Books to Help You with the 3rd Pondathon II Side Quest: Two Rec Posts in One!

1. Read a book by a woman (including non-binary women and femme) author of color during Women’s History Month
2. Read a book by a Black author for Black History Month

There is also a secret achievement – to read a book by a Black woman/non-binary woman/femme author. For more information, check out the full side quest post on The Quiet Pond here!

One of my favorite reads of 2021 was This Poison Heart, which is a sapphic YA fantasy about a Black girl who has plant magic with poisonous plants. It takes inspiration from Greek mythology as well as The Secret Garden. It’s an amazing book! [fulfills secret achievement]

So uhhh by now you know I’m a sucker for retellings, and Legendborn (YA) is the Arthurian retelling that I didn’t know I desperately needed. It follows a Black girl discovering her own magic and dealing with a secret magical society. I LOVED it – you can read my full review for it here. [fulfills secret achievement]

So, this book. BRILLIANT. Black women honestly are killing it in YA fantasy. KILLING IT I TELL YOU. Things that I love that you’ll find in Raybearer: so many cool powers, a beautiful found family, asexual representation, incredible world building, and so much more. It’s the first in a duology, and the sequel is just as amazing. Put both of them on your TBR right now!!! [fulfills secret achievement]

The Bones of Ruin is one of my most recent reads, and it was AMAZING. And SO underrated!! It’s a YA fantasy following an African tightrope walker to can’t die – she literally comes back to life even after she falls from a tightrope and breaks her neck. There are a bunch of other characters with cool powers too. Def go check it out!!! [fulfills secret achievement]

Honey Girl is a wonderful adult contemporary novel about figuring out your direction in life, dealing with burnout, and a lot of other things. If you want to read my review, you can find it here. This book made me cry, which not a lot of books do. [fulfills secret achievement]

If you need happiness in your life, look no further than Get a Life, Chloe Brown. This book, and the following two, are some of my favorite romance books. And this one has chronic illness rep!! There is just so much love in this book – romantic, familial, sisterly, pet/owner love. And it’s the best!! It really is just a very feel good book. [fulfills secret achievement]

Heidi Heilig is an author who is really important to me. I talked about why in this post. For a Muse of Fire is a YA fantasy, and the first book in her Shadow Players series. Jetta, our main character, has bipolar disorder, and can also use blood magic to trap recently dead spirits. There is so much great rep in this series – bipolar, trans, queer, PTSD, etc. And Heidi doesn’t shy away from series discussions about racism and colonialism. It’s a great series and if you wanna know more, I reviewed the series here!

Yes, it’s another retelling. I’ve mentioned this one before but to recap: A Spark of White Fire is a YA sci-fi/fantasy retelling of the ancient Indian epic the Mahabharata. It’s in space, and there are vengeful gods, sentient spaceships, familial rivalries, among much more. It’s so underrated, and I love that it’s a retelling of something not from Western mythology. I wrote a full review here!

Look, I’m just taking this as an opportunity to shove all of my favorite underrated books at you all. Ignite the Stars being one of them haha. This book is a YA sci-fi that follows a 17 year old outlaw who is a criminal mastermind and an incredible pilot. She gets captured and is forced to work for the government, but is of course attempting to escape. There’s enemies to lovers, great friendships, excellent pacing, and etc.

Emergency Contact is one of my favorite books. I don’t know why, to be honest. Maybe it’s because the premise is two people bonding over texts with each other and I love texting as a medium? Or maybe because Penny, one of the main characters, is anxious and awkward and super relatable. Whatever it is, this book is a super cute YA contemporary that I hold in my heart.

Fireheart Tiger (adult fantasy) was my first book by Aliette de Bodard. Her writing style is lovely, and I think her work is very under-appreciated. This novella features, in her own words, “sword lesbian, diplomat lesbian, sunshine girl, fire girl (who is also sunshine girl), colonialism, sapphic shenanigans, symbolically unsubtle chess, garden flirting & more, drawn sword, tea on fire, scary tiger.” I reviewed it here!

The love I have for Burning Roses (adult fantasy) is indescribable. I’ve mentioned it a few times on the blog, since it is just that good. It’s a retelling of many different fairytales and Chinese legends/myths. The characters are moms, and are older women – which we don’t see enough of.

I don’t read much poetry but I really love Nikita Gill and her poetry books. This one, Great Goddesses, is one of my favs. It sort of retells the stories of the women who feature in Greek mythology – goddesses, humans, monsters, etc. Her poetry is beautiful, and I love that we get to read from the perspective of the women who are historically ignored in classical mythology.