they did I had no idea how they’d resolve what needed to be resolved in a way that would account for who they appeared to be and who they clearly wanted to be/were heading toward being. And then in the final hour it all just comes together so beautifully. You’ll be rooting for everyone and wanting to hug each one. It’s beautifully strange and weirdly wonderful and terrifically twisty in the end.



CAT#3: Manga
BingoDOG#4: Written in Another Cultural Tradition

5. My Hero Academia vol 14 by Kohei Horikoshi
Another excellent entry in the series. More of some of my favorite characters in this one, so it was extra fun.



CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#7: Title Contains a Person's Name
January RandomKIT:Early Birds

6. Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
A Polish girl, Anna, is left on her own when her father is taken by the Germans, but her life is drastically changed – and almost certainly saved – when a mysterious gentleman charms her with his bird calls and bids her secretly follow him out of the city and into the woods. They live and travel together as if father and child for several years during the war, always on the move and always evading one or the other group of soldiers, experiencing various meetings and partings with others on similar paths, until the inevitable happens and Anna, who, by the grace of the Swallow Man (the only name she ever has for her companion) has been able to experience a childhood of sorts, is forced to grow up and face the world.

There are *so* many WWII novels out there of all kinds, and honestly I’ve mostly grown tired of them. But I’m very glad I gave this one a chance because it’s one of the better ones I’ve read in a long time. It reminds me quite a bit of The Book Thief; it’s dark and sad and deals with awful things, of course, but it still manages to be about the magic of human kindness and the beauty that’s forever in the world, no matter what else inhabits the place.

>44 scaifea: The Light from Uncommon Stars has been on my TBR list for a while. I’ll have to bump it up in the queue. And I may have to take a BB for Anna and the Swallow Man. I’ve been trying to resist adding to the TBR, and I’m also reluctant to undertake yet another WWII novel, but I can use more of that magic you describe.

>44 scaifea: I adored Light From Uncommon Stars too. Taking a BB for Anna and the Swallow Man.

>44 scaifea: Ooh, Light from Uncommon Stars does sound good. I'll have to pick it up sometime.

>44 scaifea: I have added Light for Uncommon Stars to my TBR list as it will fit both my music and sci-fi categories. And it is available on Everand as an ebook. Thanks for the review.

>44 scaifea: - I listened to Anna and the Swallow Man last year and agree that it was different from most of the WW II novels.

>45 Charon07: There's just such an oversaturation of WWII stuff out there and it can be...a lot. But yes, this one is worth it.

>46 JayneCM: It's so great to start off the year with such a fantastic read - I'm glad you loved it, too! And I hope you love AatSM too.

>46 JayneCM: Yes, do! It's so fabulous.

>48 Zozette: I'm glad you've found a copy, and I hope you love it!

>49 dudes22: There's a book club that meets at my library and they seem to read almost exclusively WWII novels; I'm going to recommend this one the next time they meet, in case they haven't already discussed it.

CAT#1: YALSA Awards (Newbery Honor Book)
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#3: Featuring Water

7. The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
A young girl lives in a tiny, rundown set of rooms with her shiftless/shifty father and his partner in petty crime. They think she works a menial job at the docks market, but she secretly has managed to become an apprentice to a mapmaker, and she’s exceptionally good at the trade. When the chance presents itself for her to follow her boss on a sea voyage to discover unknown lands, which may or may not be inhabited by dragons, she jumps at the opportunity to free herself from her father’s clutches and possibly change her lowly stars. The expedition is not without dangers and troubles, though, and no one on the ship seems to be who they claim to be, with hidden lives and motives everywhere.

It's…okay. It’s a nice story, and the couple of little twists at the end are interesting and fun. I also think certain members of its intended audience (this is a middle grade novel) would have a great time with it. I just don’t feel that something extra, though, to make it Newbery Honor Book worthy. *shrug*

CAT#1: YALSA Awards (Newbery Honor Book)
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#12: Themed around Food or Cooking

8. Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Maizy Chen and her mom travel from LA to Last Chance, Minnesota for an extended stay with her grandparents while her grandfather is ill. Her grandparents own a Chinese restaurant, and Maizy finds herself getting to know the locals through their visits to the Golden Palace. She watches as her mom negotiates her rocky relationship with her own parents, learns from her grandfather about the history of her family and the discrimination that Chinese Americans have long struggled against, all while experiencing it firsthand in this small mid-western town. When the beloved bear statue, for years has stood outside the restaurant, is stolen, Maizy sets out to solve the mystery and discovers racism in obvious and surprising places.

A solid middle grade novel about family, loss, friendship, difference, and the importance of family roots and history. All of these elements are nicely blended, and the characters feel believable and interesting.

CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies
BINGODOG#13: Read a CAT

9. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
(2nd in a series, so there are spoilers ahead)

Grace and Sam have fought so hard to be together, and just when as they’re settling into the idea that a future together is possible, things start to unravel. Again. The new werewolves made by Sam’s adoptive father, Beck, seem potentially problematic, to put it lightly, while Sam is struggling to fill the role of Human in Charge/Den Father that Beck left behind at the same time as he’s trying to negotiate being all human all the time. But when he’s with Grace, all of his uncertainty and worry crumbles. Until Grace herself becomes a source of worry for him. She becomes nearly constantly ill with a high fever and stomach pains, and no doctor can suss out what’s wrong. But both Grace and Sam secretly and separately fear they know the real reason she’s sick…

I adore Stiefvater, as you all likely know, and I’m really enjoying her version of the werewolf romance trope. But. Hoo boy, there is a *lot* of teen angst in here, and a lot of frustrated love feels, neither of which are usually my jam. But it’s Maggie and I love her and her writing is still amazing and I have faith that the ending to the series will be Maggie-style amazeballs.

CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#11: Paper-Based Item in the Plot

10. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
When January was a young girl, she found a door that opened to another world. But Mr. Locke (her father’s boss and essentially her surrogate father, since her own dad spent almost all his time traveling the world looking for treasures for Mr. Locke’s collection) severely punished her for having such fanciful thoughts, so she put it out of her mind and went on with the business of growing up. Now, at 17, she’s told that her father is dead, and things begin to happen to and around her that make her return to the idea of worlds behind doors…

An excellent idea for a story, and the world(s) building is nicely done. I enjoyed the book just fine, but I fell just shy of *loving* it, mostly because the characters felt a little flat. I was interested in where the story was going, but I never felt fulling invested in the people involved. Still, a fun read.

CAT#4: Mysteries
CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies
BingoDOG#8: An Ugly Cover

11. N or M? by Agatha Christie
Tommy and Tuppence are now middle-aged and chafing at the idea that no one seems to want to let them help out in this war effort like in the last one. So when an old friend recommends Tommy for a spy gig on home shores, he jumps at the chance, even though they’re both told that it’s men’s work only – and finds Tuppence already undercover and waiting for him when he arrives. Their job is to try to uncover a German spy mastermind in a small resort town while posing as boring old ordinary citizens on extended holiday and staying at a boarding house.

It’s Christie, so of course everyone is a suspect, and the plot is fast-paced and fun. I’m always delightfully shocked by the reveal, and as always, I adore Tommy and Tuppence.

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
BingoDOG#22: About Friendship

12. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
A graphic novel about a young dressmaker who would like to do more than just sew other people’s designs, a prince who secretly loves to wear beautiful dresses, and the friendship that grows between them.

I loved this sort-of fairy tale and its positive representations. Great storytelling, lovely illustrations, fantastic message. I highly recommend it.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#19: Set in a City

13. The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart
Lily is a model high school student and athlete with dreams of heading to Berkeley for college. But she also has a lot of secrets, like the fact that her sister isn’t actually off at university but in an institution after a suicide attempt, and that Lily herself struggles with anxiety and OCD-type symptoms. When the new boy reveals that he knows Lily’s sister from the hospital, Lily worries that everyone will find out all her secrets, but as the two grow closer she needs to decide what her priorities are.

I read this one because it won a Schneider Award, and it sure reads like it was written solely with that goal in mind. A story about a teen struggling to make it through everyday situations while dealing with mental illness is one thing and I’m all for positive representations of such things in literature, especially YA lit, but to have three sisters all have some form of mental illness, *plus* the love interest, and then to have the main character constantly refer to her struggles with anxiety and OCD to the point that it overwhelms what little plot there was in the first place is just too much.

CAT#6: Books from My Wishlist

14. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Owens sisters, orphaned as girls, were raised by their eccentric aunts in a ramshackle house in Massachusetts and were shunned and scorned and feared by their peers, while the aunts greeted at the back door various townswomen seeking cures for heartbreak, unwanted pregnancies, and other hazards of being a woman and dealing with love. One sister left at 18 and never looked back. The other waited until her heart was crushed by widowhood until she took her own two daughters and fled looking for a more normal existence for them and for herself. But magic in one’s blood isn’t something you can escape, and despite a vow made as children, love and all its messes catch up to all Owens women eventually.

Magical realism is hit or miss in the extreme for me. If a book falls into that genre, I either throw it across the room in disgust or absolutely adore it. This one I loved. Such strong and strongly written women are found here, and their stories are a perfect blend of everyday and extraordinary. And I love that it’s a story filled with women and their relationships with one another, and although people of the male persuasion are key parts of the plot, they are certainly not in starring roles. They’re the celery of the recipe: background supporters but in no way a distraction from the main flavor of the tale.

CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#14: Author 65 or Older

15. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce is an 11 year-old with a quick brain and a penchant for chemistry, particularly the chemistry of poisons. When a stranger dies in her family’s garden, she suspects that poison is the culprit, and when the authorities prove too slow at solving the case for her – and especially when her father is pinned as Suspect #1 – Flavia decides to solve it herself.

I know that many people don’t like this one because they think Flavia is too precocious for her age, but I don’t really think it’s too far of a stretch. And yes, she’s pretty darned annoying, but I think (or at least I hope) that in this case the problem is the point – she’s supposed to be irksome (as I suspect some genius children actually may be, to be honest). So with those things I don’t have an issue. Still, I didn’t love the book. The plot was overly convoluted, to the point that the various U-turns and red herrings became exhausting, and in the end, the wrap-up felt trite and tired. But by far the biggest annoyance was that the narrator of the audiobook didn’t bother to learn how to pronoun the *one* Latin word in the book, which turned up on several occasions. Honestly. How hard would that have been? And it was doubly annoying that a character whose key trait is her polymath abilities wouldn’t know how to pronounce one of the very first words you learn in Latin 101. Cripes.

>58 scaifea:

One of my friends thought the Flavia was too precocious for her age until I pointed out she isn’t as precocious as young Sheldon Cooper is, adding that my friend seem to have no problem accepting Sheldon’s abilities.

>59 Zozette: Maybe what they think is ridiculous is more acceptable on TV than in a novel, which some folks thing should be more accurate? I was thinking more about actual, real-life kiddos, and how there are extremely smart/genius kids out there. So it's not impossible at all.

I've not watched Young Sheldon, but I do adore the grown-up version...

CAT#18: Library Display Books

16. Snow by John Banville
A priest gets murdered and his body mutilated in an Irish estate home and long-suffering Detective Inspector Strafford (who always has to correct people from “Stafford”) is on the case. Everyone’s a suspect, everyone is holding back secrets, and catholic church is pressuring Strafford to hush it all up. To add insult to deadly injury, it won’t stop snowing, making any sort of mobility a difficulty.

Christie but make it Irish, a smidge more modern, and quite a bit more than a smidge gritty and violent. I loved it up until I didn’t, but my aversion is certainly my own and not the fault of the book, which is wonderfully written. What I didn’t love was the part of the story in which the priest was a pedophile, which in itself wouldn’t have turned me away, but there’s a chapter written from his POV about his ‘sins,’ and that tips it over into the Ewewewickickick category for me.

>61 scaifea: When I read my review/comments on the book, I think the only thing that pulled it up to 3 stars for me was the writing. I didn't like the detective that much or the story line.

>62 thornton37814: Oh, I love Strafford. He's so very well drawn.

>61 scaifea: I have this in the stacks, and I am wondering if I should read the spoiler.

>64 Crazymamie: Hm. Well, I think it's fairly early on in the story that you get the gist of this info, so it wouldn't 100% ruin the book...

>65 scaifea: Oh, thanks for that. It's a NOPE for me. And much appreciated.

>66 Crazymamie: You're welcome!

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners (Schneider Honor Book)
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#16: POC Author

17. Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
Veronica has hip dysplasia, which means she’s had a bunch of surgeries, can’t walk as long or as far as other teens, and has scars that she tries to hide. She also has parents who are very strict, a situation made worse when she’s caught in the apartment complex hot tub making out with a boy. And she both hates that they immediately assumed she would have ‘gone all the way’ if they hadn’t walked in at that moment and suspects that they, in fact, prevented the boy from raping her by doing so. She also feels that she has no say in her medical care, as her doctor tends to talk past her and directly to her parents about the progression of her condition and what the next steps should be. Swimming is the only thing that allows her to feel free and completely in control. So when auditions are announced for the mermaid show she has long dreamed of being a part of (but of which her parents strongly disapprove, of course) – and when a new boy moves into the complex and sparks fly between the two of them – Veronica must decide between obeying her parents and demanding the body autonomy she (and all women everywhere) deserve.

I *loved* this YA novel, both for the interesting storyline and its unique and important portrayal of consent, why it’s vital, and how it’s not just about sex. Veronica and her boyfriend are interesting and nicely developed characters, who both struggle both with the usual Teen Stuff and also mental and physical issues in a realistic, relatable way without too much angst. Highly recommended.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners (Schneider Honor Book)
CAT#7: Audiobooks
February AlphaKIT: E

18. Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn
Elliott is on the spectrum and has ADHD. He’s most comfortable and happy in the kitchen cooking elaborate-for-a-middle-grader meals, but lately even cooking can’t calm the disturbances in his brain caused by his father remarrying and the new wife being pregnant. His grades have fallen in a drastic way, and there was an “incident” that he now must go to weekly therapy to work through. The one thing he’s looking forward to is summer cooking camp. But when his father decides that Elliott should be made to pay for the damages he caused with this “incident,” Elliott realizes he’ll have to use the money he worked hard all year to save for camp to do so. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, they do: his friends cut him out of a group project at school and he's left the only one in the class without any partners, sad and embarrassed. But it turns out that the Most Popular Girl in School also doesn’t have a partner after she leaves her own friend group in a huff. And then the two of them come up with a plan that just may possibly earn them an A, and enough money for Elliott to pay back his father *and* go to cooking camp.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
February RandomKIT: Escape or Rescue
BingoDOG#23: Set in Multiple Countries

19. When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
An angel and a demon have been friends for centuries, studying together in a synagogue in the old world, when the demon decides that they should leave and go to the states since everyone else seems to be escaping. He convinces the angel to go with him by saying that they should find a local young woman who immigrated but whose family hasn’t heard from her.

This one won several awards, but I can’t really understand why. I didn’t care about any of the characters and had trouble feigning interest in the plot. The “an angel and a demon are in love despite everything (including themselves) and work together to save the world” thing has been done elsewhere – pretty famously – and done *much* better. Just go reread that one or rewatch the show.



CAT#5: Romance
CAT#17: Books from My Stack of Book Riot Book Lists
BingoDOG#20: Involves Warriors or Mercenaries

20. Katherine by Anya Seton
A fictionalized romance about the love affair of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford.

It’s on lots of lists as one of the best romance novels of all time, and maybe it’s because it was, I guess, one of the first true historical romances? I’ll grant that it may be important to the history of the genre, but it’s nothing special as far as the writing goes or the romance itself. It’s just…okay. But certainly not good enough for its length.

>69 scaifea: Katherine has been on my wish list for ever because so many people have recommended it, and the main that has been putting me off is its length, so it's good to see another opinion. Not good enough for the length is a judgement that I think is also relevant to some authors' ever-lengthening crime novels e.g. Cormoran Strike is going to have to carry on without me because 900 plus pages are far too many.

>70 pamelad: I *do* seem to be in the minority with this one, and it's not *horrible* or anything, but criminy, it is LONG. I'm wishing I had listened to it instead (I listen to my audiobooks at 2x speed).

I tried the first of Rowling's adult novels and couldn't get through it, and now that she's revealed herself to be such a turd, I don't feel bad about not liking it at all.

>71 scaifea: the first of Rowling's adult novels

That was such a mess. How do you finish writing the Harry Potter books and decide that what people really want is a book populated entirely with Dursleys?

>71 scaifea: A less controversial example might be the Matthew Shardlake books by C. J. Sansom. An excellent series, but the last book is 880 pages.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
BingoDOG#9: Fewer Than 100 Copies on LT

21. Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
Iveliz is suffering from PTSD and bouts of depression from an accident she was in with her father. She’s on meds and goes to a therapist, but is still acting out at school and at home, where her grandmother, who has dementia, has just moved in from Puerto Rico. She makes a To Do list of ways to be better, but struggles to reach her goals.

Hm. I get what this middle grade novel is trying to do – portray mental health struggles in a realistic way to a middle grade audience from the POV of a young person (plus how to deal with an elderly family member suffering from dementia, plus being Latinx in a predominately white school) – but I don’t think it works. Iveliz comes off as way too selfish and rude, and so outright mean to her mother, who isn’t being portrayed as anything but a parent trying desperately to find a way to help her child through a rough time, that she crosses over into unredeemable for me, even if the resolution wasn’t milquetoast-like (and it is). It felt too much like the message was that it’s okay to be shitty to your friends, family, teachers, and therapists if you’re Going Through Something, and you don’t really even need to apologize later because they should Just Know. Not a great message for the intended audience (or any audience).



CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
CAT#7: Audiobooks
February AlphaKIT: F

22. Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger
This one started out good, with the promise of being a deep dive into the history of how medicine has misunderstood and mistreated the trans population and what can and should be done to change that. But at some point it took a left turn into a sort of tell-all about a particular activist who went off the rails and spread all sorts of slander and libel about a couple of researchers, including the author. It got weird. And while the scandal was sort of interesting, it felt more like it belonged elsewhere. *shrug*

BingoDOG#18: Book from a 'Similar' Library

23. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
In Rowell’s Fangirl, the main character writes fanfic for a HP-like series about a school of magic and a Chosen One. Carry On is the first book in a trilogy that is Rowell’s version of that fanfic. So it’s fake fanfic of a fake series, and it is amazing. I adore it. And in fact I love it more than HP these days, what with Rowling being a turd. Think Harry and Draco as roomies with an enemies-to-lovers story arc and as much more interesting characters as well.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

24. I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
The most popular girl in an Alabama christian high school kisses three different people then vanishes, leaving clues for those three teens to solve her disappearance. One of the kissed is her next-door neighbor, one is her bitterest rival for valedictorian, and one is her actual boyfriend.

I’m beginning to think that McQuiston belongs in my Writers Who Can Do No Wrong category. This was a delight. A fun little mystery, excellent characters who take interesting and believable self-discovery journeys and whom your rooting for all along the way.

CAT#7: Audiobooks

25. Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
I was so excited for this book when I heard about it – a horror story about a gay conversion camp written by a person named Chuck Tingle, I mean what more do you need in life? – but I was disappointed with the actual thing. The premise is so promising: the fundamentalist a-holes who run the camp are both metaphorically and literally evil, using demons to keep the kids from gaying it up via Pavlovian torture. But Chuck doesn’t seem to be able to deliver the goods. The actual story he writes around that premise is weirdly unimaginative; for example, the solution to getting rid of the demons seems too simple and too easily executed, and the explanation for their existence involves poorly explained Science and Latin (?) thrown in for good-intentioned purpose. Also, there’s just no palpable tension. I wasn’t ever all that nervous or scared for the characters. And then there’s the writing itself, which is…not great. Not every single noun needs an adjective, and you don’t always have to go for the $20 word when the buck-fifty word is perfectly fine and in fact the better option. So, in the end, I did need more and that’s sad.

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves

26. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
In the near future, after a second civil war over reproductive rights, the US lives under the Bill of Life, which makes life inviolable until the age of 13. From 13-18, though, a person’s parents can choose to have their child unwound, a process by which every bit of the body is harvested and used as grafts and transplants. Doctrine states that his isn’t death, but that the Unwound live on through the lives of the various people who receive those…parts. The book follows three teens who have been scheduled to be unwound and find themselves thrown together as they try to escape.

Charlie read this one and immediately handed it to me, saying that I *had* to read it. So, of course, I dropped all other books and read it. And he has excellent tastes when it comes to books. This was fantastic, and I’ll absolutely be continuing with the series (Charlie’s already halfway through the second book). The characters are really well drawn, the story is unique and interesting and really uncomfortable (in the best way) in parts, and there are some wild twists along the way.

CAT#3: Manga

27. Black Butler vol 2 by Yana Toboso
Master Phantomhive and his…interesting…butler take up – and solve – the case of Jack the Ripper.
I adore this manga. Fun story and gorgeous art.



CAT#10: National Endowment for the Humanities Timeless Classics
BingoDOG#17: Three Word Title

28. Life with Father by Clarence Day
This memoir of the author’s father is supposedly famous for its gentle humor, but I didn’t find anything at all funny about the bigoted, sexist, selfish ass.

CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#2: Epistolary or Diary Format

29. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Beth, Jennifer, and Lincoln all work for the same newspaper, but only Beth and Jennifer know each other. They send a constant stream of personal emails back and forth, using their work accounts, about every personal subject under the sun. Lincoln’s job is to monitor company emails and report usage violations. But he can’t make himself turn Beth and Jennifer in. Their conversations are funny and witty and wonderful, and he knows he shouldn’t be reading them, but he can’t seem to help himself. And then, one day, Beth emails Jennifer about the super-cute guy she saw in the break room. And it turns out she’s talking about Lincoln.

I adored this novel. Rowell has an absolute knack for clever dialogue, and also for fabulous love stories. I loved every single character and felt like a Lincoln myself, on the outside looking in on their lives and wanting to be a part of it. So engaging and delightful.

>79 scaifea: I also adore this book! So glad you loved it as well!

CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#15: Short Story Collection

30. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett (audiobook) - 8/10
A collection of formerly-misplaced short stories by Terry Pratchett, from his very early writing years.

These were fun, but also clearly early writings. The best part was David Tennant reading one of them and Neil Gaiman reading his foreward.

>80 christina_reads: Sorry, Christina, I missed you earlier!

It definitely seems like a popular book, and I'm not surprised.

CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies

31. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Third in Stiefvater’s werewolf series. Any attempt at a summary would contain all sorts of spoilers, so I won’t.

You all know how much I adore Stiefvater, but this book came close to being too much in the “I love him/her SO MUCH, but we’re SUPER star-crossed and it probably won’t work out and of course it seems best not to communicate any of these feelings” category. But still, it’s a great story and I’m excited for the next book. Maggie can write a character so well, and all the ones in this series are excellent.

CAT#4: Mysteries
CAT#9: Favorite Author Bibliographies

32. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten strangers are lured to a small island by various means and an unknown host, their secret past crimes are revealed, and then they are killed off, one by one. Who is this maniacal, justice-seeking host? Is it some eleventh person, somehow hiding on the island, or is it…one of them?

Ooooh, this is now my second favorite Christie ever (after Murder on the Orient Express), and one of a few of hers that actually packs a bit of a scary atmosphere. Think Clue, but without the hilarity and with a lot more spookiness. I adored it.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
March AlphaKIT:R

33. All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
Two Pakistani teens living in California, who have been friends since they were little, struggle with issues of racism, mental and physical abuse, grief, and drug abuse. Can their friendship last when it all culminates in a fateful encounter with the police?

This Printz Award winner definitely deserves all the praise. The subject matter is sometimes brutal, but Tahir handles it beautifully, all while creating believable and complex characters and crafting a first-rate story. Definitely recommended.

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves

34. The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill
Middle grade graphic novel about a young girl learning to take over the Night Village responsibility of tending the night moths. It’s a gentle, warm read about friendship, love, and the importance of self-care, self-worth, and belonging. I adored it.



CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#25: Publication Year Ending in -24

35. Billy Budd by Herman Melville
I went into this one blind other than suspecting that it would have something to do with ships and sailing, and what I got was that, but also a story about the unfairness of Rules, the power of rumor, and a fantastic character study. And Melville could craft a sentence.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

36. Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
The story of two first years from very different backgrounds playing on the same college hockey team and both vying for the next #1 NHL draft pick. So naturally, they hate each other. Until they…don’t. But can their budding romance survive their passion for the game and the status that comes with being picked first?

I adored this – and the youth are apparently calling it – Boy Love romance. It’s both a feel-good warm-hug read while also tackling issues of depression and anxiety in college-age folks. Definitely recommended, if you like this sort of thing (and why wouldn’t you? It’s lovely.)



CAT#8: Beauty and the Beast Retellings

37. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Nyx has been raised as the disposable twin, the less adorable one, who has trained all her life to be married off to the demon tyrant and to find a way to kill him and free her people. She’s resented every second of it, and although she hates the idea that she’ll very likely die along with her enemy, she’s determined to do what needs to be done. And then she meets her new husband and falls in love. And then she meets his shadow and falls in love again. So things are…complicated.

A solid Beauty and the Beast retelling, with some fairly strong Howl’s Moving Castle vibes. My only quibble is that the ending drags just a bit, and it didn’t sweep me off my feet as much as I wanted it to.

>86 scaifea: Thanks for reminding me that Cruel Beauty exists! I liked Hodge's other book, Crimson Bound, so I'm interested in trying this one too.

>87 christina_reads: You're welcome - I hope you love it!

>86 scaifea: I will take a BB on every Beauty & the Beast retelling.

>89 lowelibrary: Ha! Even the really bad ones?! I get it, though; such a great story and so many retelling possibilities. I'm really enjoying reading through them!

>90 scaifea: I have not come across a really bad one yet. Some are better than others, but I love them.

>91 lowelibrary: Oho, I have. I can't read stories that try to dress (non-consensual) abuse up as romance, and I've run across a couple of those in B&B retellings. Just, ew.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
March AlphaKIT: H

38. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
With both parents gone and the massive debt left by her gambling father looming over her, Kitty finds herself responsible for her four younger sisters, all of whom – including herself – will be without even a home to call their own in just a few short months. And so she decides to travel to London for the season in search of a wealthy husband, all thoughts of a love match for herself abandoned as absurdly unrealistic. She quickly finds a likely target in a bungling-but-kindly second son in a landed gentry family, but finds an obstacle in the older brother, Lord Radcliffe. She soon strikes a deal with the lord, agreeing to leave his younger brother alone in exchange for help navigating a society of which she is sorely lacking in understanding. You can guess the results.

A fun and happy entry in the genre. The characters are instantly likable and the story unfolds with nice pacing and just the right amount of conflict.

CAT#5: Romance
CAT#18: Library Display Books

39. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Clementine has inherited her beloved aunt’s NYC apartment, and as she unpacks her boxes and tries to figure out how to come to terms with her grief, she soon finds herself also trying to remember – and life by – the two rules her aunt set down for her about the apartment (which, by the way, if magical): 1) Always take your shoes off, and 2) Never fall in love with whomever you may find when you walk in the door. It only takes a few days before Clementine needs to put Rule #2 into practice, when she comes home to find a strange man in her apartment and quickly realizes that the magic has happened to her: the apartment transported her back in time 7 years. Can she keep herself from falling in love with a man she knows she’ll lose again very soon, and if he loves her, then why hasn’t he tried to find her in the present? And would he be the same person?

A sweet little romance with a neat premise. No real depths here, but the story is fun and decently written. If you like this sort of thing, you’ll like this.



CAT#3: Manga

40. My Hero Academia vol 15 by Kohei Horikoshi
The story is now getting into one of my favorite arcs (I’m up to date with the anime, but not the manga yet), and so I really enjoyed this volume.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners

41. Cross My Heart and Never Lie by Nora Dåsnes
A sweet little middle grade graphic novel about the awkwardness of growing up at a different rate than your friends and negotiating your way through your first crush.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners

42. Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton
A middle schooler goes to her first con with her equally-geeked out mom, which is exciting but also stressful because she (the kiddo, not the mom) is an amputee/cancer survivor/bisexual who suffers from panic attacks. She meets and falls in love with a nonbinary teen, and all-in-all has a good time at the con.

I love how much we’re seeing more diverse representation in middle grade books, but the novels that are so laser-beam focused on it are a little exhausting. Can we maybe now skip to the era of having diverse characters in a story without constantly referencing their diversity? That feels like true progress to me. There’s a scene in this GN in which the MC is trying to have a nice swim in the hotel pool in peace, but an obnoxious adult interrupts her to say that she’s “an inspiration,” and the point of the scene is that such do-gooders aren’t doing anything good at all by pointing up a person’s difference. I feel like possibly the author could ponder their own advice here, because the story (two teens meet at a con and gently and sweetly fall in love over their shared geekiness) would have been much more successful if it were, in fact, allowed to be the main story that just happened to have LGBTQ and disabled characters in the main roles.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners

43. The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
This year’s Newbery medal winner. I barely made it through. The main characters are animals (a dog is the narrator), and normally I would NOPE that after the first page, but since I have read *all* of the Newberys I felt obligated to continue. And of course there’s animal abuse. Ugh. Also, Eggers commits the literary since of winking just a little too hard at his own cleverness. This one firmly goes in the Newbery Duds column for me.



CAT#7: Audiobooks

44. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
I don’t even know how to describe this one well enough without giving stuff away. It’s a scifi novel set in china over several decades starting during the Cultural Revolution, and it involves a cult conspiracy, a VR video game with a more sinister purpose, and lots and lots of physics.

I enjoyed the plot (although I confess I was hoping for a more twisty reveal of the mysterious bits), but I could certainly have done with a great deal less science exposition. Hoping that the Netflix rendition leaves all that to the imagination.

CAT#19: Everything Else

45. How to Be a Girl in the World by Caela Carter
Lydia has spent the whole of summer vacation wearing long-sleeved turtlenecks and sweatpants because after the boys at school started commenting on her body she hasn’t felt comfortable or safe in her own skin. And worse, her mom’s boyfriend is starting to give her over-long hugs and uncomfortable stares. She’s too afraid that the adults in her life won’t feel the same way she does – that these things are wrong and she’s right to feel unsafe – and so she keeps it all to herself. When her mom surprises her and her live-in cousin with the news that she’s bought a house for them, they start cleaning it up on the weekends since the former owners seem to have left all their belongings behind. Lydia finds a small room in the basement filled with little jars of dried herbs and flowers, and a book of hand-written spells. Could this be the solution to her problem? Could she fight off unwanted male attention with magic? She’ll try anything to make the idea of going back to school in the fall even remotely palatable.

Easily the best read of the year so far for me and it’ll take a lot to top it. This is one of those middle grade books that every single student, no matter their gender, should read, and every single parent should read it, too. It perfectly captures the horror of being a middle school girl in the world, one who sees the injustices against women, feels them keenly, but also sees that this is the norm and she’s meant to accept it as such. So powerfully written, with a so-wonderfully told story. I loved every word of it and I urge all of you to read it for yourselves.

CAT#19: Everything Else

46. Friends for Life by Andrew Norriss
Francis is sitting alone in the schoolyard, head in his hands, when a strange girl he’s never seen before walks up and sits next to him. Jessica is shocked when he speaks to her because she assumed that, like everyone else, he wouldn’t be able to see her. Because, well, she’s a ghost. They become immediate and fast friends, and then incidentally gather two more outsiders to them to form a group of best friends. As they all start to open up to one another – and when they discover how Jessica died – they begin to realize just why it is that they are the only ones who can see Jessica. And then they begin to wonder why she hadn’t been able to move on…

A sweet and lovely little middle grade book that had a little bit of everything: a slice-of-life friendship story, a little bit of mystery, and an important message about mental health for youth. Definitely recommended.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#6: On a Topic about Which You Have Specific Knowledge

47. Babel by RF Kuang
Set in an AU Oxford College where the world runs on the combined magic powers of silver and language, this is a story of the evils of empire and the sacrifices that are made by those who oppose them.

I *adored* this book. Think His Dark Materials but make it LINGUISTICS. Perfection.



CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

48. Library of the Dead by TL Huchu
A girl who can communicate with the dead makes her living by charging them and their living relations for the privilege of her gift. But when a ghost who can’t pay begs her to find her missing son, she breaks all her rules against charity cases and sets out to investigate the series of mysterious disappearances in the neighborhood. She also gets her friend to sneak her into the members-only secret library where he works (and for which his father is president), and soon realizes both that the two things are related and that she very well may be in over her head.

I had a little trouble staying on top of the plot with this one, but it was still an okay read, if a little scattered.

CAT#19: Everything Else

49. A True Princess by Diane Zahler
A retelling of The Princess and the Pea couched in the traditions of Norse Myths and fairy kings and changelings. There were some fun twists involved, too.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

50. True Biz by Sara Novic
Charley has been battling her hearing parents over her cochlear implant for as long as she can remember, and finally she’s won the right to go to an actual school for the deaf. But she quickly discovers that she’s far behind her peers because her parents didn’t let her learn ASL. Once she begins to learn, so much more of the world opens up to her and she realizes the extent of what of life her mother has denied her in the name of appearances. Parallel to Charley’s story are those of the headmistress of the school, which is dealing with caring for an elderly deaf mother and a jealous wife, and of a fellow deaf student, whose family legacy – everyone is born into the family deaf – and his relationship with his parents is shattered when his baby sister is born hearing.

The more I learn about the deaf community the more I realize I don’t know and want to. There are chapters scattered throughout this novel that detail some of the history behind ASL and the deaf community in the US, and I appreciated those while also really enjoying the story and the characters. My only quibble is that the ending seemed a bit abrupt and a little pat, but otherwise this was a great read.

CAT#5: Romance

51. Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Mallory’s life is full of taking care of her two younger sisters and her ill mother while working a minimum-wage job and worrying about the unpaid mortgage. So she has no time to spare for her former pastimes, such as chess, which she is very, *very* good at. Like, child prodigy kind of good. Then her best friend asks her to participate in a charity tournament and she just happens to play against the #1 ranked player in the world, and win. And everything changes.

An adorable sort-of-enemies-to-lovers story that’s also not quite a grumpy-sunshine trope as well. The romance is lovely and fun, and the parallel plot of being an outsider in the chess world is legit interesting as well. This one pleasantly surprised me with how much I enjoyed it.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
April AlphaKIT: O
April RandomKIT: Enchanting Garden Visitors

52. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
Lenni is 17 and a patient in the terminal ward of a Glasgow hospital. Margot is 83 and a patient in the same hospital, awaiting heart surgery. This is the story of their friendship and of how they ended up sharing their collective 100 years with each other.

An excellent story (or pair of stories, really), beautifully told. Both Lenni and Margot are fascinating and wonderful characters, and they’re so well drawn that you quickly feel that they’re your friends as well, which makes losing them all the tougher. I haven’t full-on wept because of a book in a long time, but I cried for this one and I don’t regret a second of it.

>101 scaifea: - I read this last year and liked it a lot too, Amber.

>101 scaifea: Taking a BB for this one.

>102 dudes22: I'm so glad you enjoyed it, too. Such a lovely book.

>103 lowelibrary: Oh good! Enjoy!

CAT#4: Mysteries

53. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Pip has decided to do her senior capstone project on the 5-year-old cold case of a girl who went to the same high school. Under the guise of approaching the project from the topic of social media’s role in crime cases, Pip really intends on clearing the name of the other student – Sal - who was presumed to be the murderer after his apparent suicide and finding out what really happened to Andie Bell, whose body was never found. She teams up with Sal’s brother, Ravi, who also believes in Sal’s innocence, and together they set out to uncover the truth. But Pip quickly learns that there are layers of secrets here that she hadn’t guessed, and someone is out to stop her from investigating.

An okay mystery with some attempted twists at the end, although they didn’t have the shock value I would have liked them to, and in general the pacing was a little slow. I didn’t dislike it, but I also didn’t love it. The best part is the sweet slow burn romance between Pip and Ravi.



CAT#3: Manga

54. Black Butler vol 3 by Yana Toboso
Another lovely romp with Sebastian the demon butler. This volume wrapped up the Jack the Ripper storyline.

CAT#5: Romance
CAT#17: Books from My Stack of Book Riot Book Lists

55. Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt
Martha finds herself on the other side of a couple of years ‘out’ in the ton and without a husband, and her aunt has gently reminded her of her options: find a husband, fast, or find a job as a governess. Martha decides on the latter and sets off for a remote manor to take up the tutoring and managing of a stubborn and motherless child with an aloof but also philandering father. The neighboring manor houses a flirty bachelor brother and his meek sister, who dotes on Martha’s charge and mooneyes the father. Martha finds herself in the middle of it all, fighting off both the advances of the neighbor and her disturbingly strong and growing feelings for the master of Mellyn.

Oooh, I loved this one. A fantastic gothic romance with all sorts of Jane Eyre and Rebecca vibes.

>106 scaifea: I'm sure I read that one decades ago.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

56. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Once upon a time the moon goddess was a mortal woman in love with the man who used his impressive bow skills to do the Celestial Emperor a big favor and win a vial of immortality elixir. But when he was away and she was dying in child birth, she took the elixir to save herself and her child and was punished for it by being banished to the moon. And so Xingyin – the child – has grown up knowing only the moon, her mother, and a servant. All that changes overnight when the Emperor’s servants pay a surprise visit and nearly discover Xingyin’s existence, so her mother sends her away to seek her fortune. This is the story of how Xingyin works to find a way to free her mother from the Emperor’s curse, becoming a skilled fighter in his army along the way, as well as getting herself involved in a messy love triangle, of course.

I enjoyed this romantasy for the most part. I love the mythical retelling, of course, but the love triangle gets too angsty and the star-crossed aspect gets tedious.

>106 scaifea: I enjoyed Mistress of Mellyn too, and have been looking for a copy of Bride of Pendorric. Love a good gothic.

>109 pamelad: I definitely think I'll have to look up some of her other work, too.

CAT#4: Mysteries

57. Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay
Lindsey and Sully are in Chicago for an archivist convention when Lindsey finds a tote bag with a very rare book in it under her conference seat. They turn it in to the convention coordinator – a former professional collector of such finds – then start making their way home to Briar Creek on an overnight train. Straight out of Christie’s playbook, they wake the next morning to find that the coordinator, who was also homeward bound on the same train, has been murdered, and somehow that rare book has made its way back into Lindsey’s possession. But that’s just the beginning of their troubles when the murder train stops in Briar Creek and the suspects are all bunking in the local inn during a major snowstorm.

There’s a lot going on in this entry in the series, and it’s all a bit jumbled, to be honest. It seems that all cozy mystery series start to fray around the edges at some point, and I’m afraid this one is starting to show signs of unraveldom. I’ll stick with it for now because I like the characters, but if the writing gets much worse I’ll likely jump ship soon.



CAT#6: Books from my Wishlist
CAT#7: Audiobooks
April AlphaKIT:U

58. The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester
Another Simon Winchester deep dive into an specific aspect of history, this time about a handful of people who, early on, shaped the US into the country it is.

Meh. Not my favorite of his works; I found myself needing to put effort into focusing on the content, and that’s usually not the case with Winchester’s writing.

CAT#8: Beauty and the Beast Retellings

59. Beastly by Alex Flinn
Kyle is the king of his high school: rich, popular, gorgeous, and dating the prettiest girl in school. He’s also a complete ass; he looks down on anyone who doesn’t share his qualities, makes fun of them relentlessly, and plays horrid pranks on them. His world upends, however, on the night of the school dance, when the ‘ugly’ girl he prank-invited to go with him turns out to be a witch. She curses him to look just as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside, which turns him into a beast. The spell, of course, is only reversable if he can find someone to love and who loves him in return.

I should have trusted my instinct to abandon this one early on, but I had hoped that it would improve. It didn’t. Lackluster writing, an overly-simplistic retelling of the original tale that belies a not-complete understanding of the point, and characters that are either wholly unlikeable, even once ‘redeemed,’ or so cardboard-like that there’s no depth to them at all. The Belle character is essentially a stand-in for the Necessary Female Character Here, in that she does the bare minimum of being trapped, feeling scared, then sus, then in love, with no nuance to her personality or feelings or actions.



CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#24: Only Title and Author on Cover

60. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Jason teaches college physics who gave up his chance to do ground-breaking research in his field in favor of starting a family with his beautiful artist wife. Both gave up promising careers for middling ones in order to put their marriage and raising their now-teenage son first. And both are happy with the decision with essentially no regrets beyond the occasional, casual ‘what if’ thoughts. Jason goes out one night to meet some old friends at a bar (a former college roommate has just won a prestigious physics award), and he doesn’t come back. He’s kidnapped, drugged, and wakes up in an alternate universe version of his life, one in which he never married and instead did the ground-breaking work he gave up in his own world. That research? Inventing a box that allows one to travel through the multiverse. He spends the rest of the book running from his colleagues in that world and searching for a way back to his own universe, his own version of his wife and son.

Typical first-person Capable White Man Doing Impressive Things While Running from Bad Guys and Fighting for His Best Girl thriller. But with Science! I guess? Not really my cuppa, I suppose.



CAT#2: 1001 Fantasy Books You Must Read Before You Turn Into a Newt

61. The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks
Dakin is a 14-year-old girl who dreams of meeting a gargoyle, marrying a prince, and visiting the Farthest-Away Mountain, which no one has ever managed to do. One day she thinks she sees the mountain nod to her, so she takes that as a sign and sets out to do All the Things. Adventures ensue.

A middle grade fantasy that feels like a bedtime story a parent makes up as she goes along, in the sense that it seems a little hodgepodge with “and then…and then…” vibes. Which isn’t necessarily all that bad, although the writing could be a little less clunky.

>111 scaifea: I find McKinley's books to be uneven in quality. Some books are pretty good; others are very lacking.

>113 thornton37814: This cozy series, though, has made it farther than any other I've read before starting to deteriorate into lackluster plots and lousy writing.

>114 scaifea: I think my preference is for some of the older cozy series than the more modern ones. I really enjoyed the old Rett McPherson Torie O'Shea series and the Monica Ferris needlework series back in the day. The last couple of Ferris books were not quite as good as earlier ones, but McPherson quit writing them way before I was ready for her to do so.

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves

62. Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
The second in the Unwind series. Not quite at good as the first one, but it still delivers some fairly excellent action and some fun twists. I can’t wait to see what comes next with these characters and their stories.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks
BingoDOG#5: Current or Recent Bestseller

63. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Violet has been training to be a scholar for what seems like most of her life, under the tutelage of her own scholar father. After his death she continued on that path, until her mother – a dragon rider of considerable rank – made the executive decision that Violet would follow in her mother’s (and her brother’s, and her sister’s) footsteps and enter the dragon rider training program. It’s a dangerous career path, with the majority of the first year students ending up dead before the year is over (or, really, even started), and Violet is not a likely candidate for survival. She’s short, slight, and her bones are devastatingly brittle. Oh, and there’s a giant target on her back, since the children of those who led the rebellion several years ago all would love to kill her because her mother is the reason most of their parents are dead. Her number one threat is the leader of the rebellion kids – and also Violet’s assigned wing leader. He’s the best of the riders and very, very dangerous. Also? Very, very handsome. Because of course he is. But Violet has some tricks up her sleeve, including a ridiculous amount of courage and stubbornness, so underestimating her is probably not the best idea.

Oh my lordy lou, I adored this book and can’t wait to get my hands on the next one. It ticks so many of my boxes: fabulous world building, amazingly detailed characters, excellent writing, superb twists, steamy enemies-to-lovers romance. It’s so, so good.

CAT#1: YALSA Award Winners
CAT#7: Audiobooks

64. How Lucky by Will Leitch
Daniel is a twenty-something guy living in a southern college town and working at-home for a regional airline’s customer service department. He only has a couple of friends and doesn’t get out too much, with the exception of tailgating on football game days. Overall, though, he considers himself a lucky guy, despite the fact that he has a degenerative and eventually fatal disease that has left him wheelchair-ridden, Stephen Hawking style. Then one day he sees a college student accept a ride from some dude in cowboy boots and a ballcap for a defunct team, and when she is reported missing, he’s pretty sure he was the last person to see her, except for her kidnapper, of course. But what, exactly, can he do about it? Honestly, more than you’d think.

This Rear Window-esque novel is like a fun, slightly wild ride on a motorized wheelchair (and I’m convinced Daniel would happily take readers on such a ride if requests were made). The mystery itself isn’t anything earthshattering and there are no big or shocking twists, which threw me off a bit, if I’m honest. But Daniel himself, and the more-than-half of the book devoted to his life story, more than make up for whatever the actual plot lacks. He's a fantastically created character, who rings 1000% true, and he’s one that you’ll want to be friends with for life.

>118 scaifea: Taking a BB for this one.

>119 lowelibrary: I hope you love it!

CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves

65. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Simon, Baz, and Penelope have left their magical school behind and started Uni, sharing an apartment in London and trying their level best to move on from what amounts, essentially, to the years of trauma after trauma that tags along after being (friends/mortal enemies/boyfriends) with a Chosen One. It’s…not going well, it seems, for any of them, and so when Penelope suspects that their school friend, Angela, may be in some sort of trouble in San Diego, she persuades the boys to fly across the pond and then take a good old-fashioned road trip across the US. Will it help Penelope figure out why she can’t figure out What’s Next as easily as she used to? Will it fix what both Baz and Simon both secretly and separately fear is the end of their relationship? Will they get eaten by southwestern dragons? Killed by Vegas Vampires? Anything is possible in a convertible Mustang on Route 66, except maybe finding a decent cuppa.

Nearly as brilliant as the first book in the trilogy – I equal parts adore Baz and Simon and want to knock their heads together, and I love that feeling. Long Live the Uncommunicative and Fret/Fraught Gay Boys trope! I love to hate it.