Inspired by the "12 book recommendations from 12 friends" trend, I thought I would adapt this for Charming! It is: simple.

• Each person interested has two weeks to suggest 3-5 books they really really like.
  
• Books should be available in English; please include a link to somewhere with more info on the book!
  
• After this thread closes, peruse your fellow Charmers' suggestions, then pick three (to share in the upcoming slections thread) that YOU will endeavour to add to your 2025 TBR!

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I will be suggesting...

The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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   Daffodil Grimstone, Elias Grimstone, Philomena Sprout

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

I LOVE this game, but I'm not usually very good at it because I have Niche Reading interests lol. I bring you; a historical mystery series; a dystopian steampunk trilogy; a standalone science mystery! I feel like the first one is cheating a little because a couple people have already said they picked it up, BUT I CANNOT RECOMMEND ENOUGH.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cities of Smoke & Starlight by Alli Earnest ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Deception Point by Dan Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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   Elias Grimstone, Philomena Sprout

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I am here attempting to choose books that have some appeal to people beyond me... you can judge if that worked, lmao.

The Iliad trans. Emily Wilson* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin*** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

All The White Spaces by Ally Wilkes**** ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch***** ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Finest Print by Erin Langston****** ⭐⭐⭐

*alright hear me out, I got a random booksta person to read it and she was shocked at how unstuffy it was! you TOO could enjoy an ancient epic!

**if you have me on goodreads you can see my very passionate review, but this is like The Great Gatsby but WAY BETTER. Gah.

*** “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” this book is my everything, Le Guin talks ideals and politics and humanity & it is always some of the most masterful writing ON EARTH

**** this is my polar contribution as it is entirely fiction and an atmospheric read, I had some pacing problems with this but LOVE the transgender MC on the side of my Antarctic horror <3

***** this is your typical fantasy band of thieves committing heists in not-Venice, Six of Crows meets Assassin's Creed, I liked book 2 better but had fun with this!

****** this is my something for the romance hos, it is not That Great but it is my long-winded way of perhaps inspiring you to make Fabian the printer.

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   Basil Foxwood, Daffodil Grimstone, Philomena Sprout

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The Golem and the Jinni is one of the few books I've read multiple times. It starts very, very slow, but I love it so much. (There's also a sequel, but it's not as good. Have I also read it multiple times? Yes.) Set in 1899, or at least the beginning of it. It was actually a book I had to read for a college English class, and I think I read it like 2-3 times before the semester ended.

We Were Liars is YA, and is one of the few books where the ending was something I didn't guess. There's also a prequel, A Family of Liars, although I haven't read it yet.

The Nightingale is the first book in a very long time that has made me cry. WWII. The historical accuracy can be questionable, but it didn't bug me enough to stop reading it. WWII is one of my favorite eras though.

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   Basil Foxwood, Daffodil Grimstone, Philomena Sprout

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Are you student? Learn how to earn house points!

LOVE IT. LET'S DO IT. Here are mine: YA, horror, historical romance/smut, billionaire smut and some niche monster-ish smut

The Davenports #1 by Krystal Marquis ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Eyes are The Best Part by Monika Kim ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti ⭐⭐⭐⭐

King of Wrath by Ana Huang ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Captive of the Horde King #1 by Zoey Draven ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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THE DAVENPORTS #1 | My first read of 2025! This was a lovely book to read. YA but still full of romance and heart, it was great to read about four women of color in this era, each with their own motivations and desires. I loved that it's historical, didn't shy away from talking about civil rights and slavery, but the drama that happens to the characters, while still making you feel for them, isn't soul-breaking.

THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART | I AM OBSESSED. Every time someone buys this in store, I can't stop talking about it and hyping it up. It's SO good in the grossest way possible. If you're squeamish though, consider treading lightly. Consider the cover page your trigger warning, because the answer to the question you're probably asking yourself is 'yes'. But it's amazing. Female POC who is absolutely feral by the end? Sign me the FUCK up.

EARL CRUSH | I read a copy of this on Net Galley! It comes out later this month and I highly recommend this if you liked the first one in this series! It has the heart, humor and spice of the first one and I loved getting to know Lydia Hope-Wallace more.

KING OF WRATH | We're getting - not niche, per se, but - into the gratuitous smut territory, I'm not going to lie. But I love this series. Each can be read as a standalone (and tbh my favorite is King of Pride, but King of Wrath is the first in the series). Also don't get me wrong, #EatTheRich, but I've pretty much accepted in these billionaire romances that they're just alternate universes xD This is one of the books that can be described in tropes: billionaire romance, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, touch her and you die, all that crap. It's a guilty pleasure and I'm 100% here for these types of books.

CAPIVE OF THE HORDE KING #1 | Here's the niche option for those of you who want something a step above Was recommended this via Bree's goodreads! This definitely has Dothraki from GoT vibes and was a quick but satisfying read. I say monster-ish because they're not full on scaled demons, but tbh after the description of the Dakkari I just kinda imagined them as you see on the covers. I will say I LOVE this series because her world building is wonderful. She's created a whole language, customs, traditions, ecosystem, gods and goddesses, you name it.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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❧ Welcome to Evergardens ❧

Time to Orbit: Unknown by Derin Edala ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Curse Words Series by Derin Edala ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐*

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Time to Orbit: Unknown by Derin Edala - Technically a duology though I read it when it was free on the author's website as they were writing it. Sci-fi/mystery about humanity's first foray into journeying into the stars to colonize other planets. Featuring: LGBTQIA+ rep across the board, AI concerns, discussion of the ethics (or lack thereof) of for-profit prison systems, the ins-and-outs of bodily autonomy, a narrator who's bad at their job but doing their best. Actual, good autism rep? Anyway, I'm obsessed. Someone else read this so I have someone to talk to about it.

Curse Words (Series) by Derin Edala - Four book series (with an additional anthology of bonus in-universe stories?) Presumably counts as YA, because the main characters are 14 at the start of the series. Magic school story with magic world politics. It's very un-HP-like, except for one character the author admitted is Minerva McGonagall if McGonagall was also very morally grey. XD I accidentally spoiled the last book for myself and honestly I'm still not over it. Please read and share my pain. Also apparently this series is getting new covers soon and a paperback release and I am so hyped.

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons - Fully cheating because I haven't actually finished this yet, but I love me some historical fiction. WW1-era story about a family with members on both sides of the war. Also as a Jewish person with generational trauma, I just enjoy a historical book about a Jewish family that doesn't trigger me, okay. XD

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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set by Bee! <3

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake - My Sapphic suggestion for the Romance girlies. Queer photographer Delilah Green goes back to her small Oregon town to photograph her evil stepsister's wedding, only to get a crush on her stepsister's BFF. Shenanigans, growing up, and only one bed. Also good smut.

Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit - Feminist memoir about the 1970s, occasionally a love letter to San Francisco, helped me deal with my election feelings. <3

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It's super short, set in Ireland, and deals with the Mother and Baby Homes - not a single misplaced word or sentence. I thought it was perfect tbh. Also the movie is good n sad.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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set by Bee

Come make your picks fam <3

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —