Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (4.1.19)

Happy Monday, friends! I had an excellent weekend, mostly because I spent yesterday shopping with my mom. I’m on the hunt for a rain jacket for Ireland and wanted to check out the Columbia outlet store near me to see if I could get a jacket for a decent price. (Trying not to pay $100+ for a rain jacket.) Unfortunately, I struck out but I still had a fun time with my mom. I got some new tops, a really cozy fleece jacket, and… um… 8 books. Oops! Used bookstores are my kryptonite and I ended up at two of them yesterday.

Now, let’s talk about reading! I finished two books last week, and I loved both of them. My reviews are below!

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (★★★★★)

Pachinko is a sweeping novel following four generations of a Korean family living in Japan. The story begins in the 1930s when a young girl named Sunja finds out she’s pregnant and agrees to marry a man who brings her to Japan to live. Readers are taken on a journey through Japan in the 20th century, a time when many Koreans were fleeing their country to find a safer place to raise their families but encountering harsh discrimination and poverty along the way. It’s a heartbreaking story but also a hopeful one with well-written characters who felt so authentic and true. It’s a long book – nearly 500 pages – but it didn’t feel overwrought or drawn out. It was perfectly paced and I found myself so engaged with the story and this family. I also realized how little I know about Korea and how they became divided – and how the war and division affected its people – so I went down many a Wikipedia rabbit hole while reading this book!

First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan (★★★★☆)

Emily Donovan arrives on Puffin Island in a state of panic: she’s just lost her job, her estranged sister has died, and she’s become the sole guardian of her six-year-old niece. Not to mention, she’s now going to have to finally face her debilitating fear of the ocean, as it surrounds her everywhere she goes. And then she meets Ryan Cooper, a local, and he makes it his mission to open Emily’s eyes to the beauty of the island and the beauty of life itself. This romance novel is so much more than about a man and a woman who fall in love. It’s also a story about facing your fears, opening your heart, and trusting in yourself. My heart went out to Emily and everything she was dealing with, but she handled it all with such grace and pluck. I found myself cheering her on whenever she made big strides to overcome her big fears – and as she opened her heart to her niece and Ryan and the locals on Puffin Island. A truly wonderful romance from Sarah Morgan, and I’m excited to read the rest of the novels in this series!

I’m currently reading…

> Something Like Happy by Eva Woods, for book club. This novel has gotten high ratings from many trusted reviewers, so I’m crossing my fingers that I love it as well.

> What Happened by Hillary Clinton, on audio. I’m finally going to dive into this tome (it’s nearly 19 hours on audio) and I hope it doesn’t make me too emotional.

> The Darkest Link by Scarlett Cole, for my romance pick. I’m a little wary of this novel, as Goodreads tells me the Kindle edition is 456 pages and that’s ridiculously long for a romance, but we’ll see how it goes!

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (3.25.19)

Happy Monday! I can’t believe it’s the last week of March and we’re closing the books on the first quarter of 2019 on Sunday. Where does time go? It’s crazy! I had a beautifully low-key weekend in which I slept in until 10 on Saturday (that NEVER happens!), went on a nice long walk in a park by myself, and met up with a friend for a working date on Sunday morning. I’m feeling refreshed and inspired as I enter a new week.

Last week, I finished three books and I’m happy to see that my reading mojo is back. It was scary when I was in a slump! Here are my reviews:

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (★★★☆☆)

This is the story of two Nigerian sisters, Korede and Ayoola. Ayoola has killed her last three boyfriends, always claiming self-defense, and her sister is the one who helps her clean up the evidence and dispose of the body. Korede isn’t happy with her role as the cleaner but she does it because she loves her sister. But when Ayoola sets her sight on one of the doctors at the hospital Korede works at – a doctor Korede herself has a crush on – she has to decide what to do next. It’s such a unique plot and told in such an interesting way, in short chapters that flipped back and forth between present day and the past (this is where we really got a glimpse into how these sisters formed such a close bond). I enjoyed the story, especially the setting and learning more about Nigerian culture. However, I think it could have easily been a five-star read if there had been more detail to the story. It lacked just a bit of that special something I need to truly love a book, but I’d still recommend it, especially if you’re looking for a quick read!

Dating-Ish by Penny Reid (★★★☆☆)

Like most of Penny Reid’s romances, this plot is unique with eclectic characters. For example, the male hero in the novel is a scientist who is currently building an AI robot that can be a stand-in for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Like I said, eclectic. In the novel, Marie and Matt become good friends as he helps her with an article she’s working on (she’s a freelance writer) but that friendship soon turns into more as they spend more time together and recognize there is something special between them. But man alive, it took until the last few chapters for Marie and Matt to even share a kiss! Will-they-or-won’t-they romances are just not my favorite, and I found my enjoyment waning the more time passed without anything happening between them. It was a fine romance, but a forgettable one.

From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (★★★☆☆)

In 2012, Beck Dorey-Stein answered a Craigslist job listing… only to find out she applied to be a stenographer for the Obama White House. Through incredible luck, she’s given the job and is then thrust into a new life filled with international trips, tedious note-taking, and running side-by-side with the leader of the free world in hotel gyms. This book would have been given an easy 5 stars if it was mostly about her life in the White House, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was about her personal life. Perhaps if her personal life had been more interesting than stepping in and out of an incredibly toxic relationship and nights of drunken debauchery, those 5 stars could have stood. But nope, instead we’re treated to pages and pages and pages of terrible decisions, a toxic relationship, and lying to her friends. I appreciate the vulnerability in her being completely honest about the decisions she made, but I don’t think it made for a compelling read (especially when you put it up against other memoirs in this new subgenre of Obama staffer memoirs). All of the debauchery may not bug you, but it sure detracted from my enjoyment.

I’m currently reading…

> Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I’m a little more than 100 pages into this novel (which is nearly 500 pages) and I am loving it. I often struggle with really long books like this, especially in the beginning as it usually takes the author a while to establish the characters, setting, and plot. But this one has captivated me from the get-go.

> First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan. I’m splitting my time between Pachinko and this really sweet and lovely contemporary romance. It feels a little dated even though it was only written in 2015, but I’m still enjoying it.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (3.18.19)

Happy Monday! I had a really lovely weekend that was the perfect mix of social time and downtime to suit my introverted soul. I had a great therapy appointment on Friday afternoon followed by an evening of planning my Ireland itinerary. Saturday, I got to see a friend’s new house and float around in her pool for hours, as well as celebrate Chip’s first birthday and enjoy game night with the fam. And then, on Sunday, I spent the whole day in my pajamas! Divine!

This week, I finished two books, including one that is probably going to make my favorites list for the year. Let’s get into it.

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain (★★★★★)

I listened to this story on audio, and it was such a fantastic listening experience. Since the print book is around 500 pages, it’s not a short listen (it’s nearly 14 hours), but it was so worth every minute. When this novel begins, the remains of a pregnant woman who disappeared in 1977, Genevieve Russell, are found. A man named Timothy is charged with her murder but her unborn baby is nowhere to be found. But CeeCee Wilkes knows that Timothy isn’t responsible for Genevieve’s death, and she also knows what happened to the unborn baby because she has raised the baby as her own. Crazy plot, right? It’s so twisty-turny in the best possible way and I was just in awe of the author’s writing ability. It all felt so believable and heartbreaking, while also being sweet and human and raw because the novel takes you back to how CeeCee happened to raise this baby and also what the ensuing two decades were like for CeeCee, the baby, and their family. A must-read, in my opinion!

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (★★★☆☆)

The Brutal Telling is the fifth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, and it starts with a dead body being found in the bistro in Three Pines. The murdered man is unknown to everyone in the tiny village but suspicions abound surrounding the bistro’s owner, Olivier, especially as Gamache and his team dig into Olivier’s past and find some troubling answers. I found this mystery to be very slow-paced for me (it took me nearly two weeks to finish it as I just never felt like picking it up) and had an unsatisfying ending, so meh. Not my favorite in this series.

I’m currently reading…

> Dating-Ish by Penny Reid. This is a fun contemporary romance that I started over the weekend. I’m over halfway through it and it’s great so far. I never want to put it down!

> From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein, on audio. Originally, I wasn’t planning on reading to this memoir by an Obama White House stenographer, but it has gotten rave reviews from many trusted sources so I’m giving it a try. It’s a much more light-hearted read than other memoirs from Obama staffers and I’m really enjoying it so far!

> My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. I’m starting this quick fiction book today, which I suggested to my book club for our March read. So far, one friend loved it and another was “meh” about it, so we’ll see which camp I fall into!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

How I Find Books to Read

I’ve been thinking lately about TBR lists and finding books to read. I believe with my whole heart that everyone can be a reader, but you just have to find the right books for you. It may be paranormal romance, or high fantasy, or literary fiction, or chick lit. And, of course, you have to devote time to it. (I can’t roll my eyes hard enough when someone tells me they don’t have “time” to read yet wants to talk to me about every Netflix show they’ve binged in the last six weeks. Mmkay.)

I also think that finding a genre you like is just one piece of the puzzle. I think you also have to know how to actually find books to read. How do you do that without stumbling across a listicle online or walking into a bookstore and picking up a book that has an appealing cover? Friends, that’s why you have me. I’m here to help you find books to read because I recently realized that I have a steady stream of book recommendations coming at me from myriad sources.

Let’s discuss:

Podcasts

I listen to an array of bookish podcasts that provide me with a wealth of new and old books to add to my TBR. Some of my favorites include What Should I Read Next, Sarah’s Book Shelves Live, and No Thanks We’re Booked. What’s great about these podcasts is that they highlight why you should read a certain book, which is a great way for me to immediately pull up my Goodreads app halfway through an episode and add the book to my want-to-read list.

Goodreads

Right after Instagram, Goodreads is my favorite social media platform. I’m on it daily, either scrolling through the feed or updating my currently reading list. I also get a daily email from Goodreads that details the latest updates from my friends list: what they’re currently reading, what they’ve recently reviewed, and what books they’ve added to their want-to-read list. I find this email so helpful. If someone adds a gushing review about the book, I’ll probably mark it as want-to-read. If the opposite happens, someone has a negative review about a book on my list, I might remove it, especially if the reviewer is someone whose reading taste aligns with mine. Sometimes I’ll find new books to add to my list, especially if the cover catches my eye, a bunch of friends have marked the book as want-to-read, or it’s from an author I like. That daily email is a lifeline to my reading life!

Along with the daily email, Goodreads also sends me a monthly newsletter to tell me about new books from authors I’ve previously read. I love this email because it reminds me to request certain books from my library (and, more often than not for my romances, recommend the library buy the e-book version) and also keeps me in the loop with publishing dates.

IRL friends

I met my core group of friends through a book club, and we’re still going strong many years later! We are still essentially a book club – we always read a book each month and meet up to discuss it over dinner or brunch or a fun activity – but our book club meetings are probably 90% chatting about life. Even so, there’s still a lot of bookish talk in the midst of the chit-chat, especially about the books we’re reading and loving. Most of them are also very active on Goodreads, too, so I can see what they’re recommending there. I get a lot of my best recommendations from my friends because we’re so similar in our reading tastes!

Book Riot

Trying to describe Book Riot is… not easy. I would consider it to be a bookish media company. They publish articles, have numerous podcasts, have a membership program, and a lot more. On their blog, they publish around 10 or so articles daily with book listicles, essays about the bookish life, and more news-y articles, and through their articles, I have found so many great books to read. As far as their podcasts go, I only listen to two and the one I listen to for book recommendations is All the Books. Every week, the hosts discuss some of the top new releases and I find myself needing to keep my Goodreads app open when I’m listening to add new books to my want-to-read list.

Book of the Month

Book of the Month has introduced me to so many great books. I don’t think it’s necessary to subscribe to reap the benefits of using BOTM as a book recommendation source, either. Simply check out the site on the first of every month to check out the titles or, my personal favorite, check out Sarah’s Book Shelves as she does a monthly roundup post of the BOTM selections, where she gives a very detailed overview of each book. Even when I don’t select a book, I’ll add it to my Goodreads want-to-read list because while I don’t want to spend $14.99 on a hardcover of the book, I may want to check it out from the library later.

#bookstagram

Finally, I have found many great recommendations from #bookstagram, which is a bookish community on Instagram. Bookstagrammers are known for showing their book hauls, talking about what they’re reading, and discussing the books that are getting a lot of buzz in the publishing world. Oftentimes, the bookstagrammers talk about books I’ve already heard of, but it’s due to their gushing reviews that I finally add it to my Goodreads want-to-read list. Also, it’s just fun to follow bookstagrammers because it makes my feed so pretty and positive.

I know this is a lot of information and if you’re someone struggling to find books to read, this may feel overwhelming. But, believe me, you do not need to have all of these streams going to find book recommendations. My advice is to follow one or two bookish podcasts (I’d recommend What Should I Read Next for new readers), as well as either subscribe to Book of the Month or keep track of what they’re offering each month. I know people who read just from BOTM books! It’s not a bad system at all, and you’ll definitely get to enjoy a great mix of authors and genres.

Now, go forth and read. If you’ve finished a Netflix series in the last month, you definitely have time to read a book. (Or two. Or three. Or ten.)

How do you find books to read?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (3.11.19)

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. It’s a weird feeling because I don’t really get into reading slumps and yet, here I am. I thought about throwing my TBR list to the wind and just picking up a book that piques my interest, but I think the best course of action is to lean into it. Let my mind be occupied by other things. Binge watch a TV show, scroll through Instagram, play copious amounts of games on my phone. This reading slump doesn’t have to mean anything and I don’t need to try to push through the feeling. I’m still reading… but at a much slower pace. (For example, I start The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny on Monday and I’m only 100 pages in.) I pick it up when I want and don’t force myself to read if I don’t want to. This too shall pass, right? At least I hope so.

I’m wondering, though, if the reading slump is due to The Grapes of Wrath, which I started reading last weekend and ended up abandoning this week. The first 85 pages were painfully boring and the dialect was hard to read. It made reading feel like a chore, so I dropped it and didn’t feel one iota of guilt about it. I *may* try to listen to the audiobook version buuuut it’s a 21-hour audiobook and I don’t know if I have it in me to devote that much time to this story.

With that said, I still finished two books this week. (*emoji of a monkey with his hands over his eyes*) They were both contemporary romances, though, and this genre is my kryptonite and also the best thing for me to read if I’m in a funk or a reading slump.

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (★★★★★)

Oh my heavens above, I loved this sweet contemporary romance novel so, so much. I actually stayed up late last Sunday night to finish it because I just couldn’t go to sleep without knowing what was going to happen with Hazel and Josh. Hazel is a free-spirited, quirky elementary school teacher who desperately wants to find love but she’s yet to find someone who wants her to be her full self. Most guys like the quirkiness of her personality at first, but then want her to calm down and be more “normal” as time goes on, and she isn’t about that. Josh, on the other hand, is her polar opposite, a calm and serious man who just found out his girlfriend of two years has been cheating on him for quite a long time. Hazel wants to cheer him up, so she proposes that they set each other up on blind double dates. Of course, throughout the course of their dates (most of which go horribly awry!), they start to fall for each other. My heart broke for both these characters as they came to terms with their feelings and the vulnerability of falling for their best friend. It was a fun, easy read with a lot of heart, and I am just so glad Christina Lauren’s books exist in this world.

The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis (★★★★☆)

I picked up this contemporary romance over the weekend, and I am so glad I did because I really think it helped me get over my reading slump. It’s the second book in the Lucky Harbor series, following two characters who were introduced in the first one. Tara and Ford met 17 years ago during the summer and had a whirlwind fling – a fling that resulted in a pregnancy. While Ford wanted her to keep the baby and marry him, Tara made the decision to leave Lucky Harbor and give the baby up for adoption. Now they’re two adults in their mid-thirties who want to believe they’ve moved on, but when Tara appears in Lucky Harbor again, sparks fly and it’s time for them to decide if they have what it takes to make a relationship work. This book fulfilled everything I wanted in a romance: witty dialogue, a realistic plot, and steamy bedroom scenes, and reaffirms my love for Jill Shalvis.

I’m currently reading…

> The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain, on audio. I only have two hours left in this audiobook, and it’s been such a great story to listen to. (The narrator is fantastic!) I am very nervous to see how everything turns out, though!

> The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. As I mentioned above, I’m not very far into this novel and it’s really unlike me to slog through a Louise Penny mystery, so I’m hoping that the reason for the slog was due to trying to read The Grapes of Wrath simultaneously. TGOW was totally bringing me down!

What are you reading?