Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.16.22)

Happy Monday! I had a full, happy weekend that involved a puppy playdate, pool time with my mom, a 5K walk in a favorite park, a writing date with Mikaela, and finally (FINALLY!) starting Ted Lasso. Two episodes in and I am hooked. I can’t wait to watch more episodes today!

I’ve been on an abandoning streak this month and last week, I added two more books to my stack of abandoned May reads: Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey, a f/f romance that just wasn’t keeping my attention. I thought about powering through but I was so bored by the plot and annoyed by the characters so I gave it up. The other book was Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong, which I tried listening to on audio but it was just a bit too literary for my tastes.

Thankfully, the books I did keep reading were great reads: 4 or 5 stars! I guess this is why I feel no shame about abandoning books. Why read something that makes reading feel like a chore when I could be reading something that I love?!

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (★★★★☆)

This was such a fun YA thriller, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. This novel follows Stevie who has just started at Ellingham Academy, a private boarding school in Vermont for “the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.” Stevie has come to the school with one plan: to solve the cold case of what happened to the wife and daughter of the founder of Ellingham Academy—they were kidnapped in the 1930s and never heard from again. Unfortunately, midway through her investigation, someone turns up dead on campus and Stevie has a new case to solve. This novel was really fun and propulsive. I liked that the author made Stevie a bit of a bumbling “detective,” which is to be expected because she’s just a kid. I didn’t know where the story was going, which is always fun for me, and I thought the ending was pretty excellent. There’s a love story interwoven in this novel and, y’all, I’m not here for it. It seems like a love triangle might be emerging (maybe? I hope so?), and I just want Stevie to see the light because this guy ain’t it.

The Maid by Nita Prose (★★★★★)

This book has been getting all of the buzz and I’m here to say: It’s 100% warranted. This book was excellent in every sense of the word. Nita Prose created a world with fully developed characters that I couldn’t help rooting for, most especially Molly Gray, the maid at the center of the story. This book is being categorized as a thriller but it’s really so much more than that. It’s about Molly, a hotel maid who has just lost her grandma—her only family—and is trying to make it through each day as best she can. She’s a little different (maybe she’s on the spectrum?) and takes her job very seriously. One day, while cleaning the room of one of their VIP guests, she encounters a dead body in a bed and soon becomes the prime suspect. Molly completely stole my heart from the very beginning of this novel and I found myself wanting to just give her a great big hug with every terrible thing that happened. She’s such a lovely character, someone who is so true to who she is because she doesn’t know there is any other way to be. And the way other hotel staff step up to help her clear her name made me so happy. This is a thriller, yes, but it’s mostly a heartwarming story about friendship, family, grief, and being yourself no matter what. I loved it so, so much.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (★★★★☆)

I picked up this slim collection for The Unread Shelf Project’s May prompt: read the shortest book on your shelves. At just 108 pages, it fits the bill and I read this in spurts over a few days. It’s one you could probably easily breeze through in one sitting, but I liked taking my time with it. Written during the centennial anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, The Fire Next Time consists of two letters: one to his nephew and one to the American people to caution them about the reality of racism. So many times, I had to stop and take in a sentence because it was just so powerful and impactful.

“It is not too much to say that whoever wishes to become a truly moral human being (and let us not ask whether or not this is possible; I think we must believe that it is possible) must first divorce himself from all of the prohibitions, crimes, and hypocrisies of the Christian church. If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”

What I’m Reading This Week

  • All the Feels by Olivia Dade (e-book) – Olivia Dade’s romances never let me down, and I love that her female main characters are always plus-size. We need more body diversity in our romances! I’m about halfway through this romance and loving it.
  • Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Souleika Jaouad (audio) – This book is a heavy one (about a woman who gets diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer at age 22), but it’s incredibly well-written and really hard for me to put down! The audiobook is read by the author and you can really feel her emotions as she reads. This will be a 5-star read, I’m sure of it.
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (print) – I’m not sure right now is the best time to be reading this book, which takes place in the 1970s and involves a Black nurse working in a family planning clinic, but I’m going to give it a shot. I’ve heard great things about this book; I cracked it open last night, so I don’t have much to say about it just yet!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.9.22)

Well, after having a great run of five-star reads, this week was a bit of a downer one. I abandoned two books—both romances. I abandoned Feel the Heat by Kate Meader at around page 80 because it just wasn’t keeping my attention and the story felt very convoluted. I also abandond Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma at around page 70 because, y’all, the plot was so bad and the writing was not much better. Why did I get this from BOTM?! Ugh. Waste of a credit for sure.

Anyway, let’s dive into my reads this week. Hopefully, next week will be a much better one for me!

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz (★★☆☆☆)

This novel had so much potential, but it was just so poorly executed. Hazel Sinnett has one goal in life: to become a doctor. Unfortunately, that’s not the path a woman growing up in the early 1800s can take, so she has to study and learn in secret. But what she needs most are bodies—corpses—to study. Luckily, a chance encounter with a resurrection man, someone who digs up bodies for a living, will give her exactly what she needs. But resurrection men are disappearing, the threat of Roman fever looms large, and Hazel also has this pesky little issue of an almost-fiance to worry about. A book about a woman trying to become a doctor in the 1800s is a fascinating premise, but my goodness, this book was just so boring for the first 60%. If I wasn’t reading this book for book club, I would have abandoned it but I kept trucking along because I hoped it might get better. It didn’t. In fact, it just got worse until there was a twist near the end of the book that made no sense and tanked my already “blah” impression of the book. I’m going to have some Strong Feelings at book club later this month!

Yours in Scandal by Lauren Layne (★★★☆☆)

Robert is a thirty-something mayor of New York City whose term is ending. He’s trying to figure out what’s next for him. Most people assume he will try to become governor to kick out the current guy who isn’t all that great. Then his campaign manager finds out that the current governor’s daughter, Addie, is now living under a different identity. In her early twenties, she lived a wild life of partying and drinking, behavior that’s not very becoming of a politician’s daughter. In the years since, Addie has reinvented herself, and now, all she wants is to live a life far outside of politics. When Robert hires Addie’s event planning company to throw a party at his home to celebrate the end of his term, sparks fly and secrets are revealed. It’s a sweet, uncomplicated love story that didn’t really hit me in the feels like I had hoped, but I did like the political setting and watching the love grow between Addie and Robert.

What I’m Reading This Week

  • Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (audio) – I’m almost finished with this audiobook, just a few hours left to go. I’m really enjoying it!
  • The Maid by Nina Prose (print) – I just started this thriller but I’m fully invested already. The protagonist reminds me a lot of Eleanor Oliphant (from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine), and I just want to befriend her immediately.
  • Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey (e-book) – I haven’t started this f/f romance yet, but I’m looking forward to sitting down with it soon. I hope it’s a good one!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

April Reading Wrap-Up

Books Read

  • The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Book of the Month) – a popcorn thriller that had lots of great twists and turns
  • All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (★★★★★ – audiobook, Libby) – a heavy YA novel with themes of grief, mental illness, and suicide
  • The Switch by Beth O’Leary (★★★★☆ – e-book, Libby) – a sweet “switching places” sort of novel with an octagenarian protagonist and her 20-something granddaughter
  • Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (★★★★★ – e-book, Libby) – such a great f/f love story that was well-written and poignant
  • The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (★★★☆☆ – #ownvoices, audiobook, Libby) – a historical YA novel that tried to take on too many issues in one book
  • When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (★★★★★ – print, owned, from a friend) – a dystopian novel that felt more real-life than fantasy
  • Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (★★★★★, #ownvoices, print, owned, Amazon) – a unique look on 400 years of Black American history told from the perspectives of 80 different Black authors
  • The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis (★★★☆☆ – e-book, Libby) – a solid contemporary romance that was a little heavy-handed with the fatphobic language
  • Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (★★★★★ – audiobook, Libby) – a gem of a novel with characters who will stick with me for a long, long time

Book Stats

  • # of books read: 9
  • # of pages read: 3,306 pages
  • Genre breakdown: Fiction (33%), YA (22%), Romance (11%), Mystery/Thriller (11%), Nonfiction (11%), and Science Fiction (11%)
  • Format breakdown: print (33%), e-book (33%), and audiobook (33%)
  • Fastest read: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (4 days)
  • Slowest read: Four Hundred Souls (25 days)
  • Star average: 4.3
  • % of books by or about BIPOC or the LGBT community: 33%
  • Abandoned books: 1 (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton)
  • Goodreads goal check-in: I set a goal of 135 books this year and currently, I am 3 books behind schedule. Eeks!

Superlatives of April

  • Favorite book of April: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
  • Favorite romance of April: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
  • The book I stayed up late to finish: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
  • The book with the most visceral imagery that will stick with me: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
  • The book I want to most press into the hands of every reader I know: Four Hundred Souls

What was the best book you read in April?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.2.22)

Happy Monday, friends! I have great news to share: my passport renewal was approved and I should get my new passport sometime this week. I never ended up paying for the expedited passport, and now I’m glad I waited because it turns out that I didn’t need it after all. Woohoo! Niagara Falls trip is a go.

Last week, I finished four books! A very good reading week for me, indeed. Three of those were five-star books. Have I become more lenient with my rating system this year? I’ve rated 17 out of 42 books five stars—40% of my reading this year. (!!!) Am I just picking books I know I will love? Am I being less critical of what I read? Who knows!

Here’s what I read last week:

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (★★★★★)

I read 70% of this book last Sunday and even stayed up late to finish it because I had to know how it would end! It was a fantastic dystopian novel, even though the setting felt more real life than an unimaginable future. Hannah lives in a post-pandemic world (a pandemic that rendered women who were diagnosed with the disease infertile) and now, abortion is fully illegal. What’s more, only the most serious convicted felons are imprisoned in this world. Other convicts are instead “chromed,” in which their skin is genetically altered to match the class of their crime for a period of time. Yellow is for low-class felonies and red is for murder. Hannah is a Red, as having an abortion is considered a murderous offense. This book was so propulsive and there were so many great twists and turns. It was published in 2011, so the plot feels oddly prescient for what’s in the news today. It has a pretty low Goodreads rating (3.6) and normally I wouldn’t read a book with such a low rating, but I’m glad I gave this one a try because I really, really loved it.

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (★★★★★)

This book took me almost the entirety of April to read, as I read it very slowly and carefully. This book is truly a masterpiece and such a unique way to tell the history of Black people in America. There are 80 essays from 80 different Black authors in this collection. Each essay covers a five-year span of history starting with 1619 and continuing through to 2019. The essays are short, maybe just a few pages long, and each writer takes their own unique spin on their essay. Maybe they discuss an important court case at this time, or an important Black figure, or how their own history intersects with that of someone born hundreds of years before them. The book is broken down into sections spanning 40 years and at the end of each section was a poem, some of which I skimmed and some of which touched me incredibly deeply. All in all, this book is an excellent addition to an anti-racism library and I encourage everyone to pick it up.

“But the past is close. The slave codes of 1705 are close. The past is filled with people who carried out evil acts with foresight and determination, supported by the complicity of their peers. It contains progress but just as many reactionary entrenchments of old power. White supremacy became the norm in America because white men who felt threatened wrote laws to foster it, then codified the violence necessary to maintain it. They can maintain it with the same intention today, if we allow it.” (p. 81)

The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis (★★★☆☆)

Brooke and Mindy Lemon used to be close when they were younger but after Brooke was in a helicopter crash that almost took her life, she changed, left her hometown of Wildstone, and hasn’t been back in the six years since the accident. All of that changes when Mindy arrives on Brooke’s doorstep, frazzled and with her three kids in tow. Mindy needs a break from her life. Her husband works all the time and she’s worried he’s cheating on her, and being the sole caretaker of three children has caused a mental breakdown. So they decide to switch places for a few days: Brooke will take care of Mindy’s kids and Mindy can take a break. Brooke decides to go back to Wildstone with the kids and it’s there she has to come face-to-face with her past—and the guy she left behind. This story is quintessential Jill Shalvis, who is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. It’s more about the women and the issues they need to work through than the romance, which many people might appreciate. I did love the themes of marriage after kids and asking for what you want, as well as healing from trauma and finding your way back to yourself. This would have been an easy 4-star read from me, but there was some fatphobic language that rubbed me the wrong way so I docked it a star because of that.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (★★★★★)

Well, the reviews were right: This book is a gem! It was such a delightful read with characters who were so easy to root for and an ending that made me smile. When Lillian receives a letter from her best friend Madison, asking her for a favor, she decides to drop everything and help out her friend. What Madison needs is for Lillian to take care of her twin stepkids who will be coming to live with her. Oh, and um… they might have a propensity to burst into flames when angry. The fire doesn’t hurt them, but can wreak havoc to the people and world around them. What I loved most about this book were the twins, Bessie and Roland, who are two sweet children who have had an unlucky lot in life and just need someone who is going to be in their corner. Lillian was also a character I really loved, especially her take-no-shit demeanor. All in all, an excellent read that will have a place on my favorites list.

What I’m Reading This Week

  • Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz (print) – This is our May book club pick and I’m about 100 pages in. It hasn’t really grabbed my attention yet, so we’ll see how it goes.
  • Feel the Heat by Kate Meader (e-book) – My current romance, which I’m also not fully invested in yet. Might be a downer week for books!
  • Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (audiobook) – I’ve decided to give the Truly Devious series a go, after reading some great reviews. YA set at a private boarding school in Vermont? Sign me up!

What are you reading this week?

Categories: Books

How I Choose What to Read Next

I am not a mood reader. In fact, until I got more involved with the book community through podcasts and on Instagram, I didn’t know there was any such thing as mood readers. You just let your… mood… dictate what you’re going to read next? That sounded CRAZY to me. For as long as I’ve been conscious about my book selection habits, I’ve been a strict TBR list reader. (TBR = to be read) I set my list and I rarely deviate from it. Whenever I try to be a mood reader (I did this during the early stages of the pandemic when it was hard to easily get books from the library), I feel off-kilter. I feel out of control when I don’t know the next few books I’m going to read. My TBR list brings me comfort and stability.

I thought I would talk about my process for setting my TBR list. Prepare yourselves. There are multiple spreadsheets and a very convoluted selection process involved.

How I Set My TBR List

I house my TBR list in the same spreadsheet where I keep my reading log. This spreadsheet has tabs for:

  • 2022 – Current reading log.
  • TBR List – My upcoming TBR list.
  • Unread Shelf 2022 – One of my reading challenges. I list out all of the books I want to read in each category and check them off as I go.
  • Reading Challenge 2022 – My other reading challenge. I’ve listed out all of the books I need to read and whether I own the book and/or it’s available as an audiobook through Libby. I check off the books as I read them.
  • To Read – Romance – A running TBR list solely for my romances.

I also have a separate spreadsheet where I’ve listed out all of the books I own, both in print and on my Kindle. Am I a little anal-retentive about my reading life? Why yes, yes I am. Is the fact that I have spreadsheets for my spreadsheets the reason I’m consistently exhausted by all my hobbies? Maybe.

Let’s first talk about my main TBR list spreadsheet. I change up the way I choose books to put on this TBR list frequently, but here’s what it looks like right now:

I set my TBR list in batches of five books at a time. Once I’m nearing the end of a five-book list, I’ll go through the upcoming five-book list and request any library books I need. I’ll also create a new five-book list at this time. Each five-book list includes: 1-2 books from my reading challenge, 1 book from the Unread Shelf Project, 1 book from my “must reads” list, 1 book from my Goodreads TBR, and 1 book from my Owned spreadsheet. This reading challenge (where I’m trying to read all of the books I added to my Goodreads want-to-read list before 2018) has changed up the way I’m setting my TBR list because I want to make sure I’m working through the list at a good pace. I switch between choosing 1 or 2 books for this challenge per five-book list, just to keep things fresh.

I can typically work through a five-book list within a month, maybe sooner if the books are short or I’ve abandoned one. These lists are essentially monthly TBRs but I don’t like to list them that way because if I finish a five-book list early, I want to be able to move right along to the next list.

I mentioned two different TBR lists in the above paragraph: Must Reads and Goodreads TBR. Let’s go into what those are real quick:

  • Must reads – I keep a separate list (are you keeping track of all my lists?) of 10 different “must reads.” These are books that I don’t want to get lost in my Goodreads want-to-read list. They’re the books I really want to read as soon as possible, so I keep them separated from my other book lists and make sure I read at least one book from this list every month.
  • Goodreads TBR – These are books I pull from my Goodreads want-to-read list. I try to cull this list frequently and keep it under 250 books, otherwise it feels super unmanageable. To select a book from my Goodreads TBR, I go to random.org, put in how many pages my want-to-read list is (currently it’s at 12), and whatever number it gives me, I’ll go to that page of my want-to-read list and pick a book.

So that’s my full process of selecting the books that will go on my TBR list. And even though I’m not a mood reader, per se, I do keep my mood in mind when I’m putting together these book lists. For example, I try not to have too many nonfiction books on the list at a certain time. If I’m going to read a heavy social justice book, I try to make sure all of my other books are a bit lighter, like YA or contemporary fiction. I also make sure that at least 2 of the 5 books (ideally 3) are by or about BIPOC or the LGBTQ+ community. A lot of times, I’ll fill out a five-book list and none of the books are diverse. So I’ll swap out some books, like maybe different books from my Goodreads TBR and Must Reads list, to make sure I’m not solely reading about white people. (I make this point to say that it does take conscious effort to make sure I’m reading about different perspectives and diversifying my book lists. The publishing industry is very white-washed and heteronormative, but if you make the effort, you can have a diverse reading list.)

How I Pick My Romances

Now, where does romance reading fit into my book selection process? As noted above, I have a separate list for my romances. I keep a running list of the romance authors I’m reading now (I try to read through the entire backlist of all of my favorite romance writers). Right now, I’m reading through the works of Lauren Layne, Tessa Dare, Jill Shalvis, Kate Meader, Helena Hunting, Julia Quinn, and Susannah Nix.

Typically, I keep a long list (usually 10 books) of romances that will be coming up for me to read. Once this list starts to dwindle, I’ll spend some time searching for new books to add to the list. I do a mix of backlist romances from my fave authors as well as frontlist titles that are getting buzzed about. (I’ll usually mark them on want-to-read on Goodreads, and I look through that list frequently when pulling new book titles to read.)

I’m also trying to be cognizant of the fact that the romance genre can be very white and very heteronormative (although it has gotten better in recent years!), so I try to pick a queer romance or a romance from a BIPOC author for every two non-diverse romances I read. Here’s what my list looks like right now (the first list includes backlist romances and the second list includes diverse romances):

Since I am often always reading a romance, I don’t include my romance reads into my overall TBR list. I just pick the next book on my list once I finish the romance I’m reading. (Here’s how I read two books at one time: I’ll read 50 pages of my non-romance, and then switch over to my romance. I’ll read 50 pages or a certain percentage of my romance, and then switch back to my non-romance. And so on and so forth.)

Book Club Books

The last piece of the puzzle is book club books. Thankfully, I’m only in one book club so I only have to worry about fitting in one extra book per month. Most of the time, I just slot in the book when I feel like reading it (maybe I am a bit of a mood reader after all, ha). Sometimes it’s because our meeting is coming up and I haven’t read the book, other times it’s because I just finished one of my five-book lists and want to read it before starting my new list. There’s truly no rhyme or reason to when I read a book club book! (I do try to request the book from the library as soon as we decide on it, just so I have it around when I want to pick it up.)

Final Thoughts

I am a little embarrassed to share my system for choosing what books I’ll be reading because it’s really so, so complicated. I’ve written over 1,300 words on how I choose what books to read! That’s ridiculous. I envy people who just request books willy-nilly from the library and don’t live and die by a TBR list. I have a friend who, every time she needs more books to read, will just head to the library, pull up her Goodreads want-to-read list, sort by rating, and look through the stacks to see what books are available. That’s truly astonishing to me!

But you know what? I like this system. I like all of my spreadsheets and lists. I like that I’ve made it a fun game of choosing what to read. I’m sure my system will change and evolve over time. (I used to be the person who would just go to the library and peruse the stacks!) But I like that I always know the next 10 or so books that I’ll be reading. Whenever I finish a book and I don’t have the next one lined up immediately, I feel a little panicky. My weird, complicated TBR system brings me comfort and joy, and isn’t that what we want from our hobbies?

Tell me your process for selecting books to read! I’m fascinated by everyone’s different processes.