Hi! I’m alive \o/
Things got a bit rough in real life the past few months; blogging had to be put in the back-burner despite the fact I was, and am, still reading lots of books! I’m not sure how regularly I’ll post here since things continue to be a bit of a mess? But I thought it’d be fun to share my best 2023 reads (so far)! Here they are, in no particular order:
Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. Heâs not in the shop, and sheâll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she finds that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds.
And stepping through those doors exacts a price.
Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.
Dark Mill Southâs Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.
Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.
Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the cityâs most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estateâs wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manorâs occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another…?
Big Bad by Lily Anderson
The Mayorâs sun-shade has created permanent darkness over Sunnydale, fully opening the Hellmouth once and for all. Now the newly christened Demondale has become a safe haven for vampires, beasts, and all types of ruffians. It’s never been better to be bad.
Aspiring supervillains (and super nerds) Jonathan and Andrew attempt to hold their own in a town full of monsters, while three-hundred-year-old vengeance demon Anya is just looking for something to give her life purpose again, spending her days working at an evil juice bar. But soon word gets out that thereâs a new Big Bad on the scene, one more powerful and more destructive than anyone who has come before. She, of course, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-CasteĂąada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever afterâand in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past. But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist.
Twenty-nine-year-old PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her dissertation on the late canonical poet Xiao-Wen Chou and never read about âChinese-yâ things again. But after years of grueling research, all she has to show for her efforts are junk food addiction and stomach pain. When she accidentally stumbles upon a curious note in the Chou archives one afternoon, she convinces herself itâs her ticket out of academic hell.
But Ingridâs in much deeper than she thinks.
Something wicked this way comesâŚand it might be too late to stop it. Xander Corey lives simply, sustainably, on the outskirts of Osprey, a small, quaint town in Upstate New York. Heâs a librarian when the townâs budget can afford him, a good friend, kind neighbor, and also, a witch. And while thatâs of no concern to anyone around him, there are others, non-humans, who have a vested interest in Xanderâs family land. Xander knows something dark and dangerous is brewing. Heâs just not quite sure what. And thatâs not the only mystery heâs dealing with. The new chief of police is, by turns, giving him heart palpitations and homicidal thoughts.
The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generationsâuntil fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragonâs egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisitâa person in a unique relationship with a dragon.
Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raisingâand Anequs does not meet any of their requirements.
Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a âmockumentaryâ bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.
Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time theyâre not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their lifeâs work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.
The Deep by Rivers Solomony
Yetu holds the memories for her peopleâwater-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave ownersâwho live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save oneâthe historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilitiesâand discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
What are some of the best book you’ve read so far this year?
Lost in the Moment and Found 
The Fifth Season
owls reads 