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Athena Protocol

Description: Jessie Archer is a member of the Athena Protocol, an elite organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice around the world. Athena operatives are never supposed to shoot to kill—so when Jessie can’t stop herself from pulling the trigger, she gets kicked out of the organization, right before a huge mission to take down a human trafficker in Belgrade.   Jessie needs to right her wrong and prove herself, so she starts her own investigation into the trafficking. But going rogue means she has no one to watch her back as she delves into the horrors she uncovers. Meanwhile, her former teammates have been ordered to bring her down. Jessie must face danger from all sides if she’s to complete her mission—and survive. Review: I have always been frustrated with the James Bond and Mission Impossible movie franchises especially with their reductive treatment of women who are either the femme fatale caricuture or an "agent" who is suppose to be capable an...
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The Secret

The Secret

Favorite Books of 2019


Here are my favorite books of 2019. As a quick disclaimer, these books may not all be 2019 releases but I did read them in 2019. These books are  ranked according to the interest level. 

Favorite Adult Books


I read a quite a few adult titles that I enjoyed in 2019 and I am happy to report that I enjoyed quite a few titles.

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin: A smart and witty homage to the Jane Austen classic featuring Muslim characters set in Toronto, Canada.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty:  An amazing sequel that completely had me at the edge of my seat and for once I have absolutely no idea how this wonderful series will end. If you are looking for a great fantasy with a complex, multilayered story that centers on the kingdom's deeply divisive religious, political, and racial tensions.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia: A  genre-bending, highly entertaining, and enthralling mystery with lovable and quirky characters that dips into the supernatural but without losing sight to real life problems.


Favorite Children Book


I always try to fit in some children and middle grade reads into my yearly reading challenge. I loved three books this year.

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal: I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my name ever since I was little. This picture book reminds me of the story my dad always told me whenever I complained about my name to him.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang: A wonderful debut middle grade novel that explores a multitude of themes that are nicely woven into a story of activism.

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson: Timely, important, and beautifully written. *Review coming soon


Favorite YA Books

Young Adult books dominate my reading pile because I work for teens as a high school librarian. I had a hard time keeping up with all the new releases for 2019. I avoided most of the hyped books because they almost always lead me to disappointment. Surprisingly a reread made it on to this list.  

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) and The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #2) by Patrick Ness: I had dystopia fatigue for quite sometime, but this series is thought provoking, horrifying, exceptionally well written, and completely underrated. I hope to finish this series next year.

The Lovely War by Julie Berry: Incredibly well written and multilayered story of two pairs of lovers over the course of World War I and World War II narrated by the Greek Gods. *Review coming soon

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson: Timely, important, and beautifully written memoir in verse. *Review coming soon


There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon: A contemporary romance that is full of heart while also tackling fat shaming, identity, privilege, and self confidence

Favorite Graphic Novels/Manga

I read several fantastic graphic novels in 2019. I still have to review a few of them.


New Kid by Jerry Craft: New Kid may seem like another title about being the new kid in school, but this graphic novel is so much more. It is a candid and accessible story about race, class, microagressions, and the quest of self identity when you clearly do not fit into clean boxes.
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks: Rowell can make a simple story magical and Hick’s drawings make the graphic novel come to life.

Runaways Volumes 1-7 by Brian K. Vaughan: A teen centered superhero comic in which their parents are the villains. Smart, fun, and highly entertaining. 


Honorable Mentions

The following books are the ones that left a lasting impression on me that I would also highly recommend reading:

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason
If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg 

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Pet

Description: Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look? There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question --How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist? Review: Pet is a slim novel that does not have much of a plot but it is packed with representation and big questions regarding justice, truth, and remembering. Jam is our protagonist, a transgender hearing person who communicates selectively, using both sign ...
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Look Both Ways

Description: This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy— Talking about boogers. Stealing pocket change. Skateboarding. Wiping out. Braving up. Executing complicated handshakes. Planning an escape. Making jokes. Lotioning up. Finding comfort. But mostly, too busy walking home. Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life. Review:   Writing short stories is hard, but writing ten different stories that feature ten blocks in one neighborhood that takes place all at the same time is unimaginable yet Jason Reynolds make it very easy. On these ten blocks, Jasmine and TJ wonder what they are made of-dust and water. Four friends hustle for change all day and maneuver their capital into buying an ur...
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Searching for Sylvie Lee

Description: It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother--and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn't rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it's Amy's turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister's movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: t...
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