Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.15.26)

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes (★★★☆☆ 1/2)

Print • Owned • Mystery • 2023

Short synopsis: At a secretive academy where aspiring killers learn the art of the perfect murder, students must prove their worth by eliminating someone they believe deserves to die—and escaping justice in the process.

The premise of this book is rather morbid, but I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover and inventive concept. In this story, we follow three students at McMasters Conservatory, a secretive academy where students learn how to commit the perfect murder. Each of them has a compelling reason for wanting their target dead, which made me invested in seeing how their plans would unfold. I especially enjoyed the first half of the novel and all the darkly fun “private boarding school for murderers” vibes. Unfortunately, the second half of the book lost me a bit. Once the students left the school and began carrying out their murder plots in the real world, the writing started to feel overly explanatory. Time and time again, the author would give us a great scene—one of the students disguising themselves to fool a security guard, for example—and then immediately explain it afterward to be like, “Hey guys, this was X character, not a weird old lady! Totally fooled you, didn’t I?” It was so frustrating. If someone misses a detail, that’s one thing, but repeatedly spelling everything out took away some of the fun of piecing things together myself. It’s a shame because I really loved the setup and was hoping this would become a new mystery series to binge. Meh.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (★★★☆☆ 1/2)

Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2025

Short synopsis: Four dissatisfied sixties-era housewives form a book club turned sisterhood that will hold fast amid the turmoil of a rapidly changing world and alter the course of each of their lives.

I think this book might have been a DNF for me in print, so I’m glad I picked it up on audio. The first half is slow and meandering, and watching these women navigate their miserable lives was, to put it bluntly, super depressing. While I appreciated the story’s exploration of women’s limited options in the 1960s, the author occasionally came across as a little too determined to make her point, spelling out injustices rather than trusting readers to connect the dots. For example, there’s a whole scene about one of the women trying to open a bank account and getting outraged when she needs her husband to sign off on it. I KNOW THIS IS SHITTY! But… isn’t it something she would have known? Why is she so surprised? I think the scene could have been more impactful if we had seen all the ways this character skirted the system to get a bank account without her husband knowing. That said, I enjoyed seeing these women gradually find more agency in their lives, even if some of the biggest changes came from their husbands’ choices rather than their own. What ultimately won me over was the friendship at the heart of the story. The sisterhood felt genuine, messy, and supportive, and it was easily the book’s strongest element. It’s not exactly a book I would recommend, but if you love a good friendship story, you might enjoy this one.

Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane (★★★☆☆ 1/2)

Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Contemporary Fiction • 2025

Short synopsis: When rival journalists Bel and Connor are forced to pose as a lovestruck couple while chasing a career-making scoop, their fake romance starts blurring into something far more real.

Do yourself a favor and don’t go into this expecting a cutesy contemporary romance novel. While the fake-dating setup is front and center in the marketing, this is really a work of contemporary fiction centered on Bel’s investigation into a powerful politician accused of sexually harassing young interns. It’s also about Connor is grappling with the aftermath of a five-year relationship, while Bel is dealing with a stalker ex, so there’s no shortage of drama. I just wanted more from Connor and Bel. They had such cute banter and sizzling chemistry, and I was so disappointed that nothing substantial happened between them until the final chapter. (Even then, they only had a very chaste kiss.) As I got closer and closer to the end of the book with no resolution about Bel and Connor’s relationship, I started wondering if there was a sequel where they finally got together. The ending felt abrupt and unsatisfying. I don’t think McFarlane is the author for me! But if you love a closed-door romance or fiction that has a very light romantic touch, then I would recommend this book.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.8.26)

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: Jess, who has spent years hiding her family’s ties to a notorious con man, finds her carefully constructed life upended when her younger sister, Tegan, and the creators of a hit podcast set out to find their missing mother.

I think the audiobook experience hampered my enjoyment of this novel because I really didn’t like the narrators. The book alternates between Jess’s and Adam’s perspectives, and while neither narrator worked for me, Adam’s was especially distracting because he sounded nothing like the sexy hero I imagined. Maybe that’s shallow of me, but it made it harder to get invested in the story. Even beyond the narration, I found the central mystery surprisingly dull, and I’m not entirely convinced Kate Clayborn has ever listened to a true crime podcast (the podcast snippets, especially, didn’t feel believable to me). The romance didn’t really work for me, either. “Instalove” is one of my least-favorite tropes, and this novel solidifies why I dislike it so much. Jess and Adam had known each other for all of two weeks before they were suddenly in love and willing to completely upend their lives for each other. It all felt a little too convenient without the emotional depth I look for in my romances.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2021

Short synopsis: The Year is 1883, and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

These novels are a balm to my soul, truly. Emma M. Lion has become such a dear friend to me. She is both witty and so much fun, but then there’s also this darkness to her as she has suffered an unimaginable loss recently (before the journals began) and is still grieving and coming to terms with what that means for her life. In this volume, Emma finds out that there is going to be a funeral that she knows she must attend, even though it is going to be one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to do. I loved every bit of this novel, even the sad parts, and most especially the continued storyline involving Emma and a potential love interest. Ooh, it’s just so sweet! I want to take my time working through these novels, but I also don’t want to listen to anything else!

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (★★★☆☆ 1/2)

Print • Owned (Target) • Contemporary Romance • 2025

Short synopsis: Maya, a struggling grad student, gets more than she bargained for when a destination wedding in Sicily forces her into close quarters with her brother’s older best friend, Conor—the successful biotech entrepreneur she’s secretly loved for years.

I had a tough time rating this one. On the one hand, it was sweet, heartfelt, and set against the backdrop of a destination wedding in Sicily. What’s not to love?! I also adored Maya, who was spunky, confident, and always willing to ask for what she wanted. On the other hand, this romance tested my patience. I don’t love a slow-burn romance, and this one was frustrating. I did not need hundreds of pages of Conor insisting that his attraction to Maya was wrong. Sir, we get it. The age gap (23 and 38) didn’t bother me nearly as much as Conor himself, who came across as rude, overly serious, and married to his job. The amount of work calls and meetings happening during what was supposed to be a vacation gave me secondhand stress. By the end, I wasn’t convinced Maya couldn’t do better. While I enjoyed the setting, the humor, and Maya’s character growth, Conor was just too much of a killjoy for me to fully buy into the romance.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

May Reading Wrap-Up

Books Read

(5/6) Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Spotify, 2026) – two women, one alibi, and one dead husband… an engaging thriller that kept me on my toes

(5/6) This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Book of the Month, 2026) – thrillers about podcasts are becoming quite the trope these days, and I’m such a sucker for them

(5/7) The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore (★★☆☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2023) – a woman inherits a coffee shop and somehow makes the best coffee ever, even though she’s never been any sort of barista. k.

(5/14) Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson (★★★★★ – audiobook, Libby, 2023) – a must-read for Heather Cox Richardson fans, all about how we have been slowly veering toward authoritarianism for a long time

(5/18) We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (★★★★★ – e-book, Libby, 2023) – the sweetest m/m romance set in 1950s NYC, involving a reporter and the man who will inherit the newspaper where he works

(5/23) James by Percival Everett (★★★★★ – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2024) – subversive, brilliantly written, and a new addition to my all-time favorites shelf

(5/26) The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (★★★☆☆ – audiobook, Libby, 2024) – I should have read this in print because the audiobook narrators were terrible

(5/30) The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower (★★★★★ – audiobook, Hoopla, 2021) – delightful, sweet, and full of heart… these novels make me so happy!

(5/30) Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, Target, 2025) – slow-burn romances are not my jam, and this one was super frustrating most of the time

(5/31) Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2023) – the first half of this book was so good and the second half was so bad… such a disappointment!

Book Stats

  • # of books read: 10
  • # of pages read: 3,444
  • Genre breakdown: romance (4), mystery/thriller (3), fiction (2), nonfiction (1)
  • Format breakdown: print (5), audiobook (4), and ebook (1)
  • Fastest read: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (4 days)
  • Slowest read: James (15 days)
  • Biggest reading day: May 22, 2026 (158 pages read, 2 hours of audiobook listening)
  • Star average: 4

Superlatives

  • The best book I read in May: James by Percival Everett
  • My favorite romance in May: We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
  • The book I thought I would love more than I did: Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
  • The best audiobook experience: The Unselected Journals by Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower
  • The book that felt like AI wrote it: Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Reading Miscellaneous

Unread Shelf Project | May prompt: A book that won an award: To be honest, I put this category on this list just so I had a reason to read James by Percival Everett, and didn’t let it languish on my bookshelf any longer. It was great and deserves all the accolades!

Where I traveled this month (in my books): In the United States, I visited California, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri, NYC, and Maryland. I also traveled down the Mississippi River with James and took a road trip along the East Coast. I took a summer trip to Italy for a destination wedding. And, of course, I spent some time in England with my beloved Emma M. Lion!

DNFs: I had two DNFs this month: Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli and The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskes. The first one I DNF-ed at 40 pages because I wasn’t enjoying the writing. This is more of a “me” thing, and I think I might enjoy it if I were in a different headspace. I DNF-ed The Quiet Librarian around 150 pages because I wasn’t enjoying myself and didn’t feel any connection to the characters. 

Something I learned from my reading: I learned some very clever ways of poisoning someone you want to kill, thanks to Murder Your Employer. Thankfully, I have an outsized fear of being in trouble with authority figures and a respect for human life, so I will not be applying this knowledge in any way.

What’s Coming Up in June

Here are some of the books I’m going to try to get around to reading in June:

  • Good People by Patmeena Sabit – I’m reading this book right now! It’s excellent so far.
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – I’m going to try this book as part of my annual goal to read four books from the Zero to Well Read podcast. During the episode, they mentioned that this book was written as short stories, but it wasn’t marketed that way. So I’m going to attempt to read one chapter/story a day and see if that makes the book more palatable to me.
  • The Book Club of Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick – This is our book club pick for June. Feels appropriate for us!
  • The Kiss Quotient by Helen Huang – I’m slowly rereading some of my most-favorite romances, and this is one I read and loved many years ago. I can’t wait to sit down with it again!

What was the best book you read in May? 

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.1.26)

We did it, baby! I have a Five-Star Trifecta for you today, and these books couldn’t be more different from each other!

Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Libby • Nonfiction • 2023

Short synopsis: From historian and author of the popular daily newsletter Letters From an American, a vital narrative that explains how America, once a beacon of democracy, now teeters on the brink of autocracy — and how we can turn back.

I’ve been reading Richardson’s daily newsletter since the start of the second Trump presidency, and it has been a balm to my soul. She has such an accessible writing style, and I love the way she continually ties back what’s happening right now with our past. Shit’s been messy for a long time! This book was released in 2023 after the first Trump presidency, and it starts with everything that happened during that time and the impact it had on our society as a whole. Then, she brings you all the way back to the founding of the U.S. to explain how we got to where we are today. It’s not just because of Trump, but due to a system that was set up to slowly veer us toward authoritarianism. This book was excellent, and I think Heather Cox Richardson is one of the most important voices today.

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (★★★★★)

E-Book • Libby • Historical Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: When a closeted reporter, Nick, is tasked with babysitting the bumbling heir, Andy, to a newspaper dynasty, an unlikely friendship blossoms into a forbidden romance that could cost them both everything in 1950s New York.

This book was the goddamn sweetest. Essentially, it’s a friends-to-lovers romance, but there’s also this coming-of-age element as Andy realizes he’s queer as he begins falling for his best friend. The setting was perfection, and you can really feel the grittiness of 1950s NYC and the very real consequences of being queer during that time. There’s a beautiful found family aspect to the story, along with some surprisingly affirming support from family members you might not expect. And how the love blossomed between Andy and Nick! I was basically a puddle of mush. They were so goddamn cute together, and I spent the entire book rooting for them to get their happy ending because they truly deserved it. Beyond the romance, there’s plenty going on. Nick is investigating a story about corrupt cops while grappling with the fact that his own brother is a police officer, and Andy is trying to learn the newspaper business before taking over from his father. All of these elements work together so well, creating a rich, layered story that never lost sight of the romance at the heart of it. I loved this novel so much, and was a little sad to say goodbye to Andy and Nick when I finished it.

James by Percival Everett (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Literary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Recasting a familiar American tale through Jim’s eyes, this novel follows an enslaved man’s desperate quest for freedom and family as he journeys down the Mississippi River with Huck Finn.

This book was straight-up brilliant. When I finished it, I just stared off into space for about 10 minutes, thinking about the plot and all the ways Everett plays with our assumptions about enslaved people. It’s deeply subversive, especially in how it explores the trope of the uneducated enslaved person. In this novel, James—and many of the other enslaved characters—are constantly code-switching to protect themselves: speaking with proper grammar around one another and adopting a simplified dialect around white people. As James himself says in the book, “White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them.” Juxtaposing this with the way many Black people today code-switch in the opposite direction, yet often for the same reason—protection—is masterful storytelling.

This isn’t exactly a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I barely remember anyway. Instead, it gives Jim agency, history, and a voice. It reminds us that the stories we tell about history rarely capture the full scope of human experience because they’re often told from the perspective of white people. James challenges us to reconsider what we think we know about enslaved people and the assumptions we’ve absorbed from generations of storytelling. More than anything, this novel is a reminder that every person has an inner life. They have people who love them, ideas worth fighting for, dreams for the future, and a history worth remembering.

I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did because award winners don’t typically work for me. But Percival Everett is a phenomenal storyteller, and every accolade this book has received feels well deserved. This is a must-read.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.26.26)

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Spotify • Thriller • 2026

Short synopsis: When a troubled woman impersonates a wealthy socialite for one night so they can each uncover the dangerous secrets surrounding the socialite’s husband, the plan spirals into chaos after he’s found murdered and only one of them has an alibi.

I had such a good time with this thriller! Aubrey and Camille were fantastic main characters, and I loved their strange partnership. Thrillers don’t always give you characters you genuinely want to root for, but I was fully invested in both of them. The story had lots of great twists, and I never felt completely sure who to trust or whether I was dealing with an unreliable narrator. (The author played with the “unreliable narrator” trope in such an interesting way!) The novel dealt with some heavy themes, including domestic abuse, grief, and corruption, in the midst of trying to find out who murdered Camille’s husband, and it did it all without slowing down the story. The ending was a standout for me, tying back to the core of the story in such a unique, fascinating way. I loved it!

This Story May Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2026

Short synopsis: When a beloved podcast host discovers his co-host and her husband missing alongside a cryptic memoir draft, he must unravel their hidden secrets while evading suspicion himself before their real-life survival story turns deadly.

I had such a weird reading experience with this book because I genuinely couldn’t decide if it was genius or completely ridiculous. (I’m leaning towards genius.) I found myself staring into space after finishing it, trying to process what I’d read. The writing really stood out to me, especially how distinct Joy’s memoir excerpts felt from the rest of the book. The excerpts were noticeably less polished and a little more pedestrian, which was likely an intentional contrast that worked really well for me. I also loved Benny and Joy as main characters; Benny, in particular, was lovable and easy to root for, while Joy balanced him out perfectly. Joy’s severe narcolepsy added another layer that made the story feel unique, and I thought the author did a great job exploring how deeply a condition like that can shape someone’s life. While the podcast angle is starting to feel a bit overdone in thrillers, this one managed to feel fresh enough to stand out, and the ending totally caught me off guard! Overall, it felt like something new for the genre, and I think this is a book I can safely recommend to thriller lovers.

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore (★★☆☆☆ 1/2)

Print • Owned (from a friend) • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: After inheriting the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the cozy small town of Dream Harbor, optimistic city girl Jeanie clashes with grumpy local farmer Logan—only to find unexpected sparks brewing between them.

This book felt like it was written by AI. There was just something… disingenuous about it? None of the characters felt real, and neither did the town of Dream Harbor. (Please tell me how a cafe and a bakery can be sustainable in a small town.) It all felt a little too cutesy and unrealistic. And maybe that was the point? Maybe Laurie Gilmore just wanted to create a town that would never exist in the real world, and that’s okay. It just didn’t work for me. I wanted more realness from the characters, and I really wanted to feel the spark between Jeanie and Logan, but the whole book left me feeling deflated. Somehow, I have more books in this series on my bookshelf (gifted to me), so I’ll probably try to read another one to see if the writing improves. But this book has a 3.36 rating on Goodreads, and I can definitely understand why.

What are you reading?