This year, I read a lot more books than I expected! The baby (now toddler!) now has opinions on what we listen to, so it can be difficult to actually listen to my audiobooks when she’s around. I managed, though, thanks to a new pair of earbuds and my very wonderful husband!
Another surprise to me was how many science fiction books made it onto my top reads list this year. Usually I lean far more into fantasy books of all sorts, but this year had a lot of scifi that I loved!
- I read 102 books this year, 90 audiobooks, 2 physical books and 10 ebooks!
- My most read author was Hailey Edwards with 8 books, as I caught up on the Yard Birds series and began the Body Shop series – all great!
- She was followed by Tamora Pierce (7) and S. Usher Evans (6).
- 52 reads were indie or small press published, 50 were traditionally published.
- 20 were from the library. 28 were from Kobo Plus. The rest were ones I owned in one format or another!
Here’s some mini-reviews of my top reads of the year!
Wooing the Witch Queen – Stephanie Burgis
Wooing the Witch Queen is a bi m/f gaslamp fantasy where rival rulers fall in love with each other except the Queen doesn’t know that the sweet, nerdy dark wizard she hired is secretly who she thinks is her greatest enemy. Stephanie Burgis is an autobuy author for me and has been for years. This book blew me out of the water and made me ravenous for the next one.
Bookshop || Amazon
Lady Eve’s Last Con – Rebecca Fraimow
Support women’s wrongs in 1920s-styled space! Small time con-woman Ruth’s sister gets pregnant with the baby of the heir of an intergalactic insurance company and he flees, so Ruth goes after him with the intent to make him fall in love with her, marry him and then leave with half his fortune. Except then she meets his sister, Sol, who is just as cunning as Ruth has ever been and twice as attractive as her brother. I loved the contrast between the two women and their schemes, and their dedication to the people they loved.
Bookshop || Amazon
Socially Orcward – Lisa Henry, Sarah Honey
An ace/ace romance between an orc and a human! This is part of a series but readable enough without more than a cursory glance at the blurbs for the previous two books, in my opinion. I have not read the other books but it was fine as is. Both characters are sweet as pie and I love them desperately.
Amazon
A Tempest of Tea – Hafsah Faizal
A Tempest of Tea is the only YA book on my list, but a secret vampire tearoom run by a criminal mastermind had to make the list. I loved this world and everything in it. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Bookshop || Amazon
Murder by Memory – Olivia Waite
A cozy murder mystery on a generation ship where nobody needs to die. Technology has reached a point where the human body is not entirely necessary – the consciousness is stored in books and put back into different bodies that you get to create yourself. Dorothy wakes up abruptly in the body of someone she’s never heard of – and someone has deleted the body’s original mind. She has to figure out who killed them and who deleted their memory with the help of her nephew, her body’s ex-girlfriend and the generation ship itself. This is a beautiful, witty story that I really felt enveloped in. Waite is working on a knitting pattern that is based on a piece in this book and I can’t wait to see it! Maybe I’ll even break out my knitting needles again for it.
Bookshop || Amazon
Automatic Noodle – Annalee Newitz
Automatic Noodle is all about building community in a way that only these sentient robots can do. It takes a lot of very current topics and treats them with care. I read this while LA was just beginning to protest against ICE this summer and it was honestly beautifully juxtaposed with the war that this far future San Francisco is placed in. I can’t recommend it enough.
Bookshop || Amazon
Better Luck Next Time – Cara Bastone
Contemporary portal fantasy with a really cute dog AND a really cute romance. Cara Bastone is always a hit for me, but Better Luck Next Time surprised me. It’s chock full of family feelings and love and history between them all, and I loved it.
Audible Exclusive
Constancy – Tilly Wallace
Constancy is a second chance Persuasian-inspired romance with dragons. Really, what more needs to be said? Tilly Wallace is very quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I can’t recommend this one enough.
Bookshop || Amazon
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich – Deya Muniz
A Duke’s daughter has to disguise herself as a man in order to inherit her father’s estate. She intends to go to court and keep her head down… until she meets the Princess. Crossdressing stories can be really hit or miss, but this one hit hard for me. It’s absolutely adorable and so full of love that it had me squealing. Plus, the art is so cute!
Bookshop || Amazon
Witch You Would – Lia Amador
Great British Bake Off…. but magical and romantic? Yes please! Lia Amador is a favorite author under her other name of Valerie Valdes, but this book had me laughing out loud a lot.
Bookshop || Amazon
The Stars Too Fondly – Emily Hamilton
Queer ass space heist goes wrong… or very right, depending on how you look at it. A queer team of grad students break into the ship that was supposed to travel all the way to a new human colony, but the crew disappeared on the way there for reasons unknown. The ship takes off on accident and there’s no way to turn it around, so they have to figure out what happened. It’s a great mystery with great characters and a great heart.
