Thanks to the author hosting a readalong, I finally decided to dive into the Shades of Magic series! I’ve read other V.E. Schwab books, but I’ve kept putting off this series…but no more! And I’m so glad I finally read it – I really enjoyed it and I finally understand the hype and love for it.
Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab
Series: Shades of Magic #1
Genres: Fantasy
Everything about this book from the cover to the synopsis sounded like the cutest thing ever – and turns out, it was true! This is the sweetest most heartfelt book I’ve read in a while – bonus points for delicious sounding Asian food and a cute corgi named Clover!
Title: Fake Dates and Mooncakes
Author: Sher Lee
Genres: Romance, LBGTQ+, Contemporary
After reading Firekeeper’s Daughter in 2021, I knew I would ready anything and everything Angeline Boulley writes – and here we are with her latest release, which takes place 10 years after the events of Firekeeper’s Daughter. While this isn’t technically a “sequel” I would highly recommend reading that one first to have some ground work laid out – and Daunis, the protagonist of Firekeeper’s Daughter is in this one as well, grown up with a child of her own.
Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Series: Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery
This is one of those books that I’ve had sitting on my shelf for ages and something finally made me decide it was time to read this – and I’m so glad I did! This story has a little of something for everyone.
Title: Light from Uncommon Stars
Authors: Ryka Aoki
Series: Standalone
Genres: Sci-fi, Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Goodreads Summary
I am a longtime fan of Abby Jimenez’s writing, so when I hear she has a new book coming out, say less – I will read that book ASAP. Yours Truly is set in the same world as Part of Your World (pun not intended) but can technically be read as a standalone – however, it will spoil Part of Your World if you read Yours Truly first and I would highly recommend the first book anyway, a quick and fun read!
Title: Yours Truly
Author: Abby Jimenez
Series: Part of Your World #2
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Sometimes what you need is a short romance novella to give you all the warm fuzzies. This story takes place in an airport terminal with an in terminal pet groomer and a frequent flier – and it was so cute!
Title: The Love Connection
Author: Denise Williams
Series: Airport Novellas #1
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
This Is Not the Real World is the sequel to This Is Not the Jess Show, a story set in the 90s with tons of nostalgic throwbacks and I highly recommend it! This novel is the sequel and there will be spoilers for the first story, so proceed with caution.
Title: This Is Not The Real World
Author: Anna Carey
Series: This Is Not the Jess Show #2
Genres: Dystopia, Sci-fi
A magical story set in New Orleans that follows twin heirs to a dethroned family, trying to solve a decades old murder and reclaim their families rightful place?! Oh yeah, this one sounded great and that cover drew me in!
Title: Blood Debts
Author: Terry J. Benton-Walker
Series: Blood Debts #1
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Magic, LGBT
The gorgeous cover is what first drew me to this book, but when I found out it was about a non-binary person, their undocumented boyfriend, and Mexican culture, I was very interested. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t put this one down!
Title: Ander & Santi Were Here
Author: Jonny Garza Villa
Genres: Romance, LBGTQ+, Contemporary
Release Date: May 2, 2023
I’ve seen Hadestown on Broadway 7x now since 2019 and its a story that never gets old to me – they tell it again and again and it might turn out differently next time. It’s one of my favorite shows so I knew I wanted to read this book by creator/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell where she breaks down the lyrics and talks about how the evolved.
…but now I’m desperate to see Hadestown again ASAP!
Title: Working on a Song: the Lyrics of HADESTOWN
Author: Anaïs Mitchell
Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre, Play, Musical
Frayed Books 