I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams by Jordan Chiles (★★★★★)
Audiobook • Spotify • Nonfiction (Memoir) • 2025
Short synopsis: The sensational two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles’s heartfelt, inspiring memoir chronicling her unlikely path to the podium.
I devoured this memoir. Does anyone remember The Magnificent Seven, the 1996 women’s gymnastics team that won gold? I was obsessed with all of them (I was 8 years old during those Olympics, so the perfect age to fall in love with gymnastics) and read all of the autobiographies that came out afterward. This memoir gave me that same feeling of excitement. This memoir is packed with behind-the-scenes insights about elite gymnastics and life at the Olympics. Parts of the memoir are heavy, as Jordan had a rough start to her gymnastics career. Her first coach was emotionally abusive and would constantly berate her about her weight, causing Jordan to exhibit disordered eating habits and suffer from depression. She also dealt with a whole lot of racism from parents and gymnastics officials. Jordan doesn’t sugarcoat this experience, as she writes with brutal, striking honesty.
I loved getting an inside glimpse of Jordan’s friendship with Simone Biles—so rare to see something so supportive and healthy in such a competitive world. It was also really fun to get the nitty-gritty details about what it’s like to be in the Olympic Village. (She had two vastly different experiences, as her first Olympics was in 2021 and they had strict Covid protocols, and her second Olympics was in 2024 and things were back to normal.)
Jordan also details what it was like to win the bronze medal on floor at the 2024 Paris Olympics and then have it taken away—not because she didn’t earn it, but because her coach was supposedly a few seconds delayed on submitting the inquiry into her technical score. She’s still fighting to get that bronze medal back, which I believe wholeheartedly she earned fair and square.
I already admired Jordan, but after reading this, I’m even more in awe of her strength and determination. (Recommendation source: Sarah from Sarah’s Book Shelves Live.)
Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (★★★★☆)
Print • Owned (Amazon) • YA Romance • 2017
Short synopsis: Bisexual teen Tanner Scott plans to quietly finish high school in conservative Utah, but when he joins a prestigious writing seminar on a dare, he unexpectedly falls for his mentor, Sebastian, a Mormon prodigy, upending his carefully laid plans.
This isn’t the kind of book I usually expect from Christina Lauren, who are known for their cute contemporary M/F romances. Still, this queer YA romance had their signature style—great writing paired with a really sweet love story. I loved Tanner—his confidence in his sexuality, even as he navigates the need to stay closeted in a conservative Mormon community, was really compelling. He was a fun character, and I loved being in his head. Sebastian’s story was heart-wrenching. He knows he’s gay, but living openly would mean losing both his religion and his family. The authors built real emotional tension here; I truly didn’t know how they were going to solve this conundrum. How will Tanner and Sebastian have their happy ending? In the end, I really love the way they pulled it all together. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time.
Confessions by Kanae Minato (★★★★☆)
Audiobook • Libby • Thriller • 2014
Short synopsis: After her young daughter is killed by two of her students, a grieving teacher unleashes a chilling plan for revenge that upends her entire classroom.
This book was so… weird. In a good way, I think. It had a very unique structure with only six chapters, and each one serving as a vignette. We get the perspectives of the people connected to the murder of the teacher’s daughter, including the teacher herself, the suspects, and even a seemingly random student.. The narrators did such a great job with this novel and really brought the characters to life. This was one of the most uniquely told stories I’ve ever read, and I’m still in awe of this author and how she crafted such an inventive plot. That said, the book felt repetitive, since each chapter revisits the same events from different perspectives. Because of that repetitiveness, I contemplated abandoning it at one point. But since it was a short audiobook (6 hours), I decided to push through. And I’m glad I did because the ending was worth it. It’s not a fast-paced thriller, but if you’re in the mood for a slow-burn mystery with an unusual format, this one’s worth a try. (Recommendation source: Meredith from Currently Reading.)
What are you reading?
Ooh! These all sound good, but I especially want to read the Jordan Chiles book and Confession- it sounds like something that could be right up my alley. I’m off to see if I can get it at my library!
I hope you read Confessions – I’ll be really curious to see what you think of it. Such an odd book, but I think I liked it?!
What an interesting variety of books! I always love seeing what you are reading, Stephany. That first one sounds so interesting – I was very enthralled by the 96 team too! I can vividly remember watching it!
Cool to hear about Christina Lauren doing something a bit different for them!
Interesting comment on sticking with Confessions on audio – I find myself more likely to stick with something on audio since I am already listening to it while doing something else.
I am reading Wyatt and listening to Famous Last Words.
Thank you, friend! That means a lot. <3
Gosh, I loved the 1996 team so much. I read so many autobiographies, lol. I think you'd get a lot out of Jordan's memoir. It was really interesting!
I’m planning to read Chiles’ book! I’m a huge fan of gymnastics so love reading behind-the-scenes accounts. Did you read Dominque Moceanu’s book about the Karolli’s? It was such a sad book. They were such evil people.
I just finished “Clear” last week which several readers of my blog enjoyed. I was liking it and then it ended some completely abruptly… If I had been reading a physical copy, I would have wondered if I was missing part of the book! So that made it a 3-star read for me. I sort of felt like maybe I was not smart enough to enjoy such an abrupt ending? Now I am reading Prep by Sittenfeld. She has a new collection of short stories and one of the stories is about the character from Prep so I wanted to read it. I’ve read almost all of Sittenfeld’s books but somehow missed Prep!
Yes, I did read her book! Off Balance, I think it was called? And then I watched the video of her 1996 performance and omg, SHE WAS SO YOUNG. And dealt with SO much. So sad.
I haven’t heard of Clear, but I *do* have a copy of Prep sitting on my TBR that I need to get around to at some point. I’ve had this copy forever!
All right. I understand which books you read last week and your ratings for them now, Stephany. I’m not sure if you yourself are writing a novel, a novella, or short stories—or all of the above—right now, but I think that there’s got to be some book that you read last month that can help you in writing your own things.
I don’t think I answered your questions at the end of this blog post or the blog post “What I’m Reading (4.28.25)”, Stephanie. You can click over to “What We Read in April” that was written by Lisa @ Lisa’s Yarns and look for my comments there to see what I read in April. I haven’t started reading any books in May yet, and the book that I’m contemplating whether or not to read is “Pronoun Troubles” by Prof. John McWhorter.
I am unfortunately not writing anything myself! I toyed with the idea of writing a novel, but abandoned that idea because it’s a lot of work. So now I just read as many books as I can!
These all sound good and I’ve put them on my list!! I do enjoy a good thriller, even if it’s slow burn! I also enjoy memoirs by athletes; it’s always amazing what they go through to get where they are!
I’ll be interested to know what you think of Confessions if you read it. Such an odd book!
The Jordan Chiles memoir was fascinating! She’s been through a lot to get to where she is now, and it’s always so surprising to me to get the BTS details of being an Olympic athlete!
Hmmm. Confessions sounds intriguing!
It might break you out of your reading slump! I’ll be interested to know your thoughts if you read it.
One of the best gymnastics-related books I ever read was The Best Little Communist Ever. It was about Nadia Comaneci and the first perfect ten. It was fascinating, how they selected athletes at such a young age in the Soviet Bloc. You’d be too young to have seen her – I think *I* was too young to have seen her, honestly – but it’s a pretty amazing story. Similar to that is the book My Sergei, which dealt with the Russian skating superstars Gordeeva and Grinkov, and it’s also completely engrossing. Well, if you like figure skating, which I do, and I remember them winning gold IN THE CALGARY OLYMPICS! I was in grade seven when the Olympics were in Calgary, and I was able to go to some events.
What I’m reading right now is a wild pandemic sex book called Animal Instinct. It’s more than just sex though, it’s a really interesting commentary on marriage and parenting.
I am adding BOTH of those books to my TBR. I was too young for Nadia, but I remember how much Dominique Moceanu (my faaave gymnast for the longest time!) talked highly of her in her autobiographies from the 90s! So I knew about her and maybe even read an autobiography at some point as a kid? But I’m familiar with her!
You had great reading week. They all sound interesting. I have put down AUTOBOYOGRAPHY on my TBR.
But I would listened to the other ones on audio if I get my hand on them. Thanks for sharing with us.