Rating: 4/5 | The Gilded Wolves is an exciting, pull-off-an-impossible-heist-to-save-the-world story with multiple POVs. So, basically, if you liked Six of Crows, this is for you. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3.75/5 | The Night Tiger was my January 2019 BOTM pick. It was an intriguing, magical look at colonial Malaya (now Malaysia) with a little bit of something for everyone. An innocent little hero? A mind-itching mystery? Themes of destiny, fate family, and love? You got it. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | I read this book because it was the Girls' Night In January book club selection, and I was not disappointed. This is the perfect book for a book club — there's a ton to digest, to ruminate about, to discuss. Themes of siblinghood, death, destiny, magic, and love. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 5/5 | That was...intense. There's no other word for it. I read the second half of this book alone on my couch on New Year's Eve, and I couldn't have had it any other way; if my husband had tried to talk to me during that time, I might have blown up. Literally. At one point my Apple Watch told me that my heart rate had been "over 100 bpm when you appeared to be inactive for 10 minutes." LOL. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | I picked this book up because in case you haven't noticed, everybody and their mother read it this month. It was catchy and sweet and surprisingly relatable. I sandwiched it between a couple of heavier books. It was a great lightweight read for winter. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | This was a fast read, but it was really engaging. When he sent it to me, Greg compared it to The Giver. I was skeptical of that statement, but it was actually a pretty good comparison, at least in style and subject matter. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 5/5 | Full disclosure: Books like this were made for me. I love feminist fiction, and I really love retellings — especially Greek mythology. Madeline Miller is my jam. This book is also my jam. I loved every page. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4.5/5 | This will be a quick review as it's a book two, and obviously I loved the first one and just can't wait to get to book three. And also I'm dying and was totally crushed by that ending and WHY JUST WHY. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3.5/5 | Thank you to the author, Emily Kim, for providing me with a copy of this book so that I could review it! Rice Girls was a really unique (for me) and engaging story, once I fell into the rhythm of the writing style. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | This was an impressive debut novel for Krysten Ritter! I'm not always a fan of thrillers (they're such a rollercoaster ride), but this one was fun to read. She gives you just enough information to know that you have all the pieces of the puzzle, if only you could figure out how they fit together. I listened to the audiobook during my Thanksgiving car rides, and I really enjoyed it. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4.5/5 | Cassandra Clare has done it again. There's a reason she's sold so many books: She's really great at writing characters you absolutely love and putting them through adventures you can't ignore. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3/5 | Thank you to the author for the free e-copy in exchange for an honest review. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3.5/5 | This book was just plain fun. I think that's what you get with books in this mass-market thriller category in general: Not quite "literature" per se, but very exciting and entertaining quick reads. They are like sitcom television. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | This book was a really fun read, especially for October. It's the perfect thriller mystery for a cozy night curled up on your couch with a nice drink. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4.5/5 | I first read the title short story from this collection ("What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky") through The Season of Stories. I was immediately blown away, and I forwarded it to all my lit friends so I'd have someone to talk to about it. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | This was the conclusion I knew would be excellent, the reason I read the first two books. This one flew by faster than the first or the second did; I read it in less than 36 hours. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 4/5 | Wow. There is so, so much to unpack from this book. It was an incredibly poignant and purposefully uncomfortable look at so many things—marriage, love, parenting, friendship, race, manhood. I will be thinking about this one for a long time. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3.75/5 | Here's the summary of how I feel about these books so far: Alina is super dumb and makes me want to punch her, but the magic system is really unique, and the plot has drawn me in. (Click the post to read more.)

Rating: 3.75/5 | I entered the world of Leigh Bardugo via the Six of Crows duology, which I loved. Friends promised that the Shadow and Bone trilogy wouldn't disappoint. The first book started slowly, but once it took off, it really drew me in. (Click the post to read more.)