A half-Japanese teen grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school in this debut novel.
Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head … Continue reading →
When a panic attack lands Viviana in the hospital, her mother insists that she slow down and stop taking her studies so seriously. But even the thought of slowing down stresses Vivi out. She has summer engineering camp to attend! And SATs to prep for! And college applications to write! Everything has to go perfectly, no room for error. It’s the only way her dad will stop being disappointed in her and come home. And after her failure at school, the one involving Dean and that photo she sent him, Vivi needs something to go right.
How are there so many great books coming out in the next few months? It gets harder and harder to limit my calendar to the books I can actually read, because it seems like there are so many great ones out there. I read three to five middle grade titles in an average month, but I wish I could read more. These books will all be published from January to March 2023. My list is mainly contemporary, historical, and fantasy novels. Here are the middle grade books coming winter 2023 that I’m most looking forward to reading.
This is the list of books I’m planning to read in 2023. Check back as I update this list often! Just about every week, I add new books I’ve accepted for review or titles I can’t resist, as well as squeeze in a few backlist titles where I can.
Some of the backlist titles on this list are books I’ve already read and written up my review for, but my calendar has been so… well, booked… that I’ve had to wait to post about them. There are some great titles on here that I can’t wait to share my reviews about.
This year, I’m breaking up my list into four categories:
September is my favorite month– it’s also my birthday month– and I had the opportunity to review some excellent books. I also received my first OwlCrate shipment, which was incredible! My husband ordered me a six month subscription for my birthday. Here’s what my first box looked like:
I also received one of my new favorite things ever as a gift from a super awesome friend. It’s a stamp that embosses a book page with my blog name. So from now on, if you enter a giveaway that I’m hosting (not ones hosted as part of a blog tour) and you win, your book will have this fancy stamp inside! Exciting. And so thoughtful and clever! I never would … Continue reading →
Comments Off on My Favorite Books from 2015 (January to October)
My Favorite Books from 2015 (So Far…)
So these are not guaranteed to be clean teen reads. This list is made up of the stories and characters which most captured me, deprived me of sleep or free thought until I’d finished the very last page or beyond. Read my reviews (click the book title) for more information on content of each novel. Enjoy!
1. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman – I loved that Shusterman took us on this journey through mental illness and it felt so authentic. At the same time the metaphorical structure made it easy to follow the story and added to its complexity.
