Happy New Year!! There are so many books debuting in 2020 that I’m STOKED for, so it’s a good thing I have #StartOnYourShelfAthon to prevent me from neglecting books I already own any longer. That being said, there are books I preordered already and ARCs I need to read that I’ll be adding to this list because I have absolutely no self control.
With that being said, here is my TBR list for January:
Title: Scavenge the Stars
Author: Tara Sim
Publication Date: January 7th, 2020
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Genre: Fantasy, retellings
Age Range: YA
Synopsis: When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.
Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…
Orianna and I will be seeing Tara Sim in person on January 9th and I for one am super excited! I’ve never had the chance to go to an author event, especially for a debut tour, and I can’t wait to start reading Scavenge the Stars and see Tara talk! And I do love me a good retelling and revenge plot to boot.
Title: Loveboat, Taipei
Author: Abigail Hing Wen
Publication Date: January 7th, 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Romance, contemporary
Age Range: YA
Synopsis: When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.
Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.
Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?
I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK. I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews from other book bloggers, from the creative execution of a love triangle to the undeniable sense of being represented, and I’m eagerly awaiting the day it arrives in the mail. I can already tell it has the makings of an instant favorite and God, how could it not with that gorgeous cover??
Title: Followers
Author: Megan Angelo
Publication Date: January 14th, 2020
Publisher: Graydon House
Genre: Sci-fi, contemporary, dystopian
Age Range: Adult
Synopsis: Orla Cadden dreams of literary success, but she’s stuck writing about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Orla has no idea how to change her life until her new roommate, Floss―a striving, wannabe A-lister―comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they so desperately crave. But it’s only when Orla and Floss abandon all pretense of ethics that social media responds with the most terrifying feedback of all: overwhelming success.
Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity―twelve million loyal followers―Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything, even horrible things, to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.
I got approved for an ARC of Followers on NetGalley ages ago, but between finals and other, more anticipated reads, it hasn’t been a high-priority book for me. That all changes this month! Followers screams Black Mirror vibes, and while I can only watch certain episodes of Black Mirror (it’s so realistic it’s FREAKY) I’m excited to finally crack this book open and hopefully get some good commentary on society.
Title: Spellhacker
Author: M.K. England
Publication Date: January 21st, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQ
Age Range: YA
Synopsis: In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.
Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.
But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.
No pressure.
I’ll be reading Spellhacker as a part of the #SpellhackersInAsia tour, run by the amazing Kate! This book has magic, heists, and conspiracies – a winning combo if I ever saw one. I can already tell Spellhacker is going to be jam-packed with adventure and amazing characters, and I’m even more excited because of the blog tour!
Title: American Panda
Author: Gloria Chao
Publication Date: February 6th, 2018
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Romance, contemporary
Age Range: YA
Synopsis: At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.
With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.
But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?
Last but definitely not least, I’ll be reading American Panda! I absolutely adored Our Wayward Fate when it came out in October – it made me laugh and cry in all the best ways, and I’ve been wanting to read American Panda ever since. After Our Wayward Fate, Gloria Chao became an instant-buy author for me, so when I saw American Panda on Book Outlet I just had to snag it. I’ve been loving all of the #ownvoices contemporary YA novels I’ve had the chance to read so far, and I don’t expect American Panda to be any different.
Are you participating in the #StartOnYourShelfAthon? What’s on your TBR?
To learn more about the readathon, check out CW’s introduction post here!
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