taeyeon - my tragedy
wicked saints by emily a. duncan 
The lyric I'm drawing this rec from is the haunting repetition of "I don't need nobody." The main cast of characters each face their internal struggles throughout the novel but share the common thought that whatever their goal is, they must do it alone. While the theme of the song is drastically different from the book itself, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Wicked Saints and wanted to share the title since I haven't spoken much about it on the blog.

itzy - wannabe
cemetery boys by aiden thomas
"I wannabe me me me" - Ryujin's shoulders continue to save the industry with this song. In all seriousness, this is my top song of the year according to Spotify and I'm still obsessed. ITZY as a group is all about self-empowerment and loving yourself and that theme translates pretty well into Yadriel's story in Cemetery Boys. This story is more than just heartwarming and fun to read, but also explores Yadriel's journey navigating his family and culture while being both transgender and gay.

         

iu (ft. bts suga) - eight
all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr
This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever listened to in both its production, mv, and lyrics. One of the lines that always hits me is "forever we young" which captures the song's soul of remembering the youthful and happy times of a life that was cut short. All the Light We Cannot Sea was a reread for me and I was still captivated by the story and just the loss of innocence portrayed in the characters. The ending also has that touch of nostalgia that I think pairs well with the song's message.         

hayeon - eyes on you
you had me at hola by alexis daria
The characters literally had their eyes on each other the entire novel so this seemed the most fitting. Reading You Had Me At Hola was so much fun and reminded me that I need to check out more from the romance genre. As a Taeyeon stan, I was instantly obsessed with Hayeon's song and had it on repeat for weeks after its release which was a similar feeling to my reading experience of You Had Me At Hola (which I binged read in one night).

pentagon - daisy
the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi
It's been quite a while since a Pentagon song has made it onto my top favorites and with this song being their first win made it all the more special. This rec is drawing from the overall tone of the song which is feeling crazed after a breakup and then coming to a realization that you don't want that special person to hate you once this relationship no longer exists. If you've read The Gilded Wolves you can probably guess which certain character I'm referring to and I think this song would also pair well with the sequel The Silvered Serpents.

loona - universe
the house in the cerulean sea by t.j. klune
A song that literally reminds me of a fairytale can only be paired with one of the most fairytale-esque and magical stories I've read this year. I have yet to write a review for The House in the Cerulean Sea but I have not been able to stop thinking about the book since I've finished it earlier this month. Both the song and the book kind of sneak into your mind and just don't let go and just bring me all the magical happy feelings.

gfriend - mago
the hazel wood by melissa albert
There's a line in Mago "no more fairytale" which I'm tying into The Hazel Wood's dark and twisted fairytale origins. The lyrics as a whole focus on finding and accepting your inner confidence which I think reflects Alice's search for who she is even if that's not her initial purpose. The Hazel Wood is also one of those books that I didn't necessarily enjoy but the reading experience was so vivid for me that I still think about it so I thought it was worth a mention because Mago has been absolutely stuck in my head since its release.

btob 4u - show your love
the wolf of oren yaro by k.s. villoso
If you've read The Wolf of Oren-Yaro and especially it's sequel The Ikessar Falcon, there's a certain pairing that I'm personally very invested in. I would 100% (if I could dance) bust out this song in front of them to add a bit of excitement so they could just show their love to each other. If I was being realistic though, the actual ship would crash and burn so much before any happiness but I can still dream about it.

i*zone - o sole mio
muse of nightmares by laini taylor
This is a song and book that caught me by surprise with how obsessed I became with them. I*ZONE is a group I definitely stan but I've always gravitated more towards their title tracks. O Sole Mio came out of nowhere and now I'm convinced that any song of this title is a bop. Similarly, with Muse of Nightmares, the first book felt a bit disappointing to me so I wasn't very excited to jump into the sequel. Everything I felt was missing in Strange the Dreamer was delivered in Muse and months later I can still remember how engrossed I was in the story.

      

twice - cry for me
the poppy war trilogy by r.f. kuang
Um I didn't ask to be attacked like this at the end of the year but both this song and this trilogy came for me. 2020 was definitely the year TWICE climbed up on stan list and Cry for Me is officially stuck in my head 24/7. The same can be said for R.F. Kuang's masterful trilogy - I have yet to write a review for The Burning God simply because I cannot put all my internal screaming and tears into actual words.

This is a lot of k-pop in one post but I hope it was fun to read even if some of the recs were a bit of a stretch. Have you listened to any of these or read these books - do you think the pairings work or do you have one that fits better from your own playlist? I'd love to know!

Please let me know some of your favorite songs of the year and what book would you pair with them?

Hello friends - I apologize for missing Wednesday's post this week! I didn't have time over the weekend to draft and Monday/Tuesday ended up being super busy. For today, I wanted to do a fun tag created by my friend Juri over at Tomes and Thoughts! I didn't know anything about A3 or the Mankai Company Troupe but Juri has been sharing so much love for this series all over Twitter.

Juri was super kind as to tag me as well so be sure to check out her original post which include the questions for all the seasonal troupes. I'm thinking about revisiting this in the future so I can answer all the questions as well.

the forest of stolen girls by june hur
This gorgeous book comes out April 20, 2021 and I have been in love with its cover since its reveal on Twitter. If you read my second Blogmas post, you'll know that haven't actually read anything by June Hur yet but her debut The Silence of Bones is super high on my tbr. The Forest of Stolen Girls follows Hwani who returns to her hometown after the disappearance of her father who was investigating a recent stream of kidnappings. In order to do so, she must reconnect with her estranged sister who, years ago, was also kidnapped under the same gruesome circumstances.

night of cake and puppets by laini taylor
My go-to hangover fix-it is 100% cake specifically chocolate cake though black sesame is a close second. The iconic character that is basically inseparable from chocolate, in my mind, is Zuzanna from the The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy. This little novella explores her first date with Mik and I smiled like an idiot the entire time while reading. Even though I've only read it once at this point, I know it'll be a book I turn to when I'm falling deep into a hangover.

the queen of the tearling by erika johansen
I gave this book so many chances and each time I wanted desperately to love it, but in the end it was honestly just so boring to me. I didn't care at all for the main character or her struggles, the world didn't interest me, and even the antagonist is easily forgettable. If I wasn't reading this for a readathon and didn't set up a daily chapter schedule, I don't think I would have ever made it to the end.

september love by lang leav
I've completed a total of three poetry collections - one I wasn't a fan of, one I mention every time there's a poetry related question, and September Love. While this isn't one of my favorites, it fits the question because I definitely enjoyed reading this collection. There are specific lines that stand out to me, poems that seem to mirror my own thoughts, and overall captured the feelings of growing up, experiencing love, and finding your passion.

spin the dawn by elizabeth lim
This is one of my favorite YA fantasy duologies and one of the main reasons is because Elizabeth Lim beautifully paints the world of A'landi and its surroundings. The writing is essentially, ethereal especially in the second half of the novel which follows Maia's journey to make the dresses made from the laughter of the sun, the tears off the moon, and the blood of stars.

the infernal devices by cassandra clare
I kid you not when I say this is the only book that came to mind. I didn't want to take Juri's answer which was Crier's War by Nina Varela (also on my tbr) and I could only think of the automatons from this trilogy. My sister read my copies over the summer and has been on a Shadowhunters binge so the characters, plots, etc. are fresh in my mind. I watched a couple of robot movies growing up that were probably not intended for my age at the time which low-key scarred me so seeing the word "robots" in a book description was always a turn-off, but I didn't expect to literally have nothing come to mind. 😂

It's been a while since I've done a tag and I loved scouring through Goodreads to find the answers. Like I mentioned above, be sure to check out Juri's original post and I'll definitely be revisiting this in the future to answer the rest of the tag questions!

Are you an A3 fan? Who is your favorite Winter Troupe member and what's your answer to their corresponding question?

Hello friends! 2020 was probably the first year in a while where I was actively tracking new releases on a monthly basis so it's interesting going back now in December and seeing which titles I've read and which ones are still on my tbr.  I've compiled a list of my top priorities for next year so hopefully, this post will also keep me accountable to read them all.

         

         

(all covers are linked to Goodreads for synopsis / more information)

soulswift by megan bannen

Megan Bannen's The Bird and the Blade is one of my favorite YA retellings and probably one of the few books where I still have a vivid memory of the reading experience (i.e. crying in a corner of Barnes and Nobles.) Soulswift follows a girl who was prepped her entire life to be a goddess vessel only to be turned away. It's supposed to include some discussions on faith which from a fantasy lens is always interesting.

forest of souls by lori m lee

First of all, this is one of my favorite covers of the year. I've been staring at the audiobook on my hoopla for months now and definitely need to jump into this soon. The main character finds out that she's a shaman when she accidentally raises her best friend from the dead and must travel to meet the Spider King. I'm all about accidental resurrections as with my love for The Bone Witch, so I'm excited to see how this new fantasy series unfolds.

the silence of bones by june hur

I'm low-key mad at myself for not reading this yet because it sounds amazing. It is  police mystery set in Joseon Korean with everyone claiming it feels like a k-drama. To be real though, I'm not the biggest historical drama person and I think that's why I keep putting it off but that just stems from my mom watching historical c-dramas all day. I've heard so many amazing things about the atmosphere and writing so I'm hoping to get to this soon with the colder weather.

beyond the ruby veil by mara fitzgerald

This cover is also just absolutely gorgeous! I didn't hear a ton about this book pre-release but recently so many people have been talking about it on my Twitter feed. I think I saw Kate from Your Tita Kate mention how much she loves the MC so that immediately bumped this book up my tbr.

we are not free by traci chee

Ever since I read my friend Claire's (@clairefy) review of this book, it's been on my radar. I read a lot of stories from the WWII period but it's always been from a (sometimes romanticized) white-washed lens. The Japanese internment camps are one of the biggest racial crimes against Asian Americans in US history and a topic I researched a lot in high school (it's also the only time Asian Americans were really referenced in my high school history curriculum). I heard that the author creates incredibly dynamic characters and I just can't wait to read about their experiences.

the ever cruel kingdom by rin chupeco

I want to hide in shame for not reading this book yet since I adore Rin Chupeco. On the good side, I finally managed to get my hands on a copy so I'm hoping to do a reread of The Never Tilting World and jump straight into the sequel. Definitely pick this up and support Rin because 2020 has made it difficult to promote this amazing story - which by the way features goddess twins, an A+ sapphic romance, and is pitched as Frozen meets Mad Max.

parachutes by kelly yang

This is the only contemporary on the list and I was actually so close to reading it in November but ended up not getting it just because of time. The Chinese community in my town has "fostered" some exchange students before and while I don't think it has been to the same level of extravagance as the story pitches, I'm still really curious to see how this topic is explored through YA. 

the invisible life of addie larue by ve schwab

Lastly, I have The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Probably one of my most anticipated releases of 2020 but also one of my biggest disappointments when I heard from BIPOC reviewers of how white-washed the story was. I do already own a copy of the book so I will still read it eventually but I also want to keep myself accountable and acknowledge the lack of representation beyond the beautiful writing.

I'm honestly so excited to read these titles especially after writing up this post. If you've read any of them, please let me know what you thought! 

What 2020 title do you still have on your TBR?