Hi Bookstackers!

You voted in the subscriber chat, and switching the weekly reads roundup to every 2 weeks won! I’m excited for this as it allows me some more time to work on other types of posts. You can see my last roundup here.

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Book Giveaway!

This week I’ve teamed up with Book of the Month author Laura Brooke Robson () to giveaway THREE signed copies of her book Love Is An Algorithm! If you want to win a copy of her book, please see my note here for the details on how to enter! I loved this book and have been recommending it nonstop on my booklists!

Paid Subscribers

Thank you to all paid subscribers as I recently hit Substack bestseller status (peep the orange check mark!). If you’re wondering what you get in a paid subscription (which is currently discounted!), you can see some sample articles below. I always include polls for feedback on what to write about next!

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What I’ve Read

Pool House by Mary H.K. Choi

Genre: Literary fiction

Premise: Stevie lives with her mother in a pool house with her mother, Moon. Moon was a famous sitcom mother. The death of the sitcom father brings together the unconventional family for a very wild character study.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brief Review: Ok I LOVED the writing in this book. It verges on insanity and definitely gave me feelings of Animal by Lisa Taddeo. Lots of dark humor. I listened to an audio copy and sort of wish I read the actual book.

Only thing that was off for me was the pacing. There was a building tension throughout the whole book but not much movement. It’s really a character study on family - which was phenomenally done - but I was hoping for a little more action. I know this wasn’t the authors intention but that’s what I wanted. This will NOT be for everyone. But it was a wild time.

The Grapevine by Alexandra Sokoloff and Craig Robertson

Genre: Suspense/thriller

Premise: A mother embarks on a solo RV roadtrip looking for her missing daughter and connecting cases of other missing women together.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brief Review: BEST THRILLER I’VE READ ALL YEAR!!!!!! Everyone please read this immediately and make sure you request that your local library get a copy! You can read my more in depth review here.

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

Genre: Suspense/thriller

Premise: A woman finds a dog wandering near her house. When she returns the dog, she finds that it’s a home she’s been in before…where she knows only bad things could have happened. Then when a woman in her neighborhood goes missing, she takes it upon herself to solve all of the mysteries.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brief Review: The tension and pacing was amazing in this book and I completely binged although the ending fell a little flat for me. You can read my more in depth review here.

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

Genre: Romance/mystery

Premise: A woman returns home after her treasure hunting father’s mysterious disappearance and runs into her old teenage love.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Brief Review: There are three POV/timelines in this book which made the story interesting: the present time, the teenage years, and the way way past pirate years. For the romance part, I really enjoyed this one. It didn’t feel too cheesy or insufferable and there wasn’t overwhelming spice. The part I’m still conflicted on is the mystery/treasure hunt part. I LIKED that there was another element of the romance, but I wasn’t sure how well done it was and if this book was trying to do too much? I’m still figuring it out. But I really enjoyed and the intrigue, tension, and pacing was there!

My Dear You by Rachel Khong

Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopian

Premise: Multiple short stories revolving around topics of racism, immigration in dystopian worlds

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brief Review: LOVED LOVED LOVED!!! I fully expect with a short story book to not like a few and to love a few….I LOVED ALL OF THEM! There was so much witty, incredibly poignant stories in this book. Definitely worth reading!!!

The Lowe Job by Grace Alexander

Genre: Romance/fiction

Premise: A family turns a political sex scandal into a reality tv show.

Rating: DNF

Brief Review: I could not for the life of me continue with this. The first part was such a slog. Nothing really happened and I was so bored; not one bit of the plot was capturing my attention. Every situation that occurred that was SUPPOSED to be exciting was SO BLEAK! Which is EXACTLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE KARDASHIANS!

What really made me stop was the writing. If the author used the adjective "kind" one more time, I was going to lose it. Very elementary descriptions. It was literally the most tedious and dull description of a miscarriage I've ever read. I didn’t think this was worth it at all.

What I’m Reading

What’s Next!

Booklists to Read Next

Books by My Subscribers

Adding this to my roundup as a chance to promote the work of my subscribers! Check out the following books.

1. Letters to Owen by : A father and veteran teacher writes to his son—and to a generation of young men—about what real manhood requires. In a time shaped by loneliness, confusion, and the false certainties of the manosphere, this book argues for a masculinity grounded in truth, discipline, love, courage, and responsibility. These letters call young men away from performance and toward substance, asking not how to look strong, but how to become trustworthy. See a copy on Amazon here.

2. Losing the Plot by Mia Page (): Will these two ever get on the same page, or will they refuse to read between the lines…📚❤️Jess is an Instafamous book blogger whose career is going from strength to strength, but she secretly harbours dreams of becoming a full-time novelist. Once a literary darling , former bestselling author Alex hasn’t written a hit in years. With his final contracted book deadline looming and his creativity at an all-time low, he’s on the brink of becoming yesterday’s news. Both are stubborn and used to working alone, in exactly their own way – so, when they are coerced into writing together to try and fulfil both their bookish dreams, what could possibly go wrong? Find more about it here.

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