My Best Friend Picks My 2019 TBR

Hi everyone! It’s that time of year again where everyone is posting their TBRs for the entire year, and while I was reading some posts like that I thought it might be fun to ask one of my best friends, Fadwa, to create a little TBR for me!

Fadwa has been pushing me to read a lot of her favorite books and, whenever I do read them (because I don’t always do, oops), I always end up loving them. She’s the person who got me to read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Under a Painted Sky and Mirage, and I adored all of those books. I trust her recommendations completely, and I’m incredibly excited to get to the books she picked out for me. So, here they are:

Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Fadwa: I’m starting with this one because it is quite possibly the book that I’ve pushed Laura to read the most in 2018 and SHE STILL HASN’T, the only reason I’m cutting her some slack and not being overly annoying about it is because she has read other favourite books of mine so it’s okay, all is forgiven as long as she reads it this year *Gives Laura sidelong look*. I absolutely adore this book and everything it represents for me, for my younger self and for other Muslim teen girls who don’t really see themselves represented that much, and since this blogger right here is one of my best friends, it’s something I want to share with her.

Laura: I KNEW IT, I just knew this one would be at the top of this list! Fadwa has been pushing me to read this book for forever, I actually went to the bookstore in the week of this book’s release just to get it and I’m super ashamed that I haven’t read it yet. I’m not even sure why I havent. Going to fix that ASAP.

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

Fadwa: I admittedly haven’t read this one myself. Yet. But Under a Painted Sky is by the same author is one of my favourite books of all time, it’s also one of the books that I made Laura read last year and she loved it too so I

thought why not give her another Stacey Lee book to read this year. And my copy has been glaring at me from my shelves since the day I got it so I’m planning on reading soon, so, buddy reading opportunities, maybe? Me thinks yes. Especially since for people who are as close as Laura and I are we do not do buddy-reads and that needs to be fixed.

Laura: Wait, Fadwa, you haven’t read this yet?? That buddy-read definitely has to happen. And this is a book I’m actually super excited about, and every time I look at my TBR shelf and see this book I think “I’m going to read this one soon”, especially because I ended up loving Under a Painted Sky so much. So, let’s do this SOON.

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Fadwa: THIS BOOK MAKES ME SO HAPPY! I read this one a few months back while I was pretty low mentally and desperate for a quick read with low stakes that would take me out of reality for a bit. I picked up Foolish Hearts from my shelf in a whim and it did just that, it put a smile on my face start to finish. It’s just such a cutesy fluffy read that’s all about friendship with a little bit of sweet romance thrown in there, and a lot of nerdiness and teens with different interests that still manage to be close friends. It’s just an unfiltered happiness kind of book. Which Laura deserves forever and ever. All the happy all the time.

Laura: Okay, Fadwa is being way too nice and also, just reading her describe this book makes me want to pick it up right this second? I’ve been kind of scared of Emma Mills’ books ever since I read Famous in a Small Town and didn’t like it, so this is a great change.

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Fadwa: Oof, this book. This book absolutely destroyed me back when I read it but at the same time, it’s such a hopeful and important read, discussing topics that aren’t really discussed that much and are frowned upon. It discusses forced marriage in a very detailed and gutting way but like I said, it’s also hopeful, so hopeful that I found myself crying happy tears at the end. And since I’ve made it my life goal to make Laura read all my favourite books of all time (as I’m sure she’s made it her goal to make me read hers) I feel like this one is a necessity to add to the list, it’s the first book with a muslim main character I’ve ever called a favourite and for that, it’s extra special.

Laura: I’m incredibly excited to see this book on this list because I’ve been meaning to read Written in the Stars forever, and I’m pretty sure it’s the book on my TBR that I’ve owned for the longest time. But I’m also a little terrified to see it on the list, for the same reason as to why I haven’t read this book yet: I just know that this book will make cry. A lot. But at least I have someone to send voice messages to of me sobbing and screaming “WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME” (*eyes Fadwa*).

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Fadwa: If you know me, you know that I’m a HUGE romance fan, it’s my go to pick-me-up genre and it has been for a decade (not hyperbolic) so of course a romance book would sneak into this list. And as I kept thinking which book to choose, I thought of Talia Hibbert, who’s an author I discovered this past year and I ended up reading all her works, save two, between August and now, and she quickly climbed her way up to the top of my list of favourite romance authors. I chose A Girl Like Her because it’s her very first book I read so I’m particularly grateful for it. It’s also super cosy and domestic, with a fat Black autistic woman as the heroine and her big teddy bear of a neighbor as a hero.

Laura: I’M SO READY FOR THIS. I haven’t read a lot of romance but I loved most of what I’ve read, plus everyone on my Twitter timeline seems to adore Talia Hibbert so I’m definitely expecting to love this one. Plus, “cosy and domestic” definitely sounds like something I’d like!

I think it’s safe to say that my reading in 2019 is going to be amazing with all of these titles on my TBR, and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into them! It’s really too bad that I’m incredibly busy with school right now, or I’d just lock myself in my room and read all of these back to back. But I guess I have to be a responsible adult sometimes… yikes.

Anyway, I also picked out 5 books for Fadwa to read this year and if you’re interested in seeing which titles I picked then you can find that blogpost here.

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