Top 5… books I don't talk about enough

Good morning bookworms!
Today’s Top 5 Tuesday is ‘books I don’t talk about enough’. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by the super lovely Shanah over at the Bionic Bookworm. You can visit her here, and join in for Top 5 Tuesday by checking out all the amazing topics that are coming up!
A-HA! I see what’s going on here… Shanah is clearly sick of me screaming perpetually about The Nevernight Chronicle, Obernewtyn, The Folk of the Air, and The Old Kingdom series… I get it!! So, I’m going to attempt to pick one book (or series) from each genre I read from!

MYSTERY / CRIME

This one, undoubtedly, has to go to The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. There’s six books in total in this series, and they are all funny with some great plot twists. Ever wanted to be a little like Veronica Mars? Well try having your entire family be a bunch of private detectives. Instead of being paid pocket money for unpacking the dishwasher, you you earned a commission for taking photos and trading secrets!

HISTORICAL FICTION

Look, I know I don’t really talk about Hist Fiction much, but I do read the occasional novel. However, I have to say that my fave books here would be The Bronze Horseman series by Paullina Simons. Although, to be fair, it’s been a very long time since I read these!! I think they’d still hold up to the test though.

ROMANCE

I am a SUCKER for Tilly Bagshawe’s books, and I know the one I scream about most is Adored, her very first novel; however, the sweetest one goes to Do Not Disturb. It’s a hotel industry, enemies to lovers, slow burn but intense sizzle romance, and I am here for it. I don’t know if it’s because I worked in hospitality for so long, but this book is what dreams are made from!

CONTEMPORARY

This one was crazy hard to pick, but I’m going with an adult contemporary that deals with family (primarily a mother-daughter relationship), getting older, and being true to who you are. Honestly, I think this book just resonates with me the more that I get older, and it’s really just an absolutely amazing read. I probably have spoken about it before, but certainly not to this extent! Shall We Dance? by Maggie Alderson is a beautiful story.

FANTASY

OOOOOOOF. How to pick one? But also, what is one that I don’t scream about very often?! Ok, one that I haven’t spoken about for a long time is also a very little known fantasy book because it’s self-published. The Sons of Thestian by M. E. Vaughan is a brilliant debut fantasy novel – it was definitely one of my faves that I read in 2017, and last I heard, Vaughan was working on book 3 in the series. There’s terrifying night creatures, magic, brothers, treachery, adventure, fae, secrets – everything you could possibly want in a novel, PLUS most of the characters are queer and it felt like easy representation – not forced at all! As a bisexual person, I’d never felt as ‘seen’ as I had before meeting Rufus. Bonus points for the covers being amazing!

What’s a book that you don’t scream about very often?