Each month, we ask you oh so nicely over on Facebook to suggest titles that you want to read together. This month we narrowed that list down to these six titles to vote on. If you’re wondering why a few that were suggested aren’t in the options, it’s because we’ve already covered them! All Your Perfects and A Very Large Expanse of Sea got some TN love already, so we want to spread our love around. And yes, you can vote for all of the options if you want to. We’ve generously included the summaries for each option below.*
From here, head over to our Facebook page, vote for all of the titles that sound intriguing (no judgment if you count the pages to make your choices), and we will discuss the top two next month!
*All synopses come from the book’s Goodreads page.
Damsel
Written By: Elana K. Arnold
Pages: 320
Genre: Fantasy
Series?: Nope
Current Goodreads Score: 3.6
This book has been on my TBR for a while now. I’m intrigued by the description, and I think it will be feminist as hell which I’m all for.
The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.
When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.
However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her.
Blanca & Roja
Written By: Anna-Marie McLemore
Pages: 375
Genre: YA Fantasy
Series?: Nope
Current Goodreads Score: 4.2
So apparently this is a mash-up retelling of Swan Lake and Snow-White and Rose-Red (different than regular Snow White, apparently). I’m not super familiar with either story, but the summary sounds so interesting. Seems like it has some queer representation too and we always love that.
The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.
The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.
But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.
Puddin’
Written By: Julie Murphy
Pages: 448
Genre: YA
Series?: Yes – the sequel to Dumplin’ which was one of October’s reads!
Current Goodreads Score: 4.11
No spoilers, but I loved Dumplin’ and it was fun to read knowing my girl Millie now has her own book. How timely that it just came out and we’re looking for new books…
It is a companion novel to Dumplin’, which follows supporting characters from the first book in the months after Willowdean’s star turn in the Clover City pageant.
Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
A Spark of Light
Written By: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 352
Genre: Fiction
Series?: Nope
Current Goodreads Score: 3.81
Jodi Picoult wrote perhaps the first ~adult~ book I ever read (The Tenth Circle) because my mom is a huge fan and gave it to me to read. I haven’t read anything by her since as my tastes have skewed more toward sex scenes and YA fantasy, but the plot for this sounds like it will hit you in the feels. I can imagine book clubs around the nation reading this, so it could be fun to be part of that hype.
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
Dry
Written By: Neal & Jarrod Shusterman
Pages: 390
Genre: YA Fantasy
Series?: Nope
Current Goodreads Score: 4.13
I love a good dystopian thriller. The premise behind this one sounds all too real. Droughts happen around here all the time. And you know our society is on the edge of a riot as it is so it’s not far-fetched to think that we would go crazy for water. I’m into it.
The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.
Until the taps run dry.
Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbours and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.
Sadie
Written By: Courtney Summers
Pages: 311
Genre: YA Mystery
Series?: Nope
Current Goodreads Score: 4.29
As someone who just wrote a post about a podcast about a missing woman, this book is right up my alley. It’s got all my interests in one place – YA book, murder, podcasts, beautiful cover. Please don’t judge my interests…
Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.
But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.
When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.
Well…..anything that sounds good to you? Good. Head over to the Facebook group and vote for as many as you like! We’ll let you know the results after next week’s Boozy Book Club meet up! Hope you’re close to done with those 896 pages…I DEFINITELY am…
