Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.8.19)

Happy Monday, my friends! It’s an especially great Monday for me because it’s my mom’s birthday! I have today off from work (I wanted to give myself an extra-long holiday weekend!), so we’re hopefully going to do something fun this afternoon to celebrate, and then have dinner with my brother tonight. The weather isn’t looking great (50% chance of rain), so a lot of our previous plans are out the window, but we’ll find a way to keep busy!

I had a great reading week, as I finished three books and started two new books that I’m really enjoying. Here are my reviews:

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole (★★☆☆☆)

This novella follows the love story between Likotsi and Fabiola, who had a whirlwind romance a year ago that ended abruptly. Likotsi is back in town and winds up on the same subway car as Fab, which prompts a reunion that Likotsi isn’t quite keen on. She had fallen in love with Fab when Fab ended their relationship, and she has been trying to get over her ever since. The novella switches between their present-day rekindling and their first meeting, discovering what happened to cause Fab to abruptly end things and if there’s hope for them today. It’s a sweet story but it just left me wanting more. I think this is more of a “me” thing than a slight against the novella. Novellas just aren’t for me.

Huge Deal by Lauren Layne (★★★★☆)

This romance nearly earned five stars from me, which is a hard thing to come by. It’s very rare for me to give a romance five stars! Ultimately, it fell just short due to the end but it’s still one of my favorite romances lately. It’s about Kennedy and Kate, who have worked together for the past six years. Kate is his assistant and she’s had unrequited feelings for Kennedy since they met. But she believes she’s over him and to prove it, she agrees to date Kennedy’s brother, Jack. What follows is the typical romance plot – Kennedy recognizes his feelings for Kate and Kate comes to terms with the fact that she’s never gotten over Kennedy. It was such a fun romance and I loved both of these characters so very much.

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin (★★★★☆)

Most people think “chick lit” when they see the name Emily Giffin, but this book is not that. (Not that there’s anything wrong with chick lit or reading that genre. I love those kinds of books and grow tired of people who condition reading chick-lit with effusive statements as to why they read a chick-lit novel. Let’s stop turning up our noses at women’s fiction, mmkay?) Anyway, this book. It’s about Nina, Tom, and Lyla. Lyla is a high school sophomore who gets drunk at a party and a photo of her goes viral. Tom is Lyla’s father who has been raising her alone since his wife left when Lyla was young. And Nina is the mother of Finch, the boy who circulated the photo of Lyla. It’s a book that will break your heart as you watch each character come to terms with this atrocity, and it’s a timely read in the wake of the #metoo era. It’s a novel about privilege, about racism, about injustice, and about doing the right thing even when it hurts.

What I’m reading this week…

> Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, on audio. I’m 60% finished with this novel, and I am loving it. It is so well-written and complex and engaging. I’m looking forward to my commutes this week just so I can finish this book!

> Christmas Ever After by Sarah Morgan. Who says you can’t read books about Christmas in July?! This book was surprisingly hard to find through Amazon (it wasn’t available at my library, nor could I find it to recommend!), probably because the U.S. version of the book has a different name than the U.K. version. Woof.

> Normal People by Sally Rooney. I started this book yesterday and I’m liking it so far! However, I vehemently dislike that there are no quotation marks when people are talking. WHY?! It makes no sense.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.1.19)

Happy Monday and happy JULY. (Whaaaat?!) I have a three-day workweek and then a five-day weekend, so I am feeling good. I did not mean to go MIA from my blog last week, but I just couldn’t find the time to write. Ah, well. It happens!

Even in the midst of my busy week, I still found lots of time to read! I finished four books last week, woop! I also abandoned not one but two books this week:

Here are the reviews for the books I did finish:

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (★★★★★)

I was worried I wasn’t going to like this book, even though it’s gotten rave reviews from many of my trusted sources. The 70s music scene of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” isn’t really my thing, so I didn’t know if it would all feel a bit too much. However, when I went to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s author signing for this book, I got to hear her process of writing. I listened as she admitted she doesn’t know much about using drugs or music in general, and that made me more excited to read it because she was coming to this book from a truly honest place. And, you guys, this book is so good. I’m not even much of a music fan and I was completely captivated by the scenes of the band writing and performing. As I was reading the book, I wanted to download all of their music on Spotify. It’s a phenomenal story, written as an oral history, and definitely one of my favorite books of the year. I’m planning on rereading this book by listening to the audiobook because I hear it’s an incredible listening experience.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (★★★★★)

The book was so delightful and worth every minute I spent with it. It follows the First Son of the United States falling in love with the Prince of England, and what could be better than that? The chemistry between Alex and Henry crackled on the pages and I found myself so completely charmed by them and their love story. I also loved this parallel universe that McQuiston created, in which the president is a woman (and a Democrat). The story is set during 2020, as the president is running for her second term, and just… how I wish this was our reality. Oof. It was a lovely story in all respects, although I should offer a warning that the sex scenes get a bit steamy. However, there aren’t a lot of them and you can easily skim over them. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for an escape and just want to read a sweet, fun romance.

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (★★★☆☆)

This book continues the story of Amy Gunn and her twisted journey in Oz. The first book ended on a cliffhanger and the second book jumped right into the action with very little explanation, so I’m glad I read these books back-to-back. While I didn’t find the second book as compelling as the first – and there were many more high fantasy elements that were hard to wrap my mind around – I still enjoyed my reading (er, listening) experience. Throughout the novel, Amy has to fight against her instinct for evil and I really loved the growth of her character from the first novel to this one. Excited to dive into the next one soon!

Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis (★★★★☆)

Another winner from my tried-and-true romance author! This is the fourth novel in Shalvis’s Lucky Harbor series, following the love story of ER nurse Mallory and a character who made frequent appearances in the previous novels under the moniker Mysterious Cute Guy. Nobody really knows who he is or why he’s in Lucky Harbor, but Mallory and MCG (whose real name is Ty) make a connection during a snowstorm that grows deeper the more time they spend together. It was a sweet story that I flew through over the weekend.

I’m currently reading…

> Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, on audio. I’m so excited to dive into this novel that has gotten rave reviews from so many people.

> All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin. I recently picked up this novel at my library’s book sale, not realizing it was Giffin’s latest and I had yet to read it! I’m only about a chapter in so far.

> Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole. This quick novella is a F/F romance, a subgenre I’ve never read somehow. Looking forward to diving in this week.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.24.19)

Happy Monday! I had a really busy week and equally busy weekend, and I was worried I wouldn’t finish any books to write this post. Thank God for audiobooks. 🙂 I finished Dorothy Must Die, my book club’s June selection, earlier in the week but that’s it! Then again, I finished four books last week so it makes sense that this week would be quieter on the reading front.

Here’s my one review, as well as details about what I’m reading now:

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (★★★★☆)

Fantasy isn’t a genre I typically find myself reading, so I was excited to pick up this novel when my book club picked it for our June read. It’s about a girl named Amy who finds herself in Oz (yes, that Oz), but this city is not the Oz she’s read about in books. Instead, it’s ruled by an evil Dorothy, the yellow brick road is crumbling, and there are angry witches and wizards intent on killing Dorothy. It’s a fascinating premise, and I thoroughly enjoyed this world the author created. I listened to the audiobook version (which has a fantastic narrator) and was gripped from beginning to end. I immediately downloaded the second book in the series to listen to when I finished it. It ended on such a cliffhanger – how could I not?!

What I’m reading this week…

> Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have about 100 pages left in this novel and I am loving it. I can’t get over how vivid and descriptive this book is when it’s written as an oral history! Just fantastic.

> Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I’m nearly finished with this book, too, and I’m also loving it so much. My only gripe right now is how long the chapters are, which is probably more of a personal quirk.

> The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige, on audio. This is the second book in the Dorothy Must Die series that I mentioned above. I’m really excited to dive back into Oz and find out what happens next!

> As Long As We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney. I heard about this novel on the All the Books! podcast and the premise sounds really intriguing. Hopefully, it lives up to the hype!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.17.19)

Happy Monday, dear friends! It was quite the weekend for me and next weekend might be even crazier. Eeps! We’re in summer now… it won’t be slowing down anytime soon!

Last week, I finished four books and before you give me too much credit here, one of them was a short audiobook (4.5 hours) and the other was a novella. And I also went to a silent reading event where I got to read in silence for 90 minutes this week, which helped greatly! Here are my reviews:

Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham (★★★★☆)

Somehow, I ran out of podcasts to listen to at the beginning of last week (that’s… never happened), so I downloaded Lauren Graham’s memoir on audio. I’ve been meaning to read her book for a while but have just never gotten around to it for some reason. Listening to it was definitely the way to go because Lauren Graham has such a distinct voice and it was lovely to have her in my ears for 4.5 hours! This book encompasses her early childhood, her years as a struggling actress, and her time on Gilmore Girls, Parenthood, and Gilmore Girls again. I really loved getting a peek into what life is like on set, especially since I’m a huge fan of both the TV shows she’s been on. I wish she had been a bit more detailed about her personal life, though. I’m not asking for anything salacious, but I would have liked more insight into her day-to-day and her relationship with Peter Krause. We got some details but most of this book felt very surface level. Still, a very good memoir and one I’d recommend to Gilmore Girls fans!

An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole (★★★★☆)

This historical romance is definitely a safe pick for non-romance readers. I’m not sure I would even classify it as traditional romance because the love story didn’t feel like the focal point. Instead, it was about Daniel and Janeta, two spies for the Loyal League, and their mission. What Daniel doesn’t know, though, is that Janeta has a different mission in mind: giving the Loyal League’s secrets to the Confederate Army in exchange for her dad’s freedom. In the process of fulfilling both her missions, Janeta realizes she’s had blinders on her whole life and is on the wrong side of history right now. There were so many quotes and scenes in this novel that felt like they could have been written in a present timeline book. It was a really interesting parallel, though, to draw of how freed black people were looked upon with such suspicion – same as they are today. Back then, black people had to seem inoffensive and courteous so a white person wouldn’t have reason to be violent. And now? Times have still not changed. How depressing.

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (★★★☆☆)

Bury Your Dead is the sixth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. When the novel begins, something terrible has happened in Gamache’s police force. Readers don’t know much, only that Gamache is spending time in Quebec with his mentor and that he’s struggling both mentally and physically. As the novel progresses, bits and pieces of this investigation gone awry are revealed, and it’s done in such a beautiful way. I really, really like the way it was revealed. The novel’s main plot, however, was about solving a murder that happened while Gamache was in Quebec and I just really found that plotline boring and also quite dense. I had to continuously reread pages because I found my mind wandering again and again while I was reading it. Not my favorite of the series, but I’ll keep reading!

Undone by You by Kate Meader (★★★★☆)

This was a short and sweet novella that had so much heart. It follows a successful hockey player named Cade who is gay but struggling to come out because he fears it will irreparably damage his relationship with his father, not to mention being the first openly gay NHL player is another huge risk. He starts secretly seeing Dante, who just so happens to be the GM of the team he plays for, and it’s Dante who helps Cade find the courage to come out. This book was very steamy but I really, really loved it and found it to be such a heartfelt novel.

What I’m reading this week…

> Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, on audio. I have just a few hours left in this fantasy story. It’s been fantastic and I’m so curious about how it will all end. (Will Dorothy die?!)

> Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Finally picked this one off my bookshelf and started reading it yesterday. I expected it to be good, and it totally is. This one may give me that dreaded book hangover!

> Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I won a copy of this novel in a Goodreads giveaway, and I’ve seen so many people reading it on my timeline that I just can’t wait another second to read it myself.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.10.19)

Happy Monday! I have a really busy week and weekend ahead of me (plans almost every night, ahh), so I’m trying to prepare myself. Ideally, I like to only have plans once during the workweek and once or twice during the weekend but every so often, schedules align so that everything happens in one week! Thankfully, I had a very low-key weekend so there’s that.

Let’s dive into the books I finished last week. There were three and I liked all of them:

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (★★★★☆)

A girl at a college in Southern California falls asleep… and stays asleep. For days and days and days. Nobody can rouse her. And then… another girl falls asleep and then another… until it’s become an epidemic. The local hospital is filled with sleeping patients, people in town are terrified that they’re going to be next. As the weeks go by and more people succumb to this contagion, the town is put on lockdown as doctors try to figure out what this is and why it’s happening. Throughout the story, we follow a handful of people: the college freshmen whose dorm saw the first cases of the disease, a man and his two young daughters, a young couple with a newborn, a college professor. I actually didn’t have too much difficulty keeping all the storylines straight, probably because each one was so different from the other, and I really loved Walker’s writing style and the way she really made you understand how pervasive hysteria can be.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (★★★★☆)

Oh man, I both loved and was frustrated by this novel. Queenie is a 25-year-old black woman living in London who is dealing with a messy breakup with her boyfriend of three years. She’s living in a tiny flat with two other roommates, sleeping with men who aren’t good for her, and constantly wondering what more she could be doing with her life. Early reviews have said this book is like a mash-up of Bridget Jones’s Diary and Americanah and I wholly agree with that comparison. Queenie is such a well-written, complex character – someone who makes so many bad decisions that frustrated me, but even so, I was still rooting for her. Ultimately, I think this story is about mental health in the black community: what it looks like and how it’s evolving. This book was smart, funny, and refreshing, and the growth of Queenie from the beginning to the end of this novel was lovely to witness.

Jordan Reclaimed by Scarlett Cole (★★★☆☆)

For the most part, I really loved this novel. Jordan is in a successful heavy metal band called Preload, which is made up of the guys he met in a group home as a foster kid. All of the men have traumatic childhoods, and Jordan’s involves being locked in an attic for years as a child. It’s horrific to think of a young child suffering such abuse, and Jordan bears many scars from it to this day. And then he meets Lexi, a principal ballerina for the National Ballet of Canada. Lexi is beautiful and sweet and a breath of fresh air for Jordan, and they have a connection toward one another that cannot be denied, even though Jordan has a hard time believing someone as perfect as Lexi could have use for someone like him. However, Lexi is dealing with her own demons, such as an eating disorder and a volatile relationship with her father. I found Jordan and Lexi’s love story to be sweet and original and fun to read, but I was rather unimpressed with the way the author handled Lexi’s eating disorder and the way it was all wrapped up. It felt irresponsible to me.

What I’m reading this week…

> Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. This is the sixth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I’m slowly making my way through the series, reading maybe one book a quarter. The ending of the last book was incredibly unsettling so I’m hoping the same does not hold true for this one.

> An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole. This book wraps up Cole’s The Loyal League historical romance series. These books are actually ones I would recommend to non-romance readers since they aren’t too explicit with the romance and provide a look into the Civil War era from the perspective of freed slaves, so they’re really interesting!

> Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, on audio. This is my book club’s June selection from our resident sci-fi/fantasy lover. It’s completely out of the realm of what I normally read, but the premise sounds GREAT so I’m excited to start listening to it this week.

What are you reading this week?