I read 90 books this year which is pretty damn good for me and yet, still not enough! Most of the books you see pictured above I barely got to this year!
Looking at my favorites, you can tell that I have a strong passion for speculative fiction, contemporary, and romance. Some of these are warm and cozy, some of these are epic and dire, some of these are, frankly, spicy as hell. My favorites won’t always be your favorites, and that’s okay! But hey, if you’re looking for Lexie-approved recs, you’ve found the perfect place to start.
In no particular order….
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong: One of those books I wished had a snack glossary at the front so I could have prepared jasmine tea and jam-filled pastries to go with each sweet, found-family-filled page. It’s a cozy fantasy adjacent in that it’s got warm cozy vibes, but the emotional and societal stakes are quite high. Each character has a lovely developmental arc and the sensorial environment is so inviting. Truly a pleasure to read and the cover is beautiful.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow: Probably one of my favorite books of all time, life-affirming and writer’s-life-affirming. I believe in rereading because during the second read, you’re in on it with the author. You can find the threads of foreshadowing woven throughout, little inside jokes hidden in ordinary sentences that she left just for you to grin at. Who knows what I’ll find at the third reread?
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter: A mystery romance combo that has everything! Rival writers invited to a sprawling English manor! A scavenger hunt for long buried secrets! Someone who wants them dead! Christmas sweaters! It was a perfect holiday read for me post-surgery recovery because, fun fact, I only like reading mysteries when I can sit down and finish the whole thing because I hate not knowing who the murderer is.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert: Talia Hibbert is the queen of banter and yearning vibes. I think the genius of Hibbert is in her characters, whether she’s writing YA or adult romance. Their motivations are clear, as are their doubts, their struggles, their personalities. It makes every page a master class in a universal, writerly truth—characters drive the story, not the other way around.
Dog Songs by Mary Oliver: As some of you may know, I’m a reformed poet and this year, I had the pleasure of re-discovering the glories of Mary Oliver. Dog Songs is a selection of poems about…you guessed it…dogs! Like their subject matter, the poems are equal parts whimsy and wise. If you’ve ever loved a dog in your life, these poems will make you cry.
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan: I’ve slept on Jenny Colgan for too long! This book is so warm! So cozy! So filled with bibliophiles and beautiful Scottish settings and memorable characters! Can’t wait to dive into her backlist whenever I’m in need of a book hug.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan: Brennan knows how to mess with every single epic fantasy trope with style and a sort of maniacal glee. A terminally ill girl gets transported into her favorite fantasy series…as the VILLAIN. She proceeds to merrily wreck the plot. It’s a heartfelt riot, full of upended fantasy cliches, empowerment, and a musical number?!? I’ll be thinking about this book for YEARS to come and look forward to re-reading it.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher: A quick read that combines Regency romance, fairy tales, and of course, unspeakable horror! Just the right amount of scary for me, who aligns more with a Scooby Doo flavor of spooky. I love this author. T. Kingfisher could write an Ikea bookshelf assembly manual and I’d buy ten copies.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: Oh look! Sci-Fi! The Ministry of Time is a brilliantly written work about the slippery slope of choices that lead to being on the wrong side of history. It’s also a stunning meditation on belonging, trust, power, and TIME TRAVEL.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue: I’m such a nosy person. This book’s premise allows me to live out my fantasy of knowing way too much about anybody and everybody. When struggling millennial Jolene accidentally gets access to all her coworkers’ inboxes, she sees a way to finally game the corporate ladder. But what doesn’t she see coming? How taking a peek into these private inboxes opens her up to more meaningful relationships and a deeper understanding of the people around her.
This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan: I LOOOOOVE when the bad guys get what’s coming to ’em and the hero’s most potent EFF YOU is a dazzlingly successful life. That’s what I love about This Could Be Us. The story follows Soledad Barnes, an incredibly kind woman who, after a horrible betrayal, takes the broken pieces of her life and works her butt off to be there for her family and make her own dreams a reality. Honestly, the (very steamy) romance plot feels like a subplot to the true love story—Soledad learning to love and trust herself. P.S. Kennedy Ryan is an agency sibling of mine! She doesn’t know I exist but I still think that’s a cool fact!
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram: Being a reader means constantly finding yourself in the pages of a stranger’s words. And as an Iranian-American reader with all the usual diaspora-related identity conflicts, I saw so much of myself in this work. It was the first book I’d read about an American-born Iranian-American. Not far-off historical fiction or grim memoir about the revolution from someone my parents’ age. The main character, Darius, goes to Iran with his Iranian mom and American dad for the first time to meet his dying grandfather. Poignant, nerdy, heartfelt, and written with such love, I think about this book all the time. I’d never seen an Iran like this before, through eyes that could have been my own, and it was a gift.
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and The Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller: Look, I don’t know what to tell you but to go listen to this book. It’s short! It’ll make you think! It’ll make you cry! It’ll move you in ways you can’t possibly imagine!
That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams: Tudor England! Orisha-based magic system! Sibling dynamics! Choosing your own path! Basically, a young woman dreams of becoming a goldsmith but in the meantime, works as fight choreographer for Shakespeare’s theater troupe. She becomes ensnared in turbulent human/Fae politics that will have disastrous results. It’s such a cool premise that’s beautifully executed. Can’t wait to read more from this author.
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth: This is Olivie Blake’s young adult pen name! Or is Olivie Blake her adult pen name? Anyway, I love her young adult stuff because it’s all of Blake’s humor and craft without as much…horrible, terrible, heart-breaking world-ending things happening. I think my favorite aspect was the sibling dynamic and the teenage ferocity of Viola, the main character. It brought me back to my adolescence and all the times I was chastised for being angry. But you know what? Maybe I had a lot to be angry about. Blake/Farol Follmuth gets it.
The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri: This book felt like something I would have become obsessed with in fourth grade. A banished monk-in-training winds up the assistant of a dubious but gregarious merchant on the Silk Road. Daniel Nayeri weaves a beautiful, witty, and heartfelt story that feels like my own personal folklore. Hot tip: grab the audio book, (it’s only 4 hours long), and bring it with you on walks.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: Viciously sharp. It’s about a deeply jealous writer who steals a manuscript from her wildly successful (dead) friend and passes it off as her own. A fascinating read for any person in the book world, whether they’re a reader or a writer or an occasional book club member. I read this book just after a huge scandal blew up in the book world that was eerily close to Kuang’s premise (here’s an article about it). It was a sobering look into the biases of the publishing world, how books and authors are marketed within those biases, and which story gets told (and why).
Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young: I’m a sucker for found family and grumpy+sunshine romances, okay??? A young woman finds herself the temporary guardian of her infant half-sister. In order to prove she’s responsible enough to adopt, she takes part in a co-fostering program with an attractive yet gruff mechanic hoping to adopt his deaf teenage brother. They work together! To work through their issues! And be there for their siblings! Also, very proud to say that Hannah Bonam-Young is an agency sibling so it felt cool to have loved this book before I signed with BookEnds.
The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider: This was such an indulgent read for me. It made me think of the high fantasy magical girl-power books I obsessed over during my early teens. It was funny as hell and I gobbled it right up.
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel: LOOK. This alternate-reality Taylor Swift second-chance romance had so many deep and poignant moments about who we are, what holds us back, and what makes us our own. It’s a romance but it’s also deeply philosophical and introspective. I still think about some of the lines.
Hovergirls by Geneva Bowers: Geneva Bowers is an artist I came across on Twitter years ago and became obsessed with her ethereal artwork (I have “Ghosties II” hanging in the living room). Her graphic novel is wonderfully sarcastic, stunningly sharp and just gorgeous to look at.
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne: Picture the highest fantasy world you can think of–Game of Thrones, Tamora Pierce’s Tortall, whatever. Now, picture the most powerful mage in the land running off with her queen’s guard girlfriend to open a book and tea shop in a snowy small town! This book is a picnic for the soul. I read it at a lake house and it was the perfect, joyful read for vacation.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: A series of novellas that I absolutely gobbled about the children who come back from Neverland, the looking glass, the wardrobe, or all of their other-wordly-fantastical adventures. Dark, poignant, and better with each novella.
The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall: Author of Squad, the graphic novel about teenage girls who, once a month, turn into wolves and eat the worst boy they can find! Feminism! This wry and sometimes dark graphic novel playfully mashes Japanese samurai movie tropes with our Western obsession with heroes and asks, “What are you really fighting for?”
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