Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (2.6.23)

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McClain (★★★★☆)

The best way to go into this novel is to know it is not a thriller. It’s a literary mystery, which means it’s not going to be that fast-paced, page-turny, twisty story you may be expecting. Instead, it’s a slow-burn mystery that’s more about the main character’s struggles than it is about the mystery at the heart of this novel. This story is about Anna who has just gone through some sort of trauma in her personal life. Because of that, she and her husband are taking a break, and she is trying to find her way back to herself. She ends up in her old hometown of Mendocino, and the day she arrives is the day a local girl has gone missing. She immerses herself in the case (her work has entailed finding lost children, so she knows this process better than anyone) and in turn, may be losing herself in the process. I really liked this story. Anna is an easy character to root for, even when she’s making bad decisions. The author weaves in information about missing children, sexual assault, and kidnapping in a seamless way that made it feel like a part of the story. And while the book was a hard read at times, it was ultimately an impactful one for me. Trigger warnings abound in this book, so take care.

The Fine Print by Lauren Asher (★★☆☆☆)

What a disappointment this book was! Maybe it’s because the trope of the boss falling in love with his employee is icky to me, or maybe it’s because I really despise the trope of the “wealthy man buys everything he wants for his down-on-her-luck lover.” There’s just something vaguely misogynistic with this trope, and also because it’s nearly always the man who is the wealthy one. This romance is about Rowan and Zahra. Rowan is the grandson of the man who founded a Disney-esque theme park called Dreamland. There are now hotels and production companies and more; it’s all very clear that this is just Disney World (it’s even located in Orlando, sigh). After Rowan’s grandfather dies, he’s given a task in order to be given his shares in the company. He has to spend 6 months as the director of the theme park and unveil a new plan to take Dreamland to the next level. On his first day as director, he meets Zahra who is a park employee and it’s basically insta-love for him. Rowan ends up promoting her to their Creator division (where new rides and other creative endeavors are engineered) and then can’t stop bothering her. The number of times they had conversations right outside her cubicle and none of her coworkers had anything to say about the big boss spending all of this one-on-one time with her? NONE OF THEM?!

Anyway, this book was such a let-down and I was basically hate-reading it at the end. Neither characters were people I particularly cared for, and Rowan was definitely towing the line of love-bombing with everything he did for Zahra. It was a bit much. This review, though, really sums up my feelings about the book in a perfect way:

 

 

 

 

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All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (★★★★★)

I’ve always struggled with how to rate memoirs, but in the case of this book, my struggle was that I wanted to give this book more than 5 stars. It was sensational! George M. Johnson is nonbinary, queer, and Black. They graduated high school the year before me, which means we grew up in the same era. It was a time when being queer wasn’t always a safe thing to be, and getting outed was an incredibly scary concept. George always knew they were queer, always knew they didn’t fit into the typical gender boxes as their peers, and always knew that these identities must be hidden. Throughout the memoir, George speaks about their family that was filled with other queer people (including a cousin who was trans) and coming out to them. They speak about getting jumped at age 5, a horrifying sexual assault involving a family member, and coming to terms with their queerness and identity in college. It’s a beautiful memoir about family and identity and queerness and being true to yourself. While I am a cis-gendered queer person, I could relate to many of George’s struggles of coming out. I am so, so glad they were given the platform to write this book because I know it’s going to help so many other Black queer kids feel seen and validated.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.25.23)

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2022

I loved Kevin Wilson’s previous novel, Nothing to See Here, so I was excited to pick up his newest release. This story is about Frankie and Zeke who are trying to figure out how to fill the time in a long summer break. Both are artists in their own way, and on a whim, they put together a poster with an enigmatic phrase and start hanging up copies of this poster all around town. This causes a widespread panic and everyone wants to know who is behind these posters. For me, this story didn’t have the same magic as Nothing to See Here. The characters weren’t as well-developed as I would have liked (and read way younger than they actually were). The story wasn’t very thrilling, but more meandering and pointless at times. It just didn’t really work for me, which makes me sad!

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Historical Romance • 2018

There was a lot to love about this book, most especially the introduction of a nonbinary character in historical romance! It’s rare to read about nonbinary characters anywhere, most of all in historical romance, and the addition was truly delightful. It made me wonder what it must have been like to be nonbinary at this point in history when there was no label or way of life to hold on to. Charity has been masquerading as Mr. Robert Selby for many years now. First, she did it to gain entrance to Cambridge so she could attend school and then, she continued living as a man because it’s what felt right and normal to her. And then there’s the Marquess of Pembroke. Alistair has been a reclusive for many years and it’s not until he meets Selby that he finally finds something worth coming out from his hermit ways for. I loved the way the relationship between Charity and Alistair grew over the course of this book, and I have to say, I was really curious as to how Sebastian was going to give them their happy ending. It seemed impossible! And that, my friends, is the sign of a fantastic romance novel. (Open-door romance.)

Note: I use the pronouns she/her and the character’s given name, as that is how they were referred to in the book.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary/Historical Fiction • 2022

This is our January book club pick, and it’s definitely a book that was written for book clubs. It’s rife with plot points that will be great for discussion. It’s one of those historical fiction novels that jumps back and forth between the past and the present. In the present, we meet Kayla who is a recent widow, having lost her husband in a freak accident while he was working on their home—the home they had been building together in a remote area. Days before she is going to move into her new home with her 3-year-old daughter, a woman comes into Kayla’s work to give her a scary warning about moving in. In the past storyline, we meet Ellie who is 20 years old and has decided to join the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE). She’s a young girl living in the South in the 1960s, so obviously, her family and community are not very happy about this decision, but she goes against their wishes to join an organization she deeply cares about. Of course, as with all of these books, both storylines come together near the end. I found it to be a fascinating and propulsive read and I think we’ll have a lot to discuss at book club! There was a lot that happened in this book that was fairly predictable and I felt like things went a little off the rails near the end, but overall, I found it to be a fascinating look at what college students were doing at this pivotal time in history, right before the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. There are tons of trigger warnings for this book (Ellie’s chapters were hard to read for obvious reasons), so take care if you decide to pick this one up. But I definitely think it’s worth a read.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.16.23)

A Burning by Megha Majumdar (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Fiction • 2020

I think I’m still processing this book, as it was nothing like I expected. I went into it mostly blind, which isn’t my favorite way to start a book (I like having a general idea of what the plot is about), and it meant I was really surprised by what took place and how everything turned out in the end. The novel is about power and wealth, and the way both can be corrupted. It follows three people: Jivan, a young girl who has been accused of executing a terrorist attack; PT Sir, a gym teacher who begins to ascend in a right-wing political party; and Lovely, who aspires to fame and fortune and whose alibi could set Jivan free. It’s a mostly depressing story, although I found all of the characters to be super compelling and people I could root for (well, not so much PT Sir, but there was a humanness to him and his struggle that was fascinating to explore). Listening to it on audio was the way to go, I think, as each character was voiced by a different person and it really made the story come alive for me.

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Amazon) • Nonfiction • 2020

I have had Aubrey Gordon’s book on my list for a long, long time (probably since she announced it!) and I am so glad I finally picked it up last week. I love Aubrey’s podcast, Maintenance Phase, that she co-hosts with Michael Hobbes, and this book continues the work she is doing on that podcast to help people unlearn their fatphobic tendencies. Aubrey is honest, vulnerable, and forthright when she talks about the harassment and bullying she has experienced as a very fat person—from a doctor who told her to “lose weight” to help heal an ear infection to a stranger in the grocery store removing a canteloupe from Aubrey’s grocery cart because, as the stranger insisted, “it had too much sugar.” She argues about the justice and the real systemic change that is needed to stop the harms that occur to fat people on a daily basis. I was in the middle of reading this book when I had a very discouraging doctor’s visit where my own concerns weren’t taken seriously and instead, the doctor wanted to talk to me about weight loss. While I haven’t had to deal with nearly the amount of harassment as Aubrey (and have typically had very positive experiences with the medical community!), it reminded me that we have so far to go in our society. This is a book that I think would be especially beneficial for those that experience thin privilege. If you’ve never had to worry about asking for a seat extender on an airplane, or a doctor not taking you seriously because of your weight, or being harassed by strangers because of your size… I encourage you to pick up this book to better understand what it’s like to live in a fat body.

The work of straight-size people will need to be courageous, vulnerable, and uncomfortable. It will require them to get painfully honest with themselves, acknowledging that they have been trained to judge and marginalize fat people, and, whether they intend to or not, they are active participants in perpetuating and expanding anti-fatness. They will need to interrogate and jettison all the ways, big and small, that they’ve come to marginalize fat people, from posting triumphant before and after weight-loss photos to reassuring themselves that ‘they’re not that fat’ when they see a body like mine. And they will need to come to a deep understanding and belief that their body—their very own—is not necessarily an accomplishment, not a reward, not a reflection of a laudable work ethic or intense tenacity, but of a series of factors that are largely out of their own control.

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Libby • Historical Romance • 2004

This might be my favorite book in the Bridgerton series! I have been very vocal about my “meh-ness” about this series and wishing Netflix had picked up a better historical romance series to make a show about, but I really loved Francesca’s story. She’s been pretty absent in the Netflix series so far, and even in the book series, as the last we heard about her was that she was recently widowed after her husband of just a few years died suddenly. This story starts with Francesca’s husband’s death as a prologue and then picks up four years afterward when she decides she’s ready to get married again because she’s desperate to become a mother. Then there’s Michael, who has loved Francesca from afar for years, even when she was married to his cousin. When his cousin died, he inherited the earldom and quickly fled to India, but now he’s back in London and he realizes his love for Francesca has not waned one bit. I love a good unrequited love trope, and this one was really sweet. I wish the author had given us more insight into Francesca’s desire for motherhood because it kind of disappeared after it was initially brought up. This story is spicy so prepare yourself for some very hot sexytimes! I thought they were *chef’s kiss*. All in all, a really delightful romance with characters I loved to root for and a propulsive plot that was fun to follow along with.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.11.23)

I kicked off my 2023 reading year with three 5-star reads in a row! I feel like that very rarely happens, so it’s always a pleasant surprise when it does. Here are three books I would highly recommend!

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis (★★★★★)

This was such a lovely book to start my 2023 reading year. It’s about Noelle and Sam who find themselves spending eight hours together on a random winter afternoon when a blizzard closes down the roads and they find themselves stuck on a highway, waiting for it to reopen. Noelle needs a phone charger and Sam can help with that. They have a sweet time together, getting to know each other while Noelle charges her phone, but then the roads open and they leave, never to see each other again. Except they do. Over the next few months, chance encounters put them together again and again and again, until Noelle has to ask, “Is this fate?” I love the way Lia Louis writes romances (I rated her other book, Dear Emmie Blue, 5 stars as well!) Noelle’s story just pulled at my heartstrings and I love all of the secondary plots happening in the midst of her love story with Sam, which really didn’t take center stage until late into the book. It’s a slow-burn romance with no sexy scenes, so it’s the perfect one if you’re just looking for a sweet story about a girl trying to find herself.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (★★★★★)

I was hoping to get to this book last year, but I didn’t request it in time. If I had, it most definitely would have been my favorite myster/thriller of the year! (So yes, it’s already a contender for a favorite of 2023.) This book has gotten so much buzz and I was so worried it would fall flat for me, but it lived up to all of my expectations! In this novel, Jen witnesses her 17-year-old son murder a stranger right in front of her. He’s arrested and she goes to sleep that night filled with fear and worry and crushing heartbreak. The next morning, she wakes up and it’s the day before the murder. The next time she wakes up, it’s two days before the murder. Over and over again, Jen wakes up on a day she’s already lived and she soon realizes she’s in a time loop and she doesn’t know why. Is she supposed to stop the murder? Is she supposed to find out why her teenage son becomes a murderer? This novel was filled with so many twists and turns, and I loved every single minute of it. It was such an inventive way to tell the story and the ending was *chef’s kiss*. A must read, if you love thrillers!

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (★★★★★)

This is the 18th (!!) book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, and how Louise Penny continues to write such perfect books so far into a series is beyond me. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty details of this book because this series MUST be read in chronological order, and I don’t want to give any plot points away for those of you who are not as far into the series as I am. What I will say about this novel is that the central mystery was excellent and I just love the way Penny plays with these ideas of criminal psychology and fear and love and culture. It all comes together in such a unique way. This book was pretty dark at times, but still, I loved it so very much.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.4.23)

The No-Show by Beth O’Leary (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2022

Gosh, Beth O’Leary is such a hit-or-miss author for me. I loved two of her novels (The Flatshare and The Switch), DNF-ed The Road Trip, and really didn’t like this one. When I finished the book, the only thought I had was, “What was the ever-loving point of this novel?” After a few days to sit with it, I am starting to understand the point but I am still very frustrated by this book. The book begins by introducing three women: Siobhan, a life coach, Miranda, a tree surgeon (?!), and Jane, a volunteer at a charity shop. One by one, the women learn they have been stood up on Valentine’s Day by the same man (Joseph): Siobhan in the morning during a scheduled breakfast date, Miranda in the afternoon during a scheduled lunch date, and Jane in the evening during a scheduled party where she planned to introduce him to everyone. Right off the bat, there is sympathy for these women and disdain for this man who is seeing three women at once. Throughout the novel, we learn more about these women and more about the relationship they have with Joseph, and there are some interesting twists and turns the book takes that I wasn’t expecting, but overall, I just wasn’t a huge fan of the book and the way things turned out. YMMV!

The Verifiers by Jane Pek (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thiller • 2022

The Verifiers was a solid thriller, but not one I am rushing out to recommend. It follows the story of Claudia Lin who has just started a job with Veracity, a dating detective agency. Clients come to them when they want to find out why the person they were dating suddenly ghosted or if they suspect the person they’re dating might be married and want proof. Things like that. When one of their clients turns up dead, Claudia can’t help investigating what happened to get to the bottom of the mystery. Like I said, it was a fine thriller and I think some of the twists and turns the book took were truly interesting. (I also really loved learning more about the inner workings of online dating culture, although some of the stuff in the book is making me question if I should be using dating apps at all!) The ending was a bit anti-climactic. All in all, a good but not great book.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Libby • YA • 2018

Everyone I know who has read this book has absolutely raved about it, so I went into the story with very high expectations. I expected to fall in love with Darius, I expected to love this novel from beginning to end. And… it was just okay. Not bad, not spectacular. Just… fine. The story is about Darius, a half-Jewish, half-Muslim teenage boy who doesn’t fit in at school or at home. He has clinical depression that he takes medication for, and I think the mental health representation in this book was A+. When his family announces they are going to be spending the summer in Iran, Darius is looking forward to the trip and it’s there that he meets Sohrab, the boy who will become his best friend this summer. The novel is a personal journey for Darius: learning more about his homeland, growing closer to his grandparents whom he has never met (only through video calls), and exploring Iran with Sohrab. It’s a sweet story and it was interesting to see Iran from the perspective of a young teenage boy. I think things tied up a bit too neatly at the end for my tastes, though. (Can we let parent/child relationships be complicated without needing to make them BFFs at the end of the book?) All in all, a good book but not a standout.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Romance • 2022

My last book of 2022! I wanted to dip into a cute, Christmassy romance as I finished up my reading year and this book fit the bill. It’s about a woman, Ellie, who becomes fake-engaged to a man named Andrew. He’s the landlord for the coffee shop where she works and when he discovers she’s in dire straits (she’s days from being evicted), he proposed a plan to fake an engagement/marriage so that he can get his inheritance. (His grandfather stipulated that he must be married to get his inheritance.) It sounds like a good deal to Ellie, who is in desperate need of money and it comes with the bonus of not being alone on Christmas; instead, she’ll spend it with Andrew’s family. Only problem? Andrew’s sister is Jack, the same woman Ellie had a one-day fling with last Christmas… and the girl Ellie hasn’t been able to stop thinking about. This was a sweet romance, although the author’s debut novel (The Charm Offensive) is heads and tails above this book. I found Ellie to be a bit irritating at times and hard to root for. And, omg, if I had to listen to Ellie explain demisexuality to me one more goddamn time, I was going to scream. There were times when I think the author sacrificed plot and character development to make sure she was writing the most woke book possible. Not my favorite romance, but a fine one to end the year with.

What was YOUR last book of 2022?