Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (11.2.20)

There’s an elephant in the room and I’m not going to acknowledge it. Not because I don’t care, but because we all need a little distraction right now. So, instead, I bring to you this week’s reading recap, which is filled with great books. Two romances, a biography, and a YA thriller—so many genres! I had a great reading week for sure.

My bookish moment this week was watching my mom’s neighbor hand out picture books to children who came by to trick or treat. (She also handed out bags of candy—she’s not a monster!) She was also dressed as a handmaid and, you guys, I just need to meet and become friends with this woman. She’s like my literary twin! I need to get over my shyness and introduce myself and tell her how much I love the Little Free Library she has in her yard.

Anyway, let’s discuss my reads!

It’s in His Kiss by Jill Shalvis (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Becca has escaped to small-town Lucky Harbor after a difficult family situation, never expecting to fall in love with the first person she meets in this new place.

I loved this romance! It was pure fun from start to finish, and there was a lot of depth to the plot, as Becca is trying to heal after some traumatic things have happened to her. This novel is the 10th book in the Lucky Harbor series (but like most romance series, you don’t have to read the books in order) and it’s so fun to see some of my favorite characters pop back up in this novel. While I think some things wrapped up a little too easily—it always drives me crazy when authors feel the need to make everyone one big happy family at the end; that’s just not real life!—this was still a solid romance with some very steamy scenes! (Open-door romance.)

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: For the first time, a woman pens a biography of George Washington and doesn’t hold back about his flaws, including about the enslaved people he owned.

This was an excellent biography and I really hope Coe is planning on writing more books about our presidents because I learned so much in just 230 short pages. This book includes charts and other infographics that detail little things about Washington, like all of his illnesses, the “frenemies” he made while he was president, his war history, etc. Washington is an incredibly flawed character and he did not have many fans when he left the presidency, and I enjoyed this more nuanced take on his life. But what struck me most when reading this biography was learning more about his wife, Martha. Her life was a difficult one—losing her first husband, then both of her children, and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Not to mention, she had to share Washington with the country. He was away from her for years fighting in the war and then became president. And a year after he left the presidency, he was dead. I felt a lot for Martha and was encouraged by the way she soldiered on, even in the face of so much tragedy. Anyway, this is a great, accessible biography and I encourage everyone to give it a try!

Driven to Distraction by Lori Foster (★★☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: When prim and proper Mary hires rugged bad boy Brodie as her driver, sparks fly.

Ehhhh… this book relied a little too heavily on stereotypes, and I was actually surprised to learn it was published in 2018 because it felt very dated. The characters felt two-dimensional and the plot seemed to drag on and on with no apparent destination. Until this weird mystery subplot was introduced that was just so cheesy and unrealistic that I started skimming those sections. Not a great sign! This is the first book I’ve read of Lori Foster, who is a prolific romance novelist, and I’ll give her another shot… but this isn’t a novel I’d recommend. (Open-door romance.)

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: For her senior capstone project, Pip decides to investigate a five-year-old murder that took place in her town.

THIS NOVEL WAS SO GOOD. The only reason it doesn’t get five stars from me is because parts of it were a little too unbelievable—such as a seventeen-year-old launching such a complex murder investigation with no experience or training. (This was, like, Serial-level investigation and Sarah Koenig is no slouch in the experience department + had a whole team working with her.) But as long as you can get past that (which I could), this novel is incredible. I loved Pip so much, and her partnership with Ravi (whose brother allegedly killed his girlfriend five years ago, which is the murder Pip is investigating with the intent to clear his name) was such a sweet little addition. This novel took so many twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting, and I loved them all. I truly could not figure out who the murderer was or the motive, so the reveal was completely unexpected. All in all, an insanely good debut novel!

What I’m Reading This Week

  • Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas – This is the fifth book in the Lady Sherlock series, and I was thrilled when I came off the holds list at my library. I’m listening to it on audio, my favorite way to consume this series. I’m only an hour in and I’m already so happy to be back in the world of Charlotte Holmes.
  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli – I’m reading this YA novel to fulfill November’s prompt for the Unread Shelf Challenge (read a book in your favorite genre). I don’t have any traditional romances on my unread shelf (my actual favorite genre; I always read those quickly!) but YA romance is a close second, so it fits.
  • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi – Ah, yes. I am finally plucking this book off my shelf to read. I am planning on taking this book slowly, perhaps one chapter a day. This is not a book to speed-read through.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.26.20)

My bookish moment this week is having a fun conversation about self-help books with a coworker over chat! She wanted to recommend two really great titles that she just read and loved (Atomic Habits and Digital Minimalism) and I’m hoping we can read at least one of them for our work book club soon. I think Digital Minimalism, especially, would make for a great discussion! Anyway, I just love talking books with people and it was a nice interruption to my workday. 🙂

I finished two books since my last update, which was on Wednesday. I sped through a thriller and also finally finished my “slow but steady” read that I’ve been reading since August! I’m thinking about the next “slow but steady” book to pick up—probably something off the Serial Reader app.

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris (★★☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Three generations of Indigenous women tell their life stories.

I read this book because a good friend recommended it to me, and then lent me her high school copy. I chose it as my “slow and steady” read for the fall, reading about 10 pages a day until I finished it. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but it just did not work for me at all. The story is set up in three parts, starting with the granddaughter telling the story, and then the mother telling the story, and finally the grandmother. In each story, the mother figure is this terrible person with no love or compassion for her, someone who is really easy to root against. And then, the mother figure would try to explain her actions when she was telling the story. I assume the lesson to take from this is that humans are flawed and complicated, but to me, it just didn’t work. The explanations didn’t make me feel any sort of compassion toward these women when they’re treating their children and the people around them like shit. I wanted more from their lives and more from this story. Not one I would recommend, unfortunately.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (★★★☆☆)

Short synopsis: Twenty-five years ago, police were called to a home where they found three adults dead in an apparent suicide and a healthy 10-month-old baby crying in a crib upstairs. That baby is now all grown up and has inherited this house, knowing nothing of its sinister past.

Oooof. I had high hopes for this book, but it just did not meet them at all. I was expecting something dark and twisted, especially with the way the premise is laid out, and at times it felt more like a feel-good fiction novel than a thriller. I appreciated all the twists and turns the novel took, as certain things were revealed slowly (and most of them, I only predicted right before they were unveiled). I also liked that most of the characters were easy to root for, which is not always a given in a thriller. But it just didn’t live up to my expectations for a thriller and ultimately, it’s kinda forgettable.

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown – abandoned

I was listening to this book on audio and around the 51% mark, I decided to abandon it because I just wasn’t on board with the message it was trying to send. (The book was about a queer teenager who was asked by her father to pretend to be straight for her senior year after they moved to a conservative city in Georgia.)

What I’m Reading This Week

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.21.20)

My bookish moment of the week is having a reading date with a friend this weekend. It was so nice to sit by the water and read my book, and man, I feel like hitting up that spot every Saturday evening just before the sun goes down. It was so peaceful and I loved watching the sky turn all different colors as the sun set. Perfection!

I’ve got four book reviews for you today, and all of them were 4-star reads! That’s the sign of a great reading week. 🙂

Man Down by Kate Meader (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: It’s been three years since Gunnar’s wife and children died in a car accident and he’s finding his way back to himself—first by re-entering the NHL and then by falling in love.

This book made me cry! Gunnar’s grief is so raw and real, and you could feel his love for his late wife and kids just seeping from the page. And then comes Sadie, a sweet woman with a heart of gold but someone who is not here for Gunnar’s bullshit, at all. Their meet-cute is really fun, setting up and enemies-to-lovers trope, and I loved watching each of their walls come down as they fell in love with one another. This was a super solid romance, and I highly recommend it to my fellow romance readers! (Open-door romance.)

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Gamache is back in Three Pines with a special request from his dear friend Clara.

I’m going to be very vague about the plot of this novel since this is the continuation of a series and a lot of things happened before this book that I don’t want to spoil for people who plan on reading the series! Suffice it to say, this book was excellent and everything I wanted after being away from this series for a while. (The last time I read this series was FEBRUARY!) I love books that feature Clara, as she’s one of my favorite Three Pines characters, and I was happy that Gamache’s wife, Reine-Marie, had such a prominent role in the novel (in comparison to the other books). While the mystery itself wasn’t too interesting to me, this book still gets four stars because I was just so happy to be with Gamache and crew again.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: A narrative nonfiction book about a family of twelve kids growing up in the 60s and 70s, six of whom were diagnosed with schizophrenia. 

This book felt like a slog at times and it took me nearly two weeks to read it (it was only 330 pages, but very dense). But I’m glad I powered through because it was a really great read, especially learning about the history behind schizophrenia treatment. It gave me new respect for science researchers who may spend their entire careers trying to solve one tiny issue, like what chromosome is affected by schizophrenia. This book has content warnings on content warnings, and I had to set it down many times because the subject matter was so difficult. I truly felt for all of the kids in this family, both the sick ones and the healthy ones, because they were all dealing with their own traumas in their own ways. I wouldn’t say this is a must-read, but it’s a very powerful book if you like narrative nonfiction and can handle lots of triggering subject matters.

40-Love by Olivia Dade (★★★★☆)

One-sentence synopsis: Celebrating her 40th birthday, Tess and her friend take a trip to a resort in Florida where Tess falls in love with a twenty-something tennis instructor.

Oh, how I loved this book! I loved the banter between the main characters, the sweet way they cared for one another, and the honesty in working through their issues together. Tess is fat and while her fatness is discussed, it is not made an issue, especially not with Lucas (the male protagonist). At times, I felt like Lucas was a little too perfect but perhaps that’s my own insecurities talking. Also, what’s better than a 40-year-old woman getting it on with a twenty-something stud? GET IT GIRL! Haha. All in all, it was such a great read and I loved every minute I spent with this book. I especially loved that there wasn’t some dramatic dark moment—both Tess and Lucas were so open and honest with each other that there were no miscommunications or hurt feelings that were never dealt with. I can’t wait to read more from this author! (Open-door romance.)

What I’m Reading This Week

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.12.20)

My bookish moment of the week is my work book club meeting! There were only four of us on the call, but it was so fun to stop working for an hour to chat about the book. We read The Guest List by Lucy Foley and we all agreed it wasn’t very good, but we still had a really lively discussion about it (mostly about all the ways it sucked, haha).

In other bookish news, reading was a struggle this week. I think it probably had something to do with an anxiety episode I was working through, as I found it hard to focus on reading and couldn’t find a really good book to sink into. I kept starting and stopping books because nothing was grabbing my attention. As such, I only have ONE book review for this week! Crazy, huh? What a weird reading week for me!

Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man’s Education by Mychal Denzel Smith (★★★★☆)

One-sentence review: Mychal muses on the question “How do you learn to be a Black man in America?”

I really liked this memoir, as Mychal is vulnerable and honest about his life, his struggles, and his family. He discusses some of the key Black thinkers, writers, and rappers that helped him define Blackness in America. He also talks about his difficulty in connecting with his father and his anxiety and depression that led him to drop out of college. He’s also not shy about his criticism of Obama, which made me uncomfortable at times. (I just want everyone to love Obama as I did, but that’s not reality and it’s especially not reality for Black people.) All in all, a fantastic BIPOC memoir and one you should definitely add to your antiracism reading list.

What I’m Reading This Week

  • The Long Road Home by Louise Penny (audio) – I have a few hours left in this audiobook! I’m enjoying it, although the mystery isn’t as engaging as I wish and I find the discussions about art and muses to be a little mind-numbing, lol.
  • Man Down by Kate Meader (e-book) – I’m nearly finished with this hockey romance, but couldn’t get it done in time for this reading recap. It’s really good, though I expect nothing less from Meader!
  • Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker (print) – I’m reading this for work book club. It was my suggestion, so I feel obligated to read the whole thing, even if it’s a slog. I’m only about 75 pages in (it’s 400 pages) and it’s fine so far. Nothing outstanding, though, and I’m hoping it starts to pick up.
  • What You Wish For by Katherine Center (e-book) – My hold just came in for this book – woohoo! This will be a good book to read alongside Hidden Valley Road. I have loved everything I’ve read from Center, so I’m really looking forward to diving into this one.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.5.20)

Happy Monday! I thought it might be fun to start off these reading updates with a “bookish moment of the week.” This is something that starts each episode of the Currently Reading podcast, so why not talk about some of my own bookish moments? This week, my bookish moment was searching my book collection for a book for my mom. She’s a notoriously picky reader: It can’t be too romance-y, nor too depressing, nor too character-driven. No thrillers, no historical fiction, closed-door romance only. She mostly reads celebrity memoirs and some light fiction but also gets bored very easily while reading. (She used to be a huge reader and is the person who inspired my love of reading, but doesn’t do much of it these days.) I really think that getting back to her love of reading would be great for her mental health, but searching for the right book is tough. Anyway, I picked up One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London (my review below!) for her, so fingers crossed! (And, seriously, any book recommendations for my picky mom are WELCOME. I’m always at a loss of what to recommend to her!)

Okay, now let’s dive into my reviews!

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London (★★★☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: When Bea becomes the first plus-size star of a Bachelor-type reality TV show, she’s determined not to get her heart involved—but then she meets the men she’ll be “dating.”

I liked this book, and I think it’s perfect for people who want to read something light-hearted without it being too “romance-y.” Plus, you can’t beat a plus-size heroine, and Bea is one of the best. She’s vulnerable and funny and sweet and snarky—everything I want from my heroines! I could intimately relate to her internal struggles, including how difficult it can be to date as a fat person. It’s hard when you know you’re a catch but you feel as if nobody wants to date you because of your size! I wish this book had given us more body diversity in terms of the men (here’s a great blog post about this very topic—so great to see more plus-size heroines in our romances, but why can’t we also have plus-size heroes?) I also wanted a bit more from the actual romance—for me, it was easy to figure out who Bea would end up with at the end, but there wasn’t a whole lot of depth to their relationship considering she was dating multiple men in addition to him! But still, it’s a great book to pick up and Bea gets all the heart-eyes from me. (Closed-door romance.)

Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne (★★★★☆)

Short synopsis: Naomi, CEO of a successful accessories business, moves into a Park Avenue apartment—the same one she lived in as a child when her mom was the live-in housekeeper for a rich family. The son of that family used to be her tormenter… and now he’s going to be her neighbor. 

Oh, Naomi and Oliver! I loved these two fools so much. Their romance was a slow burn (I don’t even think they kissed until the 70% mark!), but there was so much fun banter and flirting between the two of them leading up to that magical kiss that I didn’t even mind it. I loved the way they slowly opened up to one another, letting their walls come down. Oliver is taking care of his father who has Alzheimer’s, and I really loved the addition of this storyline. It really brought awareness to what it’s like to be a caretaker and the realities of Alzheimer’s disease. (Closed-door romance.)

The Guest List by Lucy Foley (★★☆☆☆)

One-sentence synopsis: It’s the destination wedding of a rising TV star and a successful magazine publisher on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, but the dream day turns into a nightmare when someone turns up dead.

The Guest List is the October book for my work book club, so I picked it up to read this weekend… and it was just okay. It was one of those forgettable thrillers with supremely unlikable characters and trigger warnings galore. I found the writing to be overwrought, especially with the heavy-handed foreshadowing. There were bright spots, though, such as the island setting that functioned as a character itself. The actual mystery of who was going to die and who the killer would be was interesting and kept me engaged. But in the end, I just didn’t care because all of the characters were so awful that they could have all died and I would have been okay with that. Eeps.

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett – abandoned

Oh, I really thought I was going to power through and finish this novel, even though I wasn’t really enjoying it. I am very much someone who believes in abandoning books so I don’t know why I was forcing myself to read something I didn’t like! But at the 60% mark, I had enough. This novel follows three paths that two characters take after a chance meeting in college. In one path, they act on their chemistry, break up with their significant others, and eventually get married. In another, nothing happens—they say goodbye and continue with their lives. And in a third, they start dating but then break up. Over the course of the novel, we follow these two characters throughout their lives but I just couldn’t handle all of the infidelity. That could be a spoiler, and if so, I’m sorry, but I feel like people should know what they’re getting into. Maybe that’s not a deal breaker for you, and if so, you might actually enjoy the novel! But if bad people behaving badly isn’t your cup of tea, I’d recommend steering clear.

What I’m Reading This Week

What are you reading?