As a reader, I’ve always been drawn to fantasy for the great escapism into magical kingdoms, quests, and adventure. There are the more modern settings with Percy Jackson and The Mortal Instruments; historical periods with the Infernal Devices and The Gilded Wolves. Of course, the titles you are reminded of include Lord of the Rings, The Mistborn Trilogy, and Six of Crows.

This year, I sought to read more widely by delving into some contemporaries and highly recommended books. Shopping at reliable and affordable book stores has always been difficult in Australia. Mainstream bookstores sell paperbacks for $20-$30. I’m always baffled at these prices, which is why this year I’ve bought my books from Big W and Kmart. The prices are significantly cheaper for the same product…of course, these buys are the most popular and new releases of the moment. Finding specific books, or beautiful covers will be left to online businesses like Booktopia and Bookdepository, or other booksellers.

These are the book recommendations I found through my mutuals from my blog, and a few through my own research:

THE BOOKS

Book Lovers & Beach Read by Emily Henry

“Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow.

Book Lovers

“And that was the moment I realized: when the world felt dark and scary, love could whisk you off to go dancing; laughter could take some of the pain away; beauty could punch holes in your fear. I decided then that my life would be full of all three.”

Beach Read

The Inheritance Games & The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“Sometimes things that appear very different on the surface are actually exactly the same at their core.”

The Inheritance Games

“Picture yourself standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The wind is whipping your hair. The sun is setting. You long, body and soul, for one thing. One person. You hear footsteps behind you. You turn. Who’s there?

The Hawthorne Legacy

These Violent Delights & Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

“The stars incline us, they do not bind us.”

These Violent Delights

“In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.”

Our Violent Ends

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

“No one knows how to hurt you if you always play the fool. No one can be truly disappointed in you if they don’t expect any better.”

A Far Wilder Magic

The Roughest Draft by Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley

“There’s no truth to these pages, but the trick of fiction is to make you think there is. I let myself fall for it as often as I can.”

The Roughest Draft

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

“I think I might fetch you the moon if only to spare your tears again.”

This Woven Kingdom

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

“I used to think soul mates were two of the same. I used to think I was supposed to look for somebody that was like me. I don’t believe in soul mates anymore and I’m not looking for anything. But if I did believe in them, I’d believe your soul mate was somebody who had all the things you didn’t, that needed all the things you had. Not somebody who’s suffering from the same stuff you are.”

Daisy Jones & The Six

And of course, I’ll be getting into these books during my holidays. So far, my reading goals for the year are to finish off my physical TBR and find some new favourites.

A Wandering Reader