Chanterelle Solace | 17 books that make me feel seen be...

17 books that make me feel seen because ...

Is there any book(s) that you feel makes you seen? 👀

Books that make me feel seen belong to a lot of categories, including those that focus on found family, cozy fantasy and retellings. A lot of the themes that tie this books together are finding a place where you belong, having our stories told with the beauty and fairness they deserve and being accepted wholly for who you are 🤎

Each of this piles carry books that are in different genres, including Cozy Fantasy, Romance, Retellings and Anthologies to name a few but I saw myself in each of them! Sometimes it was the representation like Aicha, being a Moroccan Retelling as someone who is from there or a Muslim Romance in The Mis-Arrangement of Sanaa Saeed! I also saw alot of my struggles as a disabled/CI in Its all in your Head and there’s a piece of my in all of these books🥺

And the STEM field Related books will always have a special place in my heart because of how relatable it is as someone who works in the field!

And here is a list of all the books mentioned in this post:

🍄 It’s all in your head by Sabina Nordqvist
🍄 The Mis-Arrangement of Sana Saeed by Noreen Mughees
🍄 The Between-Worlds B&B by Amy Mae Baxter
🍄 The Ex-Perimento by Maria J. Morillo
🍄 The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
🍄 Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
🍄 Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
🍄 House of Frank by Kay Synclaire
🍄 Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal-Mohtar
🍄 A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison by Aamna Quershi
🍄 The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru by Olesya Salnikova Gimore
🍄 The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
🍄 Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui
🍄 Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity
🍄 One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford
🍄 Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm
🍄 Next Level Love by Shameez Patel

12 Cozy Fantasy books about Belonging & Finding your place in the world 🤎

What are some of your favourite books that centre found family and finding your place in a community?

While this is a theme that you can find in so many different type of genres/sub-genres, I feel that Cozy Fantasy is the perfect place to explore themes of being othered, not fitting in and finding a place where you do!

A quote that I love from one of the books in here (The Moonsingers by Robyn J Pritzker) that focuses on this theme says: “In fact, what she most wanted, and could never before articulate, was to find the place where she made sense and help others do the same.” and I think every single book in here helps you see how the MCs find their place in their own community and feel accepted🥺🤎

Here’s to the people who accept us just the way we are and become a part of our community just as much as we are a part of theirs 🤎🤎

Seasons of Glass and Iron: An Anthology focusing on Identity, who we are and where is home

Do you enjoy short stories and anthologies? 🤎

I do have to admit that I havent read many anthologies and this year, I’ve made it a goal to explore some so when I heard Amal El-Mohtar is publishing one I knew I had to get my hands on it and it did not disappoint!

There are a variations of short stories and poems in here and my favourite two are A Hollow Play and The Truth about Owls

A Hollow Play addresses Identity and who we are. It talks about what we consider home and whether some parts of us are stronger in some places as opposed to others. Do we then choose the place where we can be the parts we enjoy and love the most? Does this change over time?

The Truth about Owls dives into so many themes, with a focus on belonging and how language fits into that. I loved the fact that we get to see our narrator in this story use three languages and thought it was beautifully displayed. It reminded me so much of a quote from Weavingshaw and a quote Heba Al-Wasity (author of Weavingshaw) wrote that I linked to the short story here!

I cant wait to read more by Amal El-Mohtar as I’ve read The River has Root last year but I’ve still got This is how you lose the Time War!👀

Thank you to @quercusbooks for the Finished Copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

#quercussparks #seasonofglassandiron #amalelmohtar #anthologies #shortstories