Best books of 2018

As a book geek, I not only love reading but love sharing the great reads I come across, especially the ones that don’t get the hype that BookTube is so generous with. Once upon a time I did top 5’s or top 10’s but rather than that, I decided to share my top 20 reads, in alphabetical order. No favorites, no top anything. If it’s A it’s 1st, if it’s Z it’s last. Period. The reason is that we all like different things and I want to talk a smidge about each book but include pictures and links to my Goodreads review in case it makes you want to learn more about one or the other.

So let’s get started:

1. Anaerfell – High Fantasy

I’d been meaning to read a book by Joshua Robertson for a looong time so it’s curious I chose a collaboration between him and his brother as my first. Still, this high fantasy is a dark read where the main characters have no intention of being liked but have every intention of seeing their mission to the end, no matter who they have to kill… and trust me, there are a lot of people in the way. If you want a story that goes beyond gray moral areas and dives head first into how low can you go, then this highly developed high fantasy might be your black cup of tea.




2. Beasts of Burden – (Graphic Novel)

One of several library reads, Beasts of Burden is the type of book I’d buy. A brilliantly dark graphic novel where a pack of neighborhood dogs is actually what’s keeping the end of the world at bay. Compelling, gripping, beautifully drawn, and funny even in between the darkness. For people who want a graphic novel with bite in more ways than one, can’t recommend this enough.





3. Blue is the warmest color – Graphic Novel (LGBTQA+)

Reading this book as a heterosexual male, I can’t help but think this beautiful but tragic graphic novel is the type of book that can resonate with LGBTQ+ audiences. It’s heartfelt, real, honest, gritty, and shows the possibility of happiness and how avoiding it because of people’s opinions, even people whom you love, is never the right path.




4. Bone Vols 1 and 2 – Graphic Novels

I started this curious series thanks to a piece written by Neil Gaiman in regards to Bone. He has no shortage of good things to say about the series and it is quirky, and smart, and clever, and random, and all the things you’d expect Neil to love… and guess what? I agree with him. Just bought the third volume.






5. Brotherhood of Secrets – Historical Fiction

Christie Stratos is not only my favorite indie author, she’s one of my favorite authors, period. This second installment of her Dark Victoriana collection is just as dark as her first novel, but offers a different perspective of what’s happening in the town where these stories take place in. Intricately crafted, meticulously edited, it is a lean mean, work of literary delight. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, Stratos is elite, and if you don’t know about her it’s because she doesn’t have a huge advertising budget. The talent is there in spades.




6. Death Note Vol 2 – Graphic novel

I’m doing a small experiment where certain books I read in bookstores. This is part of my effort to hoard less even whilst I get my read on. Death Note is a challenging series to do this with because the story is so good. I’ve read volumes 1 and 2 in Barnes and Nobel (Don’t worry, I’ve also bought other books and not just mooched) and I’ve greatly enjoyed the evolution of the story. While Volume 1 had certain plot elements that I didn’t agree with, Volume 2 had a ton of surprises and always kept me guessing. We’ll see how this series continues but I wouldn’t blame you if you want to buy it.




7. Fried Pickle Noir – Graphic novel

If you go to a convention in the ATL, odds are there you might find what some people refer to as “The Pickle Guy.” JR Mounts is an engaging and charismatic character and his Fried Pickle series is as quirky and random as it is highly infused with terrible laugh inducing puns. This is silly fun to the core and at least the first volume I read, I found a ton of things to enjoy. If you go to a convention and see him, by all means, say hello and get ready for a slice of friendly randomness. Also, his animal print vests are the vest. :)




8. Goodbye darkness, hello light - Poetry

I know Erin from online and I was very happy to see her release this lovely collection of poetry. The genre can be a lot of things, but some of my favorite poetry is the one that is intimate and honest… and this collection is a whole lotta both.



9. La Gran Muralla de la ciudad Corazón – short stories (Spanish)

My fellow Puerto Rican indie author, Maricel Jiménez is best known for her Pixie Piper series (available in English and Spanish). That said, this mostly Spanish short story collection has some beautiful gems in it, which I hope means more from her in her native language. Varied, eclectic, and interesting.




10. The House at Pooh Corner – Middle-grade fantasy

I’ve always had a soft spot for Pooh so it’s amazing that it took me to my late 30’s to read the series. This second instalment of short stories is as brilliant as the first and just as endearing. Tender, silly, sweet, and fun. A perfect read for kids of all ages.



11. Keithan Quintero and the Sky Phantoms – Middlegrade Sci-fi

If you like Robotech, you might want to check out this middle-grade adventure out. Another fellow Puerto Rican indie author, Francisco Muñiz was actually a neighbor at one of the Puerto Rico Comic Cons. Apart from a great writer, he’s a great guy and his book is set in near future Puerto Rico. It’s a fun adventure with great race sequences, intriguing mysteries, and a description of a drinkable dessert that still has me wondering what that tastes like.




12. Kurintor Nyusi – High Fantasy

One of the most surprising reads last year was Kurintor Nyusi. Aaron-Michael Hall is a fellow indie based in Atlanta and although she is as friendly and personable as it gets, this book really amazed me with its tight writing, great world building, and compelling storyline, complete with one badass meanie. Diverse, elegant, never predictable… one of the year’s most solid reads for me.




13. Mort - Fantasy

I am a late fan of Terry Pratchett and like a fool I got into Disc World after he passed away. In 5 books, Terry has become one of my favorite writers for the simple reason that I can’t think of a better writer in terms of what you can do with a sentence. Why say anything ordinarily when you can have multiple quotes on every single page. To be clear, Terry Pratchett was absolutely brilliant and after 4 great reads, it’s amazing to read a book that surpasses anything else I’d read from him. I suspect Mort shall be amongst the elite works of Pratchett forever and with good reason. It has an incredibly compelling narrative, characters you can engage with, and a storyline that is pure Pratchett. I’ve been reading the series chronologically and I think it’s the best way for now… we’ll see after I read the next 10.




14. No Cierres los Ojos – horror short story compilation (Spanish)

Dark, brutal, unflinching, crude, scary… so many single words to describe this collection of horror stories from Puerto Rico. It is one of the most Puerto Rican reads I’ve ever enjoyed and with a variety of authors, guaranteed to have several great reads in Spanish. In addition, it’s one of the most exquisitely presented books I’ve ever read, with black pages, white font, and a lot of love in words and format. Can’t wait for the next one.




15. Perfect Break – YA novel in verse form

Anaïs Chartschenko is one of the most unique voices I’ve come across indie or otherwise. I like how she attacks words and always say she is an acquired taste. I say this not to put anyone off, but to invite people to broaden their horizons by reading what is one of my favorite poets. Not one of my favorite indie poets, or indie authors, but one of my favorite people who happens to put words to a page. Perfect Break is a YA novel in verse form capturing the interactions between two friends. Each one has a distinct voice and each poem drives home the narrative that distance can make or break a relationship, but true love knows no limits, especially between best friends. Honest, tender, real, intense… use these words for the book or the author and both apply.




16. Pink Plastic House – poetry

Pink Plastic House is absolutely brilliant and Kristin Garth has one of the most genuine voices you’ll ever read. This collection is impressive but for me, the reading experience was taken up a notch because I got a physical copy with notes from the author. An intimate exploration of what it means for the author to be a woman child who is as innocent as she is sexually alive. Recommended for older audiences and easily some of the best verses I’ve read in the last decade.




17. Portraits of Dread – short stories/horror

Michael J. Elliot likes to write scary things… but beyond the dread, there is a writer who can tug at your heartstrings as easy as he can tug at your lower intestine. This collection of horror shorts has some amazing highpoints that paint a bleak world we wouldn’t like to live in… but that are beyond plausible. Seriously, with stories like this, it’s easy to support indie writers.




18. Writing from the restless – short stories/poetry

Brittany Moore’s short story collection shows the promise of an up and coming author that prefers honesty to a pretty perfect plot. Life can get murky and rough and maddening, and she’s out to capture all those emotions and more.




19. Zodiac – sci-fi/fantasy

I’ll be reading Romina Garber’s second installment in the Zodiac series sooner rather than later. She has created something very special indeed and I only docked the book a star for some typos and the appearance of YA tropes that serve to cater to certain audiences but pale in comparison to the impressive world building and deep philosophical threads beneath the surface of this novel. The narrative is compelling enough, but when Garber decides to get philosophical, you see that maybe those tropes were to lull readers into a sense of safety to hit them hard and profoundly with the underlying exploration of human philosophy. In addition, although the book is finely written, some lines just jump out, hit you on the face, and not only invite you to quote them, but to incorporate them in your life. Will be Wandering Star soon so we’ll see how this narrative progresses but one hell of a first entry in a series.




20. Zoo - poetry

It’s fitting that Ogden Nash’s Zoo is last on this list because it serves as a reminder that sometimes you need to lighten things the hell up. It’s silly, cheeky, laugh-out-loud quirky and will invite you to put words to paper and laugh as you express your inner cheeky monkey.




And there you have it. I had some other pretty solid reads last year, but I think 20 titles is enough to go around lol. Hope your reading year is off to a great start.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

My top Books of 2017

Typical top-of-the-year lists include a Top 10 and after going back and forth on my list, rather than cutting out or leaving out any books I would actually recommend, here’s a long list of books I read in 2017 and why I think they’re worth your time or why they’re important reads. What I’ll offer here is just a snippet of my opinion of the book and will link to my reviews for each of these books, but safe to say, I honestly believe they’re worth your time.

Letters from the Heart – Cate Evans

Some books make an impact in our life. Maybe it’s what they say, maybe it’s how they say it. It doesn’t need to be long, but it packs a punch. Letters from the Heart is an exercise I believe everyone should engage in. In this short book, she writes a one-page letter to different emotions, thanking them, or engaging in conversation with them. The concept is a powerful one and something anyone of any age, any gender, and any social class can relate to. It’s a short read which you can read in 20-30 minutes, but it can change a life by inviting people to look at their emotions in a different light. Wise beyond its word count, it’s something to share with patients, survivors, students, and humans of all likes in life. An amazing concept by Cate Evans, which prompts the question, if this is how you start your writing career, what’s next?

TheWeightless One - Anaïs Chartschenko

Anaïs Chartschenko is one of the most powerful poets I’ve ever read. I didn’t say indie poets. I said poets. General. No alienation from the general population of writers. She does not pull punches. She does not flinch and she writes fearlessly. The Weightless One is a novel in poem form and it is raw and heartbreaking. It is about a young woman who is in a psych ward and it talks about her experience with an eating disorder and the circumstances that led to her stint. It is also one of the most important books I read last year and something I believe ANYONE going through this should read. It is not for the faint of heart, it goes where you know there will be pain. It is not a gentle read, she is not a gentle poet, and that it what makes her elite.  

DarkNight – Paul Dini

What I expected from this book and what I got are two different things altogether… and that’s an amazing thing. This is NOT a Batman book yet it is a very Batman book. It’s about Paul Dini and how his life experiences have been influenced, impacted, and filtered through the lens of the caped crusader. It is intense, honest, gorgeously written, and exquisitely drawn and shows that when it comes to graphic novels, the sky is the limit and the soul is the fuel.

Flow the Psychology of Optimal Experience - MihalyCsikszentmihalyi

Although not the only non-fiction book on this list, it might be one of the most important to read. Although I dare anyone to spell the author’s name right from the first go, I invite most people to read it to ask themselves the questions of how to enjoy life more. Powerful, relatable, real. Non-fiction has a bad rep for being boring, and this is ANYTHIING but boring.

Hinting at Shadows – Sarah Brentyn

How many flash fiction books have you read? Odds are not many (and quite a lot of people will say none). Flash fiction is a literary style not often indulged in book form, which is odd since people so often say humans nowadays have a limited attention span, but that’s not why this book is great. This book is great because if you’re a writer, reading Sarah Brentyn will spark neurons and inspire you to write. That’s the beauty of the flash fiction in this collection. In just a few words, your brain is firing on all cylinders… and that’s not just because this is flash fiction; it’s because Sarah Brentyn is a damn fine writer and she shows off her brand of magic time and time again.

View from the Cheap Seats – Neil Gaiman

Big name stars, artists, actors, musicians, and writers are not people who you can always relate to…. Except if you’re talking about Neil Gaiman. I often refer to Neil on a first name basis and it’s not because I know him (though that is a life goal). I do so, because he’s someone that time and time again seems to be taking words and paragraphs from my heart and saying them out loud. This collection is varied and includes intros, letters, articles, and a whole lot of miscellaneous writing… and I can relate to most if not all of it. Neil is my fav author because he finds something he wants to do and does it. Not only that, he has an eerie way of saying things that are in my brain and it gets to the point where it sometimes scares me… and that is a beautiful thing to experience.

Equal Rites – Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett left us gold in his Disc World series. Every book seems to be a love letter to the written word and reading the series sequentially, I’m drawn more and more to him. If you want to learn how to write, you need to read…. And your brain will thank you for feeding it this Michelin Star author each and every time.

American Gods – Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s wonderful American Gods is not a perfect book. It’s downright weird in how it’s made up, with parts 1 and 2 being huge, part 3 being super short, and part 4 being an unexpected coda to an ethereal work of art. Some people have issues with certain characters. Some people think that some things were not well developed. Some people love the damn book. It’s on my list and it’s a chunky book, so what do you think I think of the book?

Sin Noticias de Gurb – Eduardo Mendoza

Oh how I’m tempted to write about this book in Spanish, but for this instance, I’ll keep it in English. Sin Noticias de Gurb is a random tale set in Spain and if you’re from Spain or have visited, you will adore this book. I have it 4 stars for the SOLE reason that since I haven’t been in the places mentioned, I KNOW I missed out on this. Hilarious, random, weird, and funny (because it needs two words referring to humor). I don’t know if there’s a translated version of this book and I truly hope there isn’t. Learn Spanish and read this book.

Witches –Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl books are PERFECT if you’re in a reading slump. They’re naughty, silly, fun, and clever as hell. From the three Dahl books I read last year, this was my favorite (the others being George’s Marvelous Medicine and the Giraffe, the Peli, and Me). Growing up is a trap and any Dahl book is the perfect escape.

Winnie the Pooh – EE Milne

Your inner child needs to read this. Apart from that, this was a very important book for me to read. Apart from smile inducing, fun, whimsical, and just a good for the soul read… it validates that what I do with the Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore is on point. To put it shortly, I needed to read this for validation of my artistic instinct with that project.

The Adventure of Pixie Piper The Trove of the Water Dragon – Maricel Jiménez

Oh how I loved visiting back with Pixie and friends. This sequel to the Adventures of Pixie Piper by indie author Maricel Jiménez is another lovely slice of fairy lore. It’s fun and starts wayyyyy familiar before gently and steadily leading you into a world all its own. The end has some fascinating twists and prospects for the series and shows Jiménez is only getting started.

Love and Vodka – Christina Strigas

Another wonderful poetry collection, the strength of love and vodka is in its variety. Christina Strigas is a talented word smith and while some people indulge in fluffy poetry, she offers a wide assortment of word mixology, from smooth, to biting, she’s someone to read and enjoy however you please.

The Whisper Collector – Anaïs Chartschenko

Another collection by Chartschenko. This collection shows variety, range, and depth from this wonderful wordsmith. Like most of her work, it’s not for the faint of heart but it rewards readers who can take the most intense shots of life delivered in word form. She has four collections out and I’ve read three… but she’s so good, I know I can recommend all four and once I read her latest release, I’ll tell you why a little more. She is someone you need to read if you want to see how intense poetry can get.

A Darling Secret – Amie Irene Winters

The Strange Luck series is an odd trilogy because it fluctuates in genre and tone from one book to the next, which may confuse some people but I think will reward more. The first book is a darker middle-grade fantasy, while its sequel is a dark fantasy with some spine chilling scenes with exquisite phrasing and a very ethereal feel to it. A Darling Secret feels like a mid point between both previous entries, more YA than middle grade, with some twists and turns, but where Winters always excels is in her concepts. It’s an odd thing to focus on but so often I read something and am amazed by how smart a concept it is that you want to take the idea, grab a hold of it and look at all the angles.

The Last Dragon Slayer – Jasper FForde

I listened to the audiobook of this story and I HIGHLY recommend you do it too. The narrator is amazing and definitely brings this story to life in an amazing way. That said, the story is also incredibly fun with some nods to Douglas Adams and Pratchett in terms of humor and overall wit, but for a slightly younger audience.

The Artof War – Sun Tzu

This is one of those books they give in business school when it should be given in philosophy. A LOT of what is written in these pages can be related to life and is a deeply enriching experience.

Slouching Towards Nirvana – Charles Bukowski

You either like Bukowski or you don’t. There’s probably very few people in the middle when it comes to him. I like him and he’s the type of poet that can get feelings from me… which is just the way I like it.

Selected Poems - Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman might have been partially prophetic because some of the things he writes feel like they’re from this century and not the 19^th. Rich, deep, impactful. A wonderful poetry collection worth your time and possibly a place in your library.

Frost Poems – Robert Frost

For me, Frost is a polarizing poet and some of his poems are wonderful while others I’m sure I can’t relate to because I live in another century… but when he strikes gold, it’s til the end of time. This lovely collection is handy to keep around to have a read and I particularly like when he limits himself to 1-2 pages per poem because I feel like he hits the nail home, while longer poems wander a bit too much for my taste.

Tuntun de Pasa y Grifería

I had been given this book in high school AND college. I’d enjoyed it marginally but it was assigned, i.e. forced. Picking it up as an adult, it was a refreshing experience to read and enjoy on my own terms and for the love of the written word. In addition, it also brought to light how I feel being from Puerto Rico. Although proud of my heritage and my Island, I love being from the Caribbean and after Hurricanes Irma and María decimated our collective home, I find myself loving my Caribbean sisters and brothers more than ever. We’re all in this together and this collective identity is something I want to promote more.