February’s Book Picks: Always Only You & Eliza and Her Monsters + Author Event Announcement
[ID: Two books laying on a gray wooden floor surrounded by white flowers, confetti made from book pages, and scrabble tiles spelling out bookclub.]
The #ChronicallyIconicBookClub is reading TWO books this month and will be hosting a special author event!
We had a tie in our voting this month so we have two separate reading groups. You’re welcome to join either one OR both!
February YA Book Pick:
[ID: A green book cover with the white and black illustrated figures of a boy and a girl held in the paint-covered hand of an unknown figure. There are illustrated sparkles around the figures and speech bubbles saying, “Her story is a phenomenon” “Her life is a disaster”. Eliza and Her Monsters is spelled out in green paint calligraphy.]
Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
Genre: YA contemporary
Representation: anxiety and depression (own voice)
Content warnings: suicidal ideation, suicide of a family member, panic attacks.
Discussion dates: March 5th - 7th.
Synopsis: In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.
Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.
February Adult Book Pick:
[ID: An illustrated book cover of a red-haired man in hockey gear and a brown haired woman in a suit with a cane. Always Only You is spelled out in bright yellow cursive with the tagline "They say good things come to those who wait..."]
Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Genre: Adult Romance
Representation: autism (own voice) and arthritis
Content warnings: explicit sexual content and drug use
Discussion dates: February 25th - 27th.
Always Only You is an opposites-attract, forbidden love sports romance about a nerdy, late-blooming hockey star, and his tough cookie coworker who keeps both her soft side and her autism diagnosis to herself.
Ever since Ren Bergman joined the hockey team, Frankie Zeferino has had a problem. After her diagnosis, Frankie's learned to consider herself as a problem, not a person to most people in her life. Now, opening her heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing she's prepared to do.
But when sparks fly between grumpy Frankie and sunshine Ren, will Frankie decide to take a chance on love after all?
EXCITING NEWS! I’m honored to announce that the author Chloe Liese will be joining us for a very special author chat on IG Live on February 27th at 5 pm EST!
[ID: A graphic announcing the event with a photo of the author, a white woman with blonde-brown hair and glasses smiling at the camera.]
When: February 27th at 5 pm EST
Where: @libraryofdreaming’s Instagram
Chloe is a neurodivergent author who has written over four contemporary romances that feature a variety of disability representation. She also has celiac disease (like me @libraryofdreaming!) and you can bet that I will be picking her brain about the best gluten free snacks during our chat! Chloe is also a passionate advocate for autism acceptance and I look forward to hearing more about her work. We will be discussing ALWAYS ONLY YOU, romance, and all things disability representation.
Check out Chloe’s Instagram and other books here.
Have a question for Chloe? Comment below or leave a note on this Instagram post.
Happy Reading and make sure to let me know which groups you would like to join this month!