July 10, 2024

<aside> 🔖 These are my top 10 books since I got back into reading in 2020. This list doesn’t include my childhood favorites but reflects my adult reading journey!! It’s also in no particular order. Happy reading!

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Beach Read by Emily Henry

This is the first book I read when I got back into reading as an adult. Because of that, it will always have a special place in my heart. It’s also one of the few books I’ve ever reread (and it was just as amazing on the second read!).

It’s filled with banter, characters with a history, struggling writers, grief, complicated family dynamics, and the beach. Plus it had such a fun concept: a romance writer and a literary writer decide to switch genres for the summer while writing their next novel.

Overall, this book made me blush and pulled at my heartstrings all at the same time.

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The Folk of the Air Series by Holly Black

Sometimes you read a book and never think about the characters again, but I still find myself thinking about Jude Duarte even though I read this series over a year ago. She’s one of my favorite fantasy characters because she only had her smarts and cunning to rely on. She’s a human in a fae world so she’s an automatic underdog.

I also appreciate a book that explores characters with flaws. Prince Cardan is not a perfect person. In fact, I hated him at the beginning of book one and could never have imagined that I’d end up falling in love with him. Cardan, Jude, Taryn, and many other characters felt so real to me because of their flaws and character arcs.

And lastly, let’s finally talk about the plot 😅! The romance is a TRUE enemies to lovers. They hate each other for a very strong reason. I appreciate that the author took the time to transition them from enemies to lovers in a way that felt natural and high-stakes. And the fantasy!! Edge of my seat. Don’t know who you can trust. Cunning plot twists. These are just a few of the phrases I’d use to describe my love for the fantasy world and plot!

The Caraval Series by Stephanie Garber

I WILL NEVER GET OVER HOW MAGICAL THIS SERIES IS. I felt like a kid again, discovering something for the first time, reading this book. Scarlett and Tella get invited to Caraval, a magical once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show. And magical it was. The attention to detail Stephanie Garber gives the world is amazing. Everything from shop signs to Caraval characters to Scarlett’s dress was enchanting

I also always love a book that spans many genres and this book has romance, fantasy, and mystery. I felt like I was right there with Scarlett trying to solve this year’s mystery at Caraval. There were so many twists and turns that surprised me every single time.

The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby

We’re going in a bit of a different direction here 😅 with a serial killer romance. Remember in my Caraval review where I said I love a book that spans many genres? Well, this one does just that. This is a romance between a serial killer and an FBI agent… 😳(that was my face when I first read the synopsis).

We have so many subplots going on in this series, there was never a dull moment. Our female love interest, Lana, is the serial killer, so we’re following her murders and trying to unravel why she kills. At the same time, we’re also following our FBI agent, Logan’s, murder cases at his job. AND Lana and Logan are falling in love. So a lot is going on.

This series is not for the faint of heart. Definitely check the trigger warnings. But if you ever can’t decide between picking up a mystery or romance book, this one’s for you!

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The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

I must confess that this is a three-book series and I’ve only read the first book 😅 (I’m in the middle of a LOT of series right now. It’s a problem. I know), so I can’t vouch for the rest of the series but I lovedddd book one! This book follows six magicians who are competing to get into a secret society with only five open spots. There is SO much that I love about this book but if I had to boil it down to two things it would be…

We get the POV of all six characters. This was so cool to me because they’re all an intense competition with each other. So of course they all have their own agendas and are making friends/allies, manipulating each other, etc. As the reader, we know more than the characters and get this cool bird’s eye view of the competition and what everyone’s strategy is because we get all of their POVs. All of the characters are so intelligent and their relationships are so complex.
The intricacies of the magic. Y’all I felt so smart reading this book 😃. The magic used a mix of real science and well… magic. I’ve realized I really enjoy science in books (even if I can’t follow half of it). I’ve never read a fantasy book that integrated science from our world into the fictional magic system. So that was quite unique for me!

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This story is so heartbreaking yet took me on such a range of emotions from hope to anger to sadness (I was in absolute tears by the end). This memoir is the story of Paul, a young neurosurgeon who gets diagnosed with terminal cancer and asks himself the question: “What makes life worth living?”.

At thirty-six, Paul has spent a huge part of his life training to be a neurosurgeon. Training for a future that he now will never reach. I think we often take the existence of our own futures for granted when we aren’t in control of what happens in the future and how much time we have left.

I think this is a book that everyone should read. It’s hard for me to even put into words how meaningful this book was for me in viewing my own life and how I live it.

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The A Court of Thorns & Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas