It’s mid-May and I’ve read 11 books so far! I’m back in one of those situations where I’ve been reading a ton and haven’t necessarily been writing full reviews, so I figured I would take today to talk about a few of my recent reads. 

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – All My Rage is for sure a favorite YA book of 2022. Yes, I am still hiding in shame that I still have not picked up An Ember in the Ashes (maybe one day?!), but wow, will I be picking up any more contemporary novels from Sabaa Tahir. All My Rage follows two best friends, Noor and Salahudin, living in Juniper, California, and the way their lives unfold as the two lose someone very close to them. The book explores so many themes, including hope, dreams, loss, the experience of being an Muslim American teen in a not-so diverse place, bullying and intolerance, and so much more. Definitely a gut-punch of a read, but I loved how everything came together in the end. This book is for sure going to be a staple YA contemporary or classic. 

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead – I feel like I’ve seen In My Dreams I Hold a Knife everywhere over the past few months and decided to borrow it from the library on a whim. I love college-set books, and this thriller takes on a college twist, as the book transitions between protagonist Jessica’s college years and life ten years later at her college reunion. Jessica reunites with nearly all of her college friends – one of the friends, Heather, was brutally murdered months before graduation from Duquette (which is apparently based on Duke?). I flew through this thriller, having loved unpacking each friend’s life and the events leading up to Heather’s murder. There were a few twists and I’m glad that the book wasn’t super predictable, as the suspect was not who I imagined it’d be! 

Beach Read by Emily Henry – I’ve been saying that I want to reread Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, but having had the final push to do so before falling head over heels for Emily Henry’s Book Lovers – I was also inspired by the Beach Read epilogue sent in Emily Henry’s newsletter & in the Target edition of Book Lovers. I plan on rereading People We Meet on Vacation soon, but decided to go with Beach Read first . I still really loved this one and had forgotten how emotionally heavy it is between January’s loss and Gus’ book research, but still loved it this time around… but I seriously think it’s going to be between People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers as my favorite Emily Henry book. 

Swing and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander – I don’t typically reach for novels written in verse (with mostly the exception of Elizabeth Acevedo), but have recently been researching & reading books to read with my middle school students and Kwame Alexander is a must.  I really liked Swing (the ending was a total twist!) and I loveeeedsd The Crossover, following a middle school basketball player & his twin brother, alongside their former pro basketball player father – I’m hoping to read The Crossover with my students next year and potentially watch the upcoming Disney+ adaptation with Daved Diggs!

Heartstopper Volumes 1-3 – Like so many readers, I have definitely fallen into the Netflix hype of Heartstopper and read the first three volumes of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels series. I reviewed volume 1 last week (update that I still not yet finished watching the show), but I read volumes 2 &3 back to back last week and really enjoyed them! Volume 3 is for sure my fave so far. 

What have you been reading recently? Have you read any of the books that I mentioned? Share in the comments!