This Friday, September 8, is International Literacy Day. I am forever grateful for my natural love of reading and the education I received that allows me to be the introverted bookworm I am today. I know that my knowledge is not something to be taken for granted, as there are millions of people in this world not half as fortunate to know the love of reading.

My shelves (and my Instagram feed) are littered with books. I have been a reader for as long as I can remember, and a writer as a result. I can remember begging my mother to teach me to read at the age of 4 and being pretty grouchy when I learned that it wasn’t that easy to just sit down and learn to decipher the words on the page in front of me. I am currently on my 24th book this year – and we are only in the 36th week this year so that number makes me pretty proud! 

Here are my most recent reads that should be next on your list:

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I am currently about a third of the way through this delicious book so I can't give a proper recommendation, I suppose. I was warned that the first half was slow and that the reader would not be clued in to the mystery that often surrounds Moriarty's novels until about the halfway point. Given this information, I was prepared to be patient. However, I am quite enjoying the build up! This is my first novel by this author so we'll see where the obsession takes me. 

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

I tackled this book on my cross country flight to San Diego to meet a client for work. I am not keen on travel or flying, so thankfully, this was a great distraction. This one seems to have it all - drama, suspense, warmth, and plenty of dry humor. The description gives nothing away so I had absolutely no idea what I was truly getting into with this book, but it's definitely one of my top reads of 2017. I'm also pleased to have cracked (heh) the metaphor in the cover art.... 

Good As Gone by Amy Gentry

I love a good suspense novel. If you're a fan of "Gone Girl" or "The Girl On The Train," this one's for you. I'm not usually one to try to pinpoint where the twists will be and how the story will play out, but with this novel, I was SURE I had it. But I was wrong - I was so terribly wrong. This is a short book that I could not put down until I found out how it ends. This is Gentry's debut novel - I can't wait to see what she does next!

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

My heart. My poor heart. It was not prepared for this story. This one appealed to the hopeless romantic in me and anyone who's ever had a "one that got away." I kept going back and forth over who I was rooting for and ended up surprising myself. "The Light We Lost" is another one at the top of my list for this year, not to mention the beautiful cover art.

What books have you enjoyed this year? What's next on the list? I'm always out for the next read, as you can tell! Let me know in the comments!