April 26th: Authors You Want to Read More From
–Talk about some authors that you’ve only read one or a few books from, and you NEED to read more!

Click on the author’s name to go to their Goodreads page!

William Shakespeare

I have only read Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth but i have seen a bunch of unabridged plays and loved them. The above are three plays that I’ve been dying to read, especially Julius Caeser.

Becky Albertalli

Last year Becky Albertalli released her debut novel Simon Vs The Homo Sapien’s Agenda, it was amazing and I totally recommend you guys pick it up. Her new book The Upside of Unrequited came out April 11th, I haven’t read it yet but rest assured I will get to it soon.

She also has a book coming out next year, it’s supposed to be a spinoff of Simon, so I am very excited!

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is my favourite author, yet I’ve only read seven of his books (Mistborn & Steelheart). The above are three books by him that I own, and really want to get to. Warbreaker and Elantris are both the first books in different series but were released so long ago that I question whether or not a book 2 will ever be a thing. However, The Way of Kings already has 2 books out, with the third coming out this year. I really want to read this series but it’s meant to be a ten book series and each book only comes out every two or three years so I’m not too sure when I’m actually going to start it.

Rick Riordan

I have read quite a few of Riordan’s books over the years. However, there is one trilogy that I’ve been meaning to read ever since the first book came out. Although, for whatever reason I haven’t even started the trilogy yet.

Laini Taylor

I read Laini Taylor’s previous trilogy a few years ago and really enjoyed it. However, I read Strange the Dreamer, her 2017 novel earlier this month andwhile I didn’t LOVE it, I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. I feel like this new series has some geat potential so I can’t wait to continue it.

April 19th: Favourite LGBTQ+ Reads
–Talk about your favorite books that feature LGBTQ+ characters or are by LGBTQ+ authors.

Click on the title on the book to go to the Goodreads page!

Simon Vs The Homo Sapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

I read this early last year and loved it so much that as soon as I finished it I started it right over again. It’s a really fun and innocent story about some cool kids who just want to have a nice life and eat oreos.

George by Alex Gino

George is an amazing book, I feel like it’s a necessary read. It’s short and it gives non-transgender peoples an idea of the struggles transgender people go through, even when they’re young.

George really puts in perspective how hard it can be when you feel you’re in the wrong body, and it also shows how not everyone will stand by your side if you come out. Alex Gino also doesn’t use him/her pronouns, which I think is really smart as this book is middle grade and would be easier for younger readers to understand.

Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke A. Allen

Have you picked up the Lumberjanes series yet? No? Well you should. There are no bad things about this series, the characters are all amazing, they have their flaws but as the series goes on they all learn more about themselves and become better people. This is a really cute book about friendship and love (and monsters) and totally recommend that you pick it up.

Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour

Something I’ve found with the majority of queer young adult that I’ve read is that, if a character is gay they’re usually a guy. Why? I have no idea.

So naturally when I picked up Everything Leads to You, it was a lovely change to see a lesbian main character, and not just that but a queer main who wasn’t coming out or discovering their sexuality. Emi knows who she is and who she likes, she’s got her shit sorted out and she knows what she wants to do with her life. Actually, that’s art of what makes this book so interesting, Emi works behind the scenes in Hollywood creating the sets.

Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire

The main thing I want to talk about with this book is that Seanan McGuire managed to put so much representation into a 173 page book, whereas, soo many other books have absolutely no rep. This book has an Asexual main character and a Transgender main character, so whoop whoop for the representation.

There’s actually a quote in this book that I really love: “We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women.”

April 5th: Top SFF Books on Your TBR *Booktube SFF Awards Babble Crossover Topic!*
–Talk about the science fiction and fantasy books you want to read ASAP!

Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase #1)

This is a Rick Riordan book but, for some reason I just haven’t got to it yet. It feels pretty crazy to me that the last book in the trilogy is coming out this year but I still haven’t read the first book.

Lumberjanes Volume 6

This comes out on the 20th of this month, so I’m hopefully going to be able to read it in May. This is a really fun and inventive series for pretty much any age so I’m going to read it along with my brothers when it comes out.

Skulduggery Pleasant: Resurrection (Skulduggery Pleasant #10)

There is ANOTHER Skulduggery Pleasant book. Folks, this is number ten. TEN, I TELL YOU! And that’s fine because I love this series and the characters (or what’s left of them). I thought I was done with this series last year, but then Mr Landy decided to write another one. I know it sounds like I’m complaining but I am actually excited for this book.

The Martian

I saw the film adaptation for this last year and thought it was amazing, I meant to read it as soon as I saw the film but for some reason never got around to it. I don’t know if I’ll get to it this year, but I really hope I do.

Strange The Dreamer

This was actually on my TBR for March but due to exams I never got the chance to pick it up. I’m hoping to  get to it this month, but I also have a bunch assignments so if I read anything at all it would be a miracle.

March 8th – Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books *BooktubeSFF Awards Crossover Topic!*
–In collaboration with the BooktubeSFF Awards, talk about your favorite science fiction and fantasy books of all time!

SCIENCE FICTION

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

This is the first novel in The Lunar Chronicles, this isn’t the best book in the series but overall, this series is a really fun and enjoyable science fiction series.

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

I haven’t had the chance to re-read this trilogy yet but I loved each novel in the series. I plan on re-reading this trilogy in the next year or two, it’s a sci-fi novel that is actually in space and actually has science fiction aspects.

FANTASY

Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber

I read this book last week and honestly, I loved it! It’s a completely new idea – which is certainly new for Young Adult! It surrounds a week-long treasure hunt game show. The main character and her sister have wanted to go to Caraval for years and they suddenly get the chance to go. Early into the story Scarlett’s (the main character) sister goes missing (this is not a spoiler – it’s in the blurb) and so Scarlett has to find her by the end of Caraval.

It’s a brilliant novel with an original plot and plot twists around every corner – I urge you to pick it up!

Skulduggery Pleasant (Skulduggery Pleasant #1) by Derek Landy

I haven been talking about this series a lot for the past 6 months or so, so I’m sure it’s pretty obvious by now that I really enjoy this series. The characters are sassy and badass and the plot is unique and different. This is a really great series for people of all ages, I read the entire series last year and really loved it and I recently got my brother (a 10 year old) into the series and he is loving it!

Harry Potter (Harry Potter #1) by J. K. Rowling

Everyone and their dog has read these books or seen these movies so it’s pretty obvious that they are great fantasy novels.

February 22nd: Books to Get You Out of a Reading Slump
– Winter is a hard season for a lot of people and many of us are slumpy. Let’s talk about some books that are great for getting you out of a slump!

Back in January I wrote a post on How To: Get Out Of A Reading Slump which also has some book suggestions. 

01 Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Let’s start with the obvious, anyone who grew up with Twilight or got really into in their teenage years knows that these books are really easy to read and that the plot is really simple. Naturally, this book is really helpful when you need o get out of a slump.

02 The Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen

Following on from the same vein as Twilight Evil Librarian has a pretty simple plot with pretty generic characters but it’s fun to read. Last year, I got into a bit of a reading slump while also being sick and I so I picked this up and it got me out of my reading slump.

03 Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

I have’t finished this book yet but what I read of this last month managed to get me out of my reading slump at the start of the year.

04 Silver Surfer Volume 1: New Dawn by Dan Slott

This comic series is amazing! Silver Surfer is a really interesting and new kind of character and I really enjoy this series!

05 The Deep Volume 1: Here Be Dragons by Tom Taylor 

Okay, so this series is only two comics so far but it is really fun – there’s no romance and it focuses mostly on friendships and family relationships. There aren’t enough novels or comics with only familial friendships, as a lot of stories seem to focus more on romance which can get quite boring at times.

February 15th: Favourite Non-Written Novels
– This was a hard topic to name, but this is about all books that are not ‘written’ novels! So graphic novels, comics, manga, audiobooks, etc. Shed some light on books in other forms.

HAHA! MY TIME HAS COME!

COMICS

01 Nova series by Jeph Loeb

02 Spider-Verse by Dan Slott

These two comic series are my favourites so of course I had to talk about them. I’ve said this before but Nova is just Spider-Man in space, and being a massive Spidey fan this really appeals to me. Spider-Verse was the first comic series I ever read – I only started it last year so I am a late bloomer when it comes to comics. I was given the 600 page omnibus for Christmas in 2015 and ended up reading it in a day.

AUDIOBOOKS

03 The Cormoran Strike series written by Robert Galbraith & narrated by Robert Glenister

These are probably my favourite audiobooks of all time, I just love how the narrator does Cormoran Strike’s character – his voice is exactly how I pictured the character to sound.

04 Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling & narrated by Stephen Fry

This series is narrated by multiple people but I have to say that I much prefer the Stephen Fry version. I once tried to listen to the Jim Dale version and couldn’t get through the first chapter.

05 The Raven Cycle written by Maggie Stiefvater & narrated by Will Patton

I have only listened to the last book in this series on audio but I have sine bought the others. I really enjoyed listening to it so I’m hoping to listen to the whole series later in the year. I found that the audio was really helpful for me because I often forgot how the characters were meant to sound.

December 21st – Fictional Items You’d Give as Gifts
We’ve talked about fictional items we’ve wanted for ourselves before, but in the holiday spirit, what fictional items would you give to friends and family?

Gift giving is one of my favourite things to do. Almost everyone important in my life hates the act and finds it boring but I love it. As soon as Christmas finishes I’m already planning birthdays and the next Christmas. I take down notes throughout the entire year so I can try and compile  gift that shows who I think the person is and what how they’ve changed over the year.

01 Remembrall for the forgetful friend.

02 Broomstick for the sporty friend.

03 Seeing Stone from Spiderwick Chronciles for the open minded friend.

04 Protective clothing made by Ghastly Bespoke for the adventurous friend.

05 Magical Item – Invisible baseball cap for the friend who needs some alone time.

Bonus -> A fictional item I’d want as a gift

01 I’d really appreciate a wand, after seeing Fantastic Beasts and seeing how domestic Queenie was with her magic it’s really inspired me. Magic doesn’t have to be fantastic or over the top, it can just be something simple to help you dry your clothes or cook dinner if you’re on a tight schedule.

That being said, if anyone wanted to get me a Bowtruckle I wouldn’t say no.