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Fall 2023 Backlist Check-in

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9 Great Books from My Fall 2023 Backlist Reading cover collage includes The Goose Girl, Furia, Hunt Gather Parent, Foul Lady Fortune, Disfigured, Anne Frank's Diary, Elatsoe, and Meg Jo Beth and Amy.

Welcome to my second seasonal back-list reading check-in! So far, I love this format to talk about my backlist reading. I started this post right after I published the last one, and as I finished reading a backlist title, I added it to the list.

Like last time, my list is pretty eclectic. I read a parenting book, the diary of Anne Frank, and a novel about an Argentinian soccer player, among others. Most of these I listened to as audiobooks, usually while driving. That has been a great way to work through some backlist titles I’ve been really itching to read. About half of these books came out during the pandemic, which could be part of why I missed them. I know ELATSOE and FURIA were both on my reading lists the year they came out.

I’m still working out the details of my backlist reading strategy. It has helped me to have reading challenges and goals to motivate me, but I’m still looking for ideas. If you have any tips or ideas for getting to those backlist titles more quickly, please let me know!

Other than that, let’s get straight to why we’re here. These are the nine titles I read for my fall 2023 backlist reading.

Fall 2023 Backlist Reading

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Great strategies and solutions for parents looking to raise helpful kids or combat entitlement. I’m loving the changes I see in my family from what I learned in this book.

Published: March 2, 2021 | Review to Come

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Amy Boyd Rioux

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Rioux gives a brief account of Louisa May Alcott’s life and the parts from which she drew inspiration for LITTLE WOMEN. She also explores conversations through the decades about why the book resonates with different generations, the various movies and stage adaptations, and who’s reading the book today.

Published: August 21, 2018 | Review to Come

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A spy and an assassin go undercover as a married couple to expose a terror cell murdering civilians in 1931 Shanghai. A companion to the THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS duology. Twisty and engrossing. I read this because I agreed to review the sequel and wanted to be ready to jump into it.

Published: September 27, 2022 | Review to Come

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Diary entries written by a young Jewish girl in the Netherlands who went into hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the country. I thought I’d read this in school, but it turns out I read a play instead. I wanted to read this before reading a graphic novel adaptation that’s been banned near me.

Published: May 15, 2022 (orig. 1947) | Review to Come

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman, and Illustrated by David Polonsky

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A graphic adaptation of the diary kept by Anne Frank as a teenager as she lived in hiding during the Nazi occupation of her homeland in World War II. Banned for a scene in which Anne expresses attraction for a female friend. This is the only graphic adaptation approved by the Anne Frank Foundation.

Published: October 7, 2017 | Review to Come

The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern #1) by Shannon Hale

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of a young princess who can speak to birds and her journey to a new country to be queen. Based on a fairytale recorded by the Grimm Brothers.

Published: December 1, 2008 | Review to Come

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A deconstruction/discussion of some fairytales and their history from the perspective of a writer with Cerebral Palsy. Looks at what popular fairytales teach about personal value, morality, and disability.

Published: February 11, 2020 | Review to Come

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Fabulous and unforgettable. A multiracial young soccer player in Argentina faces prejudice, injury, the pull of romance, and threats as she seeks to win a tournament that could change her life.

Published: September 15, 2020 | Review to Come

Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: When her cousin dies under mysterious circumstances, Ellie faces monsters and dark magic with friends and her ghost dog at her side. This one has been on my list for SO long! I loved it and can’t wait to read more by Darcy Little Badger.

Published: August 25, 2020 | Review to Come

What’s on your fall 2023 backlist reading list?

Did you read anything published before this year from your To Be Read pile? If not, what’s the next backlist title you hope to crack open?

Let me know if you read any of the books from my list. I’d love to know what you thought about them!

Review: Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen

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Artifacts of an Ex
Jennifer Chen
Wednesday Books
Published November 14, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen

When Chloe Chang gets dumped via USPS after moving across the county from NYC to LA, her first instinct is to throw her box of memories in the garbage. Instead, she starts buying other teenagers’ break-up boxes to create an art exhibit, Heartifacts. Opening night is going great, until she spots Daniel Kwak illicitly filming his best friend’s reaction to his ex’s box. When she tries to stop him, an intense discussion ends up launching a creative partnership and friendship… and a major crush for Chloe.

There’s just one problem: Daniel is dead set on not being another rebound.

Five times he’s been the guy who makes the girls he’s dating realize they want to get back with their ex. And he refuses for there to be a sixth. She insists she’s over her ex, but when he shows up unexpectedly with his new girlfriend, it turns out Daniel was right. She isn’t ready for a new relationship.

She throws herself into making Heartifacts successful, but flashy influencers threaten her original vision of the exhibit. To create the exhibit she’s always wanted, Chloe needs to go back to basics, learn to work with artists in a more collaborative way, and discover what love can be. Only then will she convince Daniel she’s truly ready for everything they could be to one another.

In the tradition of Jenny Han and Emma Lord, Jennifer Chen’s ARTIFACTS OF AN EX is a story of love, art, and finding your way when everything you know has changed completely.

My Review

The whole story is told from Chloe’s point of view, which makes this a little different than some of the other contemporary YA romances I’ve read lately. I liked it that way, though. I felt like there was a good balance between the romance and Chloe’s family relationships and her investment in her exhibit, and I had no trouble figuring out what Daniel was thinking or doing because he appeared in a lot of scenes and was a pretty straightforward guy.

I liked Chloe’s friends, especially Vincent and Francesca, friends Chloe meets in Los Angeles. I felt like they contributed the right amounts of truth and humor in all the right places. Chloe’s grandmother has dementia, and watching Chloe and her family navigate the stages of that loss took me back to my own grandmother’s battle with Lewy Body dementia. I loved that Chloe’s Ahma still had moments of clarity and was able to connect with her, but it broke my heart every time her illness prevented her from being able to do that.

All in all, I loved reading this sweet romance peppered with strong side characters and full of art and life in Los Angeles. I can definitely see fans of Jenny Han and Emma Lord liking this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Chloe and Daniel are Asian American. Chloe’s best friend is bisexual. Daniel’s best friend is gay. Chloe makes another friend who is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used a few times; mild profanity used more frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. Chloe notices Daniel’s butt in one scene. In one scene, Daniel answers the door in a towel. References to sex. Brief touching on top of clothes in one scene.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of ARTIFACTS OF AN EX in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger

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Elatsoe
Darcy Little Badger
Levine Querido
Published August 25, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Elatsoe

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

My Review

I’ve had this book since it came out, and I can’t believe it took me over three years to finally read it! I totally see why this book is so popular, though. It has so much to offer. The voice is very young, which is perfect for YA. While the story is more serious, Ellie and her best friend Jay (no romance here) have a lot of silly banter and goofy moments that keep things from getting too grim.

I also really liked that Ellie’s family, especially her mom and her six-great-grandmother, are part of the story, but the focus remains on Ellie, and she drives the story forward. I think there’s one scene from her mom’s perspective, but even that centers on how she feels about Ellie and how she’s unable to save her.

All in all, I thought this was a well-paced, powerful story celebrating family legacy and identity. I just noticed that SHEINE LENDE, the prequel to ELATSOE, comes out next year, so I’m adding that one to my reading list for sure!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ellie identifies as romantic asexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Ellie and some of her family members can raise ghosts. Ellie uses this gift to raise the ghost of her dog, Kirby, whom she’s trained to protect her from harm. Raising a human ghost is forbidden, as it isn’t the person who returns, but a warped version of them bent on destruction and with access to great power.

Some other magical abilities exist. Some people are descendants of fae and have abilities or access to magic based on that lineage.

Vampirism is a curse that causes bloodlust and other symptoms.

Ellie and her family consult a psychic to try to discover what really happened to her cousin. She accidentally steps into the underworld at one point and later learns how dangerous this is.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of injuries resulting from a car accident. Situations of peril. A vampire threatens to harm people. Ellie recalls a story of a river monster who killed many. Brief descriptions of a wooly mammoth ghost stomping and goring a man to death. A woman describes a man who pulled a knife on a young girl, intending to kill her. A ghost causes mayhem and wreckage at a party, injuring people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog.

Review: The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard

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The Hunting Moon (The Luminaries #2)
Susan Dennard
Tor Teen
Published November 7, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Hunting Moon

The highly anticipated sequel to THE LUMINARIES by New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard.

Winnie Wednesday has gotten everything she thought she wanted. She passed the deadly hunter trials, her family has been welcomed back into the Luminaries, and overnight, she has become a local celebrity.

The Girl Who Jumped. The Girl Who Got Bitten.

Unfortunately, it all feels wrong. For one, nobody will believe her about the new nightmare called the Whisperer that’s killing hunters each night. Everyone blames the werewolf, even though Winnie is certain the wolf is innocent.

On top of that, following her dad’s convoluted clues about the Dianas, their magic, and what happened in Hemlock Falls four years ago is leaving her with more questions than answers.

Then to complicate it all, there is still only one person who can help her: Jay Friday, the boy with plenty of problems all his own.

As bodies and secrets pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what it means to be a true Wednesday and a true Luminary—and also where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie.

My Review

I loved the first book in this series, so I’ve had this sequel on my reading list since I finished THE LUMINARIES. Susan Dennard has a choose-your-own adventure-type story about these characters on her social media (maybe it’s on her Substack now?), which I followed for a while, but I’ve lost track of it lately. It was a lot of fun, though.

All that to say, the Luminary world stayed fresh in my mind, and I was excited to start reading book two in the series. It was easy to dive right back in. THE HUNTING MOON begins pretty much exactly where THE LUMINARIES ends, as Winnie deals with the aftermath of her trial.

One thing that stood out to me was how the supernatural creatures’ existences are integrated into the story. Like, Winnie often makes comparisons to things based on monsters’ attributes in the story. I liked that and felt like it kept the story anchored in the alternate world in which Winnie lives.

Also– Winnie and Jay. Omg. The tension. And the way they’re both like, “You don’t like me, so whatever.” I couldn’t read fast enough. They’re so sweet and so innocent. I love it so much!

The only thing I felt disappointed about is that I felt like Winnie didn’t make as much progress toward clearing her dad’s name as I expected. From how the first book ended, I thought the second book would be the quest to clear his name and that she would at least make contact with him. That’s not the direction the story goes, though much of what happens is in service of ultimately clearing his name.

Conclusion

I liked the story in this book– it just wasn’t the one I expected to find. The mystery of the werewolf takes center stage, which is another thing that I wanted to know more about, so that easily held my attention.

All in all, I am still a hardcore Luminaries fan. I’m excited to see where the series goes from here, and I will probably try to reconnect with the live and unfolding adventure on the author’s social media again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Some discussion of kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to shapeshift or perform magic. Winnie lives in a world where supernatural creatures exist and some attack humans.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle scenes between monsters and humans. Winnie is part of a clean-up crew that helps collect the remains of dead monsters or people who’ve been killed by them.

Drug Content
Teens drink beer at a party. Winnie drinks a compound that helps her heal but also makes her seem high.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog.

Review: Out There by Seaerra Miller

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Out There
Seaerra Miller
Little, Brown Ink
Published June 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Out There

A touching, out-of-this-world graphic novel about a daughter, her father, and the aliens that may or may not be speaking to him.

Julia didn’t always believe in aliens.

It was her father who convinced her otherwise. You see—Julia’s dad believes he was abducted by aliens. And ever since then, he’s been obsessed with the extraterrestrial beings living out there.

So when a festival commemorating the 75th anniversary of the infamous UFO crash in New Mexico rolls around, Julia turns down a dream vacation to Hawaii with her best friend, Sara, to join her dad for a weekend trip to Roswell, where he expects the aliens to make contact.

But amid the alien-themed goofiness of the festival, Julia finds she isn’t sure whether her father really did get abducted. His memories of alien interference are starting to sound increasingly shaky, and with them, her faith in him. Will this weekend bring the two closer together or only drive them apart? 

A heartfelt story of family, loyalty, and the lengths we go to support those we love.

My Review

I feel like I read this whole book on the edge of my seat. Julia is so invested in what her dad believes– that aliens abducted him and are planning to meet him again with an important message. I really worried about what would happen if she decided he was mistaken or lying. It would be so painful for her.

One of the things that really impressed me with the story is the way everything feels layered and left to the reader to interpret. As Julia explores the UFO convention and sees some of the attractions and meets other attendees, she rarely voices a judgmental opinion. Sometimes, she seems to have doubts or concerns, but she often remains optimistic and loyal to her dad.

The brightly colored, straightforward illustrations also communicate emotion and action really well. Some scenes have a playful sense to them, and others echo the loneliness or isolation the characters feel in those moments.

All in all, I liked this story a lot. I really appreciate the sensitivity with which the story is told and the way it ends, leaving space for readers to draw their own conclusions.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A woman briefly describes an alien abductor taking a sample of skin from her arm.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of OUT THERE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Gone Wolf by Amber McBride

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Gone Wolf
Amber McBride
Feiwel & Friends
Published October 3, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Gone Wolf

Award-winning author Amber McBride lays bare the fears of being young and Black in America, in this middle-grade novel that has been compared to the work of Jordan Peele and praised as ” brilliantly inventive storytelling” by Publishers Weekly.

In the future, a Black girl known only as Inmate Eleven is kept confined — to be used as a biological match for the president’s son, should he fall ill. She is called a Blue — the color of sadness. She lives in a small-small room with her dog, who is going wolf more often – he’s pacing and imagining he’s free. Inmate Eleven wants to go wolf too―she wants to know why she feels so Blue and what is beyond her small-small room.

In the present, Imogen lives outside of Washington DC. The pandemic has distanced her from everyone but her mother and her therapist. Imogen has intense phobias and nightmares of confinement. Her two older brothers used to help her, but now she’s on her own, until a college student helps her see the difference between being Blue and sad, and Black and empowered.

In this symphony of a novel, award-winning author Amber McBride lays bare the fears of being young and Black in America, and empowers readers to remember their voices and stories are important, especially when they feel the need to go wolf.

My Review

The first book I read by Amber McBride was ME: MOTH, which is a novel in verse. I loved the twisty storytelling. It’s one of those books where you reach a point where everything changes, and you look back at everything you’ve read with a new perspective. I loved that about the book.

GONE WOLF is prose rather than poetry. It also has some twisty storytelling, and I felt like there was the same kind of turning-point moment where I looked back at everything through a different lens. (This is hinted at in the cover copy, so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything.)

The book definitely delves into some tough topics in a pretty unflinching way. The juxtaposition of the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, and a futuristic setting was really thought-provoking. It was interesting to see familiar pieces of history alongside dystopian elements. Somehow, it made them resonate more sharply, maybe because it had that awful ring of the worst kinds of history repeating themselves.

I found it easy to get lost in the story and in trying to figure out how the two narratives connected. Future Imogen’s horror at her discoveries about the world she lives in and the ways she tries to break out of that world hit hard. I rooted for her from the beginning to end.

On the whole, I found this to be a truly captivating story. It’s got a young narrator– I think Imogen is twelve– but I would not call this middle grade. I think it’s actually a coming-of-age story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Imogen is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief strong violence, including violence against an animal.

Imogen witnesses a woman being beaten. She sees someone execute a dog. Imogen and a friend offer ice to people who’ve been attacked as part of a Civil Rights protest.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of GONE WOLF in exchange for my honest review.