Today I’m going to be recommending you books that you can read to submit for the Pondathon II: Cuddle Side Quest. I have personally had such a blast tracking my reading and growing my garden. CW and the entire Quiet Pond team has created such an interactive fun readathon. If you’re participating and weren’t sure what books you’d want to read for this side quest, stay tuned!
I’ll be sharing five book recs from each category in a mix of genres/age groups. For your benefit I’ll also link to my reviews so you can get a better sense of the synopsis/my review!
Latinx Book Recs
- Anything by Anna-Marie McLemore. McLemore is an auto-buy author and I love ALL their books (all YA and most are contemporary with an element of magic) so you really can’t go wrong. But if you want ONE book, then I love The Weight of Feathers
- Nocturna is a fabulous YA fantasy book with FACE CHANGING MAGIC I cannot get over. Book 1+2 are out, but you can join us in the agony for Book 3.
- Laura Taylor Namey’s recent release, When We Were Them is a captivating YA contemporary about friendship and mistakes.
- A recent middle grade fantasy series I have been loving is the Paola Santiago series! We love the beginning of new middle grade series and there are also two books out already!
- For romance readers, A Lot like Adios was an utter gem from 2021 for me. My favorite of the series so far and it features fanfic too!
Asian Book Recs
Narrowing it down to five is the tricky part but here goes:
- For adult fantasy, anything by Tasha Suri is a must read. If I must chose though, The Jasmine Throne is pure brilliance
- I will never get tired of recommending Picture Us in the Light as such an underrated YA contemporary gem. Family secrets? YEP
- The Heroine Complex adult fantasy superhero series is one of my go-to recommendations. If you love superhero stories – this one is for you!
- I will take any opportunity to shout about The Fallen Hero and The Dragon Warrior books by Katie Zhao! We love middle grade series!
- There are SO many good series I could recommend for YA fantasy, but let me just stick with The Gilded Wolves which is like treasure hunting and heists. All three books are out too so you can read them all!
Black Book Recs
- We gotta rep some SF and Alechia was previously featured in the Pondathon II as an author so have to mention The Sound of Stars!
- Anything by Tiffany Jackson (all YA contemporary and thriller) is a winner and 100% needs to be on your shelf! My favorite is Grown.
- If you’re searching for fantasy, I cannot wait to read catch up on the A Song of Wraiths and Ruin series. Yes I own it and preordered it….but don’t at me!
- Another romance read recommendation is anything by Talia Hibbert and specifically the Brown Sisters trilogy. The last one, Act Your Age Eve Brown is my favorite!
- A classic book that I absolutely fell in love with was Pet. It’s one of those books which reeled me in and the magical elements here are stunning.