Top Five Reads for 2022

Hello, hello, hello all you beautiful people! Can you believe it's already the last day of Five Fall Favorites? Yeah, me neither. I'm so glad I was able to be a part of this year's installment (shout out to Kate for making that happen! Thank you so much! You're amazing! 🤎). And thank you so much for reading and commenting this past week. It was so fun for me to be able to interact with y'all!

You know what else I can't believe? The fact that it's already October. Where did the year go? Where is fall going?! For those of you who don't know, I live in the high desert, and am often the butt of jokes such as "You don't have trees" and "Do you even know what fall looks like?"

Well, yes, people, I do know what a tree looks like (not the picture of the Joshua tree I sent my best friend as a prank—the one she took seriously🙄) and I do in fact have fall! It just looks a little different than others. We do have trees that turn red on Main, but we have tons of Cotton woods that fade to the loveliest shade of yellow—or a burnt gold if the frost is harsh and unexpected. And yes, the desert, especially the high ones, get chilly. Even this morning I was out in the sunrise wishing I grabbed a heavier jacket. I also had shorts on, but hey. I cling to summer as long as I possibly can.

But I guess when the mums are sprouting their gorgeous colors and pumpkin spice or chai is the new iced latte, it's time to let summer go. But man did I enjoy this one! The garden seemed to spill out everywhere. Imagine volunteer tomato plants growing better than planted ones, us discovering that we can never not plant cosmos again, and finding chamomile sprouting up at every turn. But I also read some pretty amazing books this year. Believe me when I tell you it was no easy task narrowing them down to just five. But here they are. My final goodbye to summer. My ode to 100+ degree heat (and yes, that's in Fahrenheit).

Stop the Rain by Kassie Angle

*Takes a deep breath* Have you ever stumbled upon something that you'd never thought to go looking—never knew you were lacking—then found out how much you'd been missing? Yeah, that was me with this book. Thank you to my Zee girl (you know who you are *fist bump*) for sending me this treasure in that long ago book box. She had given me a brief description. Sent me a pic of the back. Told me Harley was hers. I was like, "Okay, cool." Then I read it. And it turned into, "Oh my heart, I will fight you for him."

And that, my friend, was my introduction to Military Fiction. I'm not going to lie, I'm a patriot by heart with opinions I will not dump on you here, and this book just... solidified everything I've ever thought and made me desperate to do something—even if that something was becoming more aware and learned. I encourage you to do the same. Read this book. Then go and do your research. That was a long spiel, but trust me, you need it. They need it. (You'll also need a box of tissues and an emotional support something when reading this book.)

Nova by Chuck Black

You know how I said I'm picky with my book choices? How sci-fi can sometimes be just plain weird and No-Thank-You? Take that context and now picture me reading this book, then promptly ordering books 2-4 (that's all that are out, or it would've been more!) and reading said purchase withing 48 hours. And having an acute case of book hangover. And getting enough creative boost to launch me through the next 3 chapters of my WIP in a seemingly effortless glide. Oh, and the goosebumps. The way Chuck Black portrayed the Commander gave me, you read that right, goosebumps. It. Was. That. Good. Starlore#5, Merchant, had better come out soon or my sanity might take a dive...

Dearest Josephine by Caroline George

Some people read a good book and they just want to share it with everyone. Then there's that friend who reads a good book, gets your sister to read it, then enlists said sibling to gang up on you with them and hound you till you finally break and read the darn book. Yes, you two know who you are. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Cause now I have this book on my shelves. I know they'll just snort and laugh when they read this, but that's the story behind me reading Dearest Josephine. I will say though, no regrets on my part! It's definitely a book that sucks you in and doesn't let go. The feel! Ugh, it was so good. Some content warnings for some audiences I will say though (you can totally message me if you are interested in this book and want to know more! Hey, maybe I'll even do an in-depth review on it in the future ;)) but man, that was one for the TBRA—To Be Read Again.

The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella

A little clarification here: I read and was not a fan of Sara's Unblemished (Sorry/not sorry). But this just sounded so darn fun, and when my sister pre-ordered and read and loved it (no, I do not use her a guinea pig! Why would you think such a thought?!) I was like "Well, that's it, hand it over." And guess what this book turned out to be. Fun! Fun fun fun! I loved it! I've yet to read a book as fun as this. Yes, I am a fan of Alice in Wonderland, which only helped as I was able to pick out nods and hints at the real book (isn't that the funnest part of retellings/inspired by books? Picking out the parallels?). But even for people who have never even heard of Alice in Wonderland (who even are you? Do those people even exist??) this book is pure fun. Ugh, I loved it.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This probably has to be my most favoritest classic ever. I've read it... I don't even know how many times, but definitely throughout my childhood. Mary is such a brat, but I love to see her change, and Collin is just... Collin. And Dicken. Dicken! I love that boy to pieces. I see him exactly how he is in the 1993 rendition (the only version I'll watch). Hands down my favorite character in the book. Somebody needs to write a sequel from Dicken's POV!

Well, there you have it folks! My favorite reads from this year (I can't believe it's almost over *sobs*). And because just compiling these five was torture, I can't leave without mentioning:

• THEY and TIME—P.D. Atkerson

• A Night Divided—Jennifer Neilsen

• Minor Detail—P.D. Atkerson

• Off Course, One in a Galaxy, and Bridgers—Angie Thompson

• 1-4 of the Starlore series—Chuck Black

• Blank Mastermind—Rosey Mucklestone

• The Color of Nativity and The Colour Red—Katja H. Labonté

Because they are all so so awesome and you should totally go check each one out. Okay, yes, I'm done with my bookish lists. For now. *Sunglasses*

And finally, the very last free book deal of the week! Just saying, I've heard some great things about this book, and it's personally on my TBR. Yes, that growing, swaying, leaning tower of books. yup, that one.

Thank y'all so much for sticking around for this last installment of Five Fall Favorites! I'm so sad to see it go, but I hope one of you wins the grand prize and at least some of you got some brand-new books for your TBR! If you'd care to keep in the loop about my comings and goings, please subscribe to get notified of new content, which will include a review of a book featured this week (hint: it was mentioned at least 9 times on a particular day!) as well as an announcement and Q&A from the one and only Angie Thompson! She's got a new project that I'm just head over heels for, so be on the lookout for that as well!

Catch ya on the flip side!

_Mac