Book Recommendations From My Summer 2019 Reads

This summer I read 22 books. Twenty-two! And those are just the ones I finished. Now that school has started again, I can't keep up the same rate, but I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving break... ;)

Of those 22 books, 12 were physical books, 8 were ebooks, and 2 were audio books. 6 were re-reads, one was recommended to me, and the rest I found randomly. I enjoyed most of them, so I want to recommend my top 5 to you! (I read almost exclusively fiction, so, sorry to my non-fiction-loving friends.)

(images from goodreads.com, collage made by me)

-For Lovers of Historical Fiction and/or Romance-

1- It's been said before, but I'll say it again: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a masterpiece. And a mouthful. But if you haven't read it yet, you seriously should! It's written in letters from various characters, and it was so entertaining! I also learned a lot about WWII from a British perspective. This is also a classic case of the book being better than the movie.

2- Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal. This standalone novel is set during WWI in England. It follows a member of the Spirit Corps, a woman who is a medium and converses with the spirits of soldiers who have been killed to try to learn information that will help win the war. There is a murder mystery, lots of action, and some romance. The characters are real and complex, and the way that conversing with souls and reading the colors of auras was explained was fascinating. A smooth writing style wraps this up into a neat historical fantasy.

-For Lovers of Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian Settings-

3- Last Star Burning by Caitlin Sangster was the book recommended to me by a friend. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world with Chinese cultural influences. It's also a very mild retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but there's a unique twist. Even though most of the book is the main characters traveling, it's not the stereotypical, boring traveling sequence; there is a lot of action and minimal downtime, which keeps the story moving along. There's also a budding love triangle, if you're into that. It's the first of a series, and I expect great things from the next books!

-For Lovers of Magic Systems and Worldbuilding-

4- A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, is the first of a trilogy. I read the third one this summer, so I thought I'd recommend the beginning! This series is set in London, in the past, but there are actually four Londons in alternate worlds that can only be reached by blood magic travel. The magic system is super well done, from the differences in abilities to the variations in the four Londons. I really cared about the characters by the end: they are imperfect but they try, which makes them relatable. As a content warning, this series is fairly violent and bloody (kind of a given, since it's about blood magic), and there's some profanity.

-For Lovers of Contemporary and Diverse Voices-

5- Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork is a timely story about a family living in Mexico City who find themselves on a mob's hit list after trying to fight against widespread corruption. It deals with big issues, like friendship, betrayal, poverty, crime, how far a person is willing to go to help their family, and reasons why people try to enter the U.S. illegally. It is a new perspective on immigration and asylum seeking that is important in today's world. The story is suspenseful and thought-provoking, and while it can get dark and gloomy at times, ends on an optimistic note.


If you do read any of these, let me know what you think! And if you have recommendations for me, please share! Even when we're busy with school, work, and other responsibilities, I hope we can all find time to read for fun, and that we can find books that expand our world view and feed our imagination.

Thanks for reading this post; now go read a book!

Thoughts About Success

Flash Fiction: a form of short story that is limited in word count. It can be 1500 words, 500 words, or even 280 characters.

Last year, a student journal at my university called Leading Edge held a contest for flash fiction—they wanted stories under 500 words and provided a simple illustration as a prompt. On the day before the deadline, I wrote a 208-word story and submitted it.

(Leading Edge logo, © 2015)

A week or two later I found out I had won, and I was ECSTATIC, but then I felt guilty because I had only spent one day on the story. And then I felt proud, because I had only spent one day on the story! (Of course, it still went through a few drafts, because I had to cut out all the unnecessary details. But it was a quick process, and quick success.)

I'm posting this later than I planned because I found myself quite busy last semester, partly because I started volunteering for this same student journal as an acquisitions editor. They've now published another issue (#74) since the one my flash fiction is in (#73), and I got to help with bits of the editing and formatting process.

As a result, I've learned a lot about publishing. Leading Edge receives a LOT of submissions from all over the world, and the majority get rejected because they aren't quite publishing quality yet. Some submissions have been waiting for over a year to be read, because the rather small staff of editors is made up entirely of volunteers who only meet twice a week. The only reason my flash fiction was reviewed and selected so quickly is that it was specifically for a contest.

It has made me wonder: if there hadn't been a contest, a deadline, or the sense of competition, would I have ever submitted anything? Would I have written a short story (between 1,000 and 15,000 words) and submitted it, and then patiently waited for over a year to hear if it had been accepted or rejected? If it had been rejected, would I have edited it and tried to submit it again, or would I have declared it a lost cause and moved on?

I continue to tell people that I want to be an author someday. I know that winning this flash fiction contest does not mean my future works will have the same success. Writing a novel, or even a short story, is a big commitment—certainly it takes more than a day. After the writing is done, the road to publication involves time, effort, and, often, rejection.

However, I know that success is not just winning contests or getting published—it is working hard at something you love, seeing your growth over time, and constantly expanding your talents. And, if you are able, it is also sharing what you've learned with others and finding joy in their successes.

This applies to any form of art or skill set, so go pursue your various creative interests! If you don't win the contest, keep trying! If you do win the contest, still keep trying! Create because you enjoy it. Success is not only recognition; it is knowing you have done your best and that you are always improving.

My writing has come a long way over the years, but I know there is still plenty of time and room to grow. Join me on the journey?

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If you are interested in supporting Leading Edge, here are links to Amazon listings! Buying a copy allows the journal to pay the sci-fi authors and artists who contribute their work. Both physical copies and e-books are available. Thank you!

Amazon Leading Edge Issue 73 — (contains my flash fiction)
Amazon Leading Edge Issue 74 — (I helped edit this one—e-book format coming soon!)