20 Book Reviews

We're ramping up to my blog's 20th anniversary on Sunday! I'll post a list of twenty things every day between now and Sunday and it will culminate, anticlimactically, on Sunday.

Today I'm going to do a stroll through the memory lane of my archives. I write a lot of book reviews. Here are some I'd like to draw your attention to. 

Most Viewed Reviews 

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn - I went HARD on Quinn here and I think that's why it's one of my most viewed posts of all time. 

Today Will be Different by Maria Semple - I didn't like this book, but I wasn't terribly mean about it. I don't know why so many people click on this one. 

Moonglow by Michael Chabon - Such a good book, friends. 

Time and Again by Jack Finney - I wrote this review in 2016 and currently have zero recollection of the book. Why are people reading this review so much?

Meanest Reviews

Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez - I am still so angry about how Jimenez didn't take women's health seriously in this book. 

Song of Susannah by Stephen King - I am laughing at my referral to King as "an egomaniacal piece of lint." 

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout - "He's an alpha dipshit who insists on calling Poppy a nickname she doesn't like, repeatedly assaults Poppy, and yet, we're supposed to think he's simply swoony." I did not hold any punches with this review. 

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid - In retrospect, maybe I didn't have to go quite so hard on this one. It's fine. But it is sort of too much tennis.

Books I Still Think About

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - I learned so much about the institution of slavery in this book and I am a huge stan for how powerful and good this book is. 

Birth by Tina Cassidy - We still don't know the optimal time to cut the umbilical cord!!! Billions of babies have been born. BILLIONS. I think about this nearly weekly. 

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey - People riding hippos like they're horses!! This image lives rent free in my head. 

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders - I didn't immediately love this one, but it has grown on me so much. I find a lot of the book's images haunting and I can't get them out of my head. 

Best Series

Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb - Seriously, this saga altered my life and is an example of true characterization. Fitz and Nighteyes are with me forever.

Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante - I know that maybe it's just J who will appreciate this, but these books make me feel so seen.

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey - Just...so good. Another example of a series where the characters will become part of you. 

Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - I didn't love the latest edition of this series, but it's hilarious and dark and Murderbot's level of misanthropy is perfect.

Best Reviews

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoag - Smilla is such a great character. And then the ending of that book was a big disappointment. 

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - I despised this book, but worked so hard on reading it for book club only to find no one else did the work. Also, the review was a lot of work. Basically, so much work.  

The Ghost in the House by Sara O'Leary - I did enjoy this book, but mostly this review is all about the fact that the author commented on my review!

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall - I like that I showed illustrations from the book to make my points. It's a wonderful book. Hard, but wonderful. 

Do you remember any of these reviews? Has an author of a book you read ever commented on your blog?

Eight Questions for Readers

In another ripoff from the podcast Books Unbound, I'm going to ask and answer some questions from their 128th episode. 

1) I love this genre, but I didn't love this book.

    So many romance novels here. Which one do I pick? I'm going to go with Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey. It's like I traveled back in time fifty years reading this book.

2) I rarely read this genre, but I really love this book.

    Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty - I don't usually read westerns, but this was great. 

3) I love this trope, but I didn't like this book.

    Trope: Dragons

    Book(s): The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery - I *should* love this series, but the sexual violence and gender relations are too hard to look past when reading it today. 

4) I hate this trope, but I love this book. 

    Trope: Marriage in Peril

    Book: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - Such wonderful observational writing.

5) I love this author, but I didn't love this book.

    The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante - I adore the Neapolitan quartet and The Lost Daughter, but this novel did not have the same magical spark. 

6) Who is an author you previously disliked, but you read another book by the author and enjoyed it?

    Abby Jimenez - Remember how bitter I was about The Friend Zone? That book is deeply upsetting. But I did enjoy Yours Truly. Serious whiplash while reading Jimenez. 

7) I love this cover, but I didn't like this book.

    The Interestings by Meg Wollitzer - What is the book about anyway?  Fun cover, though.

8) I don't love this cover, but I love this book.

    My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - The Europa edition has a particularly terrible cover.

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Do you have any hot takes on these questions? Favorite books from genres you don't usually read?

Yours Truly (Part of Your World #2) by Abby Jimenez

I have a seriously conflicted relationship with Abby Jimenez, the author of Yours Truly.  The Friend Zone pissed me off so badly that I swear my blood pressure goes skyrocketing when I even THINK about that book even though it honestly had the possibility of being a good book. The Happy Ever After Playlist was pretty good, though. Life's Too Short was terrible. 

So it was with some serious reservations that when Stephany recommended this book HIGHLY, I took it out from the library. And, boy was she right. This is a nearly perfect romance novel. 

Briana Ortiz's life is not great. Her brother is sick, her divorce is going to be final soon, and it looks like her promotion is on the line because of the new guy, Jacob. Plus the new guy is a bit of a dick. But then he writes her a letter (OMG! a letter! you know I got super pumped) explaining that he has anxiety and then it turns out he needs a fake girlfriend to attend a wedding.  I don't think I need to explain to any of you what happens next, do I?

Interesting characters: Oh, boy, do these two do it for me! Jacob is *whispers quietly* very much like my dear husband. I am not Briana, but the accommodations she makes for Jacob made me feel very seen. Your mileage may vary on these two, but they very very much appealed to me. Their banter is funny, there's a dog (Lieutenant Dan!), a cat (Cooter!), and relationships with people outside of their romantic relationships. Two thumbs up. (Don't sue me, Siskel and Ebert estates.)

Believable conflict: Yeah. These two are both getting out of intense long-term relationships and it's clear that they're reacting to the past relationships, which is totally understandable. They also do things like reflect on their own behavior and communicate about reasons for their actions later (sometimes in letters *I swoon*).

Emotional tension: Oh, yes!! They aren't physical for so long and I just want them to do a kiss on the cheek or something!!

Happily ever after: This is the "nearly" in "nearly a perfect romance novel." The ending. Uff-da. I have thoughts, but there are two main issues that I don't really want to say because it's a spoiler, but just know that if you despise this ending, you are not alone. 

4.5/5 stars (docked fully half a star because of that ending)

Lines of note:

I knew from years of therapy that I was ruminating. That the encounter had probably been nothing to her, but to me it felt like the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened. A decade from now I'd be lying in bed and my eyes would fly open and I'd remember the incredulous way she'd looked at m  - me, the guy who had the audacity to walk into her ER room and talk to her about running toward a critical patient, one she obviously knew and cared about. (page 22)

I have a recurring nightmare about a phone call I had when I was twelve or thirteen. True story. I won't share my trauma with you, but it's there.

I wondered if I could keep doing this. I was miserable here. I was miserable at Memorial, and I would probably be miserably wherever else I went too. Maybe this was my life now, just existing and hating every minute of it. (page 29)

Sometimes I think this is me. I'm the problem, not the world. 

I'd always known what I was and was not capable of, even as a child. Your parents tell you that you can grow up and be anything. But I knew from the earliest age that wasn't true. I remember my teacher telling me I could be president one day, and me replying that I didn't want to because I didn't like parades. (page 89)

1) I do not lie to my niblings about things like this. This started because I have a different view on religion than my in-laws and I promised myself that I'd never lie. I have answered direct questions about God, Santa, and comic book characters that differ greatly from how their parents would answer (and always reported to the parents so they would know if the kids had questions). I have also talked to my niece who has a severe physical disability about what her future job prospects are (i.e., you can be a landscape designer, but you're never going to be the person who plants the flowers).  

2) You could maybe be a flower. Or a gumball machine. Or a t-rex. (See the comments in Nicole's post to know what this about.)

Eating was intimate. It took me a long time to truly feel comfortable doing it in front of someone. (page 98)

My husband hates to have people watch him eat. Hates it. I don't make eye contact with him during meals; like he's a rescue dog at a shelter. 

"...but I have as much willpower as a piece of broccoli." (page 251)

This was hilarious. And goes to talk about the tension in this book. Also, this is how I feel about Payday candy bars. And gummy bears. 

Hat mentions (why hats?):

People in wedding veils and birthday hats hooting and cheering, shouting over the music. (page 11)

A selfie in front of Minnehaha Falls. She was wearing sunglasses and a gray baseball hat in that one. (page 84)

This book takes place in the Twin Cities, only you don't really know that except for a brief mention of Edina and this Minnehaha Falls namecheck. It still made me happy to be there. 

He had his hat-in-hand, puppy-dog look again. (page 139)

A squirrel in a cowboy hat and chaps riding a turtle. (page 149)

I'm not going to explain this quote. You just have to read the book yourself to learn!

Jacob looked relieved that his gift had hit the mark and turned back to me with the puppy-dog, hat-in-hand smile that always made my face go soft. (page 232)

February 2024 Library Loans and Holds

It's been a bit since I let everyone know what books I have from the library. Let's dive in. I have too many books and have not been able to read fast enough before they are due, so I don't know how many of these I'll actually get around to reading before I have to return them.

Physical books checked out:
Cover Story by Susan Rigetti - Recommendation from Stephany
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (Mosa & Pleiti #2) by Malka Older - Sequel to this one
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel - Recommendation from Anne
The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller - Podcast rec
theMystery.doc by Matthew McIntosh - Podcast rec
Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper - Co-worker has a special needs daughter and was reading this to her and recommended it to me
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - Reading this in tandem with the one below for a great fiction/non-fiction pairing
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton - Betz-Hamilton was on the podcast Criminal on two episodes, "Money Tree" and "The Less People Know About Us," and I was super enthusiastic about reading this book at first, but I've renewed it twice and I am less enthusiastic with each passing day. Maybe I'll just relisten to those episodes.
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - Book club book 
Dover One (A Dover Mystery Book 1) by Joyce Porter - Birchie and Jenny rec

Audiobooks checked out:
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson - I heard an episode about this on This American Life - the book was slow to start, but at about a third of the way through it picked up and I can't stop listening
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - Listening along for Cool Bloggers Book Club

Ebooks checked out:
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell - I am riveted by this

Outtake #1

Physical books on hold:

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez - Recommendation from Stephany

Ebooks on hold:
Paladin's Grace (The World of the White Rat: The Saint of Steel #1) by T. Kingfisher
Lassiter (Black Dagger Brotherhood #21) by J.R. Ward
Iris Kelly Doesn't Date (Bright Falls #3) by Ashley Herring Blake
Payback in Death (In Death #57) by J.D. Robb - #57!!!!
The Change by Kirsten Miller
The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Audiobooks on hold:
Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

Outtake #2

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What's in your library stack?

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim felt a little bit like a mini-bloggy book club because so many people were reading it. I felt obligated to read it to be part of the discussion. 

The story is told from the point of view of Mia, a college student who is home during the pandemic with her mother, father, twin brother John, and  her disabled fourteen-year-old brother Eugene. One day Eugene goes out to the woods with his father, but comes home alone, upset, covered in dirt and blood, and no one knows where their father has gone. Unfortunately, Eugene's disability means that he cannot communicate with the family or the police about what happened. 

What follows is the family's search for the father, secrets being revealed, and endless passages about the research the father was undergoing about happiness. 

I have three minor critiques here.

1) I found the tone of the main protagonist to be quite off-putting. It's relentlessly negative. The very first paragraph of the book includes the sentences: I don't believe in optimism. I believe there's a fine line (if any) between optimism and willful idiocy, so I try to avoid optimism altogether, lest I fall over the line mistakenly. (page 3)  On one hand, this relentless glass half empty attitude is great characterization, but it also made me not want to spend time with her and it definitely didn't make me feel like I cared about what happened to her family since she herself didn't seem to care very much. 

Also, don't get me started on the random musings about happiness research and the happiness quotient. I am 100% sure none of that nonsense paid off in the end.  

2) I was bothered by the use of the pandemic as a plot point. There's a point when they are in a police station and the author makes a point about talking about how everyone's wearing masks, but then describes  a woman as "looked like our high school librarian - short, flat all-white hair atop a long, narrow face with a pointy chin" (page 141), but there's no way her chin would have been visible.  In June of 2020, just about every one of my waking thoughts was about the pandemic and while I acknowledge that my experience wasn't like that of everyone's, the use of the pandemic as a plot point only when it was convenient (as in, there is an outbreak so X won't happen) didn't endear me to the story.  

3) The father is a missing person in this book. And that's fine, but it was hard to feel really invested in what happened to him when there was no development of his character because he's also an entirely missing character in the book. The author would just tell you his character traits, rather than slip in a little anecdote or remembrance about him so we'd get to know him better. 

Dad was one of those naturally hyper-skeptical people. You know the type, who equate cynicism with depth and intellect, who go around saying "anecdotal proof" is oxymoronic, who demand objective evidence, by which they mean quantifiable and replicable data from double-blind placebo-controlled tests. (page 270)

Wouldn't it have been so much better if we'd had a scene in which the father did/said those things instead of just having the main speaker say it? It was a really frustrating part of the book because the father was so crucial in just how much you as a reader would care about the outcome of the book.

But my biggest critique is one that I'm not seeing or hearing much, so I'd be curious if my reading is wrong. 

I feel about how this book deals with disability the same way I feel about how The Friend Zone deals with women's health. I'm going to enter into some spoilers here, so if you're going to read this book and want to go in cold, stop reading. (SERIOUSLY! SPOILERS AHEAD.) 

Remember how in The Friend Zone, Abby Jimenez wrote an ending in which a woman's IUD falls out during a heavy flow and has a completely normal, healthy pregnancy ending in a healthy baby? Do you remember how Jimenez wrote an author's note about how this totally happened to her friend and it wasn't actually about the pregnancy ANYWAY.  Do you remember how irate I was? Because it downplayed the difficulties that so many women have with fertility and dismissed the most likely outcome of the character's situation?  And, also, using birth as the ending of a romance novel makes the book much less interesting. Wouldn't it have been so much better if the couple had to overcome this obstacle and go in a different direction?!

Well, here I am feeling the same way about THIS BOOK. In the end, it turns out that while Eugene cannot speak, he can communicate. And the book just ignores the reality of what life is like for so many people who do have disabilities that means they cannot communicate. And then in the author's note, the author has the GALL to write about how this DOES happen and the technology does allow for some people with certain types of disabilities to communicate, even if they were thought to be nonverbal before. 

But what are the odds? The odds are that this WOULD NOT HAPPEN THIS WAY. Eugene would not be able communicate, the case would go cold, the family would have to adapt. And I think that would have made for a much more interesting story and ending overall.  Why are there not more people in the disability community upset about this?!

Anyway, this was a miss for me. I haven't read the author's debut novel, Miracle Creek, and I don't think this is encouragement for me to do. 2/5 stars

Lines of note:

When an emergency happens, you expect the whole world to shut down, or at least you wish it would, because, of course, your own world has. (page 122)

I remember how ordinary the world was when my MIL was dying. In that house, everything was centered on taking care of her and how we would make her last days as good as possible, but we still had to go to work, find insurance providers, and buy groceries. It just all seemed surreal. 

I thought how I didn't really look at my friends' parents, how they seemed more like blobs who perform societal roles rather than distinct people whose specific facial, vocal, and other features I actually process and retain. (page 136)

I mean, isn't this true about most people we know? We don't really take in all the visual information we're provided with, do we? (Or maybe you do. I certainly do not.)

Math, I dismissed as something akin to manual labor, merely indicative of one's ability to contribute to society in a menial way, like a worker bee to a hive. But verbal acuity, that was what I myself admired and equated with intelligence. Didn't everyone? Wasn't that why everyone loved those fast-talking (and therefore smart) characters in The West Wing? (page 271-272)

Huh. I don't really feel this way, but I found myself persuaded by this argument.

Hat mentions:

They commented publicly on John's post, and less than a minute later, in this private platform, they posted selfies with huge smiles, confetti, party hats framing looks of orgasmic joy plastered on their faces - it seemed lewd, like I should avert my eyes, the incontrovertible evidence punching me in the gut. (page 246)

"I asked this woman if I could use her phone to text you, but she was all suspicious, and her hat blew off so I got it for her, and she went crazy and told me to get away." (page 279)

Flame of Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters #6) by Juliet Marillier

Sevenwaters

Daughter of the Forest
Son of the Shadows
Child of the Prophecy
Heir to Sevenwaters

Seer of Sevenwaters

The conclusion of the Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier is Flame of Sevenwaters. In this book, we follow Maeve, daughter of Jerk Sean, who was badly burned as a child and has terrible scarring on her face and an inability to use her hands. She has been fostered with her Aunt Liadan for ten years, but must return home because her skills at calming animals are needed. She does not look forward to returning to Sevenwaters, but once she is there, she is immediately drawn into the turmoil of the place.

Otherworld fey prince Mac Dara is causing problems (AGAIN) and Maeve soon finds herself in the Otherworld with her brother trying to save both the Otherworld and Sevenwaters.

Whatever. This book is mostly about dogs. I like dogs, I like books about dogs, and there was a twist about the dogs that I should have seen coming, but didn't, so I really liked that, too. Basically, the dog stuff was great.

(Sidenote: I thought this book dealt gracefully with Maeve's disability until it didn't. I feel like this was an attempt for Marillier to have her cake and eat it, too. I just wish that more media portrayed people with disabilities having a happily ever after without their disability just going away. It's why Talia Hibbert is a huge thumbs up for me and Abby Jimenez can suck a duck.)

But honestly, as an ending to the series, it was a tiny bit wanting. I still have so many questions about what's going to happen in Sevenwaters. What of Finbar? What of Ciaran's future? Are the Old Ones going to be okay? Will Maeve ever get another dog? 

And maybe it's fine that the ending is open-ended. I can put my own happy ending there with my own imagination. But it also made me sort of sad, like Marillier didn't care enough about the characters she created to plan for their future. 

Well, the first three books in this series are excellent and the last three are pretty good. If you're into fantasy, I think I can recommend Sevenwaters without any pause.  4/5 stars

Lines of note:

For my sister, Jennifer,

who opens hearth and heart to dogs in trouble (dedication page, ii)

A special thank-you to rescue dog Harry, who worked his way through three levels of obedience training while I was writing this book. (acknowledgments page, iv)

Between these two quotes in the front matter of the book and the black dogs on the cover, I was so excited about dog representation in this book before I even got started.

"Everyone is afraid of something. Know your fears and you're a step further away from letting them rule you." (page 13)

There are hidden gems like this just laying around in Marillier's writing.

"Upstairs," Mother said. "As for you" - she glanced and Bear and Badger [two stray dogs], and I imagined they quailed at the iron in her voice - "the least misdemeanor and you're off outside. And don't for one moment imagine you'll be sleeping on the bed."

I woke to find...Bear was on the bed. (page 144)

Ha ha ha! I loved this scene so very much. 

December 2022 Book List

12/1: A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne (library audiobook, 1997) - Perfectly acceptable coming of age historical fiction book. 3.5/5 stars

12/2: No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder (library ebook, 2019) - A sobering look at progress (or lack thereof) in the prevention of domestic violence. Dense, but important and powerful. 4.5/5 stars

12/6: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (library ebook, 2017) - Multi-generational saga about a Korean family living in Japan. Good, but unrelentingly sad. 4/5 stars

12/6: The Round House by Louise Erdrich (library, 2012) - A boy on the Ojibwe reservation deals with the consequences of his mother's victimization of a violent crime. I know people love this book, but it felt like a preachy history book to me and I wasn't digging it. 3/5 stars

12/11: Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McColloch (university library, 2019) - Interesting look how our online behavior shapes language and culture. 4.5/5 stars

12/11: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (library audiobook read by Anna Fields, 2001) - What even is this book about? 3.5/5 stars

12/15: Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier (library ebook, 1999) - Very good. Noble daughter must save her brothers from an enchantment. Lots of physical and sexual violence. 4/5 stars

12/15: The Evening and the Morning (Kingsbridge #0) by Ken Follett (library, 2020) - What a luscious world Follett can build. 4.5/5 stars

12/16: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (library, 2022) - Ghostwriter who falls in love with a ghost. This book was silly. 3/5 stars

12/20: The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernandez - An important story about a rare disease, but I wanted the book to tell me a bit more. 3/5 stars

12/21: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk (library 2022) - Short 133 pages sapphic noir set in 1930s Chicago. I really enjoyed this. 4/5 stars

12/23: Forgotten in Death (In Death #53) by J.D. Robb (library, 2022) - She's just recycling crimes now (oh, a skeleton found in a building that's undergoing renovations? we've already been here), but who am I to complain? Eve, Peabody, and Feeney are always good for me. 4/5 stars

12/24: My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash #1) by Elizabeth Strout (library ebook, 2016) - It's a good book, but it was as if I was reading about my own life and it hit so close to home that it made me sad and melancholy. Great observational writing, but I never want to read or think about this book again.  4.5/5 stars

12/26: D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins (library, 2022) - What a terrible book. There's no conflict, the reality show plotline is as thin as rice paper, and I can't believe I managed to finish it. 2/5 stars

12/27: The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hill Cycle #1) by Nghi Vo - Beautifully written little fantasy novella. 4/5 stars

12/30: Life's Too Short (The Friend Zone #3) by Abby Jimenez - No. This author is permanently banned from my life. This book is terrible. I have so many beefs with it. So many. But it gets an extra half star for senior dog representation. 2.5/5 stars

Total: 16 books, which sounds crazy, but some were novellas and some were very dumb romance novels
Average star rating: 3.7/5 stars

Did Not Finish:

Kushiel's Dart (Phedre's Trilogy #1) by Jacqueline Carey - So, I have two main issues with this book. The first is that we have a teenager who is being physically and sexually abused (literally groomed!) because she is born with a red smudge in her eye, so she's destined to be a masochist. The second is that the political environs are so confusing and not related to our world and I just didn't care who was king or what noble was screwing another. Disappointment for sure. DNF at 29%. 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - Grief memoirs are tricky for me to navigate. On one hand, everyone's experience is unique. On the other hand, grief is grief. Zauner's writing was not particularly strong, her mom was not very pleasant, and I just didn't have the bandwidth to deal with this during the holidays. I can't even say that I'll return to this book, though, because it's just not for me. Goodreads definitely disagrees with me on this, so take my anti-memoir stance with a grain of salt. DNF at 24%.

Inda (Inda #1) by Sherwood Smith - High fantasy at its absolute most boring with the second son of a powerful prince getting beaten up by his brother while the secondary storylines are about men making war. I know this is absolutely beloved in some circles, but consider me the rectangle on this one. DNF at 38.5%.

52 Most Popular Romances of The Past Three Years

Goodreads released its list of the most popular romances of the past three years (released in February of 2021). As is my wont, I determined to get through the list.  I have a lot of issues with the list (no Love Lettering!), but mostly it is that there's too much reliance on a few authors (Christina Lauren shows up five times on the list, Colleen Hoover four times, and Jasmine Guillory five times) and not enough diversity of authors.  It turns out that I think this list is absolute junk, but once I started, I had to finish. 

Just as a note, I frequently ended up writing "not a romance novel" and what I meant by that is that it didn't prioritize the romance as the central storyline of the novel. Many of these are perfectly good  novels, but they don't meet the basic criteria for a romance novel. 

1. Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (library, 2019) - I read this in August of 2020. It was an adorable book, but I was not in the mood for a light, fluffy political romance in the midst of the end of the Trump administration. 

2. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (library, 2018) - I wanted to like this book more than I actually did.

3. One Day in December by Josie Silver (library ebook, 2018) - Meh.

4. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (library ebook, 2019) - Pretty good first half, but the ending was quite problematic for me.

5. In Five Years by Rebecca Searle (library, 2020) - This should hardly be classified as a romance novel at all.  It's about female friendship, really, so if you know that going in, you'll be better prepared.

6. Beach Read by Emily Henry (library ebook, 2020) - A perfectly fine book.

7. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (library, 2018) - A perfectly forgettable book.

8. Regretting You by Colleen Hoover (library, 2019) - There's a romance element to this book, but it's not really the central storyline. It's mostly about a mother/daughter relationship after a trauma.  Good, but hardly something I'm going to remember a month from now.

9. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (library, 2019) - Another forgettable book.

10. Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks- (library ebook, 2018) - Sparks is so cheesy. This book was cheesy, predictable, and probably not worth your time.

11. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (library, 2019) - Another Hoang book that I want to like, but didn't really.

12. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout (library ebook, 2020) - Legitimately a bad book.  

13. All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover (library ebook 2018) - DNF at 45%. This book's heroine is depressed because she's dealing with infertility problems and her marriage is in peril. I think this is an important topic, but not one that speaks to me and after one too many scenes of obligatory sex for procreation purposes, I peaced out. I'm glad this book is out there for people who it resonates with, but I'm not that audience.

14. The Proposal (The Wedding Date #2)  by Jasmine Guillory (library ebook, 2018) - Very good meet-cute. The rest was fine. 

15. The Kiss Thief by LJ Shen (library, 2019) - Ugh. Why is mafia romance a thing?

16. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (library, 2019) - I like Hibbert's writing a lot.

17. How to Walk Away by Katherine Center (library ebook, 2018) - I want to like Center, but her books are just forgettable to me.

18. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella (library, 2019) - Pretty good. I liked the family dynamics more than the main romantic storyline, but it was a nice diversion to read this book.

19. Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson (library, 2018) - Not a romance novel. It made me irate.

20. Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (2018, library) - Pretty good.

21. The Friend Zone (The Friend Zone #1) by Abby Jimenez (2019) - Women's health should be treated with respect. Thumbs way down from me. WAY DOWN.

22. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver (library ebook, 2020) - Not a romance novel.  It's a good book, but a romance novel it is not.  

23. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London (library ebook, 2020) - This book left me with an overwhelming feeling of disappointment.

24. Pretty Reckless (All Saints High #1) by LJ Shen (2019) (library, 2019) - DNFed at page 70. I am too old to be reading about teenagers and I have little patience for their bullshit. 

25. 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (library, 2019) - DNF at page 95. So much of this book was utterly confusing, particularly the dialogue. Thorne seemed to think we could actually read fictional minds. I didn't have patience to get through this.

26. Hate Notes by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward (library ebook, 2018) - A solid romantic comedy with witty dialogue.

27. The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club #1) by Lyssa Kay Adams (library, 2019)  - Funny. Superficial. 

28. Well Met by Jen DeLuca (library, 2019) - Very good entry. I enjoyed the RenFaire setting and liked the characters.

29. The Switch by Beth O'Leary (library, 2020) - This is a solid book I enjoyed greatly. The romance element was not the main story arc, so beware.

30. In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren (library ebook, 2020)- Another non-romance novel on the list. Subpar implementation of what could have been an interesting idea.

31. Meet Cute by Helena Hunting (library, 2019) - The rom-com involving an orphaned child and two unethical lawyers. Not my jam. 

32. Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover (library, 2020) - I think this is the best Hoover I've read yet. YA romance novel about two kids trying to deal with childhood trauma.  

33. The Mister by EL James (library ebook, 2019) - This is a bad book. A really bad book relying on stereotypes, confusing action scenes, and the male gaze. It touches on a really important topic, human trafficking, but does so in such a superficial way that was disappointing. Thumbs way down. 

34. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren (library, 2018) - I liked this one! I knew Christina Lauren would eventually hit with me.  

35. The Simple Wild by KA Tucker (library ebook, 2018) - I waited more than four months for this to arrive on my library hold list and then the hero was a jerk. DNF at 50%. 

36. Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) by Evie Dunmore (library, 2019) - This really is an excellent romance novel. I'm 100% on board with its inclusion in this list. 

37. The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory (library ebook, 2019) - Guillory is a good writer, but enemies to lovers doesn't do it for me.  

38. If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane (library, 2020) - I really did like this book, but the main plot is not the romantic plot. Still a very worthy read. 

39. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren (library, 2019) - Very boring. Heroine lets the hero get away with things she shouldn't have. Thumbs down.

40. Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey (library, 2019) - Terrible leads. Felt like it was written decades ago. Huge thumbs down.

41. The Happy Ever After Playlist (The Friend Zone #2) by Abby Jimenez (library, 2019) - Much better than The Friend Zone, but there are still problems with this.  Pretty okay.

42. Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas (2018) - Age gap romance I didn't even try to read. I'm sorry, but I knew from the excerpt on Goodreads that I would have nothing positive to say about this.

43. The Chase (Briar U #1)  by Elle Kennedy (Kindle purchase, 2018) - I liked the female friendships in this novel. The hero was a bit of a snooze, but the main character sort of snuck up on me. 

44. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle (library ebook, 2020) - DNF at 40%. The fighting and meanness between the couple were not my cup of tea.  

45. From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata (Kindle purchase, 2018) - So many loose ends at the end of this book. It was an okay romance novel, but I found the constant use of the word blink (191 times!) to be distracting and the slow burn was too slow for me. 

46. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (library, 2020) - Hibbert is a wonderful writer and I think about this book a lot.  Zafir is an exciting, unusual hero.  

47. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (library, 2020) - Hall is a genius and I like his humor, real-life scenarios. It's obvious why he's the reigning leader of queer romance literature.

48. Royal Holiday (The Wedding Party #4) by Jasmine Guillory (library, 2019) - Mature characters in a romance novel. Pretty okay.

49. Party of Two (The Wedding Party #5) by Jasmine Guillory (library, 2020) - Yet another snoozefest from Guillory. Fine to read, but not memorable at all.

50. The Hunter (Boston Belles #1)  by LJ Shen (2020) - Look, I'm going to be perfectly honest. I couldn't find this book at any of the library systems I have available to me and based on my DNF of a previous Shen book on the list, a description of the book on Goodreads, and the first few pages previewed on Amazon, I just opted out.  I'm not going to spend money or time on this book.

51. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (library, 2018) - This is a perfect book for someone who is not me.

52. Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (library, 2018) - I liked the cover of this book and the side characters. The main romantic plot was lackluster.

Here's how it all worked out:

Loved	Liked	Meh	Actively Would Not Recommend	DNF/DNS
Well Met	Red, White, & Royal Blue	The Kiss Quotient	Every Breath	All Your Perfects
Bringing Down the Duke	Beach Read	One Day in December	From Blood and Ash	Pretty Reckless
Take a Hint, Dani Brown	I Owe You One	The Unhoneymooners	The Kiss Thief	99 Percent Mine
Boyfriend Material	Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating	In Five Years	Matchmaking for Beginners	Birthday Girl
	The Two Lives of Lydia Bird	The Wedding Date	The Friend Zone	The Hunter
	Hate Notes	Regretting You	Meet Cute	You Deserve Each Other
	The Switch	Things You Save in a Fire	The Mister	The Simple Wild
	Heart Bones	The Bride Test	Twice in a Blue Moon
	Love and Other Words	The Proposal	Fix Her Up
	If I Never Met You	How to Walk Away
	The Chase	One to Watch
	Royal Holiday	The Bromance Book Club
	Heart Bones	In a Holidaze
		The Wedding Party
		The Happy Ever After Playlist
		From Lukov with Love
		Party of Two
		Ayesha at Last
		Don’t You Forget About Me

Basically, this list was not great. I will probably not be relying on Goodreads for my list of books to read from here on out!