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What’s On My Bookshelf? Brightness-Down-Late-Night Reads
I’m a lot of things — an SEO nerd, a sustainability chaos agent, a chronic over-recommender of books nobody asked me about.
This is the last one.
I started keeping this list because I forget everything I’ve read approximately five minutes after I finish it. But it’s also become a little exercise in going back, revisiting the DNFs I maybe abandoned too soon, and sharing what I’m reading with you. Are we reading the same thing? What’s on your list? Send me a message because I genuinely want to know.
This is year three of doing this and I am somehow not better at writing descriptions. Every single time I sit down to do this my first instinct is “I really liked this!” So I’ve leaned into it. You’ll see.
Fun fact about me – I apparently don’t like book descriptions. Every time I read one it’s like meeeeeehh ughhhh I guess.
IDK why I’m like this because I almost always love it.
So I say over and over “I really liked this!” I am genuinely suprised lolololol.
As always, to be more sustainable and supportive of my community, I check out 95% of my books from the Chicago Public Library and use the Libby app to read them with! When I miss the feeling and smell of a physical book or am in the mood to buy something, I gather the other 5% of books from Open Books or Bookshop.org.
Let’s turn the page, shall we?
August 2026
Coming this month:
- An Arcane Inheritance // Kamilah Cole
- The Bone Season // Samantha Shannon
- The Family Upstairs // Lisa Jewell
- The Priory of the Orange Tree // Samantha Shannon
- Corduroy (en espanol!!)
July 2026
Checked out and didn’t get to:
- Immersionplus Spanish // Penton Overseas Inc
Divergent Mind // Jenara Nerenberg
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thriving In A World That Wasn’t Designed For You
After my (recent) AuDHD diagnosis, it’s been interesting how it immediately makes people defensive because I don’t meet the standard of what someone should ‘look like’. Especially after being misdiagnosed (or disregarded) literally my whole life I will only trust research/books that speak to women’s experiences.
“An entire demographic of women is now being referred to as a “lost generation,” because an extensive amount of depression and anxiety surface as a result of internal experiences that don’t match up with what the world expects or how the world views such women—since they appear to function “normally” on the outside.”
Some other passages from the book I’ll leave you with:
- “…women have been so fundamentally missing from helping to shape larger societal structures and the fields of psychology and medicine, it’s likely that inclusion holds the key to helping to bring wholeness to a fractured culture, a softening of our defenses against sensitivity, and a thriving life to neurodivergent women—and men—everywhere”
- “What I heard in researching, conducting interviews, and reporting on the autistic experience is that sensitivity features prominently in autism and is both a strength and a challenge. In the case of autistic women, many of whom have been sensitive their entire lives but not known they were on the autism spectrum, the question of utilizing and managing sensitivity is tricky because many have been told or taught that something is wrong with them. As a result, many have experienced shame, depression, and severe anxiety…”
- “What are we to do when our very real experiences in the world—especially as women—have no corresponding representation in the scientific, medical, health, and neuroscience research…”
- “it’s [crying] caused by the brain being overstimulated. It’s the weirdest thing because in my mind I know I’m fine, but I can’t control the crying. In my mind I tell myself I’m okay, but my brain has had so much input that I can’t take it anymore…”
House Of Earth & Blood // SJM, Crescent City #1
⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼
All of that copying other books made me think about Throne of Glass which then made me think how I hadn’t read the Crescent City series yet. Umm so good! My only experience thus far with SJM was the ACOTAR series. Which was fine. But like, I didn’t LOVE it. Something was missing.
Crescent City however, I LOVED. It’s more adult, less teenager-y. But also, just think about the world SJM has created is insane. The characters, the worlds, the magic – all of it!
Love love loved this.
The Assassin’s Blade // SJM (.1-.5 Novellas, audio)
⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼⭐👏🏼
All that copycatting from last month and then reading Crescent City had me wanting to revisit Throne of Glass. I think this was the only one that was instantly available so I went for it.
And so began the rest of my July 🤦🏻♀️
I’m not usually a Novella kinda gal but I think since I had already read TOG (#1-6 it turns out), these were cool!
And I’m only a tiny bit ashamed to admit that I listened to this audio book in 1.5 days.
The Complete Throne Of Glass Collection #1-7 // Sarah J Mass
😻😻😻😻😻
Let me spare us all. You don’t need each book listed out and I don’t want to do that. Let’s just say the hyperfocus kicked IN.
I read this series a couple of years ago and I liked it but I remember reading it too fast and then being kind of over it by the end. I did try to not spend EVERY waking moment reading it this time. I kind of succeeded. And turns out, my first time through I never made it to book #7!! The last one!
LOVE this series. Very different from ACOTAR if you’re hesitant. This one is more… adult. Less spicy but that actually makes sense. There more character development and growth and I love all of them.
Except Chaol. Fuck Chaol. And spoiler alert: F him and Yrene – I actually took notes about how much I hate Chaol and don’t think there’s enough Reddit threads about this. I would be HAPPY to discuss.
Magic & Mischief At The Wayside Hotel // Elizabeth Everett
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#1 in series?
This popped up on my Libby as a recommendation as I was placing a hold on another book. I DID judge this book by its cover plus it was available to borrow ASAP.
Umm I read this in ONE DAY.
I opened it the morning to do a little reading while I ate my breakfast and then I got hooked! This was such a cute, fun, CREATIVE read.
I loved the author’s take/version on magic and magical creatures – it wasn’t the generic or the tried and true.
It’s also the first book in what will be a series but the book was just released this year!!
June 2026
Checked out and didn’t get to:
- Reckless // Lauren Roberts (#2, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it)
- Trick Mirror // Jia Tolentino
- Braiding Sweetgrass // Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Mindfulness Prescription For Adult ADHD // Lidia Zylowska
Powerless // Lauren Roberts (audio)
The novella intrigued me so I went to the actual series. I’d like to point out I was house-sitting for my sister so I was alone for 3 weeks. The premise is familiar: forbidden romance, powerful prince, ordinary girl, world with magic. Then it all starts to sound very …. familiar.
⭐⭐🙄
- Magic (elites) vs. non-magic (ordinaries).
- Poor girl gets pulled into a competition to pay off debt/be better by a king that secretly hates her –> Throne of Glass.
- Love triangle with the prince and brother –> Throne of Glass-esque.
- A competition where they wake up somewhere random and have to survive/perform a series of physical tasks but also fight each other –> Hunger Games.
- The elites can ‘pay’ for you to get supplies you need during the competition –> Hunger Games.
- Pre-competition interviews to get the elite audience riled up and liking you because their support determines your success –> HUNGER GAMES.
I thought I was being punked because no way was this considered an ‘original’ book. I for sure thought it was fanfic but I guess not? I hate finished it though.
Powerful // Lauren Roberts (en espanol)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
1.5 Novella in series
Didn’t finish this, hehe
Alright, let me explain. I’m looking for audiobooks in Spanish to help me learn and to help with reading comprehension. SO, I figured why not try to find a genre that’s actually interesting and a little fun – hello romance/fantasy. HOWEVER imagine my shock when I go to my Libby app and the Chicago Public Library has 27K audio books, 270 of those are in Spanish. So I found this novela out of a series that I thought could be cute. Turns out I overestimated my reading level. I thought maybe I could find the book in Spanish and read along. NOPE, not only are there only 270 audiobooks – by the way a lot of the ones I saw were like War and Peace and really serious (important, but serious) – rarely did I see a whole series in Spanish. I was really heated up about this when it happened and now that I’m writing this I’m heated up again!!
How To ADHD // Jessica McCabe
I recently got OFFICIALLY diagnosed with ADHD, well AudHD and I didn’t really take it that seriously at first because like, duh I knew that. But the more I learn about ADHD, Autism, Neurodivergence, the sadder I get that I’ve been misdiagnosed and judged my whole life when my brain just works differently.
Now that I’m here, it’s just simply that half the population’s brains work differently. And we’re being forced to live in a world not made for us.
You’re Not Listening // Kate Murphy
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Okay, I checked this book out because I don’t think I’m a very good listener or conversationalist.
Turns out, neither are a lot of us. We’re so focused on WHAT we want to say next we’re not listening to what the person talking is saying. So, I’m really enjoying this. HOWEVER, we got to the part of the book about what makes a good and bad conversationalist. And basicallyyyy all the traits of like, ADHD/Autism are bad.
Which fine, I disagree but I get it. But what that means for us is do you know how much focus and energy it would take to follow these rules? And maybe you can train yourself and it’s totally possible, but I’m back to that our-brains-are-built-differently thing.
May 2026
Didn’t get to this month:
- The House Of Medici // Christopher Hibbert (hehe)
- The Gospel of Loki // Joanna M. Harris
- Hostage // Clare Mackintosh
- Wuthering Heights (audio) ugh that GD movie
#1. Paranormalcy // Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Okay this was the PERFECT vacation book. As you’ll see at the beginning of the month I started with a Kiersten White book (also found randomly) and I LOVED it so naturally I went and read 5 more of her books this month.
These were great while we were taking trains around Italy!
My relationship with YA novels is ~~ I usually like them until I don’t. So this was the same. A 16 year old (orphan) was adopted by an agency that ‘protects’ paranormals but she’s the only one who can see through their glamour so she’s obvs an invaluable asset.
If you like paranormal and fae and all that stuff (like me!!) this is a cute read!
#2. Supernaturally // Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️
#2! I had to get it ASAP. Continues the story of our fiesty 16 year old lead.
#3. Endlessly // Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️
#3 took me longer to get through because I did get tired of the YA thing like I told you I would. I can only take so much 16-year-old-know-it-all-attitude. (shocker, I know).
But of course I had to see her saving the world through to the end.
#1. Mind Games // Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was my intro to KW! You’ll see why I got tired of the YA because it’s another young girl saves the world book.
I should maybe explore this a bit but I just find it so INTERESTING that YA books are always about a teenage girl saving the world.
IDK maybe it’s a little bit of escapism.
But I’d like to see a book about a reluctant 30 year who has to save the world but is just like really tired. And men don’t believe her and everyone never really takes her seriously.
#2. Perfect Lies // Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh, and if you actually want to know what this series is about instead of my therapy dump hehe. It’s about two sisters who have ‘supernatural powers’. One is blind and can see visions of the future. One has perfect instincts.
I did like how KW set up the plot. The one with visions is ALWAYS right but it never happens for the reason or in the way they think is possible. It was usually like, she has a vision, they freak out and try to prevent it, which makes the vision come true. So I felt like that was pretty cool/accurate. (accurate to what, IDK).
BUT of course the girls are being MISHANDLED and manipulated (by a man). They’re in a school that controls them and they’re tired to break out and save other girls like them. (always girls).
I really liked it! I promise!
Motherthing // Ainslie Hogarth
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Described as “quirky, gruesome, utterly original feminist horror” — Every time I look at a book description I’m always like meh. It never sounds good! So yes, I judge a book by it’s cover and it was this cover that kept pulling me in.
And I’m SO GLAD I DID!
The feminist horror is what pulled me in and damn, that is right on. It’s gruesome but not BLOODY or graphic. It’s weird in a way that’s hard to explain but good in a way that’s hard to explain. But underneath it all i got it. — say that in a really deep whisper of understanding.
The Quiet Tenant // Clemence Michallon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s a story about a male serial killer told ONLY from the perspectives of the women in his life – his daughter, a woman in town with a crush on him, and the woman he kidnapped and keeps locked in his garden shed.
I’m not really a true crime girly. So remember that. But I really liked hearing this perspective from the women!! Obviously.
The subtle long-form manipulation of the woman he kidnapped, the innocence and experience of the girl with the crush, and the subtle ways his daughter picks up on the fact that there’s more to her dad than meets the eye.
And these perspectives, especially in the face that the man is a well-known, well-liked, and well-respected person in the town. So the whole time you’re thinking, no matter what happens, who’s going to believe these women?
April 2026
Books I didn’t get to/DNF’d.
- Salem’s Lot // Stephen King. Sorry I DNF’d I just couldn’t do it!
We Used To Live Here // Marcus Kliewer
🙀🙀🙀🙀
UMMM WTF DID I JUST READ.
A friend recommended this book to me. I happened to listen to it on audio book while my husband was out of town. BIG MISTAKE.
Warning: There’s a morse code audio track between every chaper and for the first 50% of the book it kept freaking me TF out!
But like, IT WAS SO GOOD. I just needed more. I needed more context, I needed more everything. My friend said that’s kind of the point – you’re supposed to infer you’re own thoughts on it. But like no. LEAD ME THERE MARCUS.
I went down a reddit rabbithole after I finished which was a little satisfactory.
Bitch // Lucy Cooke
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
W.O.W. Right up my alley.
Do I have a passing interest in animal biology (sorry, zoology)? Eh, not really. Do I have a passing interest in all things women getting left behind? You betcha.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled this out in convo since I read it!
Basically Lucy Cook takes us through all the developments we’ve made in zoology/the animal kingdom because women realized the female of the species wasn’t being discovered. The Darwin-Victorian-agisms of women were projected into science (prejudice in Science?! unheard of!) and ARE STILL BEING UPHELD. Just like with human females, the ‘messy hormones’ of women just complicate things for men so the males seem more pure and easy to study. Which means you miss 50% of what happens. So good.
Some of my highlighted passages:
- “When females are used, they aren’t necessarily representative either. The Harvard neuroscientist Catherine Dulac told me how the little white mice that form the basis of much laboratory research have been domesticated by chauvinism. In the wild female mice are just as aggressive as males – they attack unknown suitors and cannibalize babies. But their aggressive nature has been bred out over the years to create a model animal that represents ‘what a female should be’. This fake female then forms the model basis of much lab-based behavioural and neurobiological research. Studies of wild animals, instead of laboratory-bred, may be more challenging in terms.”
- “A biologically accurate version of this hit movie (Finding Nemo) would therefore have seen Nemo’s father, Marlin, transition into a female, and then start having sex with her son, which might have made for a less popular family film amongst Disney’s die-hard conservative audiences.”
- “… analysed the matriarchs (of Elephants) and found that leading (as in management) was less about being dominant and exerting power – less than for, say, an alpha male chimpanzee – and more about elevated levels of influence, knowledge and perception that earned the respect of the other elephants and gave them the confidence to follow.”
- “Darwin’s definition of sexual selection isn’t expansive enough to explain elaborate traits like birdsong or indeed bright plumage and ornamentation in female birds. Worse still, Darwin’s narrow focus has ‘clouded our view’ and fostered a scientific bias that assumes such elaborate traits and sexual dimorphisms must all be to do with mating success, when they’re often to do with other forms of social competition.”
- “Assessing that function has been hampered by a sea of misinformation and cultural baggage. The clitoris is perhaps the only organ even more understudied than the vagina.” Oh, and there’s a woman who makes molds of dolphin clitorises.
March 2026
Books I didn’t get to/DNF’d:
- We Should All Be Millionaires // Rachel Rodgers
- La Sirena // Kiera Cass
- Do Nothing // Celeste Headlee (the irony)
The Billionaires Borrowed Baby // Janice Maynard
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I will NOT be ashamed! I was looking for something a little easy, a little nostalgic. I used to read these Harlequin books allllll the time.
This is exactly what you think it is. And it was great.
Ten Thousand Doors Of January // Alix E. Harrow
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was really good! Really unique and creative. I love the storytelling and the journey we were taken on.
Part coming of age story, part finding your family, part understanding your family. What I really liked about this book was the GROWTH of the main character. Sometimes with YA novels I think we don’t get any growth, we just get stubbornness that wins. So I really liked watching her learn to stand up for herself and step into herself.
Spinning Silver // Naomi Novik
🧚🏼♀️🧚🏼♀️🧚🏼♀️🧚🏼♀️
I went on another author journey with Naomi Novik!! I started with Uprooted and then came over to Spinning Silver.
I love that these books are based in real fairy tales but take their own spin. Okay in re-reading the book description I realize this is a take on Rumpelstiltskin so that’s embarrassing that I didn’t catch on sooner. But yes.
Yet again, a young woman is forced to take over the family biz when her dad doesn’t have the stomach for it. They’re living in poverty and the whole town is taking advantage of them. So she gets good at it and draws the attention of the fey. Ooo la la.
Uprooted // Naomi Novik
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was where I started with NN and I really liked this book. I’m shocked as well – because we’ve got another young reluctant girl off to save the world.
But kind of not really. Every decade or so the great big bad wizard (of Oz, kidding) who protects their town, takes a girl back to his tower. No one knows what happens. The girls always say he’s ‘kind’ to them, they are basically his maids and then he releases them. But all of them are ‘different’ when they come out and they never stay in the village.
Our main girl was not expecting to be taken. The Wizard is annoyed, she’s annoyed but somehow they work. In her fear and curiosity she’s different than the other girls and things start to change.
+ magic + an age gap romance + battles + girl compassion
Project Hail Mary // Andy Weir
👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽
If you’ve noticed a pattern in my book reading, I don’t read a lot of male authors. This is intentional.
I also DON’T READ SELF-HELP BOOKS BY MEN. Or any life advice really.
So I wasn’t sure about this, but I love a good space book. This was also very serendipitous because I checked this book out (IDK how I found it) before the movie started their press tour. So I went into this completely blind, it wasn’t until I finished or was like 66% through that I found out it was going to be a movie.
Which I’m glad for, I got to make my own images in my head. But ugh, it was so good. I was not expecting myself to be crying over an alien.
Chlorine // Jade Song
🧜🏽♀️🧜🏽♀️🧜🏽♀️🧜🏽♀️
I’m hesitant to call this a sapphic coming of age story. I think it was? I’m actually not really sure what I read here but I liked it.
It was different. The writing style was different. The plot was very original.
It’s weird because I said earlier I generally like MORE details in my books. Like I want the author to lead me. But Jade’s writing style is really .. simple? straightforward? But I felt like I was truly in the head of the character. I felt like we were getting a Lizzie McGuire voice-over. I could see myself there with her.
It got weird as she got older, but also, yeah? Duh. Have you ever been inside the head of a teenage girl? Let alone a teenage girl who ‘loves’ her best friend.
Ripe // Sarah Rose Etter
꩜꩜꩜꩜
Holy smokes. We’ve got another interesting writing style. I really like these last two books because I feel like when men people write women (I’m thinking back to that Harlequin book from March. Like, I got the vibe it was written by a boomer). IDK I feel like there’s a very TYPICAL way women characters are written.
But Ripe and Chlorine have kind of taken out all the ‘extra’ that female characters are filled in with and distilled it down to the inner thoughts. In a very cool and realistic way. Like again, I felt like I was in the MC’s head. I was hearing her thoughts as they happened.
Anyway, a girl (woman) has a miniature black hole following her around. It’s always there right in her vision and it grows and shrinks based on her moods. And she works in Silicon Valley tech so like……
I sometimes have dreams where I’m awake but I can’t open my eyes. I can only get them a tiny bit open like squinting but they just won’t move. I hate those dreams so reading about this black hole was creepy bc it kind of felt like that.
January 2026
Books I didn’t get to/DNF’d:
- Wuthering Heights // Emily Bronte
- Last Child In The Woods // Richard Louv
- Listen, I’m sure it’s good. I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about. I just don’t trust (am sick of) men giving child and parenting advice. This is a book for everyone who’s not a child to show us there’s a world where kids experience the natural world more deeply and get outside. Yeah, no shit. So go advocate for that. Are you the one who had to cut your career short because childcare was so expensive? Are you the one making rounds to the parks? Are you the one driving the kids hiking, making sure they have everything they need? And by you, I mean the men.
- Joyful // Ingrid Fetell Lee
Such Sharp Teeth // Rachel Harrison
🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺
(looks like a rat but it’s a wolf)
LOVE.
So in the exact oppose of what I said about Ripe…
This MC is a completely different girl. An upbeat, spunky, been-burned-by-life-defensive-humor girly moves back home because her sister is preggers. THEN she gets bit by a werewolf (spoiler!). She’s figuring this out, trying to figure out what TF to do, support her sister who’s baby daddy is suddenly not in the picture, but also re-connecting with an old flame.
And by old-flame I mean he’s a good one. She, like a lot of us, had/has commitment issues, probably some intimacy issues and needs to work through that.
Parable Of The Talents // Octavia E. Butler
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read #1 in December and immediately downloaded the second!
I just got sucked into this story. Even writing this now (in June lol) I can still visualize the world she built.
Probably because it struck so close to home — society has disintegrated. Not fallen, just disintegrated. The people put their faith in a Christian leader, a former mega church pastor (because when has that ever gone wrong). And then what do you know, we start to get modern day crusades. That’s really the first book, #2 follows her daughter (who was stolen from her in the name of God BTW).
It was really interesting to admire the MC in #1 (the mom) and like I LIKED her. But then to see how her daughter grew up (MC in #2) and her thoughts about her mom and the whole thing she built.
And of course, 2025 and 2024 in books as well.
Not Quite DNF’d:
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men | Caroline Criado Perez
Okay, here’s the thing. I LOVE this book, but I checked it out from the library, as I do with 95% of books, and ran out of time. Also, I became extremely annoying to everyone around me. I just picked up a copy from a Sandmeyer’s, an independent bookstore in Printer’s Row, and now it’s sitting on my desk!
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent | Eduardo Galeano
This book was written in the 70s and is still so incredibly relevant. As a Latina I’m always trying to learn more about my people. This book is phenomenal; I think everyone should read about the willing and forced contributions Latinos have made to modern society, but I checked this out and think I need a physical copy because there is some heavy stuff in here.
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Let’s Get You Seen On Google & AI… ~Ethically~
Alright, enough chit-chat, let’s make a plan. Fill out the contact form and let me know what you’re thinking. Your excitement, your concerns, your hopes and dreams (your pet’s names?!).
We’ll schedule a no pressure discovery call to see if we’re a good fit. I promise to use normal-people words (no indecipherable word-salads here). It’s free, 30-ish minutes and I won’t hound you for weeks afterward — seriously, I don’t have time for that. First step, let’s see if this makes sense. Second step, let’s help you get found.
