It’s finally below 90 degrees in Texas, which means reading season is officially here. As I look forward to the amazing books I plan to read over the next few months, I wanted to share and reflect on my favorite ones I’ve read this year!
Hollywood, Ending – John Green
John Green is back! After 9 years, we finally got a book from the man who sparked everyone’s love of reading in 2013 (I still think about The Fault in Our Stars). Hollywood, Ending is a literary fiction/romance about Kai and Juniper, rising actors about to star in their biggest movies yet. The two quickly get swept into the whirlwind of playing characters who fall in love while trying to comprehend their own feelings off-screen.
I had very few expectations going into this book, and I honestly don’t know how I feel after reading it. Most of the commentary explores the trade-offs of fame, and how you have little say over the most private parts of your life when you willingly put yourself on a global stage. The movie Kai and Juniper star in is a biopic about Andy Warhol, who, I shamefully admit, I know nothing about. But something tells me knowing Warhol would have changed my entire interpretation of this book and left me with a different impression. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy reading it; I was just a little underwhelmed.
Good Joy, Bad Joy – Mikki Brammer
As I mentioned before, I think I can finally say I know my reading taste very well, and I knew immediately after reading this synopsis that I was going to fall in love with Joy. Good Joy, Bad Joy is about two 89-year-old women, Joy and Hazel, who have been best friends since they were 9. Despite their completely different personalities and life paths, Joy and Hazel have never lived life without each other. Throughout her life, Hazel has been Joy’s constant, until Hazel is diagnosed with cancer, and Joy is forced to think of her life without the one person who has always been right behind her.
If you have read any of my reviews before, you know I adore a women’s fiction book where the main character learns there is life after loss. Joy has lost many people throughout her life and is now losing the most important person to her, and she must navigate how she can continue picking herself up and squeezing out all life has to offer. I absolutely loved Joy and watching her push her boundaries, realizing that even though life hasn’t looked how she wanted it to, she has more to learn about the world and the people around her.
Picking Daisies on Sundays – Liana Cincotti
As fun as it is to branch out and try new genres and authors, I love coming back to my tried-and-true romcom roots. Picking Daisies on Sundays is a very sweet, heartwarming romance about Levi and Dani, childhood best friends who reconnect by chance after years apart. Levi asks Dani to fool his family into thinking they are dating for his sister’s wedding, an offer to mend their relationship that Dani could not pass up. Like all faking-dating schemes, the lines between reality and performance blur, forcing Dani to decide if being honest about her feelings is worth the risk.
This year, I have been OBSESSED with 90s and early 2000s romcoms, and Picking Daisies on Sundays captures this essence perfectly. The romance in this book is so pure because it is based on years of friendship and genuine care for one another. From the charming setting to the cheesy romcom scenes, Levi and Dani captured my heart immediately, and I couldn’t put this book down in one sitting.
Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It – Brooke Averick
FINALLY, someone wrote a book about a woman who actually has no idea how to talk to men. Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It is about Phoebe, a woman who, all her life, has struggled with intimacy anxiety and avoids dating like the plague. With her 30th birthday approaching, Phoebe is determined to lose her virginity and will stop at nothing to make it happen. When 3 suitors suddenly enter her life at once, Phoebe has to decide who the lucky guy will be and how she will muster the courage to make it happen.
I have followed and loved Brooke Averick on social media for years. She is not only one of the funniest people on the internet, but her openness about her anxiety makes her so relatable on so many levels, and you can’t help but adore her. Knowing this is Brooke’s first book makes me excited for her writing’s future, and I cannot wait to grab the next one. This was a fun, lighthearted read that kept me hooked the whole time.