This blog is for Missouri State Library staff members to record their books read for the annual Missouri Book Challenge.
Welcome to the MOSL Book Challenge
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Of Mist and Murder by Chanda Hahn
My ship.
BABY. LOOK AT THE BABY. I LOVE.
The character growth.
Aha. And I thought that person was the villain....He was sketch.
358 Pages
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
I always love Darcy.
lol they brought up Darcy's first name.
When all the details are revealed. I cackled.
I appreciate that like...they found a way to tell the story while incorporating bits, but also adapted pieces to fit into the moment so that it felt more natural.
384 Pages
Deliverance by C.J. Redwine
So that happened. I like... Appreciated the character growth. There seemed to be a lot of characters that showed up and I was mildly overwhelmed by it.
The ship tho.
Connor is great.
496 Pages
Deception by C.J. Redwine
Hears a certain plot twist and is like....this sounds familiar...and remembers that I've read a book with a similar twist recently...
Aha. The setting is more clear in this book...Its a post-apocalyptic US. and now I'm like...wondering what city they're near.
There were a couple of scenes where the harm to the body was a little bit too descriptive for my taste, but that's because I don't like descriptions of blood in relation to veins (yeah I have no idea why)
....This book actually made me cry...what is happening.
496 Pages
Monday, November 29, 2021
Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi
All of the fluff. Also I keep thinking of my best friend's wedding and like...How I want my wedding to be because I am an introvert who gets overstimulated and anxious.
I love Warner. I love him. Baby. Boy who's only soft for one person. Also like...I relate to him so much because self-image and like. Finally getting the love he deserves.
I will protect him with my life.
Also when a person sees you for you and recognizes your needs. that's just. perfect.
I'm dying alone.
Dog. Iconic. We stan.
Finishes the novella:

224 Pages
Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams
Do I see potential for the next books if there are any based on the characters that we've been introduced to--yes
All. Of. The. Tropes.
The marriage of convenience. The requited, unrequited love. Friends to lovers.
The whole last part of the book and the plot and what's going down. Just wild.
He's a writer and I love him.
Cheese man.
352 Pages
Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
If a cat is bringing you dead things, it is because it believes that you are a helpless hairless cat that is part of the family that needs help..
I love the cat and I love Noah and just like....
Also the whole side-plot. Oof. that's wild.
352 Pages
Horizon's Edge
Beginning After the End: Convergence
By TurtleMe
Pages: 446
This one wasn't as good as the last three and almost feels like a pause in the story, but it makes sense to step back a little at this point in the plot arc. The viewpoint changes a lot more and we leave Arthur with a mysterious master to train his abilities for the upcoming war, which we are finally learning more about. The author did do a good job in presenting the training as I often find those sections in other books a little more dry. The way it was written kept me engaged and the world-building has greatly expanded and some of the earliest questions are starting to get answered.
Friday, November 26, 2021
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
All these moving skeletons got me:

This do be like Curse of the Black Pearl
I love Ellis. And no it's not because I know an Ellis library....it's because he's wonderful.
I knew that bone house was that person... like... I'm fine.
Ok so my first guess about who his parents were was wrong, but my second was right.
352 Pages
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Aha. Now it makes sense. Also like... I'm hecka excited to see how the relationships between Tea and the boys develop because the two timelines haven't overlapped yet.
448 Pages
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Me appreciating the content notice at the beginning of the book. chef's kiss.

If by Christmas, you mean "life."

....My brain also thought of The Cutting Edge.
Hey look. An actual triangle.
....Ok so the epilogue...that... umm...huh.
400 Pages
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
Am I getting Binks and his sister from Hocus Pocus vibes....yes....
And I have a theory about Serilda's stories.
Also I have a theory on who Gild is but we'll see how right I am
I swear if this turns out like Heartless, I don't think I'll survive. I like...need cute. I need serotonin and dopamine.
Craaaaaaaaaaaaap.
{I'm a genius, because yes I was right}
Ok so I need it to be November of 2022.
....I have a feeling that I'm going to be like...obsessing over this book... ok cool.
512 Pages
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
All the Feels by Olivia Dade
I love Alex. I just like. Chef's kiss
Boys with big hearts who go all in for the people that they care about are just the best... Also like...he knows the fanfic tropes and I can't. Like... I love his level of excitement....I feel personally attacked by his text message style...and his dramatics...cause...that me.
Also his vocabulary. That just. Kills me. I'm dying alone.
Cough. Big Harpie Energy.
Marcus in the background:

416 Pages
Monday, November 22, 2021
Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
Let's go off about sexual assault. And how we're in no place to judge victims for how they choose to handle their situations because trauma is a jerk and it's just a rough spot to be in.
Mack gives me so much bro energy, but then he has a brain and like knows statistics, and that's just fantastic.
The snark. The vulnerability.
How can the guy who can give all the advice be so fricking clueless.
Gavin, in the back, watching all this go down:

352 Pages
Friday, November 19, 2021
Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
....I am concerned. Mabel.
Cough. Captain America.
Anytime any of the bad guys has a single thought or starts talking about being "Unamerican" or anything to do with eugenics:

Oh. My. God. I was not expecting ace-rep and there is ace-rep and honestly I am here for it.
Hey so there was a second where almost everyone was having a good time and just being teenagers...and then that moment ended.
I'm just gonna go walk into the ocean. Because yeah. I'm in pain. Cause I got a feeling that someone's gonna die and I'm not gonna like it.
I just....just let my babies be happy, and don't let this be like Crooked Kingdom for that one character that is kind of like that one character.
560 Pages
No Words by Meg Cabot
Molly. All the heart eyes for Molly and the sheriff. I'm not saying I would have loved to have like..a ton of their perspectives but like.
Will's cool. We knew that.
368 Pages
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
Yes I picked this book because of the cover. Shush.
.....Ok but men talking about romance novels and like...taking lessons from them because romance novels were originally written by women for women... I'm cackling.
Also we see a relationship in the marriage stage, and in the kids stage. Like... chef's kiss.
I wanna hug these babies. They're cute.
352 Pages
Of Princes and Promises by Sandhya Menon
Man, envy is ugly.
I live for fluff. Like.....
The hair gel kept making me think of:

Also...like...learning to accept yourself and realize that your friends actually like you for who you are and not for an act that your are, and that they love the things that you hate about yourself... That's addictive.
Also now I'm trying to figure out what the third book's going to be about.
320 Pages
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
I'm like...trying to not be mad at Lia Mara. Trying really hard. But she's oversimplifying everything and like...I wanna strangle her.
We love Noah. Why? Because he smort.
I'm glad we're acknowledging that the person who is lashing out is scared and that they probably have PTSD from all of the trauma..
I don't understand how Lia Mara can be so smart and then so stupid three seconds later. Like...does she even think about the consequences of her actions...at all...
...they just wanted to be bros...

That epilogue:
480 Pages
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Am I finally noticing that the setting is like...during the suffragette movement...yes... But I also like...don't want this to be set in the late 1800s, early 1900s...because then that means Sean and Puck are far away and like....I can't stand that.
448 Pages

