In October, I teased a My Side Piece book club and y’all were pumped.
And by “pumped”, I mean 4 of you answered the poll...
But hey! I started blogging with 0 subscribers. Who am I to deny my 4 book-thirsty besties from scholarly fun?!
So, I’m formally launching a brand new bi-weekly installment of My Side Piece called….
Our Next Chapter
We used to spend every Sunday morning together - and I miss that!
On in-between-essay weeks, I’ll pop into your inbox with book recommendations, reviews, pairings, and the occasional writing update as I dust off my book draft from 2022. Eek!
You can engage with more book content by…
Joining the My Side Plot book club on Fable
Our official club! I’ll be updating Fable with 1-2 books per month that you can follow, discuss, and review right in the app. Let’s get nerdy!
Adding me on Goodreads and/or StoryGraph
You can see everything I’m reading here. I love these apps so much and am super keen to see what’s on your shelves, too.
Following me on Instagram and TikTok
Look - I know my blog’s social media presence isn’t amazing (I’m a writer, remember?) Content is hard and
sometimesoften cringey. That said, I will be earnestly trying to share more book and writing content this year. Come toss me a pity like!
Hate books? No problem! You can unfollow the My Side Plot section of My Side Piece to opt out of this list. Otherwise, you’ll be automatically subscribed.
A Quick Book Report
If you’re curious about the kinds of titles we’ll be reading, here are my 2023 book stats from StoryGraph.
In total I read 15 genres across 40 books with these being my top 5:
I love dark, emotional books with lots of adventure, reflection, and mystery (hello dark academia!)
I gave an average rating of 3.32 stars, and these were my favourite titles of the year:
For 2024, you can expect a little bit of everything with a sad, spooky edge - which honestly just sounds like my entire personality…
This Month’s Book
Our first pick ever! Drum roll, please….
Ghosts, Dolly Alderton
This book was highly recommended by Mark, who either loves or hates whatever he’s reading. We have a rule that we have to read any book that the other person deems 5 stars. I’m only 40 pages in, but I’m already obsessed with this quote:
Being late is a selfish habit adopted by boring people in search of a personality quirk who can’t be bothered to take up an instrument.
Amen to that 🙏
On My Shelf
My TBR for the next few weeks:
House of Flame and Shadow, Sarah J. Maas
IYKYK! I have been waiting for the third book in this series since June! January 30th cannot come fast enough.
Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas
When in Rome… According to StoryGraph, Sarah J. Maas is my #1 read author of the last few years, and I still haven’t picked up this series. By 2025, I’m sure I’ll have plowed through her entire catalogue.
Old Enough, Haley Jakobson
A queer coming-of-age story about a sexual assault survivor? Yes, please.
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, Jamison Shea
There always has to be one horror on my list. I just finished - and liked - Ace of Spades, which is listed as a comp title for Shea’s debut. Plus, it’s about a dancer!
Happy reading!
Epilogue:
What’s on your reading list?
What’s your reading goal?
Have you read any of the books mentioned in this newsletter?
Love this!