Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (★★★★★)
Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Fiction • 2022
Short synopsis: Lora Ricci is an aspiring writer living in NYC and working a dream internship at ELLE magazine. When she meets the dynamic and charismatic Cat Wolff, she’s immediately taken by her. Then, Cat asks Lora to be a ghostwriter for her and it feels like all of Lora’s dreams are coming true.
This was my favorite book of January and it’s hard to talk about this book without giving everything away. Here’s what I’ll say: First, I want to reread this book immediately to figure out all the little clues that I totally missed my first time around. Second, I think this book was genius and so very clever! Third, a lot of people compare this to the Anna Delvey story, which I admittedly know very little about (Inventing Anna is still on my to-be-watched list!) so I can’t say if this comparison is accurate. I can understand why some people didn’t like it (Lora’s voice could be so grating at times), but it completely worked for me. Give this one a try, please, so we can discuss it! (I listened to it on audio but I would recommend picking it up in print because there are lots of emails/texts and audiobook productions still haven’t figured out an easy way for those types of things to be read aloud.)
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (★★★★★)
Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Romance • 2023
Short synopsis: After Jacob makes a startling bad first impression with his new work colleague, Briana, he decides to send her a letter to explain himself and offer a new impression. This begins a series of letters that go back and forth, and the start of a strong friendship that begins to feel like something more.
THIS BOOK, YOU GUYS. This book was immediately placed on my “favorites” shelf the minute I finished it. This book touched me in so many ways. First, there’s Jacob who suffers from social anxiety (hence why he made such a bad first impression). The way this author explained social anxiety and the way it affects people was perfection. I felt like she was inside my brain, from stressing out over what to have for lunch when you’re meeting someone for the first time to needing all of the logistics explained when you’re going somewhere unfamiliar. And then there’s Briana. Now, I have my own Briana and the way this Briana was written is exactly the way my Bri cares for me and my social anxiety. She offers to drive us places, she gives me the logistics, she makes sure to choose places for dinner where I won’t be uncomfortable. She doesn’t make me feel crazy or make me feel like I’m a burden. She loves me, so she wants me to be comfortable in social situations. And that’s the way the Briana in this book cared for Jacob. Once she learned he struggles with social anxiety, she did whatever she could to help him feel comfortable. She took care of Jacob in a way that he had never been taken care of before, and man, it was so sweet. It is the ultimate gift to be treated that way.
There were other reasons why this book worked so well for me. I loved Briana’s character arc and storyline—she’s going through a divorce and trying to find her brother a kidney donor while he’s struggling with severe depression. She’s struggling and while she has to do a lot of internal work on her own to get to a place where she can accept Jacob’s love, she’s also cared for by him in a way she hasn’t been cared for before.
All in all, it was a sweet and impactful romance novel and I loved it so much. It’ll be hard to knock this one off my #1 romance for the year, which is crazy to say when we’re only two months into the year!
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (★★★★★)
Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Fiction • 2023
Short synopsis: Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline are four sisters close in age and growing up in a Chicago suburb. As they prepare to graduate high school and college in the early 1980s, their lives are upended in a way that has reverberations for decades to come.
The hype is real with this one! I cracked open this book knowing that it has become a beloved book for so many readers, and I had hoped to love it just as much as they did. And, thankfully, I did! There is so much happening in this book; there are strong themes of family, found family, and regret woven throughout the pages. I tend to love novels that follow a family over a course of a lifetime, and this one did exactly that. I also loved that a good portion of this book took place in the 1980s—these women were coming of age around the same time as my mom, so it was interesting to get a glimpse into what life was like for her. A review mentioned that nobody was likable in this book, and I couldn’t disagree more! There were so many likable characters, so many people I was rooting for. The only one I had a hard time with was Julia, the eldest daughter, but it was more that I just wanted her to make different choices, even though I could understand why she was making the choices she did. All in all, this book has beautiful writing and an engaging plot. While it is a character-driven novel, I felt like the plot moved along at a steady pace and I wanted to see what would happen next for this family.
What are you reading?
I LOVED Cover Story – I read it on a 5.5+ hour plane ride and was so captivated.
I am mixed on Yours Truly – the 2/3 was so sweet and tender I was SWOONING!!! Then I felt like in the last part of the book, it became a different book. I felt like the author kind of pulled a fast one on one plot point. I still recommend though and am glad you enjoyed!!
Cover Story is the PERFECT book for the plane ride.
I’m trying to figure out which plot point didn’t work for you in Yours Truly. Was it the journal? I want to know! I didn’t love-love the ending, but I loved the first 90% so much that I was okay with it.
All 5 stars! Woo hoo! I requested Cover Story on Libby as soon as you posted it was a 5 star read! I hope the library adds it soon!
I love reading you loved Yours Truly and how closely you connected with the characters! Are you going to read Part of Your World as well?
I loved Hello Beautiful and wish they’d do a part 2 as well!
I am reading Go as a River and listening to A Court of Mist and Fury (or w/e it’s called LOL).
I am definitely going to pick up Part of Your World soon!
Ooh, a part 2 for Hello Beautiful would be interesting, I think, especially if it focused on the daughters.
I loved Hello Beautiful!
I watched Inventing Anna – what a crazy story. I think you’ll find the series very entertaining!
I need to move it up my To Be Watched list. I’ve heard the story is insane!
I am always so suspicious of Jimenez after The Friend Zone. I did just order Cover Story and Yours Truly from the library so we’ll see how that goes.
I thought Hello Beautiful was boring, to be honest. LOL. Honestly, my overwhelming thought when I think of that book is that there was too much basketball. I’m obviously in the minority, but I’m always so confused when I read raves of that book. How did I miss so much?
I AM, TOO, ENGIE! The Friend Zone and Life’s Too Short are two of my most-hated romance novels OF ALL TIME, and yet, then she writes this one and it’s so swoony and perfect! I also gave The Happy-Ever-After Playlist 5 stars, so she’s either love or hate for me.
Not every book is for every reader! I’m sorry that Hello Beautiful didn’t work for you. I do enjoy a sports storyline so all of the basketball stuff didn’t bother me.
Abby Jimenez has a fun Instagram, especially when she does videos of her very vocal dog!
I need to follow her! I’ve heard she’s great on social media.
Yours Truly is on my list but I am WAY down in the library queue. You never know, though, maybe it will happen sooner than later.
I’m reading The Indifferent Stars Above, the story about the Donner Party that Engie mentioned recently. It’s really interesting and I’m enjoying it a lot. Enjoying it as much as one can enjoy a book ABOUT IMPENDING DOOM FOR ALL.
Oh boy! That must be a TOUGH read, but I’m glad it’s captivating you!
I just put Yours Truly on hold via Libby. I wanted to listen to Cover Story, but my library doesn’t have the audio. Maybe I could break down and read it on my iPad? What a concept. I generally do physical book and audio, so this would be a reach for me.
I’m reading My Brilliant Friend and Mika in Real Life, and loving them both. I am also listening to My Brilliant Friend for some reason, it’s exactly the same as reading the physical book, so who knows with me. I have 9 audio books on hold, but they’re all a couple of weeks away. Maybe I should break down and pay for something (I have plenty of credits on Audible, I’ve just fallen in love with Libby)
Count me as another fan of Hello Beautiful, I really enjoyed it.
I did the audio for Cover Story and was able to handle it, so you might be okay with the audio… I think it’s just a book that’s meant to be READ and not listened to.
I think I probably should have gone with the audiobook for My Brilliant Friend. I think that’s a book that’s meant to be listened to. Reading it in e-book form just isn’t doing it for me.
Hello, Beautiful – so good!
What a great trio of books!
I’ve bee wanting to read an Abby Jimenez book for a while- maybe this one?
I’m currently reading Courtney Milan’s The Duke Who Musn’t, Agatha Christie’s Funerals are Fatal, My Brilliant Friend, and on audio Shakespeare was a Woman and Other Heresies. This latter is a little dry, but every so often a fascinating thought is proposed.
If you want to try Abby Jimenez, I would definitely try this one! It’s one of her better books for sure.
Yay look at all these 5 star books! That’s always so exciting, when you can read several great books in a row.
Totally intrigued by Cover Story! I hope my library has it.
So many 5-star reads! It’s been a good month of reading; I can’t complain!
The book gods were with you in January, no?
Three five star books. Amazing.
I came across Hello Beautiful so many times but am always hesitant when books are hyped. I may have to have a closer look after your review. Thank you.
The book gods have indeed been looking out for me recently! I’ve had such a long run of successful books. It’s been a fun surprise!
3 5-star reads! That is so wonderful! I want to read the Jimenez book. I recently learned that she lives in the Twin Cities!
I was so scared to see what you would rate Hello Beautiful!! I scrolled down to get a sneak peak so I was thrilled that you loved it as much as I did. I didn’t find the characters unlikeable. I had issues w/ the decisions Julia made but I could also understand them? I bet she is an enneagram 1. Or a 3? But I think more so a 1 w/ her black and white view of the world.
I’m almost done with The Whispers by Ashley Audrain. I can’t remember if you read this but I am really liking it! I am glad I decided to read it as I wasn’t going to after Sarah from Sarah’s Bookshelves DNF’d it. It definitely gives me The Push vibes – lots of complicated feelings around motherhood.
Lisa! I almost talked about Julia’s enneagram number in my post, but then deleted it. I think she’s likely an enneagram 1, especially with the way she just estranged herself from her whole family! Very black-and-white in her thinking. It made me sad to think of how much she lost because of her estrangement.
The Whispers was a DNF for me. I don’t think Ashley Audrain is for me because she focuses so much on motherhood and it’s hard for me to relate to the characters. But I love that she’s providing a voice in this space and letting mothers feel heard!
I love that you almost talked about Julia’s enneagram and agreed with me that she was likely a 1! And that totally makes sense that Audrain’s books aren’t for you as they are very very focused on motherhood!
Wow, you’ve been reading some good books! They all sound good- even Hello Beautiful, which I’ve been avoiding because I usually don’t like character-driven novels. It sounds like enough happens in it to make it plot-driven as well. I’m sure I’ll read it eventually.
I would give Hello Beautiful a try! You might like the connection to Chicago + the author talks about sports injuries in a REALLY interesting way that you might enjoy.