Stephany Writes

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Categories: Life

Monthly Recap | July 2024

Books

In July, I read 8 books. My favorite was This Spells Love by Kate Robb and my least favorite was What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. Some other stats:

  • 88% fiction, 12% nonfiction
  • 3 print, 2 e-books, 3 audiobooks
  • 3.9 average star rating
  • 12% diverse
  • Abandoned books: 3 (The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney, and Family Family by Laurie Frankel)

This Spells Love by Kate Robb (print, owned)  ★★★★★ | The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (audiobook, library) ★★★★☆ | Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (print, owned) ★★★☆☆ | Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (e-book, library) ★★★☆☆ | Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg (audiobook, Spotify) ★★★★★ | Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez (e-book, library) ★★★★★ | What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (audiobook, library) ★★☆☆☆ | The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (print, owned) ★★★★☆

Media

  • Big Brother – It’s summertime so I am all about Big Brother once again! I am loving this season so far. It’s been delightfully messy with lots of complex houseguests—and there’s even a local guy on the show, so that’s been fun!
  • The Paris Olympics – Like the rest of the world, I’ve been enjoying the Paris Olympics! I have been deeply invested in gymnastics and it’s been really fun to watch Simone do her thing. Mostly, I’ve been watching the primetime coverage on Peacock, although every now and then I’ll turn on a random sport to watch (like women’s rugby). And now it’s track and field’s time to shine, and I am really enjoying watching those races!
  • Survivor: Tocantins – I’m trying to watch older seasons of Survivor to familiarize myself with people and storylines that are still talked about today. I decided on Tocantins (which is season 18 and released in 2009) because one of my favorite current Survivor podcast co-hosts, Stephen Fishbach, was on that season and it was so much fun to watch him play!
  • Two Guys, Five Rings (podcast) – This has been a pretty fun podcast to listen to! It’s hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers and talks about all different Olympics topics. It was a little more active before the Olympics surprisingly, but has a fun, light-hearted feel.

On The Friendship Paradox, we came back from our summer break with three great episodes in July. We released episodes about the Predictive Index Assessment, subtypes of the enneagram, and how personality plays into our food choices.

Buying

  • Cordless vacuum ($100) – This purchase was so worth breaking my No-Spend July rules. I am so happy with it! It’s so nice to be able to zoom around my apartment with it and collect all of the cat hair and dirt that accumulates in my little apartment.
  • Can opener ($8) – A boring purchase but when my can opener broke near the end of No-Spend July, I immediately purchased a new one on Amazon. I really like it – and I got it in a fun color (pink).

Moments

In July, I met up with two friends twice for hair color night! The three of us have been going to the same (very expensive) salon for many years and it’s time to start cutting back on expenses, so we decided to learn how to color each other’s hair. It’s been so fun! Our first time around, we messed up so many things. We didn’t have a proper cape to protect K’s clothes, we only had one pair of gloves to use between two of us (so we left with very stained hands and arms!), we didn’t have clips to keep hair separated. We had a lot of learning to do, but judging from the photo above, we had a lot of fun doing it! Plus, K’s hair came out great and I might have a new future as a hair stylist? We decided that my name would be the Silent Stylist because you could come to me and just read your book while I colored your hair. Ha! I am hoping to get my hair colored at our new “salon” this month, so hopefully it goes just as well!

I love this picture of the three of us! For my mom’s birthday, we went to The Candle Pour to make candles (I made a coffee-scented candle that smells divine) and then went out for dinner and ice cream. It was such a great afternoon/evening with my favorite people!

I had a fun day at the dog beach with my favorite doggos! They are not huge water dogs so we brought out the float so they could hang out in the water but be protected from the scary ocean! Lucy spent most of her time on the float barking at all the birds. While on the beach itself, Chip enjoyed exploring and meeting all the other dogs. Lucy stayed by our setup and barked at any dog who tried to get close. (I’m more of a Lucy than a Chip.)

I had my CPAP Titration Sleep Study done in July and my doctor has ordered an APAP machine for me to use at night. APAP stands for automatic positive air pressure and differs from a CPAP in that it adjusts the pressure automatically throughout the night as my breathing patterns change. I am still unsure if this will also help the blood oxygen issues I had while on the CPAP machine at the sleep clinic, which is a question I need to ask my doctor about. But at least I have some therapy headed my way soon!

Mikaela treated me to my first pedicure in over a year! I used to get them regularly but then I started dealing with ingrown toenails, which made getting pedicures very unpleasant! While I still hate when they scrub the bottom of my feet to remove all of my dead skin (I’m so ticklish!!), but it’s so nice to have painted toes again.

What’s the best book you read in July? What was a highlight of your month?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.24.24)

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2021

Short synopsis: Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother.

This was such a lovely little book. It was the audiobook I chose after slogging through Detransition, Baby. I needed something light-hearted and sweet, and this novel absolutely fit the bill. I loved June so much. Her character growth throughout the novel, as she found her voice and learned to stand up for what she believed in, was beautiful and I was rooting for her all along the way. I loved the eclectic cast of characters that accompanied her throughout the journey, and the emphasis on libraries and the way they become community centers for so many people. Libraries are so much more than places to borrow books. They are places for people to access the Internet, for kids to have a safe space to do their homework, etc. I loved this book and it would be a great addition to anyone’s TBR—it’s a good book to pick up the next time you need a palate cleanser!

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Mystery • 1942

Short synopsis: It was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. So, Caroline calls on Hercule Poirot to open the case and find out what really happened.

This was such a unique story! I appreciated what Agatha Christie was trying to do with this mystery—to show us how our perception of an event can be drastically different based on our biases. Unfortunately, it started to feel a bit repetitive when the same story was being told over and over again. I also found the mystery at the heart of the novel to be a bit hard to follow at times, but maybe that was the purpose because it wasn’t until the end of the novel that I could fully grasp what had happened. In this novel, there are five important players (aside from the victim, Mr. Crale, and the assumed murderer, Mrs. Crale): two friends of Mr. and Mrs. Crale who were around on the day of the poisoning, Mr. Crale’s mistress, Mrs. Crale’s younger sister, and the sister’s governess. Hercule meets with each one to get their side of the story and then asks them to write down their knowledge of the events. The result is a story that is told over and over again, and left me feeling rather bored by the plot. The ending was a bit convoluted and not as satisfying as I had hoped. But, hey, not every Christie novel can be a slam dunk, right?

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (★★★☆☆)

E-Book • Library • YA • 2023

Short synopsis: Bradley and Celine are former best friends who had a falling out when they started high school and Brad abandoned her for the “cool kids.” (Or at least, that’s how she sees it.) When Celine signs up for a survival course that comes with a college scholarship, she’s surprised more than anyone to see Brad right by her side. As this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

I was a little surprised that this was a YA romance because, so far, all of the Talia Hibbert books I’ve read have been adult. But I do love a good YA romance so I quickly got over my surprise and settled in for a cute read. It was an enemies-to-lovers trope and I loved the rapport between Bradley and Celine when they were enemies. They were so mean to each other (but not in a problematic way); they were so funny, though! I didn’t care all that much for the survival course scenes (they were kind of boring) and thought the chemistry between Bradley and Celine was just so-so. I liked the themes explored in this novel, especially because Celine is estranged from her father and I could wholly relate to her desire to show him what he’s missing out on. (And for Engie: No teens having sex in this novel!)

What are you reading?

Book List

Read in 2024:

  1. Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory ★★★★☆
  2. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ★★★☆☆
  3. White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck ★★★★☆
  4. The Honest Enneagram: Know Your Type, Own Your Challenges, Embrace Your Growth by Sarajane Case ★★★★☆
  5. This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens ★★★☆☆
  6. Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale ★★★★☆
  7. Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake ★★★★★
  8. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti ★★★★★
  9. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie ★★★★☆
  10. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez ★★★★★
  11. Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan ★★★★☆
  12. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano ★★★★★
  13. The Art of Scandal by Regina Black ★★★★☆
  14. A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson ★★★★☆
  15. How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendrikson ★★★★★
  16. Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks ★★★★☆
  17. The Seven-Year Slip by Ashley Poston ★★★★☆
  18. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford ★★★★☆
  19. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton ★★★★★
  20. You, with a View by Jessica Joyce ★★★★★
  21. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie ★★★★☆
  22. The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline ★★★★☆
  23. Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean ★★★★☆
  24. Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen ★★☆☆☆
  25. Come and Get It by Kiley Reid ★★☆☆☆
  26. Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa ★★★★★
  27. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt ★★★★☆
  28. White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad ★★★★★
  29. About That Night by Julie James ★★★★☆
  30. The Women by Kristin Hannah ★★★★★
  31. The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher ★★★★☆
  32. The Comeback by Lily Chu ★★★★☆
  33. The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi ★★☆☆☆
  34. The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley ★★★☆☆
  35. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham ★★★★☆
  36. All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir ★★★★★
  37. Knockout by Sarah MacLean ★★★★☆
  38. Victim by Andrew Boryga ★★★★☆
  39. Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena ★★★★☆
  40. How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly ★★★☆☆
  41. Zorrie by Laird Hunt ★★★★☆
  42. A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie ★★★★☆
  43. Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart
  44. Love Irresistably by Julie James ★★★★☆
  45. Go as a River by Shelley Read ★★★★★
  46. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera ★★★★★
  47. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn ★★★★★
  48. Finley Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano ★★★★☆
  49. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez ★★★★★
  50. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson ★★★★☆
  51. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian ★★★☆☆
  52. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters ★★★☆☆
  53. This Spells Love by Kate Robb ★★★★★
  54. The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson ★★★★☆
  55. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie ★★★☆☆
  56. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert ★★★☆☆
  57. Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg ★★★★★
  58. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez ★★★★★
  59. What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall ★★☆☆☆
  60. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden ★★★★☆
  61. Act Like It by Lucy Parker ★★★★★
  62. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo ★★★★★
  63. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe ★★★★☆
  64. All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay ★★★☆☆
  65. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith ★★★☆☆
  66. An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera ★★★☆☆
  67. His & Hers by Alice Feeney ★★★★☆
  68. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue ★★★★☆
  69. At First Spite by Olivia Dade ★★★★★
  70. A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas ★★★★☆
  71. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore ★★★★★
  72. Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan ★★★★★
  73. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley ★★★★★

Read in 2023:

  1. A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny ★★★★★
  2. Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister ★★★★★
  3. Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis ★★★★★
  4. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn ★★★★☆
  5. What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon ★★★★☆
  6. A Burning by Megha Majumdar ★★★★☆
  7. The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain ★★★★☆
  8. Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson ★★☆☆☆
  9. Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian ★★★★☆
  10. The Fine Print by Lauren Asher ★★☆☆☆
  11. When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain ★★★★☆
  12. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson ★★★★★
  13. The Measure by Nikki Erlick ★★★★☆
  14. To the Edge by Cindy Gerard ★★★★☆
  15. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka ★★★★☆
  16. Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade ★★☆☆☆
  17. Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon ★★★★★
  18. The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers ★★★☆☆
  19. The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Stor of War and What Comes After by Clementine Wamariya ★★★☆☆
  20. After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez ★★☆☆☆
  21. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng ★★★☆☆
  22. The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson ★★★★☆
  23. Lucky Star by Susannah Nix ★★★☆☆
  24. The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark ★★★★☆
  25. Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn ★★★★☆
  26. Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson ★★★☆☆
  27. Finding Me by Viola Davis ★★★★☆
  28. The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton ★★★★★
  29. The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb ★★★★☆
  30. A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera ★★★★☆
  31. The Saturday Evening Girls Club by Jane Healy ★★★★☆
  32. You Have a Match by Emma Lord ★★☆☆☆
  33. The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff ★★★★☆
  34. To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne ★★★☆☆
  35. The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen ★★★★☆
  36. In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer ★★★★☆
  37. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann ★★★☆☆
  38. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai ★★★★★
  39. The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa ★★★★☆
  40. True Biz by Sara Novic ★★★★☆
  41. Something About You by Julie James ★★★★☆
  42. We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez ★★★★★
  43. The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones ★★★★★
  44. The Power by Naomi Alderman ★★★★☆
  45. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson ★★★★☆
  46. Happy Place by Emily Henry ★★★★☆
  47. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka ★★★★☆
  48. It’s In His Kiss by Julia Quinn ★★★★☆
  49. Maame by Jessica George ★★★★☆
  50. All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore ★★★★★
  51. Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren ★★★★☆
  52. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo ★★★★★
  53. A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian ★★★★☆
  54. Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close ★★★★☆
  55. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld ★★★★★
  56. The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar ★★★★★
  57. Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley ★★★☆☆
  58. Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham ★★☆☆☆
  59. A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Cana ★★☆☆☆
  60. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak ★★☆☆☆
  61. The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve ★★★★☆
  62. A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin ★★★☆☆
  63. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty ★★★★★
  64. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell ★★★★★
  65. Just My Type by Falon Ballard ★★★★☆
  66. Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly ★★★★★
  67. Notes From a Young, Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi ★★★★☆
  68. An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena ★★★★★
  69. Cultish: The Language of Fantacism by Amanda Montell ★★★★☆
  70. To the Limit by Cindy Gerard ★★★☆☆
  71. Women Are the Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlop ★★★☆☆
  72. A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins ★★★☆☆
  73. An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination by Sheera Frankel ★★★★☆
  74. This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub ★★★★★
  75. Falling by TJ Newman ★★★★★
  76. Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make-And Keep-Friends by Marisa G. Franco ★★★★☆
  77. Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne ★★☆☆☆
  78. Love & Saffron by Kim Fay ★★★★★
  79. On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera ★★★☆☆
  80. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth ★★★★★
  81. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim ★★★★☆
  82. Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone ★★★★☆
  83. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan ★★★★☆
  84. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant ★★★☆☆
  85. Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb ★★★★☆
  86. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith ★★★★★
  87. Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger ★★☆☆☆
  88. Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh ★★☆☆☆
  89. America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray ★★★★☆
  90. Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas ★★★★☆
  91. The Agathas by Kathleen Glasglow ★★★★☆
  92. Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Soloman ★★★★☆
  93. Drowning by TJ Newman ★★★★★
  94. When We Belived in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal ★★★★☆
  95. The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur ★★★★☆
  96. If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook ★★★★☆
  97. Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy ★★★★★
  98. Verity by Colleen Hoover ★★★☆☆
  99. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling ★★★★☆
  100. Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison ★★★★★
  101. The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes ★★★☆☆
  102. Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak ★★☆☆☆
  103. Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer ★★★★☆
  104. The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger ★★★★☆
  105. Codename Charming by Lucy Parker ★★★★★
  106. Recursion by Blake Crouch ★★★☆☆
  107. The Stand-In by Lily Chu ★★★★☆
  108. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
  109. The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi ★★★★★
  110. A Lot Like Love by Julie James ★★★★☆
  111. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett ★★★☆☆
  112. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn ★★☆☆☆
  113. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde ★★★☆☆
  114. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella ★★★★☆
  115. The People We Keep by Allison Larkin ★★★★★
  116. Love at First by Kate Clayborn ★★★★☆
  117. Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker ★★★☆☆

What I Read in 2022

What I Read in 2021

What I Read in 2020

What I Read in 2019

What I Read in 2018

What I Read in 2017

What I Read in 2016

What I Read in 2015

What I Read in 2014

What I Read in 2013

What I Read in 2012

Read in 2011:

  1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen ★★★★☆
  2. Blue Flame by Jill Shalvis ★★☆☆☆
  3. Bodyguard Under the Mistletoe by Cassie Miles ★☆☆☆☆
  4. Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler ★★★☆☆
  5. Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James ★★☆☆☆
  6. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen ★★★★★
  7. The Pregnancy Test by Erin McCarthy ★★★★☆
  8. Listen by Rene Gutteridge ★★★★★
  9. Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck ★★★★★
  10. Critical Care by Candace Calvert ★★★★☆
  11. You Don’t Love This Man by Dan DeWeese ★★★★☆
  12. A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck ★★★☆☆
  13. The Shelter of God’s Promises by Sheila Walsh ★★★★★
  14. Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis ★★★☆☆
  15. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen ★★★★★
  16. Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh ★★★☆☆
  17. Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson ★★★☆☆
  18. GI Cowboy by Delores Fossen ★★★☆☆
  19. Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot ★★★★☆
  20. Miss Fortune by Allie Mills ★★★★★
  21. Redemption by Karen Kingsbury ★★★☆☆
  22. Getting What You Want by Kathy Love ★★☆☆☆
  23. Wanting What You Get by Kathy Love ★★☆☆☆
  24. Some Like It Scot by Donna Kauffman ★★★★☆
  25. Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson ★★★★☆
  26. Bossypants by Tina Fey ★★★★☆
  27. Love Me If You Are by Carly Phillips ★★☆☆☆
  28. Remember by Karen Kingsbury ★★★★★
  29. Off Kilter by Donna Kauffman ★★★☆☆
  30. The Affectionate Adversary by Catherine Palmer ★★☆☆☆
  31. Rescue Me by Christy Reece ★★★★☆
  32. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld ★★★☆☆
  33. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  34. Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  35. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  36. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  37. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling ★★★★☆
  38. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  39. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
  40. Miss Match by Allie Mills ★★★★☆
  41. The Help by Kathryn Stockett ★★★★★
  42. To the Edge by Cindy Gerard ★★★★☆
  43. Against All Odds by Irene Hannon ★★★★☆
  44. Picture of Lies by C.C. Harrison ★★★★☆
  45. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner ★★★★★
  46. Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones ★★★☆☆
  47. The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard ★★☆☆☆
  48. Kissing Adrien by Siri L. Mitchell ★★★★☆
  49. Return by Karen Kingsbury ★★★★★
  50. Hot Zone by Catherine Mann ★★★★☆
  51. Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones ★★★★☆
  52. Playing Dirty by Susan Andersen ★★★★☆
  53. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins ★★★★★
  54. My One and Only by Kristan Higgins ★★★☆☆
  55. Something About You by Julie James ★★★★☆
  56. A Lot Like Love by Julie James ★★★★★
Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.9.24)

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: Frank Szatowski is stunned when his estranged daughter invites him to her wedding, only to discover she’s marrying into a wealthy tech family, and he must navigate his discomfort and uncover unsettling secrets while trying to reconnect with her. 

I’ve been on the record that Jason Rekulak’s novel, Hidden Pictures, is one of the worst thrillers I’ve read (although everyone raves about it). But I wanted to give him a second chance when everyone was raving about this novel. And I just need to accept that Rekulak’s writing is not for me. While this novel wasn’t quite as bad as Hidden Pictures, it still wasn’t very good with a deeply unsatisfying ending. Parts of this novel were appropriately creepy (as anything involving a billionaire family and a destination wedding at their property would be!) and I was definitely turning pages quickly to find out what was really happening with this odd family. And it was a shocking reveal, so I’ll give the author props for that! But once the reveal happened, the plot fizzled for me. The pacing of the novel slowed down and I couldn’t see where the author was going with the ending. I also found just about everyone in the novel (even Frank) to be wholly unlikable and that made it hard to find anyone to root for. A lackluster thriller, in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Little Free Library) • Contemporary Romance • 2021

Short synopsis: Olive Smith, a Ph.D. candidate who doesn’t believe in love, pretends to date her arrogant professor, Adam Carlsen, so that her best friend Anh will feel comfortable dating Jeremy, a guy Olive dated for a few weeks. (Anh doesn’t want to break girlcode to date Jeremy, but Olive has zero feelings for him.) But as their fake relationship deepens, Olive unexpectedly falls for Adam, complicating her career and heart.

For some reason, this very popular romance hasn’t been on my TBR list because I thought it had very mixed reviews. (It has a 4.1 star rating with 1.5 million reviews, so I was mistaken!) I saw it in a Little Free Library earlier this year so I picked it up for myself. And I was delighted by it! It was so much fun and smart and I just adored the relationship between Olive and Adam. It was a bit of the grumpy/sunshine trope because, as a professor, Adam is not very well-liked by his students because he’s a bit brusque in his critiques. And Olive is a happy-go-lucky Ph.D. student who breaks down his walls. I loved the friendships in this novel (including the male friendships!) and also really enjoyed how the author explored demisexuality and how everyone’s sex drives can be different. I just really enjoyed this novel. It was a satisfying romance.

Humor Me by Cat Shook (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Presley Fry, a jaded assistant at the Late Night Show, finds solace in the stand-up comedy world but struggles with her mother’s loss. When her late mother’s best friend, Susan, introduces her to her son Lawrence, Presley is forced to confront her emotional walls, discovering that laughter and unexpected connections may offer healing and new possibilities.

This book is essentially a love letter to New York City. It should also be a love letter for therapy because omg does Presley Fry need therapy more than any character I’ve ever met. This girl is depressed to the max, and she needs to deal with her grief, her avoidant attachment style, and her traumatic childhood with a licensed therapist. Instead, Presley does not get therapy. She deals with her grief with an unhealthy attachment to a coworker, throwing herself into her work, and avoiding any semblance of healthy friendship. I wanted so much more from Presley, but she was very hard to like and I think the author did a disservice with her character. Read this book if you love NYC and stand-up comedy, but not if you’re looking for character growth. (2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.)

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.30.24)

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Mystery • 2023

Short synopsis: When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth.

Oh, I just really didn’t like this novel. A part of me is wondering if we even need the continuation of this series. (And there’s a third book coming out!) Everything I adored about Molly in the first book just felt trite and over-the-top in this novel. The novel dipped back and forth in time: present day where an author dies at an event at the hotel Molly works at, and then the past where Molly is a child and her grandma is working as a maid for a very rich family. This rich family felt like caricatures. They had no nuance to them and I struggle to understand where all of their money came from because the main occupation of the husband in this family is not one that lends itself to incredible wealth. Like, they had a whole room of silver! That kind of wealthy. All in all, this was a rather lackluster mystery, which is such a disappointment since the first book was one of my favorite reads of the year.

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: Estranged exes Georgia and Eli must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.

I adored Jessica Joyce’s first novel, You with a View, and I was happy to get my hands on her second novel. While I didn’t love it as much as YWAV, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. The FMC, Georgia, was a tough character to like at times, and I struggled to feel invested in her. She is someone who has a hard time asking for help and depending on people, and that has led her to doing everything for everyone else to keep their love and attention. (She is very much an unhealthy Enneagram 2, I think.) Eli, on the other hand, is a man who has missed out on a lot in life because of his addiction to work and success. Both of them have a lot of work to do on themselves (and they do–by the end of the novel, both of them are in therapy!) but they also find themselves drawn back together while trying to make sure their best friend’s wedding goes off without a hitch. I loved their sweet second-chance romance and they way they slowly but surely found their way back to each other. Also, I really loved the way the author took us on a journey of their past relationship without delving into past-and-present chapters. It was nestled into the story in a very natural way, and it was so refreshingly different than other books I’ve been reading lately. This was a wonderful romance and after two great books, Jessica Joyce has become an autobuy author for me!

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Mystery • 2024

Short synopsis: Finlay Donovan and her nanny Vero head to Atlantic City for a rescue mission that quickly spirals out of control. When a loan shark they’re trying to negotiate with turns up dead, the duo must dodge police, exes, and family while searching for Vero’s boyfriend and stolen car. 

I was looking for a light-hearted audiobook to listen to right after dealing with the hurricane madness, and the fourth book in the Finlay Donovan series was exactly what I needed! Are these books realistic in any way? Absolutely not. But are they fun to read? They sure are. I always love the ride-or-die friendship between Finlay and Vero, and the budding relationship between Finlay and her hot detective was icing on the cake. I found the mystery at the heart of this novel fairly easy to follow along with and it came to a very satisfying conclusion. I will also say that I gasped out loud at the last sentence of the book so needless to say, I need the fifth book to come out soon. (Okay, I checked: book five comes out in March!)

What are you reading?