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

• Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man’s Education by Mychal Denzel Smith (print) – I’m taking this book slowly, reading one chapter a day. It’s excellent so far!
• The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (audiobook) – Yesssss. I’m so glad to be back in the world of Three Pines and my beloved Armand Gamache. I’m only a few hours in and enjoying it so much.
• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (print) – This book is more than 20 years old at this point and it’s one I’ve had on my shelf for a while. But I think it will be a good follow-up to The Guest List since this highly sensitive reader will need something a bit more uplifting after that creepy thriller.
• Man Down by Kate Meader (e-book) – My romance pick for the week. 🙂 It’s a sports romance and Kate’s one of the best at those.

What are you reading?