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Let’s Talk: Favorite Reads of 2021 Part 2

I feel like just yesterday it was January, and then I blinked and we’re at the end of the year. This year has flown by SO quickly! While this year has been…quite challenging, I will say that in general it’s been my best reading year. So far this year I’ve read 206 books, which was 56 books over my original goal of 150.

In June I made a post highlighting my favorite books from the first half of the year, which you can read here. Now that the year is over, I thought it only made sense to follow up with my favorite books from the second half of the year. I discovered a lot of new books that I loved, revisited some old favorites, and read a few that I probably would not read again. 

This post only lists books that I read for the first time this year – no rereads because if so, we all know what books would be listed…

As always, I have done my best to list trigger warnings based on my own personal notes, trigger warnings from other reviews and what is listed on websites like Book Trigger Warnings and Trigger Warning Database if needed. That being said, there may be things that I have forgotten and if so I apologize! If you’ve read any of these books and notice that I’m missing some triggers, please let me know so that I can update the trigger lists!

✩ indicates an ARC

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Let’s Talk: 2022 Debuts I’m Looking Forward To

Can y’all believe it’s almost 2022? Absolutely wild! This is the time of year where I usually start making my preliminary list of reading goals for the next year, as well as a list of my most anticipated releases. As I started looking through my anticipated reads, I noticed a bunch of debuts on the list, and I thought it would be nice to give those authors and their books a little shoutout!

Narrowing it down is a bit difficult, but I decided to go with 6 books that I’m especially excited for. So, without further ado, here are 6 novels from debut authors that I’m looking forward to in 2022!

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ARC Review: No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado

You should know, right now, that I’m a liar.

They’re usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent.

But they’re still lies.

Twenty one-year-old Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, and a glittering life filled with adventure. With tons of followers on Instagram, her picture-perfect existence seems eminently enviable.

Except it’s all fake.

Max is actually 16-year-old Kat Sanchez, a quiet and sarcastic teenager living in drab Bakersfield, California. Nothing glamorous in her existence–just sprawl, bad house parties, a crap school year, and the awkwardness of dealing with her best friend Hari’s unrequited love. But while Kat’s life is far from perfect, she thrives as Max: doling out advice, sharing beautiful photos, networking with famous influencers, even making a real friend in a follower named Elena. The closer Elena and “Max” get–texting, Snapping, and even calling–the more Kat feels she has to keep up the facade.

But when one of Max’s posts goes ultra-viral and gets back to the very person she’s been stealing photos from, her entire world – real and fake — comes crashing down around her. She has to figure out a way to get herself out of the huge web of lies she’s created without hurting the people she loves.

But it might already be too late.

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Let’s Talk: 4 Books I Want to Read Before the End of the Year

I can’t believe that we’re almost at the end of the year! Truly, where did the time go? As the year is winding down, I’ve started to think about my usual end of the year wrap up post and it reminded me of how many books I’ve wanted to read this year that I still haven’t gotten to! 

I won’t lie, I think I’ve been in the midst of a tiny reading slump lately! Work has been pretty busy the last few weeks, which has made reading a bit more difficult. Besides working through my Nancy Drew reread, I haven’t been reading a lot as of late. Luckily, I’m doing just fine on my reading goal, so I’m not feeling too bad about not getting a whole lot of reading done in the last few weeks. That being said, there are some books that I definitely want to get to before the year is up!

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Book recommendations based off of your favorite song from Red

With Red (Taylor’s Version) coming out tomorrow, Caitlyn and I thought it’d be a good time to publish our next installment in Book Recommendations based off of your favorite Taylor Swift song. If you’re new here, Caitlyn and I are massive Taylor Swift fans, and we’ve set out on a task to pair up each Taylor Swift song to a book. You can check out our Folklore, and Evermoreones here! 

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Let’s Talk: “Unlikeable” Female Characters

When I think of “unlikeable” characters, I think of characters who are morally corrupt, characters who are unable to admit their faults, and characters who do not take ownership of their actions. However, I’ve noticed that in the literature world, oftentimes, characters that are labeled as “unlikeable” are not morally corrupt characters. Instead, they’re characters who are flawed, multi-layered, maybe a little selfish, and sort of prickly until you get to know them. So I then started thinking about my favorite books with “unlikeable” characters. In doing so, I noticed that most of the time, those “unlikeable” characters were women.

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Spotlight: 5 Reasons to Read the Kingdom of Cards Series

If you didn’t know, October is Filipino-American Heritage Month. As a Filipino-American myself, I always want to amplify the voices of other Filipino authors. Last year, I had posted a spotlight on Janella Angeles’ debut novel, Where Dreams Descend, and it just so happens that the sequel, When Night Breaks, was released earlier this month. I felt compelled to spotlight Janella’s fabulous work again, so I thought I’d list 5 reasons why you should read the Kingdom of Cards series!

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Review: Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach

Emergency Contact meets Moxie in this cheeky and searing novel that unpacks just how complicated new love can get…when you fall for your enemy.

Eliza Quan is the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her school paper. That is, until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her. Suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced Len—who is tall, handsome, and male—just seems more like a leader.

When Eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.

Amid this growing tension, the school asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization—she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.

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Book Recs: 10 Book Recommendations Based On Your Favorite Comfort Movie

Happy Saturday, friends! While we’re waiting to get our mosaic broken hearts re-shattered by Red (Taylor’s Version), and Adele’s 30, Caitlyn and I figured it would be fun to compile a little book recs post for y’all based on your favorite comfort movie! This is the first post in a series, so keep your eyes peeled for other future recommendations.  

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Let’s Talk: Rereading Childhood Favorites

When I started working on this post, Cossette asked me, “How did you get into reading?” and when I think about it, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading. Literature was such a huge part of my childhood that in my mind, the two are intertwined. As a kid, I would constantly beg my mom to take me to the library or a bookstore whenever we had the time, and once she got me in there I never wanted to leave.

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