mo_reads_

Falling back in love with books as an adult, one audiobook at a time. Currently reading a lot of queer sci-fi / fantasy and near-future or climate fiction. Avid web/comic reader 30 | she/they

1462 points

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My Taste

Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072

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Dear Wendy

Ann Zhao

Dear Wendy's Sophie and Jo, two aromantic and asexual students at Wellesley College, engage in an online feud while unknowingly becoming friends in real life, in this dual POV Young Adult contemporary debut from Ann Zhao Sophie Chi is in her first year at Wellesley College (despite her parents’ wishes that she attend a “real” university, rather than a liberal arts school) and has long accepted her aromantic and asexual identities. Despite knowing she’ll never fall in love, she enjoys running an Instagram account that offers relationship advice to students at Wellesley. No one except her roommate knows that she’s behind the incredibly popular "Dear Wendy" account. When Joanna “Jo” Ephron―also a first-year student at Wellesley―created their “Sincerely Wanda” account, it wasn't at all meant to be serious or take off like it does―not like Dear Wendy’s. But now they might have a rivalry of sorts with Dear Wendy? Oops . As if Jo’s not busy enough having existential crises over gender, the fact that she’ll never truly be loved or be enough, or her few friends finding The One and forgetting her! While tensions are rising online, Sophie and Jo are getting closer in real life, bonding over their shared aroace identities. As their friendship develops and they work together to start a campus organization for other a-spec students, can their growing bond survive if they learn just who’s behind the Wendy and Wanda accounts? With its exploration of a-spec identities, college life, and more, this platonic comedy, perfect for fans of Netflix’s The Half of It and Alice Oseman’s Loveless , is ultimately a love story about two people who are not―and will not―be in love!

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Dear Wendy

Ann Zhao

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Dear Wendy

Ann Zhao

91%

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20h

yarncrone

Fave audiobook narrators!

As I start listening to a new book by my fave audiobook narrator, it occurs to me that maybe having a fave audiobook narrator isn’t an, um, normal people thing. But I know I won’t be alone in this here.

So, tell me, fellow book nerds: do you have fave narrators and if so, I’d love to know who, and what makes them your fave, and even your fave or first book experience with them.

I’ll start. I probably have a few faves, but definitely top three is Cornell Collins. I first heard him reading one of KJ Charles’ Will Darling books, and then quickly listened to him perform at least 5 more of her books. But I think it was when I listened to Pansies by Alexis Hall that my love was confirmed. He’s a dramatic delight with hist rom and intrigue, but also did a beautiful job with the modern and deeply emotional story in Pansies.

Your turn! Tell me all!

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mo_reads_

Thoughts from 55%

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Thoughts from 55% 🎧

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Dear Wendy

Ann Zhao

91%

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The Lesson

Cadwell Turnbull

THE LESSON explores the nature of belief, the impact of colonialism, and asks how far are we willing to go for progress? Breaking ground as one of the first science fiction novels set in the Virgin Islands, THE LESSON is not only a thought-provoking literary work, delving deeply into allegorical themes of colonialism, but also vividly draws the community of Charlotte Amalie, wherefrom the author hails. An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last. A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.

mo_reads_ commented on IshaanS's review of The Lesson

IshaanS

Mar 28, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

👽

🪸

🐚

I’m so glad I read this book. It’s a fascinating and slow paced alien invasion story. You follow a group of interconnected characters from St Thomas in the Virgin Islands before and after the arrival of aliens. The aliens say that they are here to share technology and will leave when they complete some kind of research. They also respond to any threat with lethal violence. To me, the unequal retaliation and the way that the aliens disguise their extraction as sharing their “lesson” is what makes the alien invasion a parallel to human colonization. All the terrible things that the aliens do are heightened thanks to their powerful technology, but they are fundamentally the same kinds of atrocities that empires do to people from other cultures throughout history. But also there are genuine benefits they bring to Earth like a cure for cancer or clean energy, which means some people think it’s worth it, especially if the only collateral damage is people from St Thomas. Even the people of St Thomas are divided, and that’s why it’s such a great framing for the novel to follow multiple interconnected characters. You see how they all come into conflict with each other while still caring for each other. There’s also aliens who genuinely care about humans and are trying to help them. There’s a real focus on how faith is challenged, and how grief and politics collide. The world is so well realized and we only really get a peek into it. I’ve heard there is some kind of tie in with the Convergence Saga which I’m very excited to continue with.

mo_reads_ commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

FeralAcademic

Books with clergy members?

Iiiiii am on a search for books about or with side characters that are at least explored a little, that are clergy (nuns or priests preferably). I PREFER Catholic ones but I am open to other kinds also including fantasy equivalents that borrow from the imagery and any genre is fine, fiction or nonfiction. Though I’m not really looking for smut, I WILL read romance - I just need there to be plot, you know? (I’ll also add if it’s romance I prefer it to be gay or sapphic but I’ll give decent het ones a chance if people think they’re well written) Thank yoouuuu.

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Dear Wendy

Ann Zhao

35%

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One Last Stop

Casey McQuiston

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train. Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all. Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

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sleepychick11

Thoughts from 83% (Chapter 14)

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PandaLilly

Thoughts from 55% (page 253)

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fried.rice731

Book Recs that have a subtitle with a comma in the title

Hello everyone! For the 52 book challenge, one of the prompts is “Subtitle with a comma,” and I cannot find any book for the life of me that fits this description 😭 (I think this is the challenge’s way of telling me to read more nonfiction 😂). What are some good recommendations that fit this prompt?

Thanks in advance!! As always, happy reading 📖

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