⭐️ Hi, guys! I hope you’re having a beautiful day full of good readings and good vibes.❤️ I can’t believe we’re halfway through the year, can you believe it? It’s crazy for me, but here we are again at this moment when we have to set priorities again and look back a little, to see how our year has been so far. This is why today I bring you a list of my favorite books of the year so far! 😍 I know that this is a super popular post within the blogging community, so you’ve probably seen it, but looking at my own blog I saw that I didn’t do this post since 2018, and I don’t know why because I like it so much, so I brought it here back. I think it will be fun to share with you those books that I’ve loved so far, tell you a little about them, and this is kind of an excuse for recommending them as well because I promise you that each one of them is brilliant and unique in its own way. 👏🏻
This list doesn’t have any type of specific order, the books are randomly positioned and in addition to sharing some keywords of each one, because I think it’s fun, I’ll also leave you some links in case you’re interested in reading them, which I hope you are so because they’re WONDERFUL. I’ve been blessed with the possibility of reading all these books, so I hope you like the post, I’m very excited to share it with you. 🥰 I LOVE you, thanks for the support, always, and without further ado, let’s get started!⭐️
“if we were judged by the things we most regret, no human being would be worthy to sweep the floor.”
If you like dystopian worlds, sci-fi elements and above all, very well-created multifaceted characters, you’ll love this one. You can also enjoy exploring very interesting political issues, conspiracies, and unexpected plot twists. Simply incredible.
Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.
Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
“Perhaps it’s easier: being alone. Building walls. A solitary life with no one to lose. No one to break your heart.”
I want to recommend it a lot if you like magical stories about witches and dark and evil woods. But also if you like mystery and suspense stories because this book in addition to its fascinating fantasy aspects makes a great mystery.
Be careful of the dark, dark wood…
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.
From New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep comes a haunting romance perfect for fans of Practical Magic, where dark fairy tales and enchanted folklore collide after a boy, believed to be missing, emerges from the magical woods—and falls in love with the witch determined to unravel his secrets.
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
“Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are, rather than in what they expect you to be.”
The characters are very real and are very well developed as well as the plot which is very informative due to being the first book. The writing style deserves a thousand stars, it’s beautiful, poetic and shocking, you’ll surely love it & it has many action and shocking scenes, that will surely leave you with many feelings.
In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price.When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice.
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
It’s a whimsical story and I would highly recommend it if you enjoy complex and weird storylines, but the best kind of weird, you know? I compare this story a lot with Seanan McGuire’s stories
From the award-winning author Mark Oshiro comes a powerful fantasy novel about finding home and falling in love amidst the dangers of a desert where stories come to life.
Xochital is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village’s stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enimagic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes.
Her one desire: to share her heart with a kindred spirit.
One night, Xo’s wish is granted—in the form of Emilia, the cold and beautiful daughter of the town’s murderous mayor. But when the two set out on a magical journey across the desert, they find their hearts could be a match… if only they can survive the nightmare-like terrors that arise when the sun goes down.
Fresh off of Anger Is a Gift’s smashing success, Oshiro branches out into a fantastical direction with their new YA novel, The Stars Around Us.
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
“I begin to wonder if white is the color of things to be worshipped in this world. If it’s the only color to be worshipped in this world.”
It confronts you with reality in a very crude way, of what black community must face and go through in an ignorant and racist society. In addition to this, we follow a heartbreaking story, but in the same way, inspiring. It’s an extremely powerful, touching, and heartbreaking book, but I repeat… INSPIRING, meaningful, and emotional. I would really love you to read it and tell me your own opinion.
Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic . . . everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor. Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you. Echo soon realizes there is pain flowing through everyone around her, and a black veil of depression threatens to undo everything she’s worked for.
Heavily autobiographical and infused with magical realism, Black Girl Unlimited fearlessly explores the intersections of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism—all through the arc of a transcendent coming-of-age.
A powerful memoir for fans of Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson and American Street by Ibi Zoboi.
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
“A hero does not choose her trials. She steps into the darkness, then she faces what comes next.”
In addition to the sci-fi aspects that are obviously protagonists in the book, it touches on topics beyond that, of much humanity, and we explore each being, their expectations, their beliefs and their ways of thinking. It’s absolutely brilliant, so please read it if you haven’t done it yet, you won’t regret it, I highly recommend it!
All her life, Spensa’s dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumors of his cowardice are true—he deserted his flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them.
Spensa is sure that there’s more to the story. And she’s sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars—and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.
But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself—and she’ll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
Goodreads | Book Depository | My Review
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I’ve never read anything by Brandon Sanderson, but I’ve always wanted to!
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Skyward is the first book I read by the author, so I think it’s a good place to start, I loved it!! 🥰 I’ve also heard incredible things about his fantasy books, I’m excited to try those one day 😍✨
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Winterwood sounds awesome, especially the way you describe it! The cover is absolutely gorgeous too, I’ll definitely be checking it out soon.
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I’m SO glad you want to check it out! It’s a wonderful story, and super atmospheric, I hope you love it if you get to read it ❤️✨
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I am thrilled you are loving ARC of a Scythe so far!
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I’m loving it!! 😍 I still have to read the last book, so I hope I love that one as well ✨😊
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I’ve always been interested in The Bone Witch but I’m still on the fence about it. Some friends of mine didn’t like it, and I’m not really sure if I’d like it so I’m stuck. But it’s great to hear that it’s become one of your favorites!! ❤✨
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Oh, I’m SO sorry that they didn’t enjoy it, but I understand, it may be a little slow at first, but I totally loved it, the plot is wonderful 🥰 & I hope you love it too if you get to read it ❤️✨
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Starsight was so good wasnt it! So glad to see it on your list 😃
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It was incredible!!! 😍 But I don’t know how we’ll wait for the next book, right? 😅❤️
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He should really release it now 😂
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Thunderhead – yes! On my list also.
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SO amazing, right?? I can’t wait to read the last book, I hope I can do it soon 😍✨
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Ahh, love this! Some of these look so good, but I haven’t read the first books in the series, so maybe this will serve as motivation to finally pick them up! Winterwood’s cover is absolutely gorgeous, I hope to one day have it on my shelves! (:
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I really adore each one of them so I highly recommend them! ❤️ I’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon incredible sequels this year.
I hope you have a beautiful day 🥰
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Sofi! I want to read ALL THESE BOOKS! 😍
I wish we weren’t in a pandemic where I could just go to the library and pick them all up!
I need to read my first Sanderson book at some point, hopefully before the year is done!
Great post! 😀
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Sweetie! I hope you read them at some point and love each one of them too.❤️
I thought I would never read a Sanderson book, because I was always felt intimidated by them but OMG, I’m happy I did and I’m sure you enjoyed his style as well 😊✨
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Thanks Sofi! I hope so too! ☺️ ❤️
Everyone has said they really like his books and his writing style so I feel like I need to get on that!
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These all sound like amazing books! This is my first time hearing about Each of Us a Desert, and I’m so intrigued 😮. I love books with different/whimsical storylines! I hope you read some more great books this year, Sophie 😄💕!
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They’re all SO amazing, I swear! & OMG, Each Of Us a Desert is just wonderful, I hope you enjoy it if you decide to read it. Thank you, honey, have a beautiful day and an even better rest of the year ❤️✨😊
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And I haven’t read any of that. My TBR is piling up 😭
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Ahhh!! I hope you love them if you get to read them, honey. ❤️
I feel you about your TBR 😅
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I’m so happy to hear you enjoying Winterwood and The Bone Witch! I have both on my TBR but I really need to read TBW this year!
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I hope you love both once you read them, I would love to know your opinion about them ❤️✨🥰
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All of these books are on my TBR, I’m super excited to read The Bone Witch, Starsight. I recently read Scythe and I fell in love with it and I can’t wait to read thunderhead, I know it’s gonna be awesome
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YAY! So happy they’re in your TBR, I’m sure you’ll love Thunderhead, the ending is just WOW, you have to be ready for it 🥺✨❤️
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Can you believe that I haven’t read The Toll yet?? 😀 I started it in MAY!!! And I didn’t even read enough pages to understand if I like it or not. For some reason, I’ve been prioritizing other books.
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I feel you! sometimes the same thing happens to me and I forget to prioritize my series. 😅 I hope I can read The Toll soon as well, I love the world and the idea is brilliant 😍✨
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All of these are on my TBR but I think the two that I’ll probably get to first are The Bone Witch ) especially as I have the ebooks already) and the Scythe series as I’m hoping to order it into the library when they open up their request system again.
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The Bone Witch is SO wonderful!! I hope you love it too and I can’t wait to continue the series. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about them ❤️✨
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I hope you love the rest of the series just as much 💕
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This is such a great list! So far, The Kitte Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng where my favourite reads. And, I also really enjoyed my recenr read; The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury (●’◡’●)
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I’m SO glad you like the list! OMG, I need to read Little Fires Everywhere, I’ve heard the most amazing things about it, I’m SO glad it was a fave for you this year 🥰✨❤️
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A few of my favorite books so far are Feather by Olivia Wildenstein, The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune, and The Queen’s Resistance by Rebecca Ross.
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I’m excited to read The Extraordinaries, it sounds SO good!! I’m so glad it’s one of your favorites 🥰✨
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I never read any of these, to be frank. But I will! Soon! Your review make me want to!
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It makes me SO happy that you feel interested in them, they’re all wonderful 😍👏🏻
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Amazing post, Sofii 😍 I’m glad you loved all of these books – I hope yo start the Scythe series soon.
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Thanks, Steph! I’m sure you will love Scythe, it’s a very original story, one of the best dystopian worlds I’ve come across with 😍👏🏻
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Starsight was an amazing one and I can’t wait for the sequel!!!
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OMG, it can’t wait either!! I have such a good feeling about it 😍✨👏🏻
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I loved seeing your favorite books of the year so far! I really need to read some of these. I’m looking for some really great books. I feel like I haven’t had too many five star reads yet.
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I hope that if you get to read any of my list you’ll enjoy them, they’re all SO wonderful. 😍
I don’t usually have many 5 stars per year neither, in fact many of these are 4.5, which is incredible too 😊✨
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These look like great picks! The Bone Witch looks so interesting as well 🖤
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The Bone Witch is SO amazing!! I didn’t expect to love it so much, but the way it’s told is brilliant 😍✨
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I’m so happy to see that you liked The Toll! I love the Scythe books, but haven’t gotten around to reading the last book yet – I’m a bit nervous, as I usually am about conclusions 😱 I also hope to read Winterwood as I loved the author’s first book The Wicked Deep 😊
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I haven’t read The Toll yet either, but I hope to do it soon! I adored Thunderhead, and that ending left me super intrigued. I hope you enjoy it too once you read it ❤️ & Winterwood is SO amazing and atmospheric, I highly recommend it 😍✨
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I’m so excited to continue Arc of the Scythe and the Skyward series, so I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed Thunderhead and Starsight!! 🤍
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Both are so AMAZING sequels, I hope you also enjoy them a lot once you read them, love ❤️✨
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[…] ❄️ MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR SO FAR | 2020 ⭐️ […]
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Oh this is a lovely list, Sofi, I need to add these to my TBR! I have heard amazing things about Neal Shusterman’s books, I need to give these a try 😀
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I’m so glad you like the list, Marie!! ❤️ I LOVE and highly recommend all of these. 🥰 Scythe is incredible, it’s one of the best dystopian that I’ve read 😍✨
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Oooh, these all sound very interesting! I really like the covers for The Bone Witch and Winterwood.
My favorite (fiction) book so far this year has been Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. 🙂
My favorite non-fiction reads of the year so far have been The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride, and Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.
Happy Reading, and hopefully the second half of the year will be full of great books for you too! ❤
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Both The Bone Witch and Winterwood are such atmospheric readings, I highly recommend them! 😍 & Crooked Kingdom is great! I LOVE the characters. Thank you SO much, I hope you also have a wonderful last half of the year ❤️✨
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I’m so happy to see Winterwood on your list! I just adore that book. ❤ I really want to read The Bone Witch, I have heard so many amazing things about it. 🙂
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More people need to read Winterwood, right? it’s SO wonderful! 😍 & I think you’ll love The Bone Witch once you read it, I would love to know your opinion 😊✨
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Omg! I’m so stupid! 😅 I was thinking of The Wicked Deep and not Winterwood (which I haven’t read yet). Apparently I was so tired yesterday that I managed to confuse those two books, honestly I have no idea where my head was at yesterday. 😂
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Oh, it’s alright, love! don’t worry, it happens to me all the time 😅 & I LOVE The Wicked Deep is one of my favorite books, so I know you’ll love Winterwood once you read it ❤️
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[…] voice is really engaging and her posts immediately spoke to me! I loved getting to know her favorite books of 2020 so far and also enjoyed reading her newest discussion post about Reading Slumps and how they affect her […]
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