Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (6.14.21)

Happy Monday, friends! I had a very lovely weekend: I got to visit a friend’s new house and help her put together a small shelving unit, and there was game night with the fam. I also got in a few long naps, a great workout, and did some rearranging of the bookshelves in my apartment.

I have five book reviews for you guys today. It wasn’t the best two weeks of reading (lots of blah reads here!) but there were two standouts that just might make my favorites list at the end of the year. (We’ll see!)

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen (★★★★★)

Short synopsis: In the space of a single night, a wall is constructed in Berlin, effectively separating 12-year-old Gerta, her mom, and her older brother from her father and her other brother (they were in West Berlin to look for work). East Berlin is now controlled by the Soviets and she feels like a prisoner in her own beloved city. What’s a girl to do, but find a way to tunnel into West Berlin with her family.

I loved this book. I learned a lot about Germany after WWII and the effects of Soviet occupation. I loved Gerta so much; she was tenacious and brave without being a character who continuously made silly decisions. The ending was heart-pounding and exciting, too! It’s a middle-grade novel so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved learning more about German history through this novel.

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters (★★★☆☆)

Short synopsis: Evie is a screenwriting agent’s assistant who is tasked with ensuring his #1 client turns in his script on time. He’s been tasked to write a rom-com, and as someone who doesn’t believe in romance and those silly “meet-cutes” common in rom-coms, he’s refusing to hold up his end of the bargain. So Evie makes a deal with him: She will intentionally craft meet-cute opportunities until she falls in love (to prove to him that it can be done) and he must write part of the script for each attempt.

This was definitely a case of reading a book at the wrong time, as one of the main thrusts of this novel is Evie’s workaholic tendencies, which I read just as I was dealing with my own work/life balance issues. So I was annoyed by Evie and all the ways she let the people in her life down because she was so attached to her job. (Answering work emails while doing a bridesmaid dress fitting for her best friend’s wedding?! Come on!) There were things I liked about this novel: the sweet love story, a precocious 7-year-old girl, and all of the different meet-cutes Evie has. It’s a fun romance and I probably would have liked it more if I read it during a different time in my life.

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Hen and Lloyd become friends with their neighbors, Matthew and Mira, and during dinner one night, while on a tour of Matthew and Mira’s home, Hen spots a trophy in Matthew’s office—the same trophy that went missing from the home of a college-aged student who was killed.

This was a pretty good thriller, but it was very graphic, which is why I gave it 3 stars. However, there was an excellent twist at the end that I definitely didn’t see coming—love when that happens! I really enjoyed the two main characters of this novel (it switches back and forth between Hen and Matthew’s points of view). Some thriller authors seem to take delight in creating super unlikable, unreliable characters, but Swanson created two likable, if very flawed characters. All in all, a pretty solid thriller but sensitive readers should take caution with this one.

Internment by Samira Ahmed (★★☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: When Layla and her parents are sent to an internment camp for Muslim Americans, she finds her voice as the leader of a rebellion.

This book had so much potential, but it failed in its execution. It was the kind of YA novel that felt very YA, as Layla is quite honestly an annoying teenager who constantly makes brash decisions. I found myself more curious about her parents and what they were going through, than what Layla and the friends she made in the internment camp were doing. I also don’t buy that the only people in an internment camp willing to make a stand were the teenagers. None of the adults were doing anything? Really?! It all came down to a tiny group of teenagers? Something didn’t add up to me. I think there’s an important message in this book, but it gets lost in the bad writing, illogical plot, and almost cartoonish ending.

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: In this book, Carol Anderson describes how social progress for Blacks was continually countered by a white opposition.

This book was such a difficult read. It’s infuriating to read about all the ways white people and those in power deliberately and continually stopped the progress of Black people. From not giving Black children the resources they needed to get an education on par with white children to voter suppression laws and intimidation tactics, there’s something truly sinister about all the ways Black people’s progress was halted—all because white people couldn’t stand the thought of Black people being in the same social standing as them. It’s truly despicable. This is the history we’re not taught about, and it’s one we need to be talking about more. At the end of the book (in a new afterword written after the 2016 election), Anderson writes this:

Imagine if Reconstruction had actually honored the citizenship of four million freed people—provided the education, political autonomy, and economic wherewithal warranted by their and their ancestors’ hundreds of years of free labor. If, instead of continually refighting the Civil War, we had actually moved on to rebuilding a strong, viable South, a South where poor white, too—for they had been left out as well—could gain access to proper education. (p. 176)

What I’m Reading This Week

I’m currently almost halfway through The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan. I read her debut novel, The Roommate, earlier this year and loved it and I’m enjoying this one a lot, too! I also started Taylor Jenkins Reid’s newest release, Malibu Rising. I’m only 50 pages in, but it’s fantastic so far and I can’t wait to spend more time with it! I’m also planning on starting a new audiobook this week: Glass Houses, which is the 13th book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.31.21)

Good morning, friends. It’s been a very lazy, lovely weekend around here and I’m glad to have yet another day to enjoy the laziness (while definitely considering the impact of what today means; here’s a great explainer of why we should never say “Happy Memorial Day” btw).

Last week wasn’t a great reading week for me, but I think the next slate of books I’m reading/will be reading is going to make up for this week. Let’s review:

Making Up by Helena Hunting (★☆☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Griffin can’t get the salesgirl he met in an adult toy store off his mind, so he asks her out and is pleasantly surprised when Cosy accepts.

Ohhh, this book was downright terrible. I should have abandoned it—I usually do!—but this one was just so laughably bad that I had to finish it so I could write a scathing review. This review might get a little spoiler-y, so I guess if you want to read the book, just skip down to the next review. But let’s discuss everything bad about this book: the age gap between the characters (she’s 22, he’s 33). An 11-year age gap like this can most definitely work, but there’s a power dynamic difference between someone who is 22 and in college and someone who is 33 and a billionaire heir. I hated all the different ways Griffin seemed to bribe Cosy: fancy meals out, a full closet full of designer dresses and Louboutin shoes for her to wear at these dinners, and an internship at his company (soooo many ethical violations with that last one). I hated that there was a silly surprise pregnancy plot and, lastly, the way Griffin bribed Cosy’s sister (with $2,000 dollars!) to reveal her location (after Cosy has asked for some space). All in all, a pretty terrible book from an author I usually like.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: After Nora decides to die by suicide, she finds herself in a magical library, a place between life and death, where she can find out what all those other lives she didn’t live actually look like. 

Welp. Add me to the list of people who thought this book was rather “meh.” I don’t think it was a problem of the book being overhyped and I loved the idea behind the novel, but the execution didn’t work for me. I didn’t find it believable that Nora could have lived all of these fascinating lives (and yet is living the most “un”fascinating life of all) and I really, really disliked the ending. I felt like the topics of suicide and depression weren’t given the kind of care these issues deserved (which is surprising since I know the author has battled both), and it was a bit of a let-down.

What I’m Reading This Week

Currently, I’m finishing up Elementary Romantic Calculus by Susannah Nix, which I am enjoying. It’s between 3 and 4 stars at this point, depending on how the last 50 pages go. I also have about 100 pages left in A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Neilsen, which has been fantastic. It’s giving me a real history lesson of Germany in the 1960s and the era of the Berlin Wall.

Next up for me is White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson. I’m going to take a “slow but steady” approach to that book, reading just 15-20 pages per day. I’m also going to start Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson, which is our June book club pick, as well as Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters, a contemporary romance. And if that isn’t enough, I’m also going to start an audiobook, Internment by Samira Ahmed. Books on books on books!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.24.21)

Happy Monday, friends! It’s Lucy day! I am taking the afternoon off work so Mom and I can go pick her up. I can’t wait to see how Chip responds to her and how she handles her new home. Eeks! So exciting!

Last week, I finished four books—woop! Here are my reviews:

I’ll Be There for You: The One About Friends by Kelsey Miller (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: A book all about the cultural phenomenon that was the TV show, Friends, which aired from 1994-2004.

I mean, how could I not love a book all about one of my favorite TV shows? This book was excellent, well-researched, and so fun to read. It starts by giving readers background into how the show came to be and how it was cast, and then takes you through the seasons, including how things changed, fame-wise, for the cast as the show got more and more popular. I appreciated that the book addressed the lack of diversity, fatphobia, and homophobia of the show. So many of the jokes would not fly on TV today, that’s for sure! (Fat Monica, anyone?!) Anyway, if you love Friends or even have a passing appreciation for it, definitely pick up this book. It’s a fun, light-hearted look into the show!

Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez (★★☆☆☆)

Short synopsis: After Vanessa, a popular YouTuber, becomes the sole caretaker of her infant niece, her life changes drastically. Enter Adrian: her hot, next-door neighbor who is surprisingly a baby whisperer.

Ohhh, are we ready for a spicy opinion? I hope so! I did not love this book. I’ve read three books by Jimenez—two were 2-star reads and one was a 5-star read. I was hoping this would be another winner, but it was most definitely not. The whole premise of the novel hinges on Vanessa believing she has just a year to live. She’s 29 and both her mother and older sister died when they were 30. There’s an actual medical reason she believes this (which I won’t get into since it could be spoiler-y), but Vanessa refused to get diagnosed. The way she sees it, knowing won’t change the way she’s living her life. While I could sympathize with Vanessa’s fear, I just found it to be wholly unbelievable that you wouldn’t try to get diagnosed so you would know for sure. Why live with this fear if you don’t have to, you know? If you’re already living your life as if you’re going to die at 30, are you really living life to its fullest? It just didn’t make sense to me. And then there’s Adrian. Sigh. I loved Adrian but he was a bit too perfect and one-dimensional. Find me a single, thirtysomething man with a stressful career who wants to spend his limited free time babysitting a newborn… I’ll wait. Many other things irked me, or just weren’t written to be very believable, such as the depiction of single motherhood, the life coach-y platitudes Vanessa was constantly throwing out (usually to counteract Adrian’s generalized anxiety, which is very unhelpful!), and the weird way a family member’s hoarding disease was handled. All in all, not a book I’d recommend.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: It’s been 10 years since Laurel’s 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, disappeared and when she’s swept off her feet by a man named Floyd, she’s shocked to find out his 9-year-old daughter bears a striking resemblance to Ellie.

I really liked this thriller! It was well-paced and for a while, I didn’t know what was going on or how everything connected. I liked the way the author split the book into several different parts, with each part unveiling a tiny bit of the mystery. For example, part one was all about the weeks leading up to Ellie’s disappearance and Laurel’s state of mind after her daughter went missing. Part two dives into Laurel meeting Floyd. And so on. I enjoyed most of the characters in the novel (though the 9-year-old could be exhausting at times, lol) and the resolution was satisfying.

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Essays from celebrities, activists, and politicians about what it means to be a person of color in today’s America.

I loved this essay collection! Some essays were more impactful than others, but every person wrote from a place of honesty, vulnerability, and hope. I loved seeing such an eclectic mix of perspectives—everyone from Congressman Joaquin Castro to Lin-Manuel Miranda to trans supermodel Geena Rocero. It’s a great collection and one I’d encourage anyone to pick up!

What I’m Reading This Week

I have a little less than 40 pages to go in Making Up by Helena Hunting, a contemporary romance that I’m basically hate-reading at this point. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Helena Hunting’s romances so I am surprised by how bad this one is. I think my main issue is the age gap between the characters (the heroine is 22 and the hero is 33). Sometimes decade+ age gaps can work in romance, but it’s just not doing it for me in this one.

Once I finish that romance, I’ll start The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, a book I’m excited to start! It’s gotten mixed reviews from friends so I’m going in with lowered expectations. We’ll see where I fall on the spectrum! I’m also going to start Elementary Romantic Calculus by Susannah Nix sometime this week. I’ve enjoyed most of Nix’s contemporary romances and this is her newest release (came out last week!), so I’m hoping it’s a good one.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.17.21)

Good morning! I’m happy to have a nice stack of books to review with you today. Over the last two weeks, I’ve finished four books. I’m still reading at a much slower pace than I was last year (I set my Goodreads goal at 150 books and I am always a few books behind), but that’s okay! It just means I have a better balance in my hobbies this year, haha. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare (★★★★★)

One-sentence synopsis: Minerva must get to Scotland to present her scientific findings, but she can’t go alone so she hatches a plan to get an eligible bachelor (and the man she can’t stop thinking of), Colin, to come along with her.

Oh, I just loved this historical romance. Tessa Dare consistently knocks it out of the park for me, and this was one of those rare five-star romances for me. I loved Minerva and her passion for science and discovery. And I adored Colin and the way he cared for Minerva and encouraged her scientific prowess. He wasn’t a man who was intimidated by her brain but loved her all the more for it. Their love story was so sweet to witness, especially watching the barriers come down between them. This is the second book in Dare’s Spindle Cove series and I’m loving it so much!

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: A story about a family surviving through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, and their experiences as migrants when they travel from Texas to California in search of a better life.

This book was incredibly difficult to read. At a certain point, I had to limit myself to reading just a few chapters a day because it was just so depressing. This family goes through so much struggle and heartbreak, but it’s something so many families went through during the Great Depression. The book is well-written with complex characters that you can’t help but root for, and I appreciated the incredible history lesson I got from this book. But I can’t lie: When I finished it, I was just so happy to be done and out of this sad world.

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Sydney has lived in her Brooklyn neighborhood nearly her whole life but weird things are happening now: long-time neighbors are disappearing and gentrification is happening faster than she can keep up with.

This book is being marketed as a thriller (it’s even right there on the cover: “a thriller”) and I think it fails to live up to the twists and turns I expect from my thrillers. It didn’t feel much like a thriller until the last few chapters. I think it’s better to read this as a subversive fiction novel that takes gentrification and turns it all on its head. And as that, the novel works. It’s horrifying and rage-inducing to read about this gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood and the white people who move in and expect everything to change for them. I loved Sydney as a character and her deep passion for her community and Black culture. I also really enjoyed Theo (a white neighbor who moves in, but seems to genuinely want to help), as he was that kind of “good white person” many white people think we are (including me). It’s always helpful to realize the ways we are being complicit in racism. The book completely jumped the shark at the end for me, though, and really soured me on the book as a whole. It just wasn’t a very well-executed thriller. So, in my opinion, read it to learn more about the horrors of gentrification—don’t read it for the thriller aspect.

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Work enemies Shay and Dominic must work together to create a podcast for their public radio station, pretending to be exes who are now giving relationship advice to the masses.

This was a good contemporary romance, although I had my issues with it. Here’s what I liked: Shay and Dominic’s dynamic was super fun, getting an inside look into public radio was fascinating, and the insidiousness of misogyny in the workplace was really well done. Here’s what I didn’t like: I hated the way the author made Shay’s single life seem so lonely and desperate. All single people are not just waiting for their soulmate to start living! I had problems with the ethics of podcast hosts lying to their listenership. I would feel so betrayed if I found out, like, Knox and Jamie of The Popcast despise each other, you know? I also took issue with the idea of a boss forcing his employees to spend time together at a cabin with one bed. That’s so inappropriate and would never happen in real life! Basically, this book required a ton of suspension of belief, and I just couldn’t get there with this romance. Oh, and I also was appalled by Shay as a dog owner. She adopts a really needy dog from a shelter early in the book and the day after she gets him, she puts in a 12+ hour day at the office. Umm, what? You can’t do that when you have a dog, especially right after adopting him! (I was seriously expecting a scene where Shay comes home to find her dog has destroyed her home and had accidents all over the house, but nope.)

What I’m Reading This Week

  • Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (audiobook) – I’m a little more than halfway done with this thriller and it’s excellent so far. I have no idea where it’s going or how everything connects, and those are the best kinds of thrillers.
  • I’ll Be There for You: The One About Friends by Kelsey Miller – Ahhh, I am loving this book! Friends is one of my all-time favorite shows and the best comfort watch, and it’s really fun learning the ins and outs of this show.
  • Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez – This contemporary romance has been really fun so far. I love the dynamics between the two main characters, and I’m just really enjoying my time with this book.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (5.3.21)

Well, what a weekend I had. I was down for the count after my second COVID vaccine on Thursday. I was one of the unlucky ones who got to experience all of the blasted side effects, starting at 5 a.m. on Friday and lasting until Sunday afternoon. Most of Friday was spent with flu-like symptoms: body aches, headache, a fever, nausea, and chills. I couldn’t do anything on Friday. I just laid around in bed, ate some chicken soup, drank copious bottles of Gatorade. I didn’t want to read or watch TV, but I did scroll through about 10,000 Instagram Reels (approximately). The fever and the body aches were the worst of all my symptoms. They were miserable! Saturday, I woke up feeling much better, but my energy was still very low and I was dealing with a headache and some weird mid-back pain. I think I must have strained it from the way I was lying in bed, maybe? But let me tell you: give me sciatica pain over that mid-back pain any day. It was super uncomfortable! I also didn’t have much of an appetite, and all I wanted to eat was plain food (like all I wanted for dinner was mashed potatoes… so weird.)

Just as I figured I was on the mend, I woke up on Saturday around 11:30pm with excruciating pain in the arm that got the injection. It radiated down my arm to my wrist, up into the back of my shoulder, and even into my armpit and the side of my breast. It was so intense that I was nauseated from the pain and I honestly thought I was having a stroke. I was very close to calling my mom to take me to the ER, but since it was happening in the injection arm, I tried to calm myself down that it was most likely vaccine-related. I took ibuprofen and spent about 30 minutes icing my arm in all the different places it was hurting, and then slept on the couch since I couldn’t get comfortable on my bed. And that seemed to help because I woke up around 5:30am with the pain gone (just some soreness in my armpit). I took myself to my own bed and fell asleep pretty quickly, waking up around 11:30am and feeling back to my normal self. My arm was still a little tender (especially my armpit), but my energy levels were back, my back wasn’t hurting anymore, and my headache was gone. Woop!

So while it seems like everyone I know has had a mild reaction to their second shot, I was one of the unlucky ones who got to experience the full force of my immune system at work. It was not fun, but COVID would have been a million times worse, and for a much longer time period. So, absolutely, I would get the vaccine again in a heartbeat, even knowing what I’d have to go through. It’s 100% worth it.

Okay, enough about my vaccine reaction! Let’s talk about a much better subject: books. Unfortunately, this is going to be my “spicy opinions” week on the blog because I read one great book and two “blah” reads.

Refugee by Alan Gratz (★★★★☆)

One sentence synopsis: Stories about three children who became refugees: Josef in 1930s Germany, Isabel in 1990s Cuba, and Mahmoud in 2015 Syria.

This book was excellent and really drives home the true grit of refugees and the incredible sacrifices they make to seek a better life. I wish that anyone opposed to asylum seekers and immigration reform as a whole would read this book—these are human beings who are often trying to flee dangerous situations and they deserve our compassion and understanding. The book travels between Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud’s stories, as they leave their home countries with their families in search of a safer place to live. Josef and his family board a ship destined for Cuba after his father is released from a concentration camp and told he must leave Germany in a matter of weeks. Isabel, her pregnant mother, her father, her grandfather, and a neighbor family leave Cuba for Miami on a DIY boat, traveling through the waters of the Caribbean. Mahmoud, his mother, father, brother, and baby sister start trekking from Syria to Germany by any means necessary: taxi, car, boat, train, etc. Each story is harrowing and dangerous, but necessary because staying in their home countries is more harrowing and dangerous. Definitely a book to add to your TBR, friends!

American Street by Ibi Zoboi (★★☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Fabiola and her mom are traveling to Detroit from Haiti when her mom is detained in customs, and Fabiola must integrate herself in this strange land—with the help of her aunt and three cousins—alone. 

You guys, I just don’t think Ibi Zoboi is for me. I read Pride by her at the end of last year and while other people rave about that book, I gave it 2 stars. And while many people raved about this book, it was another 2-star read for me. There’s just something about the way she writes her characters that doesn’t work for me. I found most of this book to be rather meandering and boring; I didn’t really like any of the characters; and I found the portrayal of violence against women to be graphic and abhorrent (especially considering the “hero” of this novel was complicit in the violence). There was a lot of girl-on-girl hate in the novel and some problematic stereotyping that I think has the potential to reinforce racial biases. In the end, the plot of Fabiola’s mom being detained was such a small part of the novel that nobody but Fabiola seemed to care about—not her cousins, not her aunt. I thought this storyline would be a bigger part of the novel, and there would have been an exploration of immigration and detention centers, but it played the tiniest role. It almost felt like an afterthought, which is just crazy to me. Anyway, this is not a novel I would recommend and I’m honestly scratching my head as to why it has such a great Goodreads rating. Meh.

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: When Valinda is saved by Captain Drake LeVeq after her schoolroom is trashed by white supremacists, she must lean on him and his family for help.

And here’s another author who just isn’t for me. So many romance readers rave about Beverly Jenkins and I really want to like her writing because she has an extensive backlist and is one of the few Black romance authors, but nope. This book was “just ok” and I never felt compelled to pick up. I found the writing to be stilted and overly formal, and a lot of the drama to be rather anticlimactic. I did love Drake’s character, though, and I felt like Valinda was a great heroine who was feisty and opinionated and oh-so-charming. I also think this book does a great job of giving historical context to the time period (Reconstruction Era), and I’d love to read more romances set in this time period from Black authors.

What I’m Reading This Week

I just started The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, which I’m reading for the Unread Shelf Project’s May challenge (read a book you bought as a new release). I’ve heard some mixed reviews about this book: many people raved about it, but just as many people talked about how dark and depressing it is. I think I’m in the right headspace, though, to take on a depressing read. We’ll see! To offset that book, I’m reading a historical romance from one of my faves, A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. No audiobook for me this week, as I need to catch up on my podcast feed!

What are you reading?