Alleycat23

"My taste in books" are my top 5 books of 2025

69 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)

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Phoenix Extravagant

Yoon Ha Lee

Dragons. Art. Revolution. Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint. One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers. But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics. What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

Alleycat23 created a list

Memiors: The Cost of Child Stars!

by Alleycat23

5 books

Books about the effects of childhood fame on individual stars. The types of fame are varied from family bloggers to mainstream movie and TV stars

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The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

Alleycat23 is interested in reading...

Seven Days in June

Tia Williams

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since. Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered... With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual. Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781538719107.

Alleycat23 started reading...

Daydream (Maple Hills, #3)

Hannah Grace

The third in the New York Times bestselling Maple Hills series follows fan-favorite Henry and a bookish fellow student who come up with a plan to help them both overcome their respective challenges in a difficult year. When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team—which he didn’t even want—Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club. Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and as soon as she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. Too bad being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job, book club, and the novel she’s trying to write. But new experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her. They just need to stick to their rule book. Oh, and not fall in love.

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Alleycat23

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Check & Mate

Ali Hazelwood

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays. After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory's focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious "Kingkiller" Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess. Nolan's loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone—especially Mallory. What's even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory's victory opens the door to sorely needed cash prizes and, despite everything, she can't help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist.... As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren't only on the board, the spotlight is hotter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce(-ly attractive. And intelligent...and infuriating...)

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Classics Starter Pack Vol I 🕯️📖🎻

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An introduction to the Classics, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.

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Horror Starter Pack Vol I 👹🦇⚰️

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An introduction to the Horror genre, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.

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Fantasy Starter Pack Vol I 🐉🧚‍♂️🏰

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An introduction to the Fantasy genre, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.

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Fantasy Starter Pack Vol I

Champion: Finished 5 Side Quest books.

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Mythological World Tour ⚔️🗺️🔱

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Do you suffer from frequent wanderlust, longing to explore cultures & history across time? Here is your ticket: tour the world with fantasy inspired by various world myths. For series, only the first book is featured.

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Historical Fiction Starter Pack Vol I 🏰⏳📜

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An introduction to Historical Fiction, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.

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Greek Myth Retellings 🏛️🏺🧿

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Modern retellings of iconic, ancient tales

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Brandon Sanderson Universes

Silver: Finished 10 Main Quest books.

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Brandon Sanderson Universes

Bronze: Finished 5 Main Quest books.

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Brandon Sanderson Universes 🗡️⚡️🌌

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Step into the Cosmere... Listed in the order that Brandon Sanderson recommends to new readers of his work in 2024.

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SciFi Starter Pack Vol I 🧪👽🌍

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An introduction to the SciFi genre, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.

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Medieval Times 🏰⚔️🛡️

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