VACATION: LGBTQ+ books

Taking a little time off, so here are some links to some past reviews of LGBTQ+ books. You can see a full set of books I have tagged LGBTQ+ in the past here. Some of these feature LGBTQ+ characters and/or storylines. Sometimes they are secondary factors. It’s taken me a bit to decide how I wanted to tag these stories so readers could find them.

Some of my favorites include:

Bookish Boyfriends: Get A Clue (YA)
Thanks a Lot, Universe (Older Middle Grade)
We Didn’t Ask for This (YA)
The Pros of Cons (YA)
ConQuest (Middle Grade) – ♥♥♥♥½
Bookish and the Beast (YA) – ♥♥♥♥½
The Princess and the Fangirl (YA) – ♥♥♥♥½

Playing Catch Up, part 4

Thanks so much for visiting The Neverending TBR today. I don’t have a review to post. As I am writing this, I am in the middle of three books – one is an ARC, one is a library book, and one is a personal favorite I have read a dozen times. And I can’t seem to get any traction on any of them, even though I am enjoying all three. Life is super busy right now with work and family which isn’t leaving a lot of reading time. So I am going to take a couple weeks off from reviews and see if I can get caught up.

Instead, I thought I would share some favorites from 2023 so far!

My fourth five star review of the year was for Teen Titans: Robin – you can read my full review here.

Playing Catch Up, part 3

Thanks so much for visiting The Neverending TBR today. I don’t have a review to post. As I am writing this, I am in the middle of three books – one is an ARC, one is a library book, and one is a personal favorite I have read a dozen times. And I can’t seem to get any traction on any of them, even though I am enjoying all three. Life is super busy right now with work and family which isn’t leaving a lot of reading time. So I am going to take a couple weeks off from reviews and see if I can get caught up.

Instead, I thought I would share some favorites from 2023 so far!

My most recent five star review this year was for Damsel – you can read my full review here.

Playing Catch Up, part 2

Thanks so much for visiting The Neverending TBR today. I don’t have a review to post. As I am writing this, I am in the middle of three books – one is an ARC, one is a library book, and one is a personal favorite I have read a dozen times. And I can’t seem to get any traction on any of them, even though I am enjoying all three. Life is super busy right now with work and family which isn’t leaving a lot of reading time. So I am going to take a couple weeks off from reviews and see if I can get caught up.

Instead, I thought I would share some favorites from 2023 so far!

One of my favorite YA reads this year was The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway – you can read my full review here.

Playing Catch Up, part 1

Thanks so much for visiting The Neverending TBR today. I don’t have a review to post. As I am writing this, I am in the middle of three books – one is an ARC, one is a library book, and one is a personal favorite I have read a dozen times. And I can’t seem to get any traction on any of them, even though I am enjoying all three. Life is super busy right now with work and family which isn’t leaving a lot of reading time. So I am going to take a couple weeks off from reviews and see if I can get caught up.

Instead, I thought I would share some favorites from 2023 so far!

My first five star review of the year was for Tell Her Story – you can read my full review here.

SABBATICAL: Wrap Up

And that’s a wrap on another sabbatical month. I think I might just do this every year – plan one month where I don’t accept any review requests. Yes, I still have to create content. But a good bit of it comes from the hundreds of posts from the past 6 years, and I don’t have to invest the hours of reading before I can write the post.

I hope you have found something fruitful from the posts over the last few weeks. Next week we’ll be back to normal with a Book News post on Monday, and a new review on Wednesday and Friday.  Until then, Happy Reading!

SABBATICAL – Must Read Authors

Back in the early weeks of my blog, I did a post called 8 Authors I Buy Automatically. I thought 6 years was plenty of time to try that list again and see what’s changed.

One thing that has changed is I have fewer authors I “buy automatically.” I don’t know if that’s because I have been burned on books I just didn’t like from some of my former go-to authors or if it’s because my own reading tastes have changed. It was far easier to come up with lists of my must-read series the last couple weeks than it is to come up with a list of auto-buy authors. That said, though, here is my list:

Jennifer Lynn Barnes – JLB has been a must-buy author for me for ages. I don’t think I have EVER bought a book of hers and not enjoyed it. From The Naturals series to The Fixer (FAVE) to the Debutantes  to the Inheritance Games. All winners for me.

Ally Carter – This is another author I have read for years and followed from series to series – Gallagher Girls, Heist Society, Embassy Row, Not If I Save You First, Winterborne Home. All terrific!

Donalyn Miller – This is a tricky one, because Donalyn is primarily a teacher rather than an author. But when she publishes a book, I pay attention and pick it up – The Book Whisperer, Reading in the Wild, The Joy of Reading, Game Changer, Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library. I don’t even teach anymore, but I can’t get enough of her philosophy of reading and teaching readers.

Jennifer Estep – While the author’s Elemental Assassin series didn’t grab me, her books set in Bellona/Andvari/etc. (Crown of Shards series, Gargoyle Queen series) are perfect for me, so I buy those the minute I know there’s a new one available.

Jessie Mihalik – I have loved both the Consortium Rebellion series and the new/in process Starlight’s Shadow series, so I have also purchased – but not yet read – the author’s Rogue Queen series.

Suzanne Stabile – Suzanne is my favorite Enneagram teacher, so while I might be more skeptical of other books until I can look at them first, hers I pick up automatically.

 

SABBATICAL – Must Read Series, Part II

I am on a “sabbatical” from my blog this month, so I am sharing some posts that compile information my readers might find useful.

Last week I posted what I consider my “Must Read” series that are still growing. These might be books I buy or books I get at the library, but either way, I am NOT missing a book in these series.

This week I am focusing on some completed series that were must-reads when they released. Some of these I will re-read because I know I am going to love them.

 

Completed Series


Crown of Shards seriesKill the Queen, Protect the Prince, Crush the King. I discovered the first book in this trilogy in my quest to find something I love like the Kitty Katt-Martini/Touched by an Alien series, and these are right up there. This series is fantasy rather than science fiction, but the main character is exactly what I am always looking for, and the stories are ones I happily re-read when I need a little comfort reading of something I know is amazing.
Consortium Rebellion series – This science fiction series kicks off with Polaris Rising, my favorite book in the series. This trilogy is the closest I have come to finding a series like the Touched By an Alien/Kitty Katt-Martini series which is my all-time favorite.
Sons of Destiny series – This 8-book fantasy/romance series kicks off with The Sword. I remember when I first discovered this series. I would stalk my local bookstore looking for the rest of the books. I *needed* to have them all. This is another series I will re-read, although not as often as I do with Kitty. I loved the hook of 8 brothers looking to overcome a family curse and find love (The even numbered books are my favorites). The magic of the world is outstanding.
Reluctant Royals series – This romance series (three full-length books with some e-book novellas) completely captivated me. I haven’t re-read them, but I would in a heartbeat. The first book in the series is A Princess in Theory.
Bookish Boyfriends series – This YA series kicks off with Bookish Boyfriends/A Date with Darcy and is 4 books long, and each one is a delight.  Lovely romance with a touch of magic and ties to literature. I wish there were going to be more of these!