Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (2.12.24)

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Fiction • 2022

Short synopsis: Lora Ricci is an aspiring writer living in NYC and working a dream internship at ELLE magazine. When she meets the dynamic and charismatic Cat Wolff, she’s immediately taken by her. Then, Cat asks Lora to be a ghostwriter for her and it feels like all of Lora’s dreams are coming true.

This was my favorite book of January and it’s hard to talk about this book without giving everything away. Here’s what I’ll say: First, I want to reread this book immediately to figure out all the little clues that I totally missed my first time around. Second, I think this book was genius and so very clever! Third, a lot of people compare this to the Anna Delvey story, which I admittedly know very little about (Inventing Anna is still on my to-be-watched list!) so I can’t say if this comparison is accurate. I can understand why some people didn’t like it (Lora’s voice could be so grating at times), but it completely worked for me. Give this one a try, please, so we can discuss it! (I listened to it on audio but I would recommend picking it up in print because there are lots of emails/texts and audiobook productions still haven’t figured out an easy way for those types of things to be read aloud.)

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: After Jacob makes a startling bad first impression with his new work colleague, Briana, he decides to send her a letter to explain himself and offer a new impression. This begins a series of letters that go back and forth, and the start of a strong friendship that begins to feel like something more.

THIS BOOK, YOU GUYS. This book was immediately placed on my “favorites” shelf the minute I finished it. This book touched me in so many ways. First, there’s Jacob who suffers from social anxiety (hence why he made such a bad first impression). The way this author explained social anxiety and the way it affects people was perfection. I felt like she was inside my brain, from stressing out over what to have for lunch when you’re meeting someone for the first time to needing all of the logistics explained when you’re going somewhere unfamiliar. And then there’s Briana. Now, I have my own Briana and the way this Briana was written is exactly the way my Bri cares for me and my social anxiety. She offers to drive us places, she gives me the logistics, she makes sure to choose places for dinner where I won’t be uncomfortable. She doesn’t make me feel crazy or make me feel like I’m a burden. She loves me, so she wants me to be comfortable in social situations. And that’s the way the Briana in this book cared for Jacob. Once she learned he struggles with social anxiety, she did whatever she could to help him feel comfortable. She took care of Jacob in a way that he had never been taken care of before, and man, it was so sweet. It is the ultimate gift to be treated that way.

There were other reasons why this book worked so well for me. I loved Briana’s character arc and storyline—she’s going through a divorce and trying to find her brother a kidney donor while he’s struggling with severe depression. She’s struggling and while she has to do a lot of internal work on her own to get to a place where she can accept Jacob’s love, she’s also cared for by him in a way she hasn’t been cared for before.

All in all, it was a sweet and impactful romance novel and I loved it so much. It’ll be hard to knock this one off my #1 romance for the year, which is crazy to say when we’re only two months into the year!

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline are four sisters close in age and growing up in a Chicago suburb. As they prepare to graduate high school and college in the early 1980s, their lives are upended in a way that has reverberations for decades to come.

The hype is real with this one! I cracked open this book knowing that it has become a beloved book for so many readers, and I had hoped to love it just as much as they did. And, thankfully, I did! There is so much happening in this book; there are strong themes of family, found family, and regret woven throughout the pages. I tend to love novels that follow a family over a course of a lifetime, and this one did exactly that. I also loved that a good portion of this book took place in the 1980s—these women were coming of age around the same time as my mom, so it was interesting to get a glimpse into what life was like for her. A review mentioned that nobody was likable in this book, and I couldn’t disagree more! There were so many likable characters, so many people I was rooting for. The only one I had a hard time with was Julia, the eldest daughter, but it was more that I just wanted her to make different choices, even though I could understand why she was making the choices she did. All in all, this book has beautiful writing and an engaging plot. While it is a character-driven novel, I felt like the plot moved along at a steady pace and I wanted to see what would happen next for this family.

What are you reading?                                                              

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.31.24)

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: Cassandra’s life seemed like it was going fine… until she was dumped by her boyfriend and then fired from her job the next day. And then she discovers she can rewind time and fix her past mistakes. 

I love a good time travel book and when I saw a friend rated this book 5 stars—a friend whose taste generally aligns with mine—I added it to my TBR list and was pleased when it was available as an immediate audiobook download on Libby. This book starts out rough. Cassandra is unlikable and frustrating, and it felt like the plot was going nowhere for the longest time. If I was reading it in print, I probably would have abandoned it honestly. But since I could just dip in and out of it on audio while I was doing other things, I kept going and boy, I am so glad I did. The book turns a corner and I started to understand the point that the author was trying to make with this book. I started to understand Cassandra. She became as dear to me as Anne Shirley. She is someone I want to protect at all costs and keep safe. She is a beautiful soul whose brain just works a bit differently than other people. This book is a reminder to celebrate everyone’s differences and to embrace our own. It’s a reminder that we’re all just doing our best and it doesn’t hurt to give people the benefit of the doubt from time to time. I thought the time travel element was interesting, but at times, it could feel a little tired and redundant. And I wish the author had given us a different ending. But all in all, a lovely story with a great message.

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Indie bookstore) • Queer Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Iris Kelly has just had the worst one-night stand of her life and never expects to see her hookup again—until she auditions for a local play and comes face-to-face with her. Stevie is the lead actress in the play and asks Iris to be her fake girlfriend for the duration of the play. Iris goes along with it for her own reasons and their fake relationship starts to feel more and more real with each passing day.

Gosh, I really loved this romance. Ashley Herring Blake is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me because I just love the way she writes sapphic romance. I loved the relationship between Stevie and Iris, and the way their romance slowly developed in such a beautifully natural way. One of the big throughlines in this novel is Stevie’s anxiety disorder, and it’s something I could wholly relate to as someone with anxiety and who can really struggle with it when it comes to romantic relationships. At times, the way the author wrote about Stevie’s anxiety felt heavy-handed but mostly, I thought the depiction was true to life. The only thing that would make AHB a standout is if she threw out the dark moment—so many romance authors think it’s necessary, but I think there’s something special when an author can create tension and conflict in their romance novels without it (looking at you, Lucy Parker!). This is an open-door romance with some very spicy scenes, so be forewarned!

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Indie bookstore) • Mystery • 1934

Short synopsis: The Orient Express is on its way to its destination until it gets stopped by a blizzard. Then, things come to a crashing halt when it’s discovered that one train passenger was stabbed to death in his compartment. Thankfully, detective Hercule Poirot is there to solve the murder before anyone else is found dead.

I loved this mystery! My goal with these mysteries is to not judge them against anything else or the mysteries of today. Christie was one of the originators and all future mysteries draw from her, not the other way around. And by doing that, I found myself really, really enjoying myself and I sped through this short book (it’s under 275 pages!) last weekend. I loved the cast of characters, the “locked room” effect of a stalled-out train car during a blizzard, and I truly had no idea who could have been the murderer. I thought it was a cleverly told story with an ending I didn’t see coming. I’m going to watch the movie adaptation next, so I’ll report back my thoughts.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.22.24)

White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Spotify • Nonfiction • 2021

Short synopsis: Mainstream feminism has long been defined by parameters dictated and sanctioned by the white women they most benefit. In White Feminism, Koa Beck details the conventions that marginalized genders have needed to adopt to be recognized and exposes how they have been overlooked to champion a different feminist narrative.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s both a history of feminism and a call to action, reminding us of all the ways white women have failed to recognize the plight of our BIPOC community when standing up for feminist causes. I felt convicted at times and astounded at others, and feel a renewed vigor to have an intersectional worldview especially when it comes to feminism. I really appreciate Koa Beck for writing this book and being so brutally honest about white feminism and the danger it can pose. It’s not an easy read, but it was an important one for me to read.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (★★★☆☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2020

Short synopsis: Quinn and Minnie are born on New Year’s Eve, in the same hospital, one minute apart. Their lives may begin together, but their worlds couldn’t be more different. Thirty years later they find themselves together again in the same place, at the same time. What if fate is trying to bring them together?

We picked this book for our January book club and I was really looking forward to it. It had a cute premise, so I settled in for a sweet, romantic story. Unfortunately, that’s not what I got. Instead, the story was slow and hard to follow at times because we kept dipping back and forth in time. I did love the characterization of Minnie and being in a place where she feels like a disappointment and keeps trying to move forward in life, only to keep falling backward. She was so relatable to me. I thought Quinn was one-dimensional and, quite frankly, a bit of a jerk and Minnie deserved better. It’s not a book I’d recommend, but I was the contrarian opinion in book club so you may enjoy it as much as they did!

The Honest Enneagram: Know Your Type, Embrace Your Challenges, Embrace Your Growth by Sarajane Case (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Amazon) • Nonfiction • 2020

Short synopsis: Find a way to bring out the best in yourself with this heartfelt, informative, and approachable guide to all things Enneagram.

Learning everything I can about the Enneagram is a niche interest of mine, so I bought Sarajane Case’s book on a whim and finally cracked it open this month. It’s a beautiful book filled with gorgeous illustrations and really simple explanations of each Enneagram type. She goes into the characteristics of each type, their wings and lines and subtypes, and then talks you through some of the ways you can better embrace who you are and find ways to grow by knowing your Enneagram type. I found it an approachable, easy to digest collection, and if you want to know more about the Enneagram, (or even just your type specifically!), pick up this book.

What are you reading?

Categories: Best Of, Books

Best of 2023 | Reading Stats

Hi, friends! I’m finally finishing up my “Best of 2023” series… in mid-January. This is the latest I’ve ever been writing these posts, so I hope you will indulge me in one more look back on my reading year with my reading stats post. As a reminder, I keep a very detailed spreadsheet (which I’m happy to send to anyone who wants it!), which helps me put this post together. The spreadsheet lists out the book title, author, page count, my rating, when I started and finished a book, and other details like if it’s a debut, if it’s diverse, where I sourced the book from, etc.

Now, let’s dive into what my 2023 reading year looked like!

Nitty-Gritty Details

  • Number of books read: 117 (-7 from 2022)
  • Number of pages read: 40,435 (-2,364 from 2022)
  • Money spent on books I read this year: $374.81 (-$50.18). This amounts to $3.20 per book.
  • Percentage of books by and about BIPOC and the LGBTQIA+ community: 30, or 26% (-12% from 2022—ugh)
  • Number of books abandoned: 14 (-1 from 2022)

Format Breakdown

This was so interesting to me because while my print reading didn’t change too much from 2022 to 2023 (+2.3%), my audiobook reading came in second place for the first time ever! It bumped up from 22.6% to 30.8%! And my e-book reading went down over 10% from 2022. Crazy!

Genre Breakdown

Genre Percentage Average Rating
Romance 32% 3.6
General Fiction 22% 4.0
Thriller 15% 4.1
Nonfiction 15% 4.0
Historical Fiction 9% 3.8
YA 4% 3.6
Fantasy 1% 3.0

Romance was once again my highest-read category—but down 1% from 2022 and my average rating was down .2 from 2022! A 3.6 rating is not great for me. General fiction was way up (9%!) although the average rating came down (from 4.7 in 2022, which is an astonishingly high rating). Thrillers were up 4% and the rating came down .1 from 2022—not too bad, there. Nonfiction came down 3% and the rating also came down by .2. Historical fiction went up by 1% but the better news is that I picked much better historical fiction novels in 2023—my rating was up .8 from 2022! Another surprising stat was YA. My percentage came down 12% (!) and my rating also came down by .5. It was not the year of YA for me, it seems. And finally, I only read one fantasy book this year, which I gave 3 stars.

Source Breakdown

Even though I love buying books, I’m pleased to see that I’m still getting over half of my reads from the library. (I get almost all of my audiobooks from the library and most of the romances I read.) My second most popular source was Amazon, but that percentage was down 5% from 2022. Book of the Month (BOTM) and indie bookstores were both up 2%, which was good to see. Target was down by .6%. And some of the smaller categories include Barnes & Noble, gifted books, Thriftbooks, and Spotify.

Month Breakdown

Pretty stable throughout the year! The most books I read in a month was 11 (January, July, August, and November) and the least was 8 (September, October). I’m guessing football is the reason my reading went down so much in September/October. I try to read while I’m watching the games, but I’m not always successful so that removes a whole day from my reading schedule.

Ratings Breakdown

 

I read a lot of 4- and 5-star books this year—almost 72% of the books I read! And that’s up 3% from 2022! However, my 5-star ratings decreased by 7.3% while my 4-star ratings increased by 10.4% (!!). My 3-star ratings decreased by 6.1% while my 2-star ratings increased by 3%. So maybe I felt more comfortable rating books 2 stars rather than giving them 3 stars? And maybe I also had a hard time giving a book that 5-star designation so I opted for 4 stars. This year, I want to track the half-stars I give a book so we’ll see how that shakes things out in 2024.

Days to Read

I don’t read fast these days and that’s because I’m usually reading multiple books at one time, and I’m very slow with my audiobook reading. (They have to compete with podcasts so I generally only listen to 1-2 hours of my audiobook per day.) This chart is about on par with what I did in 2022.

New Release vs. Backlist

I’m about 50/50 on my new release vs backlist books! I used to read a lot more backlist, but things keep trending toward more new release books every year. In 2023, my new release reading went up by 4.2%. Between 2022 and 2023, my new release reading went up by 10%!

Odds and Ends

  • Oldest book (by pub date): A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1947)
  • Newest book (by pub date): The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (October 24, 2023)
  • Author I read the most: Julia Quinn (3)
  • Book I spent the most money on: Happy Place by Emily Henry and The 1619 Project ($23)
  • Time spent listening to audiobooks: 345 hours, 41 minutes (which is 55 hours, 31 minutes more than last year!)
  • Longest book: America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray (606 pages)
  • Shortest book: Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham (183 pages)
  • Book that took me the longest to read: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (65 days)
Categories: Best Of, Books

Best of 2023 | My Favorite Reads

Ah, it’s finally time for my favorite “Best of” posts—the reading recaps! Today, I’m revealing some of my favorite reads of 2023. I break this post into three sections: My overall favorites (which includes my #1 book of the year!), my favorites by genre, and some superlatives (I got most of these categories from Sarah’s Book Shelves yearly superlatives episode). I want to note that these books are the ones I read in 2023—they were not necessarily published in 2023. This is a long post, so let’s dive in!

Overall Favorites

Favorite Overall Book

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres-Sanchez – When I think about my favorite overall book of the year, I think about the book that impacted me the most. What’s the book I can’t stop thinking about? What’s the book I want everyone to read? In 2023, We Are Not From Here is that book. This is a hard, heavy book about three Guatemalan kids who make the arduous journey to the U.S. border, and it is a book that taught me so much. It taught me about the light and darkness that is in people, what our immigrants go through to get to the border, and how we as a country need to do so much better for them. It’s not an easy book, but it will be impactful.

Favorite Fiction

Falling by T.J. Newman – This book came so very close to being my favorite of the year. It was such a unique, fast-moving story that was so hard to put down! This is not a book for anyone who gets nervous about flying because it’s about a pilot who starts a flight and then finds out his family has been taken hostage. To save his family, he must crash the plane. I loved this book and I cannot believe it is Newman’s debut and that she wrote while she was working as a flight attendant! I could never. I loved Newman’s follow-up, Drowning, almost as much as this one. I haven’t flown since reading these books, so we’ll see how I feel about them the next time I have to step foot on an airplane.

Favorite Nonfiction

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – What a sensational memoir this was! I read this in early February and I’m still thinking about this book and the way George told their stories. It’s maddening at times because I just felt so sad for George and what they went through to come to terms with their queerness and coming out. I listened to this book on audio, which George narrates, and I highly recommend taking in this story that way. It made their words so much more impactful.

Favorite Romance

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld – This was such a fun romance, and I love the way it was structured. It’s about a comedy writer (Sally) working on an SNL-style show and the celebrity (Noah) who was hosting for a particular week. The first act follows the two of them as they prepare for the show, and there’s definitely some flirtiness happening. The second act happens during 2020 and Covid times; Sally is now living at home since the show is on hiatus and Noah is quarantining in Los Angeles. They exchange lots of emails during this time. And then the third act is Sally deciding to drive to see Noah, and the culmination of their romance. I thought it was an inventive way to not only tell a romance, but also a Covid-era romance. I loved it!

Favorites by Genre

Favorite Contemporary Fiction

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin – This is one of the final books I read in 2023, and I am so glad it made this list! This is a book about a girl who is just trying to survive and the people she meets along the way. I found the main character to be such an easy person to root for. I just wanted all of the best things for her. The ending made me cry happy tears, which rarely happens for me!

Runner-up: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Favorite Historical Fiction

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon – The historical fiction genre is littered with WWII novels, but I always love getting a new view of this time period from my reading. This book is a fictionalized retelling of Nancy Wake, a real-life spy during the war. The novel was fascinating and heartbreaking, and I learned a whole lot.

Runner-up: The Henna Artist by Alki Joshi

Favorite Contemporary Romance

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker – I have never been disappointed by a Lucy Parker novel and this one was no exception. It follows two employees of the royal family—a personal assistant to the princess’s husband and the head of security—and the fake relationship they have to fool the press. It’s sweet and funny and, dare I say, charming.

Runner-up: Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly

Favorite Historical Romance

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera – I didn’t read any GREAT historical romances this year, but I’m choosing this book as my favorite historical romance because I appreciated what the author tried to do with the representation elements and discussing colonialism and slavery within the novel.

Runner-up: Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

Favorite YA

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – It’s hard to put into words how much this book meant to me. It’s about a 17-year-old girl growing up in 1950s and discovering her queer identity… and the girl she falls in love with. It’s a sweet story, but also heartbreaking. I just loved it.

Runner-up: The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow

Favorite Mystery/Thriller

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister – This book was on my list to make my “Overall Favorite” of the year because it was just so good. Inventive and clever with a really excellent ending. It’s a time travel book, except a woman is traveling back in time to solve the mystery of why her son murdered a man right in front of their home.

Runner-up: A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Favorite Memoir/Essay Collection

Finding Me by Viola Davis – This memoir was exquisite. Viola Davis had a really tough life growing up and she doesn’t shy away from talking about how hard it was. It was a difficult book to read, but a beautiful one as well. This one is a must on audio, too!

Runner-Up: The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

Superlatives

The Most Disappointing DNF

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley – I loved Rowley’s previous novel The Guncle, and I had hoped his newest release would have the same magic as that book. But this one just didn’t. I tried this on audio and gave up after a few hours. I just didn’t love any of the characters and the story felt convoluted. And with its low Goodreads rating (3.67 compared to 4.15 for The Guncle), I think I made the right choice to abandon it.

The Most Disappointing Book I Read

Have I Told You This Already? Stories I Don’t Want to Forget by Lauren Graham – The reason this book was the most disappointing one I’ve read is because… it started to make me dislike Lauren Graham. Lorelei Gilmore! How can I dislike Lorelei Gilmore?! Alas, it just wasn’t a great set of essays. I think she wrote this book too soon after her breakup with Peter Krause because her signature humor just wasn’t there. I found the collection to be a bit tepid, honestly.

The Book I Was Surprised to Love

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb – Typically, I am not someone who is interested in books about classic music nor am I normally drawn to slow-burn mysteries. But I decided to give this book a shot, since so many of my trusted recommendation sources loved it. And I loved it, too! It was such a compelling story and somehow, Brendan Slocumb made me care deeply about his main character and his precious violin. I found myself on the edge of my seat until the end, and I found the ending to be particularly poignant and lovely.

The Book I Thought I Would Love More Than I Did

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker – I had such high hopes for this novel. It sounded so interesting: an oral history of the disappearance of a teenage girl and the TV docu-series that followed along. But it just didn’t work for me. It was hard to be invested in the mystery when everything was revealed early on, and some of the commentary on the true crime genre felt heavy-handed.

Most Deserving of the Hype

The Measure by Nikki Erlick – This novel came out in 2022 and I heard a lot of buzz about it, but it sat on my TBR list for a while. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a novel that had such a heavy premise. (One day, everyone finds a box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string that indicates how long—or short—your life will be.) But this book was so, so good! I loved it and highly recommend it.

Least Deserving of the Hype

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak – Gah. This book was awful. It was filled with fatphobia, which is just uncalled for in 2022 (when this book was published). And the ending was so over-the-top and fat-fetched; it didn’t work for me. It somehow won a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror in 2022 and has a 4.14 rating, which I just do not understand.

The Book I Loved That Other People Hated

If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook – This book has a 3.5-star rating on Goodreads, which is very low for Goodreads. But I really liked this novel! It’s one of those large family stories where everyone converges for an event, and we learn about the inner lives and secrets and lies of different members of the family. I thought it was a well-written, well-paced, and well-plotted book.

The Book I Hated That Other People Loved

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes – This book has a 4.3 rating on Goodreads but it’s not one that worked well for me. The writing was clunky and the book was poorly structured and way too long. I appreciated the representation elements of this book, but the rest of it didn’t work for me.

The Underrated Gem of the Year

Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer – With less than 4,000 ratings on Goodreads, this book qualifies as my underrated gem of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and so did everyone in my book club!) and thought it was such an interesting love story.

Favorite Reading Experience of the Year

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – This year, the wonderful Engie hosted our first-ever Cool Bloggers Book Club when we read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. For many of us, this was a reread and it was so much fun to read this book alongside so many other bloggers. I love this book and I loved our discussions.

What were some of your favorite books of 2023? Or, pick a superlatives category and answer it!