Happy 2023!!! I hope you all had a beautiful start of the year! Last year, I didn’t get any books for Christmas but this year was different. To be honest, it was more me treating myself than actual gifts but that still counts!!

- Title: Gideon the Ninth
- Author: Tamsyn Muir
- Series: The Locked Tomb #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Adult
- Genre: Sci-Fi
Plot: Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

- Title: Drifting Dragons Vol.1
- Author: Taku Kuwabara
- Series: Drifting Dragons #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Young Adult/New Adult
- Genre: Fantasy
Plot: The draking vessel Quin Zaza soars through the skies, hunting dragons that hide in the clouds. A single big catch means full coffers and all the meat they can eat, while failure means an empty wallet and an even emptier stomach. Join us as we log the crew’s grand adventures, chasing dreams of the sky, dragons, and gourmet cooking!

- Title: Once Upon A Fever
- Author: Angharad Walker
- Series: Standalone
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Young Adult
- Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Since the world fell sick with fantastical illnesses, sisters Payton and Ani have grown up in the hospital of King Jude’s. Payton wants to be a medic like her father, working on a cure for her mother’s sleeping fever. Ani, however, thinks the remedy for all illness might be found in the green wilderness beyond the hospital walls. When Ani stumbles upon an imprisoned boy who turns everything he touches to gold, her world is turned upside-down. The girls find themselves outside the hospital for the first time, a dark mystery unravelling …

- Title: Lonely Castle in the Mirror
- Author: Mizuki Tsujimura
- Series: Standalone
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Adult
- Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Seven students are avoiding going to school, hiding in their darkened bedrooms, unable to face their family and friends, until the moment they discover a portal into another world that offers a temporary escape from their stressful lives. Passing through a glowing mirror, they gather in a magnificent castle which becomes their playground and refuge during school hours. The students are tasked with locating a key, hidden somewhere in the castle, that will allow whoever finds it to be granted one wish. At this moment, the castle will vanish, along with all memories they may have of their adventure. If they fail to leave the castle by 5 pm every afternoon, they will be eaten by the keeper of the castle, an easily provoked and shrill creature named the Wolf Queen.

- Title: Howl’s Moving Castle
- Author: Diana Wynne Jones
- Series: Howl’s Moving Castle #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Middle Grade
- Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

- Title: Wotakoi: Love is Hard For Otaku Vol. 1
- Author: Fujita
- Series: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Adult
- Genre: Contemporary Romance
Plot: Narumi and Hirotaka are, by all appearances, a power couple. They’re young, good-looking professionals. But they have secrets from everyone but each other: They’re serious geeks! Narumi is a fujoshi, and Hirotaka’s a hardcore gamer. Their sweet, awkward love story started life as a webcomic before becoming a full-blown manga series by popular demand, and is about to become a major anime series!work.

- Title: Twisted Love
- Author: Ana Huang
- Series: Twisted #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Adult
- Genre: Contemporary Romance
Plot: Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest: A crack. A melt. A fire that could end his world as he knew it.
***
Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember. But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t want. Her brother’s best friend. Her neighbour. Her saviour and her downfall. Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold dear.

- Title: This Book Kills
- Author: Ravena Guron
- Series: Standalone
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: YA
- Genre: Murder Mystery
Plot: When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary’s school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be… Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote. And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery she’ll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry. She’ll be dead too.

- Title: The Name of the Rose
- Author: Umberto Eco
- Series: Standalone
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Adult
- Genre: Murder Mystery
Plot: The year is 1327. Benedictines in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon—all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey, where “the most interesting things happen at night.”

- Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1
- Author: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
- Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion #1
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Young Adult
- Genre: Sci-Fi
Plot: Once Shinji didn’t care about anything; then he found people to fight for–only to learn that he couldn’t protect them, or keep those he let into his heart from going away. As mankind tilts on the brink of the apocalyptic Third Impact, human feelings are fault lines leading to destruction and just maybe, redemption and rebirth.

- Title: Love in Focus
- Author: Yoko Nigiri
- Series: Complete Collection
- Format: Paperback
- Age Rating: Young Adult
- Genre: Contemporary Romance
Plot: Mako’s always had a passion for photography. When she loses someone dear to her, she clings to her art as a relic of the close relationship she once had…Luckily, her childhood best friend Kei encourages her to come to his high school and join their prestigious photo club. With nothing to lose, Mako grabs her camera and moves into the dorm where Kei and his classmates live. Soon, a fresh take on life, along with a mysterious new muse, begin to come into focus!