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Isabelle Shakesbookworm

@isabelleisabookworm

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Shakespeare Actor. Masters in Library Information Science. Lifelong Book Devourer.

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🍂🤎 My Autumn TBR 🤎🍂

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! The colors, the weather, Halloween, camping, Disneyland this year, my anniversary and birthday! Here's a bit of what my friends and I are hoping to read this season. I'm pretty excited for all of it.

Q: What's coming up on your TBR? What books feel like autumn to you?

Or, any fun autumn plans? (Or spring plans if applicable!)

🍂🤎 My TBR 🤎🍂

📗THE RENOVATION by Kenan Orhan
📘THE END OF EVERYTHING by M. John Harrison
📕THE SHADOW OF THE OBJECT by Chloe Aridjis
📙THE STORY OF A NEW NAME by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
📗THOSE WHO LEAVE AND THOSE WHO STAY by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
📘THE PLAGUE OF DOVES by Louise Erdrich (I'm counting on your @whatithinkaboutthisbook
& @reading.for.three to keep me accountable for this one!)
📕ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME V by Solvej Balle, translated by Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell
📙ZOMROMCOM by Olivia Dade with @bookstagramonabudget & @booksopenmouthsshut
📗DEJA BREW by Celestine Martin
📘SUNFLOWER SEASON by Danica Nava
📕THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF FIRST LADY FREEMAN by @deeshaphilyaw

🍂🤎 My TBR 🤎🍂
#gifted books listed below. Many were gifted by friends, as well as thank you 🫶🏽

📙MISTRANSLATION by @madeleinemosswrites , from @uiowapress
📗I WHO HAVE ALWAYS FELT WORDS by Shams Alkamil, from @centavebooks via Netgalley
📘THE DEVIL IS A SOUTHPAW by Brandon Hobson, from @eccobooks
📕THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde
📙ON SUNDAYS SHE PICKED FLOWERS by Yah Yah Scholfield
📗ONE BAD NIGHT & OTHER STORIES by Kylie Lee Baker, Rachel Harrison, C.J. Leede, Stephen Graham Jones, et al gifted from @aardvarkbookclub
📘DÈY by Edwidge Danticat, hopefully with @unlocked.library & @barbbookedup
📕OFF THE RESERVATION by Stephen Graham Jones, from @sagapressbooks via Netgalley with @whatithinkaboutthisbook & @plantlady.reads
📙HUDSON by Hernán Rosino, translated by Mallory Craig-Kuhn, from @charcopress via Netgalley
📗NINETEEN CLAWS AND A BLACK BIRD by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
📘BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT, JESUS IS ALIVE! by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
📕NOW I SURRENDER by Álvaro Enrigue, translated

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✨ First Half Favorites ✨

I did this last year and loved seeing everyone’s recs, so I had to do it again! I asked 15 Bookstagrammers to share a few favorite books they’ve read so far this year. Some titles popped up more than once—A BEAST SLINKS TOWARDS BEIJING by Alice Evelyn Yang, TELEPHONE by Percival Everett, JOHN OF JOHN by Douglas Stuart, A LANGUAGE OF LIMBS by Dylin Hardcastle, and THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans (if you count my own picks)—but there’s still a diverse array of recs here from accounts you should absolutely follow if you don’t already. 🫶

What’s been your favorite book of the year so far?

NOTE: My inclusive heart wanted to ask many more Bookstagrammers to participate in this post, so I’m trying to switch up who I ask each time I do a post like this (asking some people again while adding new people into the mix). If I didn’t catch you this time, I still love you!!

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Five for for Friday // 5 books about motherhood + some recs for you 💐

Here are five books that tackle motherhood and all the different ways that looks, plus favorites of my friends!

Books featured 📚
🌸THE ROUNDHOUSE by Louise Erdrich: motherhood through trauma, protection, and the strength it takes to hold a family together
🌼GHOSTROOTS by 'Pemi Aguda: many of these stories touch on themes of motherhood, but her newest book ONE LEG ON EARTH is even more fitting; I just don't have a physical copy of it
🏵️ BETWEEN MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS edited by Susan Koppelman: anthology of complex relationships between mothers and daughters throughout time, studied in my Mothers & Daughters in Lit class
💠THE WHITE HOT by Quiara Alegría Hudes: generations of a resilient Puerto Rican family caring for one another and what it takes to survive, even if it means leaving
🌺BREASTS AND EGGS by Mieko Kawakami: questions motherhood, bodily autonomy, and the pressure society places on women to become mothers

Q: What books would you add to this list?

Or, what book and treat would you want to be gifted with?

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Top 3 Reads: 2021-2025
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This challenge was actually quite emotional for me as I’ve just started getting back into reading in recent years after not being able to read for a while due to brain fog after becoming chronically ill.
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You can see in these collections that I started with familiar stories, things I’d read before, YA/middle grade books, and took them slowly [in 2021, this was all I read plus the whole Chronicles of Narnia series].
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Each year increased my ability and by 2025 I read 63 books, making it hard to pick only 3!
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I am so grateful to be able to read again and share my joy and love of it with all of you.
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Here is a list of all the books in order:
- [ #BlackAuthor ] The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
- [ #DisabledAuthor ] Being Heumann by Judith Heumann
- The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
- [ Black Author] The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
- The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- [ #IndigenousAuthor and Black Author] Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
- [ #AsianAuthor #QueerAuthor and Disabled Author] Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- [ Indigenous and Black Author ] Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
- [ Indigenous Author ] Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- [ Black Author ] me and white supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- [ Indigenous Author ] Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa
- [ Asian Author ] Land of Milk and Honey by C. P Zhang
- [ Indigenous Author ] The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
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Thank you @bryn_thebookworm for tagging me in this challenge! If I’ve tagged you and you decide to make a post, please tag me so I can see your choices!

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ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴠꜱ. ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ

💖 Thanks to @abbysgbooks and @barbbookedup for tagging me in this challenge (nearly two months ago)! While brainstorming, I realized many of my firsts were also my favorites, so I chose examples where that wasn’t the case.

❓ Do we have any in common?

🫶🏻 I tagged a few friends who might like to give this a try, but no pressure to participate!

🏷️

#firstvsfavorite #bookchallenge #bookworm #bookstagramchallenge #favoritebooks

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✨ Top Reads from 2020-2025 ✨

@dyannareads’s post reminded me that I’ve been meaning to put this together! It just took a while because narrowing my favorites down to three was hard (for some years more than others—I wanted to include six books for 2024 😂).

To help with that, I tried to pick books that defined each year for me. For example, I read IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado in December 2020, and it’s an all-time favorite memoir. BUT I read the other three books during the height of the pandemic when I needed an escape, so they feel more “2020” to me.

I tagged a few people who may want to participate in this challenge, too. It’s always fun to look back on favorites!

Let me know if any of these would make your list. 🫶

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Happy Valentine’s Day to my auto-buy authors!
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TJ Klune
Emily St. John Mandel, @emilystjohnmandel
Isabel Cañas, @isabelcanas_
Angeline Boulley, @angelineboulley
Safia Elhillo, @safiamafia
Hanif Abdurraqib, @nifmuhammad
Clint Smith, @clintsmithiii
Fredrik Backman, @backmansk
Elizabeth Acevedo, @acevedowrites
Charlotte McConaghy, @charlottemcconaghy
Liz Moore, @lizmoorebooks
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Thank you @abbysgbooks for tagging me in this challenge 🫶 I tagged a few people who might want to make a post, too, but no pressure (and apologies if you already did this challenge and I either missed it or forgot!).
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Who are your auto-buy authors?

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➊➋ Rᴇᴄꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ➊➋ Fʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ

🪩 Thanks to my bookish pals for helping me prioritize my physical TBR this year. Out of the 40 unread books on my shelves, you convinced me that I definitely need to pick up these 12 books in 2026.

🏷️

#bookrecommendations #2026readinggoals #tbr #tbrshelf #readinggoals

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✨ First vs. Favorite ✨

Thanks for the tag, @barbbookedup! This has been a really fun one to think about.

The first photo shows the first book I ever read by each author, and the second photo shows my favorite by the same author. Only one of my firsts ended up being a favorite! (From this set of authors anyway)

Do we have any favorites in common?

I tagged a few friends to give this a try if you’re interested but no pressure as always 🫶🏼

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If I had my own book club, here’s what we’d read! (Swipe through for my reasons why.) Thanks to @booksandbrioche_ for tagging me in this challenge. ☺️

January: MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar (credit to @surabhi.reading for coining the term “defiant aliveness”)

February: I’LL TELL YOU WHEN I’M HOME by Hala Alyan

March: HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER by Angie Cruz

April: THE EVERLASTING by Alix E. Harrow

May: GOOD TALK by Mira Jacob

June: BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse

July: HOW THE WORD IS PASSED by Clint Smith

August: ATMOSPHERE by Taylor Jenkins Reid

September: THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy

October: ON THE SAVAGE SIDE by Tiffany McDaniel

November: THEY CAN’T KILL US UNTIL THEY KILL US by Hanif Abdurraqib

December: SEA OF TRANQUILITY by Emily St. John Mandel

I’ve tagged a few friends who might want to put together their own picks, but if you see this and feel inspired, please tag me in your post so I don’t miss it!

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Thank you @annieinthepages for tagging me in your Moody Winter Blues post! Here are some favorites from my shelves:

💙 WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres
💙 SEA OF TRANQUILITY by Emily St. John Mandel
💙 MIRACLE CREEK by Angie Kim
💙 MIGRATIONS by Charlotte McConaghy
💙 WE ARE OKAY by Nina LaCour
💙 DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips
💙 BEARTOWN by Fredrik Backman
💙 EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid

They’re moody, they’re blue, and they’re best read snuggled up with a blanket. At least three of them made me cry.

I tagged a few people who might want to participate, but no pressure! And apologies in advance if you already did this and I missed it (or forgot) 😅

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📚🗺️ Do you get excited when you flip open a book and see a map, or do you secretly groan and hope you won’t need it? For some, a map at the front of a book screams adventure awaits! For others, it’s a reason to quietly set it back on the shelf.

Thanks to your amazing recs, I’ve rounded up 20 books where maps shine just as much as the story itself. Whether it’s charting a fantasy quest, exploring a small town, or tracing nostalgic woods, these books all start with a map worth unfolding.

📖 Swipe to see the full list and let me know which ones you’ve read (or want to read next!).
🗺️ And tell me in the comments—where do you land on the maps-in-books debate? Are you Team Bring on the Map or Team No Thanks?

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#books #booksbooksbooks #ilovebooks #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #reading #readersgonnaread #readersofinstagram #readingcommunity

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