Tirzah Price's Blog

Introducing…A MATTER OF MURDER!

I’m really excited to be sharing the cover and title of my next book, the second in the Lizzie and Darcy Murder Mysteries. It’s also the finale of Lizzie and Darcy’s story…so I’ve been having a lot of feelings about it! It’s so wild to think that I’ll soon be saying farewell to characters that popped into my head in 2018 (which feels like a lifetime ago!) and I really, really hope you’ll love this book. I’m so honored that so many of you have discovered these books.

In this next book you can expect to find new and old characters, plenty of romantic tension, a cold case, a house full of secrets, threatening messages, near-misses, multiple murder attempts, a BALL, and one very long con! So without further ado…

Cover art by Emma Congdon, cover design by Corinna Lupp

The thrilling conclusion to the Lizzie & Darcy Mysteries duology, following Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy from the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries series! 

A Bingley family curse looms over Lizzie’s sister and Darcy’s best friend—but are the dark forces at work supernatural or human?

Lizzie Bennet’s beloved sister Jane has just married Darcy’s best friend, Bingley, and the Bennet family and Darcy are paying the newlyweds a visit at Bingley’s family home, Netherfield Park. It doesn’t take long for their country retreat to turn into an investigation, though, when a long-dead body is discovered stuffed up the parlor chimney.

The locals are convinced that Netherfield is cursed, but Lizzie and Darcy know better than to believe in such nonsense and are determined to uncover the truth about what happened to the mysterious man in the chimney. But as they dig deeper into the history of Netherfield Park, they find that danger is waiting for them around every corner. Soon enough, they’re forced to consider if the curse might have some merit to it, or if there’s something—or someone—far more sinister behind their near brushes with death. . . .

This duology closer is a daring and delightful conclusion to the chronicles of supersleuths Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy!

I love this cover so much! One of the best parts about these detailed, cross-stitch covers is that my editor always asks me what should go on the cover and I have a blast brainstorming all of the various objects that are significant to the plot and give her a big list and then cover artist Emma Congdon (who is a fantastic cross stitch pattern deisgner!) picks and chooses and comes up with the most brilliantly fun covers. This one also will look splendid next to In Want of a Suspect because the colors are inverse—I can’t wait to see them side by side on the shelf! November 11th can’t come soon enough—but if you want to preorder now, you can!

January Reading Wrap Up

Phew, I thought January would never end! But if there is one upside to the endless days, it’s that I actually got a lot of reading in, and I thought I’d share what I read and loved over the month. Also, as a reminder, in an effort to spread my online presence around and build a platform in places not controlled by our new tech oligarchs, I am reviving not just this blog but my newsletter! The newsletter will be pretty low-key, just big bookish updates and my monthly reading round ups. If you want to sign up, you can do so here.

Now, let’s get into the books!

The Wedding People  by Alison Espach

I listened to everyone rave about this book for the back half of 2024 and finally my library hold came in and all I can say is holy crap, you all were right. Not to be obnoxious, but this is defintiely a book that you want to go into knowing as little as possible, although I will give one big heads up for suicide ideation (and to a lesser extent, pet death, infertility, and grief). It’s about a woman who, in the wake of her divorce, goes to a beautiful Newport, RI hotel suite for a night and discovers that she’s the only one at this hotel that’s not there for a weeklong wedding, and is further shocked by an unconventional connection to the bride. The characters were all brilliantly rendered, and I just could not stop listening. 

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking  by T. Kingfisher

I’m a huge Kingfisher fan, mainly of her adult horror novels, but this lower YA fantasy standalone has a lot of the same wit and action as the adult novels I love. It’s about a world where some people have magic, but their magic is limited to very specific medium or skill. For our protagonist, its dough–which is convenient as she’s a baker’s apprentice. But when other magic wielders start disappearing and she becoms a target of a murderous villain known as the Spring Green Man, she finds herself on the run and soon her city’s only hope against an enemy that would destroy everything she loves. I adore the humor and the voice, and I really liked that this was a book about how one young person can make a huge difference–through their actions, yes, but also just by being brave enough to stand up for what’s right. 

Just Do This One Thing For Me  by Laura Zimmerman

Go with me on this for a second, but I think if you’ve ever craved a YA book that feels like Fargo, this is it. (Maybe I am the only one who has ever craved this? Let’s not dwell.) Drew is the responsible oldest daughter to an irresponsible con woman. She’s the one who makes sure her little brother eats right and get to school, and that her younger sister doesn’t get into too much trouble. She’s always reluctantly going along with her mom’s schemes, but when her mom takes off impulsively to Mexico for New Year’s and doesn’t return, Drew suddenly has to figure out not only how to keep her family together, but also keep anyone from finding out that her mom is gone lest her siblings be separated by social services…and that’s easier said than done considering her mom’s biggest con is about to blow up in their faces. There was so much I liked about this one: The chilly, northern Wisconsin winter setting, the very Midwestern-ness of the book, and Drew’s love for her family. The plot was also really compelling as more and more bad things happen. So yes, the Fargo vibes are there, but considerably less violent. (Although there is somewhat organized crime and a body, you’ve been warned.) I can’t think of much in YA that’s like it, but I was super into it!

Monday’s Not Coming  by Tiffany D. Jackson

I finally read this book, which has been on my TBR for years, and I kicked myself for not getting to it sooner. Claudia has just come back from spending the summer with her grandma and she’s a bit upset that her best friend, Monday, never wrote to her while she was away. But as school starts and Claudia gets back into her routine, she’s alarmed to find that Monday remains missing. And it doesn’t matter how many questions she asks or who she goes to, no one seems to know where she is, and what’s worse, no one is as alarmed as Claudia about her absence. This book is a long one (over 400 pages) but the chapters flew by because Jackson is so good at unspooling the story and amping up the tension. It’s clear something isn’t quite right, and since it’s Jackson writing, you can expect a big twist. I found this book as compelling as it was heartbreaking.

Live Laugh Kidnap  by Gaby Noone

In the tiny town of Violet, Montana, a megachurch rules all and three teenage girls feel stuck. Genesis is a member of a commune that was in the news fifteen years ago for being a cult (they’ve since rebranded). Zoe grew up in Violet, and she’s working to get out of her hyper-Christian, hyper-conservative community so she can live freely with her girlfriend. Holly has been sent to Violet to live with her dad for the summer after getting in trouble back in LA. When the three girls’ lives collide, they come up with an audacious plan: They’ll kidnap the son of the megachurch’s pastor and use the ransom money to get out of dodge. But they’re wholly unprepared for the consequences of this plan. This is just zany enough of a premise (with a hilarious title) that I knew I’d love the book, and I was so right. I really like how different the three protagonists are and how they become friends despite these differences. I also appreciate that while this book is highly critical of megachurches that exploit its members and purity culture in general, it’s actually very sensitive and nuanced when it comes to believing in God–one of the protagonists is an earnest believer, and it provided a nice balance. 

The Agathas  by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

I finally got a copy of this mystery from the library, and I really loved it. It’s about two very different girls on the social spectrum living in the California beach town of Castle Cove, and it has definite Veronica Mars vibes–the setting has a social scene that’s highly stratified and there are dark things happening beneath the moneyed surface. Alice Ogilvie is a rich girl who disappeared without a trace the previous summer before showing up again, just like her favorite author, Agatha Christie. But ever since she’s been back, she’s been ostracized. Iris Adams is one of the working class locals, haunted by a recent trauma. She wants nothing more than to make enough money so she and her mom can leave Castle Cove for good. So Iris takes the duty of tutoring Alice because the money is too good…only Alice is more interested in investigating the recent disappearance of her former best friend instead of hitting the books. Glasgow and Lawson do such a great job of creating a really believable world in Castle Cove with a wide cast of characters, and I really enjoyed Alice and Iris’s unconventional friendship. I’m listening to the sequel now!

Margo’s Got Money Troubles  by Rufi Thorpe

Margo is nineteen when she sleeps with her English professor and winds up pregnant. She decides to keep the baby despite having no safety net to speak of, and soon finds herself in way over her head with a newborn. Fired from her job, she’s feeling desperate and so she decides on a whim to start an OnlyFans. But finding financial success on the internet is not easy, so she soon turns to her dad, a retired pro wrestler, down on his luck and living with her and the baby. She applies the same principles of professional wrestling fame to her approach to her OnlyFans and is shocked when it works. But with more money comes more trouble. I really loved this novel. The characterization is brilliant, and Thorpe did some interesting things with POV, which I thought was clever. This was an empowering and deeply empathetic book, and I couldn’t help but root for Margo even throughout her naivete and her missteps. I also listened to this one in about a day, so know it was super compelling!

What did you read and love this month? Any recommendations for February?

All About Those Stats

Back in 2009, I received a notebook for Christmas. Shocking, I know. I loved this notebook because it was petite and spiral bound and the paper was soooo smooth and the cover had fun colorful stripes and I would have put it with my collection of gorgeous, unused notebooks (all writers have them) except that I was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea: I would use this notebook to track every single book I read! Yes, I know Goodreads existed back then, but Goodreads couldn’t fit in my pocket or my book bag, now could it? (I had a Motorola Sidekick at the time, RIP phones with no internet connectivity.) A small notebook that I could take everywhere was clearly the superior solution and I began recording my reads with absolute glee.

Honestly, before 2009 it had never occurred to me to track all the books I read. I used to have a blog, and I’d talk about books there. Aside from that, I just…read a lot. How many books I finished in a week, month, or year didn’t really matter, but something had changed. Now I craved more. I wanted…data.

For nearly 8 years, I carried that little notebook with me everywhere and recorded the title of every book I ever finished and the date. And I didn’t lose it once! (Ask my spouse–they will tell you this defies belief. Just this week I’ve misplaced my Airpods, my phone, my keys, the bill I was going to pay, and my phone again.) I loved flipping through the soft pages and seeing that on this day three years earlier, I was reading this book or that series. I tallied up all the books I read each year and kept careful track on a page in the back of the notebook. I would spend a lot of time sorting this data by hand into various categories. I made my own pie charts by hand! It was so, so nerdy.

But alas, it was too good to last, for in 2017 I lost the notebook in a house fire. I won’t lie, in the immediate aftermath, there were times I wished I’d taken 3 seconds to grab the damn thing over anything else…and I didn’t even have time to grab my glasses, which says a lot. (As an aside, my spouse tells me that too many of my stories go in the direction of “and then my house burned down” and it can be jarring for my audience so I want to assure you that I am okay, it happened eight years ago and it sucked, but I make lots of jokes about it now.) Naturally, this loss was quite a blow in addition to all of the other things I was dealing with at the time. It felt like a lost a little artifact of my own identity, because in a way, all of those books that I read for a nearly 8-year time period had a huge impact on me. They were the books I read in college, in graduate school, and the books I read while querying and trying to sell my first novels. Those books shaped who I was, and tracking them was one way for me to visualize and understand my evolution as person and writer.

In the aftermath of the fire, it was clear that a new system must be put into place. And that was when I dragged unwillingly into the 21st century. A colleague at Book Riot shared a Google-sheets based spreadsheet for tracking reading and while it held none of the romanticism of a physical journal or notebook, it did have one major advantage: A spreadsheet saved in the cloud can’t be destroyed by fire! Or misplaced by an absent-minded reader! Or spilled on, or dropped in a puddle, or, or, or. So I started using it, and then I started tweaking it, and soon I was creating a similar spreadsheet from scratch and tweaking it to suit my reading lifestyle. For years, I shared the template on Book Riot, but since I’m not longer with the company, I thought I’d just share this year’s on my socials. And even though it’s, ahem, late January, I’m sharing it here as well in case you’re looking for a new way to track your reading that isn’t Goodreads or Storygraph.

Click here to access the log. You will need a Google account in order to use this. Click File –> Make a copy, and save it to your own Drive. This will get you access to the editable version. And behold, your new log!

There are five elements to this reading log: the log, where all the data about each book is recorded, the stats tab, the charts tab, a challenges tab, and a book spending log. (I know, I went there.)

The above photo is the log tab, and as you can see from my sample, it’s where you input all of the data. The nice thing about this is you can fill out as little or as much as you want, but because I love stats, I track a lot. Not just start and finish date, but format, genre, audience, and diversity stats. I find that doing this is 1) interesting, and 2) helps me keep on track with goals to read diversely. This tab is also where I can add stars and notes–and I included half star ratings!

The second tab is where the stats appear. It’s a parade of numbers and percentages! This is where we see a lot of the big picture stats, as well as the numbers broken down into small categories. This stats tab makes me so happy…but what could be better than numbers?

PIE CHARTS! These are just a few examples of the pie charts that this tab generates from the Stats tab. I’m a really visual person, so it’s fun to check in on these every time I finish a book.

The Challenges tab is totally optional, but I find it fun to come up with various reading challenges each year. I write my own goals and challenges rather than following anything formal but you could input various internet challenges into this table to keep track of your progress. The challenges column is blank in the template, so you can fill it out or delete the tab if you’d prefer to just follow your heart. If you input the challenge number on the log page, the title automatically populates!

The final book spending log tab is also totally optional, but I like to track my purchases because I claim book purchases on my taxes (perks of being an author!) and also, it helps me stay on budget. Plus, one off my goals is to try and read all of the books I purchase (traditionally a challenge for me), so this helps me track that. You can track your retail source as well as the reason for purchase—maybe you are buying it for book club, maybe just for fun? Knowledge is power. Or just interesting.

The best part about all of this is that you can customize all of the drop down menus and options! Change up the genre, the reason for reading, the retail source–whatever you want. I created a Youtube tutorial to show you how to do just that!

If you take this for a spin, I really hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you like it, especially if you decide to tweak or customize–I’d love to hear how you make it your own!

My Favorite Books of 2024

I’ve been meaning to share my favorite books of the year and I figure I better do so before we get too ridiculously deep into 2025. I read just over 80 books last year, which is low for me, but I had so many favorites and books that I just really, really enjoyed so I can hardly complain.

My caveats for this list are, 1) these are my favorite books I read in a year, not the “best” because who am I to decide what is a best book when what I love you might hate, and vice versa and 2) I don’t limit myself to any particular number because why do so when it comes to books? Also, it’s my list, and I make the rules!

I read a lot more adult books than YA books, which is a little unusual for me, so this list skews a bit older. That said, some of the YA books this year are mega favorites and will probably end up being “foundational, re-read every few years” kind of books.

I also thought I’d share my percentage breakdown of genres–this is my favorite part of tracking my reading each year! I’ve tried to go back over 6+ years of reading to get a feel for patterns, but really my genre reading shifts so much I never know where it’ll land. Mystery is always a big genre for me, but fantasy and romance are up there too!

Okay, now on to the books!

Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie

This book follows Skye, a thirty-something woman who almost forgot that she once donated her eggs to a once-close friend some years earlier and has since gone on her merry way, living life to the fullest by running a travel company and avoiding her roots. But when she’s home for a bit and a pre-teen girl crashes a party to inform Skye she is the result of the egg, Skye is suddenly faced with the reality of this long-ago decision. Meeting her offspring  is a huge shock, even more so when she realizes the girl’s aunt and guardian is the woman she unsuccessfully hit on recently. This was a really tender but also bitingly hilarious book about Skye attempting, for the first time in her life, to be responsible and realizing that she has to face the parts of herself she’s been running from along the way.

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter

I believe that as a reader of Gallagher Girls who is now grown up and someone whose father owned a DVD of The Bourne Identity that was on heavy rotation in the early aughts, I am the target audience for this book! It opens with a woman waking up in Paris with a throbbing headache and someone who is apparently trying to kill her. This little problem sends her right in the arms of a hot spy guy, who thinks she is her twin sister (who is a real spy!) and the action does not let up from there as they are pursued across Europe. Our protagonist has to try and unravel the secrets of her past while learning who to trust…and trying not to fall for the hot guy. It’s hilarious and a bit absurd, but probably the most fun I had reading in 2024.

The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls

Look, I loved this book so much that I read it twice in 2024 and I can envision this one going into regular rotation. It’s about Margot, a young woman in 1919 who has returned home to her small English village for Christmas. It’s the first proper Christmas since the war, with the boys back home, including Margot’s fiance, whom she thought dead. This should be a joyous time, but it’s not–because Margot has a secret. She was pregnant when her fiance went to the front, and she had the baby, who is now being raised by her parents as her brother. The shame and anguish of this situation is killing her, and Margot is afraid to tell him the truth…but now that everyone is home, it might be unavoidable. This book is so bittersweet and beautifully, simply written. I inhaled it, both times I read it.

Killer House Party by Lily Anderson

I’m a huge Lily Anderson fan, and this book was yet another fantastic YA novel that takes a genre or trope and challenges readers to really think while also being super fun at the same time. Mia has found out that her real estate parents, who’ve just divorced, have squandered her college savings on buying a mansion in her hometown that they intend to flip. Without a lot of options and in need of raising $15,000 quickly, she decides to throw a graduation party in said mansion and charge her fellow students to raise the funds. But things go horribly awry when the mansion doors close and Mia realizes that the house has no intention of letting them out alive.

All This & More by Peng Shepherd

This book is like what you’d get if Black Mirror and Choose Your Adventure novels had a baby! Mallow is chosen to go on a new reality TV series that allows the star to go back to pivotal moments in their lives and choose differently. But of course, things aren’t always as straightforward, especially when no one really knows who is responsible for the show or the technology it uses, nor do they understand precisely how it works. I had such a hard time choosing when it came time for the story to branch off in part because the writing was so good, I wanted to see where both directions led. (And I did end up re-reading a big chunk of the book to see where all those threads went!) Bonus, I got to do an event with Peng this summer and actually chat with her about the book, and how it blew my mind.

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

This book is full of yearning and love and regret and second chances and I could not put it down! When they were teens, Shiloh and Cary were friends who always seemed to be teetering towards something more…but there was always something standing in their way. Then, they went their separate ways after high school and haven’t seen each other until now. At 33, Shiloh is a single mom who can’t help but feel like she’s backsliding in life, but reconnecting with Cary alights something inside her that can’t be denied. This book doesn’t have an explosive plot or major twists, and yet the tension is exquisite!

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Mika is a witch, but she’s always hidden her powers and lived alone, for it’s believed that too much magic in one place can draw the wrong sort of attention. But when her online videos of simple magic attract the attention of someone who knows magic is real, Mika is surprised when she’s offered a job: tutor three young witches who haven’t yet mastered their own magic. Intrigued, Mika moves to a house by the sea where she meets the girls and their eclectic caretakers, and finds her entire life changed for the better. This is such a warm hug of a book, with a really sweet romance and a golden retriever. If you love The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, this book is for you!

The Hunter by Tana French

This is technically a sequel to French’s previous novel, The Searcher, although I think you could dive in and not know anything about the characters. It follows a retired American detective named Cal living in the Irish countryside. His life is quiet, spent woodworking and mentoring Trey, a young teen who has her own scars. When Trey’s good-for-nothing father returns to the county, he rbings with him trouble, and it’ll take everything Cal has to keep Trey from getting drawn into a dark scheme. One of the things I love the most about French’s writing is she writes settings that you can just sink into and this book is no exception.

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid

I loved Reid’s debut, Such a Fun Age, and I thought this one was equally thought-provoking and absorbing. It follows an interesting assortment of characters on the University of Arkansas campus: a writer and visiting professor conducting some dubious research, a super-senior RA with a very specific goal, and an assortment of young women living and clashing in a suite. A series of events brings all of them in each other’s orbit, setting off a string of unstoppable events. (Be warned, if you work in higher ed this book will give you a small heart attack but it’s VERY entertaining.)

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

Unsurprisingly, I love a good Austen retelling, especially one that offers a unique lens on the classic story. And does this one deliver–Gabe recasts Elizabeth Bennet as Oliver, a trans boy who is looking to forge his own path. Falling in love is beyond his wildest dreams, and Mr. Darcy certainly wouldn’t be his first choice, either, but the mor4e often he keeps running into him, the more Oliver begins to fall. I loved that Gabe kept the Regency setting (queer people have always existed!) and I so enjoyed seeing how he used the classic plot points to tell a truly fresh story!

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny

I wanted to pick up this book forever because it’s Very Michigan–it’s set in Boyne City, which I’m familiar with. It’s about Jane, who moved to Boyne City to take a teaching job and quickly falls in love with Duncan. Duncan knows everything–and he’s had a lot of exes–but despite his charm and his adoration of Jane, he’s not interested in marriage. However, when a terrible accident alters both Jane and Duncan’s lives forever, they find that life has a funny way of leading them down paths they least expect. I really adored this book, and the shoutouts to the best ice cream place, Kilwin’s.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

Lesbians solving crimes in space, what more could you ask for? Mossa is an investigator searching for a missing man, and her hunt leads her to an outpost on Jupiter where no one but scientists dwell. This unlikely place is where she ends up running into Pleiti, an old girlfriend, and they team up to solve the mystery while rekindling their romance. I really enjoyed this novella and I need to grab the sequel(s)!

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

I love that T. Kingfisher writes fantastic horror novels that are also funny. (The Twisted Ones is one of my favorites!) In this book, Sam is an archeaologist on an extended visit back home, where her mom lives in their family home, inherited from Sam’s grandma. Sam is looking forward to a fun and relaxed visit but she’s not home a day before she realizes that something is really wrong with her mother, who is jumpy and ill at ease, and the house is sterile and decorated in her long-dead grandmother’s style. The more Sam digs into the past, the closer she gets to digging up some truly horrifying secrets.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This book has been on my TBR forever, and I loved this book so much. It follows Agnieszka, a young woman in a magical wood where every ten years, a girl is sent to live in a tower with the Dragon, a wizard of formidable power. Agnieszka is stunned when she is chosen but it’s not long after moving to her strange new home that she discovers the woods beyond her village harbors a menacing force and he has a fledgling magic within her to fight it. The best thing I can say about this book is if you love Howl’s Moving Castle, this is a grown-up book for you.

Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo Duvall

This is a fantastic graphic novel that follows a group of young women living in an alternate 1930’s MIssissippi, where magic exists but is outlawed for people of color and Native people. When two young Native women are at risk of being sent away for their magic, they join a broom racing team in the hopes of winning enough money to head west, where they can live and practice magic freely. But broom racing is not only dangerou–it’s illegal. I loved the colorful and energetic illustrations, and the author and illustrator do such a great job of juggling a large cast of diverse characters. 

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters

I love Christmas, but my favorite genre of Christmas media is “Christmas is the best but also the worst, why does everyone go totally bonkers this time of year?” and this book is just perfectly that. Charlotte is a former child actor in a very famous Love Actually-esque Christmas movie, but now as an adult, Christmas is just annoying and she has no interest in starring in the rumored reboot of the movie. She flees to London to spend the holidays with her sister where she meets Graham, whose family owns an estate that was a filming location of the movie. Charlotte reluctantly agrees to help him try to get more visitors to save the floundering estate, all the while trying and failing to ignore the attraction that is shaping up to be the perfect Christmas romance. 

At Her Service by Amy Spalding

This is the second Out in Hollywood romance novel (you don’t have to read them in order but I recommend For Her Consideration!) and it follows Max, a twenty-something who excels at her job but feels like she’s floundering in life. She can’t even admit she has a crush on Sadie, the bartender at her favorite dive bar. When her roommate convinces her to try a new self-actualization app, Max finds herself winning in all aspects of life and getting the girl…but when social media interferes, Max will have to stand up for what she wants and make her own moves. This was such a delightful book, and I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash

Lacey is thirteen when Satanic Panic in her small New Hampshire town tears her family apart. Years later, she’s a lawyer in Canada and working for a judge when her past catches up with her, and she finds herself facing her many questionable decisions, as well as the family she hasn’t seen in years. Honestly, this book made me so uncomfortable (in a good way?) and I could not tear myself away from it. 

Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

I finally picked up these books in early 2024 after so many recommendations and had to dash out of my house in between a snowstorm and an actual blizzard to grab the second book because I was so hooked! In a fantasy world that draws from WWI England, Iris is missing her brother, who has gone to war. She writes him letters and when they disappear, she has no way to know they’re ending up in the hands of Roman, her wealthy rival at the newspaper they work at. When Iris, desperate for information about her brother, heads to the frontlines, Roman goes after her. There, they find the war is far more dangerous than they could have imagined and encroaching ever closer. The writing in these two books is absolutely gorgeous, and I was thoroughly enchanted by the world and the magic and romance. 

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

I actually picked up this book before Liz’s new release (see below) because it’s been on my radar forever. It’s about a woman who is a single mom and police officer who, one day, finds the body of a woman and it reminds her a little too much of her estranged sister, who is struggling with addiction. When she tries to find her sister, she’s unnerved to find that no one has seen her, and sets out to try and track her down when it is becoming clear that someone is killing women on the streets. This isn’t a thriller, although it has some thrilling moments, but a really sensitive portrayal of what it’s like to have family members you love but don’t have an active relationship with at the moment, and the setting (Philadelphia) is really brilliantly rendered. If you liked Mare of Eastown, you’ll like this book.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Surprise surprise, this is one of my favorite books of the year along with every other reader who picked up this brilliant novel. One thing to know about it is that it’s nearly 600 pages long and I read it in two days–I was hooked. It’s about a teenage girl who goes missing from a summer camp some years after her older brother also went missing. The ensuing investigation dredges up family secrets and a large cast of characters peels back the layers of the complicated cases that are separated by many years but are absolutely connected. Gorgeous writing, compelling characters, a riveting premise…I could easily see this becoming a limited run series.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Jane Chiang

I’m a huge Kate QUinn fangirl–after The Huntress, I’ll read anything she writes–so naturally I picked up this novel, co-written with Jane Chiang, whose work I was unfamiliar with. This novel follows three very different women in San Francisco in 1906–an opera singer, a scientist, and an embroidery designer who find their paths tangling with a very powerful man during the earthquake. They escape (barely) with their lives, but years later they track down this man and one of them decides she wants revenge. It’ll take call on their friendship once more if they’re to survive a second time. I enjoy Kate Quinn’s WWII and adjacent settings, but it was fun to go to a different time period here, and as always, I appreciate that some of these characters are queer. (More queer people in historical fiction, yay!)

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn was busy this year! She also released this novel, which takes place in Washington D.C., post WWII. It follows the eclectic group of women who live in a boarding house and how they exist separately, but slowly build a community with each other (some are more willing than others). But the charming and enigmatic woman who brings them all together has a secret. The structure of this book had me uncertain at first, but as soon as I gave myself over to it, I was totally sucked in! (The house has some POV chapters!) I did not guess the twist and I was delighted and fascinated when it was revealed. As always, Kate Quinn really brings history to life.

Let me know what your favorite books of the year were!

Dusting Off the Blog + 2025 Reading Goals

Once upon a time, back in ye olden days of the internet, I started a book blog. This was before I had a Twitter or Instagram or even Facebook account and I used it to talk almost exclusively about YA books. I was inspired by other author blogs I loved at the time (shout out to Meg Cabot for being my early 2000’s obsession!) and I wrote that book blog for years, until I started grad school and let it slide. I pretty much quit writing it altogether when I started blogging about books in exchange for money (the dream!) over at Book Riot. I wrote there for 8 years, until I left that job about a year ago. All in all, that accounts for something like 16 years spent blogging about books on the internet–almost half my life. 

I was also incredibly burned out!

I’ve gone through a bunch of changes in the last year as I moved into a new house, started a new day job, and tried to keep up with writing and freelance work. I slowly had to release my death grip on the freelance work, which was hard because it was book-related and I loved it (and my inner twelve-you-old didn’t want to give up on fulfilling the dream to get paid to yap about books). I kept on writing my novels, of course, because that’s always been THE ultimate dream, but I had to fit it into a lot of odd spaces–holidays and 5 am mornings and late nights and weekend mornings. I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished, and it’s made me think about what I really value.

In the past year, I’ve also read fewer books than I’ve ever read in a year in my life, I wrote and rewrote and revised a book, undertook some major home projects, and tried to adjust to a new schedule where I spent 40 hours a week at an office job (I’m adjusted but remain unimpressed at 8 am start times). I’ve come back from the severe burnout, and I’ve come to realize that I really miss sharing books on the internet! I am a terrific yapper on Instagram and I post a lot of books there, but I’m also a writer and I love talking in more than just a few hundred characters. 

Not only that, but the general uncertainty and hellscape-y nature of social media right now has me itching to dust off this rarely-used blog and just talk about books and writing a bit more. As a millennial, I miss when blogs were more commonplace, and I like the idea of a little landing pad for thoughts that need more room to breathe than what an Instagram post or thread allows. I’m actively resisting the impulse to come up with a major plan or strategy for this blog because the last thing I need is DEADLINES and RULES because I’ll nope out so quickly if it feels anything suspiciously like work. So, expect this to be a sporadic depository of random thoughts!

If you’ve stuck with me this far, I’ll conclude with a stack of 12 books that I intend to read this year. This was a little challenge I started in 2024, where I picked 12 books that have been languishing on my shelves for more than a year that I haven’t read, and I decided to read them once and for all. (Last year I read…four? But that’s okay, because 2025 is a new year and a time for new goals and delusions!) I put them on their own little shelf and the idea is that I’ll aim to read one book from this stack each month, so it doesn’t feel so much like homework that my brain will short out and rebel, but hopefully enough of a challenge that I’ll still enjoy it. I am proud to say as of this writing, I have read my January book! I’ll tell you which one that is later…

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer Less by Andrew Sean Greer One Great Lie by Deb Caletti A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery Cultish: Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller Maud’s Line by Margaret Verble

If you have any reading goals you want to share, I’d love to hear! I’ve opened the comments. (Please don’t make me regret this.)

Bringing the Cover of IN WANT OF A SUSPECT to Life!

In Want of a Suspect, the sequel to Pride and Premeditation, is out in exactly 8 weeks! In publishing years, that’s practically tomorrow! I’m so excited to share this new spin-off Lizzie and Darcy mystery with you all, featuring new characters and a new mystery, but also the same fun, lovable dynamic from Pride and Premeditation. (Also, there’s a cute dog!)

As you may know, preorders are incredibly important for books–they help booksellers and the publisher gauge early interest and ensure that enough copies are available to go around come release time. As a thank you for preordering my books from a local indie bookstore, I usually toss in some fun goodies. For this book launch, I wanted to do something extra-special…and I got cover artist extraordinaire Emma Congdon to help me!

From the moment that the Pride and Premeditation cover went public, readers have been asking me if my covers are “real” embroidery. The sad answer is no–the first three covers have art created by the incomparable Jess Rae Phoenix, and then they’re sent to 3D artist Filip Hodas to make it look like real, raised embroidery. It’s an extra fun detail that feels Regency, and yet fresh and fun with all of the unexpected cover elements and bright colors. With the cover art for In Want of a Suspect, we wanted to go in a slightly different direction to make them stand apart, but I also really wanted them to look like they go with the first three books–they may be a spin-off duology, but they’re still very much a part of the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries universe. My publisher found Emma Congdon, who not only is an incredible artist, but she also is a cross stitch pattern designer. You can see her incredible patterns on her Etsy, and even buy them for yourself. All of the readers’ questions about whether or not my covers were actually stitched got me thinking…and so I emailed Emma and asked if it was possible to make the cover art into a cross stitch pattern.

And she said yes!

Not only did she generously go to the effort to convert the cover art into an actual workable pattern, she matched DMC floss to the cover colors and she made this pattern available to me to share with you! I am delighted to say that if you preorder In Want of a Suspect from my local indie, Schuler Books, you’ll get a signed copy of the book, the cross stitch pattern, and a bookmark and surprise Jane Austen sticker!

The fine print: The pattern, bookmark, and sticker are available to everyone who preorders from Schuler Books. The pattern and your goodies will ship with the book (people local to Grand Rapids, MI can pick up the book upon release). The giveaway is just of the pattern, not the finished object or any of the materials used to make it–you’ll have to supply those yourself. Schuler Books accepts orders online, and they ship pretty much anywhere in the world! If you do stitch this pattern, please give Emma Congdon credit!

I hope you’ll consider preordering In Want of a Suspect! It will be out on November 12th, just ahead of the holiday season. I happen to think that’s a perfect time to stay home, curled up with a nice book and stitching project! In the meantime, you can grab all of my books (all out in paperback!) signed from Schuler Books! And keep an eye on my Events page as I’ll be traveling a bit and doing some fun things in November!

Favorite Reads of 2021

It feels very much on point that I am sharing my favorite reads of 2021 with hours to spare, as I don’t think I’ve managed to finish anything early this year. My 2021 has been packed with the launch of my debut novel, moving across the country, buying a house, revising book two and writing book three on tight deadlines. It hardly seems possible that in a few hours I can say again that I have a book out this year, which is something that is both amazing and slightly overwhelming. I’m really grateful to everyone who picked up Pride and Premeditation, shared photos, recommended it, and left reviews. You all made my debut year really special!

Now on to my favorite reads of 2021! As in previous years, I want to stipulate that these are just my favorites, by no means the “best” because who am I to say what’s the best out of thousands upon thousands? I enjoy making this list, but it also stresses me out to some degree because there are at least twenty books from my TBR book cart that I didn’t get to and desperately want to read, and probably would be my favorites if I could just find the time to read them. It’s enough to give me an existential crisis! But these are twenty wonderful books I enjoyed a lot, and if you’re looking for something to read, I hope you like them, too!

Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi

I love Parvin! She’s loud and funny and passionate, and reading her story reminded me in the best way of all the YA I read when I was fourteen, but this was a fun and smart contemporary take on starting high school.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

It won the National Book Award, what more needs to be said? But I am always here for beautiful stories about queer women coming of age and finding love and building their lives in historical settings, and this one more than delivered.

Squad by Maggie Tokuda Hall and Lisa Sterle

I’m obsessed with the pops of color in this artwork, and this super smart and nuanced story about girls fighting back against rape culture…but what happens when they go too far? Plus, it’s queer!

The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcolm Belc

This is a brilliant memoir about what it means to be a parent when you don’t fit the binary, and how our world isn’t set up to accommodate nonbinary parents. It’s brilliantly written and the story is utterly mesmerizing.

Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani

Feminist fairy tales with a twist. I think this is supposed to be for kids, but honestly, it’s for all ages. I was continually blown away by each story, and I want to return to them again and again.

When Things Get Dark edited by Ellen Datlow

Here’s another short story collection, this one from contemporary writers whose assignment was to write a short story inspired by Shirley Jackson’s work. No retellings or homages, just their own interpretation of her vibes. The result is a really fascination collection of very different stories that nonetheless feel quite cohesive.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

I enjoyed The Alice Network but fell in love with Quinn’s writing with The Huntress. This is an engrossing story of three women who meet at Bletchley Park, and whose friendship is torn apart by the war. Only, they must reunite against the backdrop of Queen Elizabeth’s wedding in order to solve a mystery that threatens their country and their lives.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

As someone who used to write in Panera every day, I was completely charmed by the premise of this book, which is a single overworked novelist mom who is overheard explaining the plot of her next book in Panera, and is mistaken as a hit woman. Hijinks ensue. I’ve already preordered the second book!

The Less People Know About Us by Axton Betz-Hamilton

This might be my most recommended book of 2021, honestly. It’s the fascinating account of Axton’s childhood, which was plagued by paranoia and identity theft, and how she unraveled the decades of secrets once she hit adulthood.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry 

It’s a new romance by Emily Henry, of course it was my favorite! Honestly, I was blown away by her ability to create these beautiful, realistic, vibrant characters. There’s a lot of banter, too. I inhaled it.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

This is a high-concept book that really delivers—a scientist’s husband leaves her…for the clone of her that he created illicitly. And then when that clone “accidentally” kills him, they’re both at risk for discovery. I will pretty much read anything Gailey writes because they’re a genius at coming up with premises that are my catnip and they’ve never let me down.

This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry 

If Marvelous Mrs. Maisel were a contemporary YA book, it would look like this novel! I loved that this book is about stand up comedy, friendship, and learning to identify and extricate yourself from toxic relationships.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

This book was fun and fresh and humorous and exciting—think mythology meets contemporary intrigue, with a gorgeous estate setting and lots of secrets. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

If you love the vibes of Practical Magic but want a hot sapphic romance, this is your book! I really loved the tension between the protagonists, but I fell in love with the fun setting and magic system!

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Another book by Kelly Quindlen making the year-end list! I just adore her characters and how she manages to make her settings and the many relationships (friendships, romances, family) feel so fully realized! This is a trope-tastic book with lots of heart.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Arranged marriage, galactic empires, big conspiracies, and lots of jokes! I am honestly sad that this isn’t a series because I would read about Kiem and Jainan saving the universe multiple times over.

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson 

This is a horror novel that straight up scared me and made me eye my basement door with a deep mistrust! I loved how Jackson maintained and constantly upped the tension in this book. It scared the crap out of me!

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

This book is so big-hearted and complicated, with two sisters who don’t want to admit they love each other but who can’t stop looking after the other. It’s a quieter read, but the emotional impact will stay with me for a while.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis 

Found family, a fantasy western world, and nonstop action and me flipping the pages so fast! I really loved the world building and characters of this novel, and I have the sequel on my Kindle right now. (It’s my greatest ambition to finish it before the end of the year, but…I’ll be honest, it probably won’t happen tonight!)

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis

This book. Holy cow. It’s a retelling of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and it hits you right in the chest. It also has a literal cliffhanger that has me counting down the days until the sequel!

Happy New Year! I hope that your 2022 is full of good books!

Favorite Reads of 2020

Oh, 2020. What. A. Year. It’s been really exciting in a lot of ways (I got married, I wrote a whole book and revised another, I saw the launch of Rural Voices), but also, you know, a global pandemic happened. Kind of a suckfest. We are luckier than most, and I’m glad for that, but there were times when I really wasn’t feeling like myself and my reading definitely suffered. I also took on more tasks and responsibilities over at Book Riot, including joining the All the Books! team on a monthly rotation, which meant I read way more brand-new releases that come out on the third Tuesday of the month than I ever have before. And…I also DNF’d a lot of books. I thought my stats would shake out to be a bit disappointing, so I was a bit shocked when I realized I’m on track to have finished 110 books this year, the same number that I accomplished last year!

I know that surviving this year intact is an accomplishment in and of itself, and I shouldn’t try to compare myself to years previous, but I am such a stats nerd! I use a Sheet-based log (you can get the reading log, which I built and shared on Book Riot), and it keeps track of lots of stats! It’s not quite the end of the year yet and I hope to squeeze in at least five more books, but here are some cool numbers from my year in reading!

I read a ton in audio–the most audiobooks I’ve read in any year since I started tracking that in 2018! I still prefer print, but because of my work reading, which is mostly of ARCs, I have to read a lot digitally and on audio. I sometimes daydream of running away to a cute little AirBnb or cabin in the woods with nothing but a box of books to get through my spectacular print backlog.

Fun fact, I used to be afraid of nonfiction! I thought it was boring! I’ve been reading way more nonfiction (this is up from 13% in 2019, and 9% in 2018!) and this year I read a lot of great true crime, some amazing memoirs, and even some science books, which surprised even me!

My genre break down is really interesting to me–general fiction has always been my biggest pie slice, followed by mystery/crime, so no surprises there. I read a little less sci-fi and fantasy this year–I don’t know what it is, but I found myself being really picky about about my world building, although some of my faves are sci-fi/fantasy! The biggest increase is in romance (6% last year, and 3% the year before) because I found some really delightful and lovely romance novels I L-O-V-E. And then my biggest surprise of 2020 is that apparently I like horror novels??!?!?! WHO KNEW!

I always strive to read diversely and outside of my comfort zone, because I think it helps me be a better writer and person. Tracking my reading helps me stay focused on those goals, and I’m excited to see what 2021 looks like! It also helps give me perspective, because despite feeling mehhhh about my reading life in general this year, I read a lot of great books that I’m excited to shout about! As always, keep in mind these are faves I read in 2020, not necessarily “best of” the year. They’re a mix of 2020 releases and backlist books I read for the first time, and they aren’t the only ones I loved, just the top 20 that stood out! Also, the links take you to Bookshop.org because they support Indies, but I highly recommend checking out your local indie store’s website if you want to buy them! Here we go!

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Okay, but this book might actually be my most favorite book of the year? It’s queer and it’s full of so! many! twists! and it has a fascinating world, plus multiverse travel. I loved everything about it, from the characters to the voice to the multi-world stakes. It’s a standalone, but this debut novel has made Micaiah Johnson an auto-buy author for me!

Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen

This is one of my favorite LGBTQ+ YA reads of the year because it’s about friendships and identity beyond the coming out narrative! Codi is a teen with two amazing best friends, but she accidentally falls into a new friend group that she loves…and she doesn’t tell her friends about it. I love a good friendship story, and I love how casually queer and accepting everyone in this book was!

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

I know this is one seriously hyped fantasy and I wasn’t sure if it could possibly live up to everyone’s love for it and it did! Like, I felt all the feelings and laughed and maybe almost cried five times. It’s the most wholesome and hilarious fantasy novel, and it doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve read!

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Look, if you tell me about a lesbian romance set in Regency times, I’m going to have to read it. Not only is this just a good romance (queer or straight), it’s also a really great Regency-era novel that explores women who are active in both science and art, and the struggles they faced to be acknowledged. And the romance–swoon. Spoiler alert, the second book in this series is also a delight.

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

Okay, look if you tell me about any lesbian romance novels…I’m going to read them. This one is notable because it’s the first f/f romance put out by Berkley, a big romance publisher, and like, wow, yay, and more, please! I don’t normally love Hollywood-set romances but this one worked for me on so many levels. Fair warning it is a slooooow burn, but totally worth it!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

I read Melissa Bashardoust’s Girls Made of Snow and Glass last year, and it’s one of the best Snow White retellings I’ve ever read. In this book she takes on a Persian myth, and as a standalone fantasy, it’s absolutely excellent. The writing is beautiful, the plot unfolds wonderfully, and I loved the (queer!) romance. Bashardoust is an auto-buy author for me!

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Crosby

I had the privilege of appearing in Rural Voices alongside Crosby, and I loved his story so much I immediately checked out this book from the library and I LOVED IT. It’s a very gritty, action-packed thriller and let’s just say that I had no idea that a car chase scene could be as riveting on the page as it could be on a screen! Crosby is so talented!

The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher

This is my spouse’s favorite book of the year, so naturally I wanted to read it so we could talk about it. It’s a really great, funny/spooky about a young woman and her dog, and the dog DOES NOT DIE, which is important. I immediately downloaded Kingfisher’s newest 2020 release, which I’ve not read yet but definitely plan to!

Beach Read by Emily Henry

There is so much I love about this book–dueling writers! Small towns! Lake Michigan beaches! Romance! Family complications! For real, this is one of the most delightful books I read all year, and it came to me during a truly meh month and I am forever grateful for that.

Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner

This book is very excellent and very hilarious, and it will totally make you so angry because sexism! It’s not cool! But Adrienne Kisner is so cool because she’s created these amazing characters who decide they won’t put up with any bullshit, and they fight tooth and nail against the system and entitled boys, and they rock. Pick this up for amazing representation, two very funny voices, and a fight against injustice.

Goodbye From Nowhere by Sara Zarr

I’m a huge Zarr fan, but even so I was not prepared for this book to totally capture my attention and my heart. It’s about Kyle, a teen boy who is dealing with the fact that his family isn’t who he thought they were, and what that means for him and his relationship with them. It’s a book that’s admittedly light on plot but big on nuance and emotion, and I can’t stop recommending it.

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisely

I love graphic novels that capture the “ughhhhh” feeling of being a kid, but also the joy. This book, loosely based on Lucy’s childhood when she was abruptly moved from the city to a farm with her mom and her new boyfriend, totally nails it! The art is so fun and playful, and I was with Jen all the way.

Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht

Vera is back, and I’m so happy! This is a sequel to Who Is Vera Kelly?, which follows Vera, a twenty-something woman having very interesting adventures in and out of the CIA’s employ in the 1960’s. This book finds her setting up her own detective agency and maybe finding a good girlfriend? I just want all good things for Vera, even when she’s making questionable decisions. I’m fervently hoping for a third book!

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju

This is another delightful LGBTQ+ YA novel that explores the drag scene and can I say, I love that it gives equal spotlight to drag kings as well as queens! It’s also a painfully realistic novel about feeling awkward and saying the wrong things, and trying anyway, and I would like to hug all the characters and tell them it’s gonna be okay.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

I bought this book because I’m on a mission to own all of the gorgeous Sourcebooks Fire editions of Montgomery’s work, but I’d never actually read this book before! It’s an adult novel about Valancy Stirling and her misadventures when she stops letting her odious family control her and it was an utter delight, plus surprisingly relevant for a book written nearly 100 years ago!

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Are we surprised that Acevedo’s latest novel is on this list? I mean, she’s incredible. And this novel-in-verse about two half-sisters who discover each other’s existence when their dad dies in a tragic plane crash had me hooked from the very beginning. I will read anything Acevedo writes–or narrates!

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Okay, just know that this is quite a heavy but incredibly beautiful memoir written by Chanel Miller, who might be better known as Emily Doe in the Brock Turner case. Miller is an incredible writer, and her memoir had me in tears multiple times. Read it, because this is an important story about healing, reclaiming one’s voice, and speaking the truth.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Miller

I started thus book on audio one evening and didn’t look up until it was midnight and it was sadly done. This is a bizarre but endearing story of someone without a purpose finding her place with two very unexpected people. It’s hilarious and heartfelt, and I’ve not read anything else like it.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

This was probably my first really great read of 2020, and it’s really stuck with me all year long. It’s about the pitfalls of performative allyship, navigating those weird years between college and feeling like a “real” adult, and the messiness of class. It can be satirical, but it absolutely packs a punch.

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while, because who doesn’t love the idea of time travelers going back in time to meet Jane Austen…and then grappling with whether or not to save her life from an illness that modern medicine could definitely treat? I liked the moral and philosophical questions this book raises, and how it handles questions of an author’s legacy and what parts of them readers are entitled to.

What are some of your favorite reads of 2020? I can’t wait to hear about them!

Preorder RURAL VOICES now!

[image error]In all the chaos and anxiety of recent months, it hardly seems possible that we are under six months out from the release of Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions about Small-Town America, edited by my friend Nora Shalaway Carpenter! I’m extremely honored to have a short story in this anthology, and I talked about my contribution a bit more here. It was a lot of fun writing about a first date between two girls set against the backdrop of the county fair, which is one of the events of the year where I’m from!

Since this anthology is a collaboration of 15 different writers and illustrators spread far and wide, there’s no way to offer readers copies signed by all of us. However, I wanted to offer a little thank you to anyone kind enough to preorder! If you order a copy of Rural Voices before the release date of October 13th, I’ll send you a Michigan postcard with a personal note. I love sending mail and these postcards are so lovely, plus they showcase some of my favorite things about my home state–including Superman ice cream!

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There are three ways to order and get a postcard!

Order from my local indie, Books & Mortar in Grand Rapids, MI. You can get a copy by calling them or by placing an order on their website (yes, they ship!). I’ll sign any preorders, and slip a postcard in your book when it ships!
Order from any retailer of your choice, and then fill out this simple Google form to let me know where to send your postcard! No proof of purchase necessary.
Request that your local library order a copy of the book, then fill out the Google form to let me know where to send your postcard! No proof of request necessary! Most library systems let you easily request materials online, and trust me, librarians love ordering patron requests!

(Note: I won’t share your info with anyone, and it’ll be deleted once I send your postcard.)

That’s it! No matter where you order from or in what format, I’m happy to send you a postcard. And if you request the book at your library–thank you! Library requests are so important, and you rock!

Learn more about Rural Voices under Books!

Favorite Reads of 2019

Well, I held out as long as I possibly could before declaring my favorite books of 2019. I always feel like I should give all my year’s reading a fair shot at making the list and therefore not even think about favorites until December 31st, but does anyone even care about your favorite books of the year after January 1st? No, they’re all on to next year’s books! But I think it’s safe to say that between now and the next four days, I’ll mainly be finishing up books that I started and didn’t get quite through but definitely don’t want to abandon!

I’ve had a weird reading year. As usual, I keep track of everything I read using a spreadsheet that generates stats. If you too want to partake in the magic of tracking and reading stats, you can check out the reading log I built for Book Riot that took approximately 10 hours to make but will save you time and delight you with CHARTS. This year, I read 105 books, which is a lot of books, but that’s 40 fewer than last year. (And 40 is also a lot of books!) I read way more diversely, leaned into audiobooks, and I really got into nonfiction, but I also felt stretched thin. I read a ton for my Book Riot work, both for the Read Harder podcast and TBR service, which left me less time to marathon books purely for fun and re-read favorites. My podcast schedule left me feeling like I was constantly reading to satisfy a requirement, not for fun. I also had some pretty big writing deadlines this year and made the switch to full time freelancing in May, so the theme of 2019 seemed to be constantly re-centering myself and my reading life definitely took a hit.

Nonetheless, here are my 20 favorite books of 2019 in no particular order! It’s a good mix of backlist and 2019 releases, because backlist titles are awesome and it’s never too late to pick up a great book. I’m sure there are tons of 2019 titles that will end up on next year’s list because I am behind, story of my life.

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Scythe by Neal Shusterman

My library teens convinced me to pick up this book and I am so glad I did! It’s a darkly humorous book about a near-ish future where death has been eradicated but Scythes still “glean” people at random to control population. Two teens get caught up in an epic struggle among Scythedom that asks a lot of big questions about morality, ethics, and the nature of life. It’s the only book we picked for teen book club that generated so much discussion I had to cut the teens off after our hour was up. Also, did I mention it’s funny?

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan

Dervla McTiernan’s debut novel was on last year’s list and this follow up starring Cormac Reilly definitely did not disappoint. It’s got murder, conspiracy, rich people misbehaving, mistaken identity, and academic drama galore! I cannot wait for her next book!

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

This graphic novel is my catnip. A fall-tastic story about two work friends who decide to make the most of their last night working at the Disneyland of pumpkin patches and discover a few things about their relationship! It’s funny, it’s colorful, it’s so happy. I am almost jealous that I didn’t write it.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

This is a National Book Award finalist and totally suspenseful and inventive novel about a world where there are no monsters, until a creature named Pet emerges from a painting to tell our protagonist that they have to hunt one more monster hiding in pain sight. It’s a short, gripping novel that I listened to on audio in very nearly a single sitting.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

I’m a big Leigh Bardugo fan, so this is no surprise…and yet I was surprised at how much I loved this occult mystery set in New Haven, CT with old money, poor students, and very creepy happenings. It’s not YA, although I think Bardugo’s YA fans will really dig this book. My ONLY complaint is that this is very clearly the start of a series and we have no info on when the next book will be released. Plus, I once heard Leigh say at a panel that she was so excited to sign with an adult publisher who didn’t expect her to publish a book a year, and while I am very happy for her and her creative process, this is sad for us because I don’t think 2020 will bring us the sequel we want.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

I want Samantha Irby to be my IRL best friend! For real, this collection of essays is hysterically funny and honest, and I listened to her narrate the audiobook while driving from Michigan to DeKalb, IL, which is a real hazard when you consider how many semis there are around Chicago that I almost drove into because I was laughing so hard.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

At this stage, I think it’s safe to say that Elizabeth Acevedo’s books are must-reads for me. In fact, they’re must-listens as long as she’s narrating the audiobook–her performance of this novel was absolutely brilliant and I love that we got this story about a young woman taking chances and forging her own path without any wild, contrived plot drama. It was just an excellent coming of age story!

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen

If you read one book off this list, please make it this one. Samantha Allen confronts so many stereotypes about small town and rural queers in this amazing book, which is part road trip diary, part memoir, and part investigative journalism. Queer people are living in small towns and making a difference and creating communities everywhere, not just the big cities.

My Real Children by Jo Walton

Full disclaimer, I started crying about 50 pages before the end of this novel and I did not stop. This isn’t a book that follows a traditional narrative. It starts in our world, with a young woman presented with a fateful decision in the days after WWII. The rest of the book alternates between her two lives depending on the choice she makes, but each of her lives diverges from our known reality in a small ways, then bigger ways. However, they are unified by a few commonalities. This book is queer, and weird, and so very moving. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry again, dang it!

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Hands down my favorite kids’ book of the year! It’s about a little girl whose family immigrates to the U.S., but the only job they can get is caretakers of a motel, which is owned by a very cranky and bad man who takes advantage of them financially and exploits their labor. However, our protagonist is bright and she’s plucky and she helps her parents wherever she can and soon they’re helping other immigrants who have been exploited. It’s also a very age-appropriate book about immigration and the challenges and unfair labor practices that immigrants face–and there’s a sequel out in 2020!

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

I inhaled this in almost a single sitting, staying up til 1 AM to finish. I’m such a big fan of Machado’s writing, and her memoir about domestic abuse was beautifully written, even though it was painful at times. I think she’s terrifically brave for putting her abuse to paper and then sharing it with the world so that we can start a conversation about queer intimate partner abuse–because queer relationships aren’t all perfect.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

This book is really weird and bonkers and I admit that I struggled to understand the plot for a good 100+ pages BUT I DID NOT CARE because I love Gideon so much and this sarcastic, hilarious, sometimes immature voice had me cracking up every other page. Seriously, just read the first paragraph.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Oh, I wanted to hug Freddie and tell her that if Laura Dean keeps breaking up with her, it’s time to break up with Laura Dean. Like with Machado’s book, I love that we are finally making space for all kinds of queer relationship stories, not just HEA. This is a great one for teens figuring out what love is and isn’t, and it’s beautifully illustrated.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

I know I am super late on this one, but 2019 was the year I finally gave in to Audible and bought the audiobook because I only wanted to experience this book with Noah narrating it to me and it was not the wrong decision! Full of hilarious anecdotes and sobering history lessons, this is an incredible memoir from a truly talented comedian and writer.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

I’m so glad that I discovered Sarah Gailey’s work this year because they have like 3 books coming out next year and they are all speculative and queer and very very very good. This is about a PI investigating a murder at a high school for teens with magic, which would be fine except the PI doesn’t have magic but her twin sister (and teacher at this school) totally does and there is HISTORY there. I loved how Gailey mashes the mystery and fantasy genres together here!

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE Jane Harper! I read her latest release on a flight from Philadelphia to Seattle, and yes, I read the ENTIRE novel on that flight, finishing just as we landed. The book is just that suspenseful and taut, and the setting–super remote, so far out in the middle of the nowhere you could die if you aren’t prepared Australia–was kinda creepy but gorgeously depicted!

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

This is by far my favorite audiobook of the year, narrated by Bahni Turpin. It’s an incredible novel about international politics, which is something I know nothing about, told from the POV of a young Black woman who finds herself caught between two countries and two ideologies.

All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Let’s just say that if Moïra Fowley-Doyle puts out a new book, it’s gonna be on my faves list. This is a queer novel about family curses, sisters, and exposing the injustices of history in order to heal. Plus, it’s magical. Yes, please. More, please.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nailini Singh

Singh is a romance writer who has written an amazing first crime novel here. Keeping with the remote setting theme, this one is set on New Zealand’s west coast and is about a missing young woman whose plight stirs up unpleasant memories for the town while the community’s sole police officer (an outsider, naturally) tries to stay ahead of the game. It’s really riveting and perfect for Harper and French fans!

A Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

I’m just going to say it, I love YA fantasy but I’ve struggled to find new YA fantasy that I love. THIS ONE IS AMAZING. It has grimoires and dangerous libraries and kick ass librarians and grumpy sorcerers and hilarious banter and capricious demons and high stakes! Plus, it’s a standalone so no waiting for sequels! (Although I wouldn’t complain if Rogerson did write one…)

What are some of your favorite reads of 2019? Tell me about them!