I wouldn’t characterize myself as a voracious reader. If I’m in the midst of a series I’m loving, I’ll devour it for sure, but I find it hard to pivot to a new book or book series after I finished one I adored. I think I’m afraid I’ll be let down? I don’t know. Either way, I’m definitely not a prolific reader, so this isn’t too long of a list.

The Shattered City Series - Meg Smitherman

Meg is an old blogging friend from way back in my fashion blogger day when I used to take daily photos of my outfits and put them on the internet. Anyway, one day I was perusing tiktok, as one does, and one of her videos stopped my scroll. I hadn’t been following her in years but I recognized her immediately and was so thrilled to see that she’d written a book! This is a dark academia fantasy duology and book two is coming out spring of 2024? I got to read an ARC of Sanctifier, the second book, and it’s wonderful. These two books are a great pair, perfect for spooky season too!

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas

This was the series that got me back into reading fiction. There was just something about the perfect combination of magic and a powerful female lead, paired with a sweeping epic story and the delicious spice. It rekindled a love of immersing myself in fictional worlds and stories that I’d abandoned as an adult.

Crescent City Series - Sarah J. Maas

After ACOTAR, I dove into Sarah’s newest series, the Crescent City books. I think this series is my favorite of hers. The world building in the first four or so chapters of the first book gets a little confusing, and I think if you’re used to fantasy worlds being set in “olden-times” settings, the modern setting could feel awkward at first but I just ADORE it. There’s a crime fighting element of the first book that fed my love of crime novels, paired with sexy fae and a spitfire FMC. Ugh I love.

Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas

I read Sarah’s first series, Throne of Glass, last, which I actually really liked. I felt like I had some context from her other books that made reading it enjoyable. And even though the spice level on this series is a little cooler, it’s still a beautiful world, with incredible characters and the weaving she did in this series really hit home throughout the books. And don’t listen to the Tower of Dawn haters, I loved that book so much, certainly no less than the others, and it was a nice breather to get a different storyline, with the focus on some different characters, for a hot second.

The Dragonriders of Pern Series - Anne McCaffrey

This series is CLASSIC. It’s the perfect melding of sci-fi and fantasy, and McCaffrey does world building so well. There isn’t really romance, there are relationships, but it’s never the focus of anything. These books are super nostalgic for me, I read them as a kid, and the pacing and writing style is definitely different than a modern novel, but I still love these books so much. I started re-reading them earlier this summer and have blown through about six so far

The Will Trent Series/Grant County Series - Karin Slaughter

A little genre shift here to detective/crime novels, these two series’ are connected (The Will Trent Series essentially being an extension of the Grant County Series). I actually started reading these books a couple years before I got yanked back into the world of fiction on a recommendation from my mom. As a true crime aficionado (have I watched all 14 seasons of The Forensic Files more than once? Maybe), I really loved the crime/mystery/detective storylines and there is a little bit of spice/romance? Like not a lot, but enough that it makes me like these books even more. ALSO: if you’ve watched the Will Trent TV series and hated it, don’t discount the book series. I watched the trailer for it and it didn’t look or feel anything like how the book series does.

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

I didn’t read another fantasy romance book after Sarah J Maas because I was just so afraid that another book series wouldn’t be able to follow in their footsteps, but goddamn if this book isn’t firing on all fuckin cylinders. Iron Flame comes out in November, and I believe this is slated to be a five book series so buckle up, bitches. MY BODY IS READY.