Top Ten Tuesdays: Books for My Younger Self

Top Ten Tuesday (TTT) is currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and each Tuesday, we get a prompt to talk about 10 books.

This week’s topic: books for my younger self.

Surprise! I’m back for Top Ten Tuesday again after missing it for two weeks. Things have been quite hectic for me as I adjust, once again, for the start of school, and a new school nonetheless. Everything has gone back to semi-normal, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with posting for TTT now!

It is probably not a secret that I read a lot of sapphic adult romance. When I was a teen, I mostly read Jodi Picoult. I know, it’s kind of weird I actually read more YAs when I was in college rather than when I was a teen, but since the topic for this week is books for my younger self, I thought I’d talk about some books that teenage or childhood me would have appreciated. No adult romance with 18+ content, of course.

Here are 10 books for my younger self:

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Click on the book cover for more information on Goodreads.

Lobizona (Wolves of No World #1) by Romina Garber

• Publisher: Wednesday Books, August 4th 2020
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: immigrant, feminism, Argentina, mythology, low fantasy, werewolves, witches, romance (m/f)
• Comment: Lobizona is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful YAs I have ever read, and it touches upon so many important subjects, including immigration, feminism, LGBTQ+, and fighting back power. Maybe younger me won’t be able to understand this work, but I sure wish this book existed back then.

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All the Worlds Between Us (All the Worlds Between Us #1) by Morgan Lee Miller

• Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, 2019
• My Rating: ★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: high school, best friends, coming out, romance (f/f), swimmer, sapphic
• Comment: The sex scenes in this book is a little more on the graphic side. Being book one of a duology, the ending of All the Worlds Between Us isn’t exactly happy, but I loved every minute of the story. I think it brought back some aspects of my own high school journey of trying to figure myself out, and while it might hit home a bit too hard, sixteen-year-old me might have benefitted from Quinn and Kennedy’s love story. Oh, the second book All the Paths to You (my review) is even better, but it is not YA.

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What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin

• Publisher: Wednesday Books, June 23rd 2020
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: human trafficking, sexual assault, bullying, high school, romance (m/f)
• Comment: I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did reading this book. This book is horrifying because McLaughlin never tried to make things less ugly. Lex’s story is intense, terrible, and beautiful all at the same time. Sheltered teenage me would not have understood the dire issue of human trafficking, but would certainly gain a little more awareness by reading this book.

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The Tea Dragon Society (Tea Dragon #1) by Katie O’Neill

• Publisher: Oni Press, 2017
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: tea, fantasy, graphic novel, LGBTQ+
• Comment: This one doesn’t need an explanation. It’s cute, it’s queer, and it has so many awesome characters. I would recommend the whole series to myself.

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On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

• Publisher: Self-Published, 2016
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: space, sci-fi, graphic novel, sapphic
• Comment: I probably mention this too often already, but with this stunning art style, how could I not talk about it all the time? There are no men in this graphic novel, and everyone is queer. It is not YA but teenage me would definitely have loved it, too. You can read it for free here.

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We Go Together by Abigail de Niverville

• Publisher: NineStar Press, August 10th 2020
• My Rating: ★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: small town, sexual assault, sapphic, transgender, romance (m/f)
• Comment: This YA is a love story between a bi woman who had gone through an abusive relationship and a transguy. Have I ever read any story with a trans lead when I was a teen? Probably not, and I would have loved to read this friends-to-lovers romance that is beautiful, precious, and so real. Almost all characters are LGBTQ+ as well.

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Keeping Long Island by Courtney Peppernell

• Publisher: Pepper Books, 2017
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: small town, depression, letters, sapphic, romance (f/f)
• Comment: Keeping Long Island is one of the first sapphic romance I have ever read and still among my favorites. This is a new adult romance, so it might be a little graphic for anyone too young, but I think it is suitable for teens. The story is just beautiful and I wish my teenage self could have read it.

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Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

• Publisher: Self-Published, 2014
• My Rating: ★★★★★
• Keywords: sapphic, coming out, romance (f/f)
• Comment: I don’t remember much about the story but am planning on a reread. This is a best-friends-to-lovers romance where Hannah and Baker are still figuring out what it means to love someone of the same gender.

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Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness

• Publisher: HarperAudio, 2019
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: memoir, addiction, LGBTQ+
• Comment: I listened to the audiobook version because JVN narrated it himself, and what a joy he is! He is gorgeous, unapologetically genuine to himself, and the kind of person whose memoir I should have listened to when I was younger.

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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau, 2019
• My Rating: ★★★★★ [review]
• Keywords: race, memoir
• Comment: This is easily one of the best nonfiction I have read, and a perfect short book on race relations in the US. Since this book is addressed to Coates’s son, young me would have felt more connected to the delivery.

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Have you read any of these books? Comment what you think, or talk about any books you would have loved to read when younger!

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