It’s time for another round of Ask Stephany Anything! You can still fill out my form if you have any burning questions you want me to answer. I am pretty much an open book (with some exceptions, of course!). Today, I’m answering questions from Kyria, Cait, and Nicole, all about cruising and books (my two favorite topics!).

Kyria and Cait both had the same question for me, which is: Do you have any cruises planned for 2025?

Yes! My mom and I plan on taking some sort of cruise this summer. We will either do another Caribbean cruise or we may try to do a European one. It all depends on how things shake out financially the way I hope it will (sorry to be vague!). If it does, we’re looking at a cruise that starts in either Rome or Barcelona. We would spend a few days in the city before leaving on the cruise. We haven’t been to Europe since our first time there in 2019 so we are overdue for another visit!

Kyria had some additional cruising questions.

What is your favorite cruise so far?

My second cruise, which I took in May 2012 with my mom. It was a six-day cruise where we went to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. I loved Jamaica. It was the first time I went zip-lining (I’ve been four more times!) and I still think Mystic Mountain in Ochos Rios has the best zip-lining course. Not only do you get to take an air tram through the rainforest to get to the mountain, but there are so many fun lines and the tour guides are exceptional.

We also did a bike ride through Key West where neither of us got injured (truly a feat!) and had a fun dolphin encounter in Grand Cayman. We really lived it up with the excursions! The ship was also pretty nice, and we had a really fun dinner group.

If I were going to do a cruise, which company would you recommend and why?

While I have yet to do a cruise on this cruise line, I would recommend Virgin Voyages. First of all, these cruises are for adults only. If you don’t want to be surrounded by screaming kids and babies, then this is the cruise line for you. Second, the food is supposed to be way better. On a typical cruise ship (like Carnival or Royal Caribbean), you go to a dining room for dinner where you select food from a limited menu (or you can go to the buffet). On Virgin, it’s all restaurants, baby! You can choose from a handful of different cuisines depending on your mood (they also offer room service for those nights you just want to take it easy). I believe they also offer helpful discounts for solo travelers, too!

I’ve had multiple friends cruise on Virgin and they are total converts that it’s the only way to cruise. My mom and I plan to book a Virgin cruise this year so I can give firsthand knowledge of what I think very soon!

And Nicole had some bookish questions for me.

What are your top five favourite books of all time, as an adult? What about as a child?

Nicole, this is such a cruel question but I am going to try my best to answer it. These are not in any particular order and I am certain I’m going to be mad at myself for not including so-and-so book as I look back on this post, but here we go:

• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – I want everyone I know to read this book.
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – Ditto. Such a powerful story.
• Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed – I’ve reread this one a few times because the advice means so much to me.
• This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – Ughhh, I just couldn’t get enough of this book!
• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – I have to include at least one romance novel on this list, and this one is my all-time fave.

Now, as a child, I was not reading great fiction. I read a lot of series with my favorites being The Baby-Sitter’s Club and Sweet Valley, of course. (I tried reading a Sweet Valley book a couple of years ago and hoo boy, it did not stand the test of time.) Other favorites included the American Girl series and the Dear America series, which probably fueled my love for historical fiction. I read a bit of Nancy Drew and Goosebumps. Oh, and my foray into romance novels definitely started with the Love Stories series. Does anyone remember those? Gah, I was obsessed with them and I remember the teen room at my library having one of those plastic spinning book displays with all of their trade paperbacks shoved into every nook and cranny. I loved those books and would reread them over and over again. I also read a lot of Christian series books like Christy Miller and the Mandie books.

My mom tried to get me to read at least one biography every month or so, and I remember tearing through biographies about the Magnificent Seven (the 1996 women’s gymnastics team) and Tara Lipinski/Michelle Kwan. I was also enthralled with Clara Barton for some reason.

What is the least appropriate book you ever read when you were young? (thinking about this as I am going to reread Flowers in the Attic, which I read at about age 11 or 12)

I remember there was an afternoon where I was at my great-grandma’s house and I must have been feeling unwell because I was cooped up in her bedroom. Somehow, I found a very raunchy romance novel that involved a woman giving birth on the side of the road and a very nice hunky man being there to help her. It was my first-ever romance novel and I don’t even remember how old I was when I read it (probably no more than 12). There were definitely some explicit sex scenes in that book that I was not supposed to be reading (and it also shocked me that my prim and proper great-grandma had these kinds of books on hand!), but wowwww, did I want to read more of these books!

If you’ve been on a Virgin Voyages cruise, do you have any further insight for Kyria? Did you read any inappropriate-for-your-age books when you were young?

During NaBloPoMo in November, I asked you guys to send me questions to answer. Annnd… I answered just a handful of questions and promptly forget to answer the rest. My bad! Today, I’m answering the questions that Engie submitted to my form.

Which cat is your favorite?

I refuse to answer this question! Both cats are my favorites for very different reasons. Eloise is my Velcro Kitty who never leaves my side, sleeps in between my legs (or on top of me) at night, and will let me pick her up and kiss her face. She’s also much easier to get into a carrier! But damn, sometimes I’m like, “Girl, can you not sit right in front of my keyboard all day long? Can I have some SPACE?!” (But then when she does give me space, I miss her.)

I feel so honored to be chosen by Lila. She does not give her love easily or freely (it’s only in the last few months that she’s even allowed my mom to pet her). She does not let me pick her up and is a straight-up menace to get into a carrier. But when she wants to give me love, oh boy, is it the absolute sweetest thing in the world. I will literally drop everything I’m doing when she jumps up on the couch and shows me her belly or head-butts my hand when I’m trying to work.

They are both my favorites because they are two very different cats with their own personalities, and I am obsessively in love with them.

Are you going to stay in Florida (after the hurricanes, election, etc.)?

I have no plans to leave Florida. It’s not exactly easy to uproot one’s entire life and move to an entirely different state, and I have no desire to do so. My family is here, my friends are here, my community is here. I love Florida, even though our politics suck (I am grateful to live in a blue area of a red state, though!). And while last year’s hurricane season was a difficult one, it was the first time in the 37 years I’ve lived in Florida that we’ve really had to contend with hurricane damage and loss. And even though my car flooded and I had to go through the rigamarole of the insurance process, it wasn’t nearly as terrible as the loss other people are experiencing. Will my tune change if our hurricane seasons get worse? For sure. But for now, I’m staying put in Florida.

What are you looking for in a life partner?

I want someone who is kind and will go out of their way to treat people well. I want someone who will do little things to make my life better, whether that’s picking up a treat for me because they know I’ll love it or making a call that I don’t want to make. I want someone who is liberal and happy to discuss politics with me. I want someone who is ambitious in whatever way that looks like for them, whether that’s ambitious with their career or their personal goals or their relationships. I want someone who has hobbies and invests time in the things they like to do. They don’t have to be a reader, but that would be a bonus. I want someone who feels like home, who pushes me to be better, and who is willing to have deep conversations about personality types.

What’s a dealbreaker in your dating life?

Trump supporters. Republicans in general. Smokers. People with kids. People who are allergic to cats. Apolitical people.

I have more than a few, it seems.

What book do you recommend to non-readers to get them to like reading?

Hmm, this is hard. Can I tell you something? I don’t believe that everyone needs to be a reader. While it’s my favorite hobby, I’m A-OK with people finding other ways to fill their time. However, I do think that, many times, people who think they don’t like reading just haven’t found the right book. And for those people who may want to dip their toes into the reading waters, I might recommend:

• A great romance that’s not too spicy and has some depth, like one of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s earlier novels (I’m partial to One True Loves personally)
• A propulsive thriller they can’t put down, like maybe one of TJ Newman’s books (her debut, Falling, is excellent) or Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
• A fascinating memoir like Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad or The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
• Or maybe I’d just shove Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi in their hands since it’s one of my all-time favorite books

What’s your go-to book recommendation? If you have burning questions for me, fill out my form!