#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.
Coming of age is a great choice for #5OnMyTBR, but I admit, it’s hard to always pin down ‘coming of age’ until you’ve read the book itself. Nowadays, it’s largely used for YA, though coming of age can also appear in books for adults (IT was not, after all, aimed at a teen audience, even if many teens read it!). It’s intriguing what genres coming of age tends to fall into, as well. It’s a fairly broad term, yet one I think you can tell best if the book ‘fits in’ when reading the book itself. So, here’s 5 coming of age books on my TBR!
#5OnMyTBR May 13th: Coming of Age
Daughter of the Beast by E.C. Greaves
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: March 4th, 2022
Why I Want to Read: This one intrigued me not just because of the coming of age aspect, but the blending of myth and family, and the idea of the young woman being adopted by a group of warrior women and trained in their ways. Should be interesting!
Genre: Historical
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: June 4th, 2024
Why I Want to Read: I hesitated over calling this ‘historical’ but yeah, it probably is? Its’ set in the late 90s/early 2000s, about a young woman who finds her star rising. Pop stars felt all too common back then, and I’m intrigued by the perspective this puts on that whole era.
Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald
Genre: Literary – Contemporary
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
Published: May 2nd, 2024
Why I Want to Read: It’s the focus on Scottish working class and queer aspects, the look at young masculinity, that grabbed my attention here. These are stories that are rarely told, and it’s great to have more out in the world – more working class stories, more Scottish non-crime stories, more queer stories – all of those are good things!
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: August 1st, 2023
Why I Want to Read: Horror is a great genre for coming of age, and it’s the kind of genre where target audience boundaries can really blur in these type of tales. This one definitely looks interesting with the Lovecraftian aspects and the way the story is kicked off by the arrival of the boy’s grandfather.
You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud
Genre: Contemporary
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
Published: February 2nd, 2023
Why I Want to Read: Books are so incredibly important for allowing writers and readers to explore topics that affect them day to day, to see themselves represented in their pages, and to allow others to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’. Books like You Think You Know Me are so crucial, and more of them are definitely needed, especially with the increase in bigotry everywhere at the moment.
Are any of these on your TBR, or maybe you’ve read one or some of the books mentioned here – if so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What about your recommendations, too – do you like coming of age stories? What are some of your favourites?
Unwrapping Words 