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hi reader pops welcome back to my channel i'm gonna be telling you about the 23 books

that i've read so far in 2026 from january to july

and i have an insane statistic for you 11 of those

23 books were five star reads meaning over half of everything

i've read this year was a new favorite book it's actually insane

if you want to know my theory of how

that happened you can watch this video where after i had

read five five star books in a row i was like

okay i think i have a technique here i need to start a youtube video

and see if it's real that's what this is

but even the ones

that aren't five stars are four stars 4 .5 basically this

is gonna be a great recommendation video starting off with a bang in january i read one book

and that was half his age by jeanette mccurdy i read it on my kindle

so i don't have it physically

but this is her first fiction novel she had a humongous memoir

and i never read that but i was really excited to read this i saw

so many of the reels that she did promoting it i know from the interviews

that i watched that she wrote this story based on this predatory older man

that she dated in the novel it's about a girl named

waldo who is in a relationship with her teacher who's like in his 40s

or something probably but it also talks about fast fashion

and consumerism and beauty standards for young women and social media usage

and waldo's voice in the novel is supposed to be very brash

and it's supposed to be shocking and it definitely was

but i ended up giving this book one star which is

so crazy i feel like i don't think i've i don't

think i've ever given a book one star it's hard for me to do

that because i know

that writing books at least in my own experience writing a book it's a way to process some horrible things

that have happened to in your life and

that is very clearly obviously what Jeanette did she was not shy about

that she said that that's what she took inspiration from

but I feel like her take on such a serious topic

did not add anything the whole tone was extremely nihilistic

and I felt it was supposed to be shocking

or gross just to be shocking or gross it wasn't actually saying anything

which I guess it is trying to say something by just showing how gross

and shocking things are but on a technical level too i feel like her chapters were

so short and they never actually were scenes it just was her writing for a page

and a half and then it would stop

and then she was writing for a page and a half

and then it would stop

but we never like entered a scene like i never felt like i was like in dialogue

and i was in a room

that was january next up i read oh what's this you ask

if you guys don't know i created my own book sleeve a few years ago

and then when my debut novel just friends came out i wanted to create a book sleeve

that was inspired by it so this has a blue gingham pattern

which is kind of an easter egg for my next book

and then it has a letter and blue footed boobies

and the interior is like these lemonade colored stripes so

if you want one they are available on hayleyfam .com february

started with an author i had never read back after this

by linda holmes this is about cecily who is a podcast host

and i know that the author is an npr podcast host in real life

so i knew that she was going to know a lot about

that experience which was exciting for me to read

but in this book she has to create a podcast about her dating life

because the podcast network is kind of struggling for listeners

but the twist is that this influencer is going to help her with her dating life

and she has to take her advice

and i will say the influencer in this novel was about

as stereotypical as you would expect an influencer to be written about

and of course hey maybe i'm on the defense

because i'm kind of what you might call an influencer sometimes i've always felt like

because i was on youtube i was a youtuber

but that's besides the point she has to take her advice

and these women could not be more different she agrees to go on 20 blind dates

but in the process she gets obsessed with this one guy named Will who they are saving this dog together

which is complicated because now she's committed to a show where she has to keep going on dates but what

if she already fell for this other guy the writing was

superb character work I thought was great except for the influencer

but she still was entertaining to me

and still somewhat like I'm sure those people do exist even

though I'm calling it a stereotype probably a stereotype for a

reason i gave this four stars thoroughly enjoyed it would definitely read this author again like i've said

so many times on this channel i love romances

that are written with like a literary fiction pen if you will

and this is one of those books my only critique is

that the ending was very almost real life

and i like a little bit of pizzazz i'm reading a

romantic comedy like give me something that's a little bit out of this world

but it was very normal which she nailed that

and that's what she wanted to do and i thought

that was great and it's four stars and And then I read a short story collection, which I have not done since I tried to read Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory.

I can't remember the name, but this is called Show, Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld.

And I had read her book, Romantic Comedy, but this book absolutely shocked me to my core.

I just could never have guessed that I would give a short story collection five stars, but that's what I did with this.

For that to happen, every short story has to be something that I loved.

And every short story has different characters, different plot it's like starting a new book over

and over and over again and every single short story was hilarious

and the character work was insane like it was just i feel like it was

so fair like it feels like she was writing real people

and there were things from these short stories

that stuck in my memory for months after

which it's only been months after

but yeah i think this is one of the most impressive things i've read all year

if you're really interested in good writing i would highly recommend this

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or if you're in the mood to pick something up where you only have to read one short story

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and then feel like you've accomplished something then this would also

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be great we're on my streak of five star reads

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so this is basically just a recommendation video right now i read into the blue by emma brody

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and i begged on my hands and knees for the arc

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because one of my favorite instagrammers gave it five stars i trust her taste so much

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that i was like i need to read this this is a romance written with more literary vibes

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but also like someone who is an a03 fanfic writer

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which is just the perfect combination to me it's a love that spans over decades.

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AJ Graves, our main girl, is obsessed with sci -fi shows from the past that like don't even stream anymore.

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It's super niche but she's obsessed with it

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and then we've got this guy named Noah whose aunt is one of the actresses on the show

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that AJ is obsessed with.

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So he kind of comes from this Hollywood royalty.

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They meet in high school working at a video store together and then they start going to the aunt's house, Eudora, and she leads them through improv class

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and it teaches them to have a bond and connection

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that is so intense that they can look at each other

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and know what the other person is thinking who knew improv class could be

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so great for a romance novel but

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that is just the start you follow them through decades like

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I said where she's in LA maybe she's in a sci

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-fi show maybe he gets put in the sci -fi show

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too maybe their lines in the show are starting to mirror their real life

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if you like yearning this is the book for you like you just have to read it.

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It is spicy.

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I will say that this is a spicy book.

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You have to skip like, I would say four or five chapters if you want to skip it, but this book made me realize that specificity is key.

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We want all the specifics.

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Then I read Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash.

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This is kind of the literary fiction golden child of the year, or at least one of them in my opinion.

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Describing this book feels like a fever dream, but you're following the Flynn family and they are very dysfunctional.

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I'm pretty sure you get everyone's POV, the dad, the mom, and the three sisters.

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The writing is absurd and hilarious

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and it was one of those things where it was

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so voicey at the start that i didn't know

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if i could keep reading like i couldn't tell

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if i was annoyed or not and then i kept going

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and then suddenly i was obsessed it's so different

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that it just feels jarring

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and you feel like you have your guard up at first at least i did

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and then once you give into it you're like okay this

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is just hilarious i can't even say some of the things

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that are in this book without my video getting flagged probably

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but let's just say

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that these sisters get into a lot of trouble they're trying to take down billionaires

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and the conspiracy theories of the town it kind of does become a mystery halfway through the book

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but if you love literary fiction and you want something really different

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and really funny and really bingeable i recommend this i ended up giving it five stars

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which was crazy wasn't expecting that and then i read a thriller because

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that same instagram told me to this story might save your

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life by tiffany crumb this is about two best friends benny

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and joy who have a podcast together where every week they share stories of survival

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or near -death experiences

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and then they have one of their own i'm sure this would have been a great audiobook

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which i did not do

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but it was really fun to read the transcript of their

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podcast one day benny shows up to joy's house to record the podcast

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and her and her husband are missing

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so he has to you know figure out what where they are

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and also kind of prove that he's not guilty

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and joy was writing a memoir

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so to help him figure out where she is he starts reading the memoir

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which means we get to start reading the memoir and that was juicy it was everything i wanted in a thriller.

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It's so fast -paced.

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Loved the characters.

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I feel like I loved the characters more than I would a typical thriller

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because usually it just feels like you know someone and they're serviceable to get you through to the mystery plot.

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I think I also wanted the ending of this one to be a little bit more grandiose.

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Not in terms of the mystery but in terms of other emotions

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and that's my only critique really but it's still five stars.

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This is I think the only thriller I've read all year and I would highly recommend it.

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Also didn't make me feel too dark

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because that's why I don't like reading thrillers that much is I don't like feeling creeped out or sad.

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So if you don't like that this one was great.

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This is another arc that I absolutely begged for.

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Bad Words by Rionok Robinson.

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Emily Henry went on a podcast and said

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that this was the best book that she's read in a really long time

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and her blurb up here says a once in a lifetime read.

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High praises from Emily Henry usually leads me to a five -star book and this instance was no different.

180

The concept alone is amazing.

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This is dual POV

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so we're following Parker whose debut novel was smashed into smithereens by literary critic selena chan

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and that review of it made his debut novel flop he thought his life was over

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but then he's coming out with his second book

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and i think his second book has like a million dollar advance

186

or something one of them has a million dollar advance like

187

yet again selena chan hates his book gives it a horrible

188

review they see each other at a party they start screaming at each other

189

and someone films it and posts it online

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and then it's this conversation about like selena chan

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and has she gone too far as a critic

192

and obviously their enemies and this is a romance book

193

so it becomes enemies to lovers

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and it is the best enemies to lovers i have read

195

in i don't know how long these people are real enemies

196

where you're like this is not going to work out how the author managed

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that is so impressive to me it's also making commentary about a lot of different things

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that i found really interesting i think authors in general will find

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that discussion around criticism interesting

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and her writing on a sentence level was just breathtaking to be honest whatever

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that means actually it literally does take my breath away

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so that's what it means i didn't move from my chair for a really long time

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when i was reading this i remember that

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and then i finally read project hail mary by andy weir

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because the movie was coming out i mostly listened to this actually

206

and i would say the audiobook was a five -star read

207

while the book was a four -star read

208

because i can't really imagine reading the science it was still super accessible

209

but there was a lot of science and the movie was

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so great so

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that made for a fun week then i read how to write a love story by catherine walsh

212

which i was super excited for because i read some of holiday romance

213

because during christmas her books go i feel like kind of viral on social media

214

because i think they're free on kindle unlimited

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and they are genuinely good i never finished the one

216

that i was reading because then christmas happened

217

and then i was like well now i don't really want to read this anymore

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so it wasn't

219

because it was bad her writing is witty i feel like

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you can feel her personality through the characters this one i had such high hopes for

221

because it's ireland in the summer it's about Keira Sheridan whose father passed away

222

and she has to take over the extremely famous series

223

that he was writing but she is experiencing a lot of writer's block

224

because of the grief and she just feels like the pressure to impress those fans is too much.

225

The book editor Sam Avery gets sent from New York City

226

to her house in Ireland to motivate her to get the book done.

227

Looking back I feel like I do have fond memories of this.

228

I just wanted more specificity out of it

229

and I kept thinking of Into the Blue

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and how specific the world within the world was

231

because this one similarly has the book series that's famous within this book

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but you never really get to see that much detail about it which I think still worked.

233

I just was craving a little bit more

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and maybe Into the Blue is what set my expectations to see more of the fiction within the fiction.

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So I ended up giving this three stars.

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I thought it was a great rom -com especially for the summer

237

so if it sounds interesting I think it'd be a fun time

238

and then I went out on a limb and read The Will of the many by James Eilington.

239

The first few chapters of this book have such great imagery.

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I feel like I could picture the world so well

241

which is shocking for me because I don't really read fantasy books like this

242

that often but what really sucked me into reading this is The Academy.

243

I love anything that resembles like a Red Rising type of story at all

244

if they have to go into a really rigorous academy.

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The politics are crazy and the trials are crazy.

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I just eat that up every time and this did not disappoint.

247

I really should read the second book before I forget everything

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that happen in this one because I remember the ending was insane.

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It was kind of like Indiana Jones

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which I loved those movies as a kid so if you also did I would highly recommend this.

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I gave this 4 .5 stars.

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Also before that I actually forgot because I read it on Kindle.

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I read the memoir Strangers by Belle Burden.

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I have never read a memoir so fast in my entire life.

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It is the real life story about how her husband of 20 years up and leaves her.

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Well first she gets a phone call from someone else's husband

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saying hey my wife is having an affair with your husband

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and then she confronts her husband and he just up

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and leaves her and the kids

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but she grew up extremely wealthy in New York City she

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was living on her house on Martha's Vineyard during the pandemic

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and she just takes you through how her life completely changed overnight from this event with her husband

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and also the backstory on her life and some of her family's life

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and just like the insanely elite of New York City getting to see a glimpse of

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that I was like this feels illegal

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that she wrote this memoir like she doesn't have to be telling us any of this

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and she is and for that I'm grateful

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and I don't wanna critique anything because thank you for sharing that story and giving us all those details.

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I thought it was insane.

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I read it in one day and then I wanted to talk about it with other people.

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I wanted to watch YouTube videos about it.

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The redeeming point of it is to help people heal from something

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that you would never expect to happen to you

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and how she had to learn to share her grief with the people around her.

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The way people responded was so confusing.

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Some people in response to her saying, hey, my husband had an affair and left me

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and the kids would talk about all of her husband's greatest qualities all of

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that stuff was just

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so interesting to me five stars we're in April now this

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was an entertaining read the night we met by Abby Jimenez

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one of the most exciting releases for the romance world

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and this did not disappoint in the excitement factor I'm laughing

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because the plot is just

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so insane she's basically in love with her boyfriend's best friend the entire book like the romances between two characters

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that should not like each other

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but I'm getting ahead of myself I actually listened to a lot of this book on a random day

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that I had off where I decided to walk seven miles

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because I wanted to see what actually oh my gosh I did

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that because I read the memoir strangers and in

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that book she walks for like seven miles ten miles I

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don't know how many I never connected those two things in my head

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but I guess subconsciously I wanted to understand what it would feel like to walk

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that far because I don't think I've ever done that

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so I walked seven miles and I listened to a majority of this book

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and I think that was a good choice

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because this book is just insane at one point at one point larissa

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and chris rescue a dog together and they call each other mommy

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and daddy of the dog meanwhile larissa is in a full relationship with chris's best friend

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but you're calling yourself mommy

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and daddy with another guy like it that's what i mean by insane was it entertaining absolutely

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and i think that's what you want sometimes in a romance book

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so was it something i was rooting for no no

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but was i entertained yes and will i buy probably every book that she writes because the hype is so real

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yes and i'm gonna have a good day doing it three stars i just love books like even

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if they're crazy it's like this was such a fun time

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i did a reread of the bodyguard by katherine center i

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recommend this book probably the most out of any romance book

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that i recommend to people because i know it's quick it's fast paced her sentences are

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so easy and bingeable so if you're like not

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that big of a reader you're kind of new to it

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this is great there's no spice she's funny it's becoming a movie it's just such a perfect recommendation

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so i wanted to reread it to also just have a good time

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because i have such fond memories of the first time i

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read this i was at an airport it was my first catherine center book i'd ever read

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and it just felt like that moment when you were stumbling upon gold

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and you were like whoa what is this i love this i'm eating this up the sun is setting

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so we're shifting over here

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but then i read a new release dolly all the time

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by annabelle monahan i've been reading her summer books every year for almost four years i think now

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and they're always so sweet and delicate and simple

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but heartwarming in great settings which is just everything i could ever want actually now

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that i'm talking about it this one is set in rhode island

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which if you have been keeping up with me i've been going there a lot

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because i may or may not be writing a novel

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that is set there and i've personally just fallen in love

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so much with newport rhode island which the town in here is fictionalized

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but newport rhode island is near it i think dolly is

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such a lovable character she is a single mom she works at her dad's fish store

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and she's just kind of helping around with his house

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and she just doesn't really expect things to go her way

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because she's taking care of a lot

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and then one day she delivers fish cakes to the Whitfield household

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which are the richest people in the town it's what the entire town is named after

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which in Newport Rhode Island that's basically the case with the Vanderbilts

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and I kind of wonder if she took inspiration from that

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but she meets Stuart Whitfield

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and he is like kind of an heir to a billion dollar company

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and they have to start fake dating

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because it would look good for him to inherit the company

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or become CEO

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or one of those things the details to me don't really matter all I care is

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that they're fake dating and it was really enjoyable I gave this book 4 .5 stars

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which is almost always what I give her books so it's

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so exciting every summer when they come out

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and then I reread book lovers by Emily Henry

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because I was going to New York City

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and some of this book takes place there

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but it's also just one of the only Emily Henry books

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that I have never reread

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and I feel like I probably saw a few too many

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videos where people said this was their favorite Emily Henry book

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so I had to give it another shot

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and I've got to say I really did enjoy it way

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more the second time i like the sister dynamic i like the setting of course as normal

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and i really liked charlie lastra i gave this one four stars though

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which i think is it's one of the only emily henry books

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that i give four stars a reread never hurts

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and then i continued with our perfect storm by carly fortune this was her new release of this year

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which i always get insanely excited for her books because

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if there's one thing carly fortune does right it is setting an atmosphere

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and this one is set in Tofino in Canada and the characters names are Frankie and George.

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I think those are some of the best names I've read all year.

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Frankie's fiance leaves a note on her pillow and just disappears I think the day before they get married or after.

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So she's devastated obviously and she has this honeymoon that she can't go on anymore but George, her childhood best friend, steps in and says we're going on your honeymoon

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and we're gonna help you heal and he plans this whole itinerary and the book format kind of follows that itinerary.

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Tofino sounds like a place

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that i want to go to one day in my life i feel like it's also really cool

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that she is a canadian author and has just introduced

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so many beautiful canadian landscapes to little americans like me

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that have no idea

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and it honestly just feels like such a privilege to be able to sit down

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and feel like you are being transported to a completely different place

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and this book really did that

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and i gave it three stars this was the most exciting week for me

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because i also read katherine center's new release the shippers she's

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another one of those authors who i get insanely excited about i thought this cover was just gorgeous

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and so fun this follows

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jojo burton

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which the name jojo of course i'm thinking of jojo seawall

380

like i'm sorry i actually never did during the book

381

but now i am i i don't know i just thought

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it was a funny name her sister is getting married on a cruise

383

and she decides this is her time to get over her intimacy problems

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and get a boyfriend

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and who does she enlist to help her be her wingman

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other than her childhood bestie cooper something i actually have grown to love about a catherine center book is

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that you know the third act is going to be insane

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something you never expected it almost turns into an action book

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and i have grown to love that

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because i don't see anyone else doing it like

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that in the romance genre like i would not feel the confidence to do

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that and she's going for it

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and i kind of eat it up it makes me stressed out

394

because there are stressful scenes

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but i'm learning to eat it up i won't lie though

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the name pork pie also threw me off names are important you know they really set the mood

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and I feel like I could have used some better names.

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All that being said, loved the main guy in this.

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He was so fun and playful and lovable.

400

And I gave it 4 .5 stars.

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Highly recommend.

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As per usual, these are no spice.

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And then for my most recent video where I let my guy friends who never read choose the books that I read, they chose the next three books that I read.

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One of them being Save the Date by Mallory Cass.

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I loved this book.

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I don't know why but I just had a feeling from looking at it.

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Actually I do know why.

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I read the first chapter and it was in third person

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and I thought oh maybe this is gonna be a romance book written more like literary fiction, my favorite thing ever.

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And that's what it ended up being and I did end up absolutely loving it.

411

You're following three girls at a wedding in Maine with a rich family

412

and absolute chaos is breaking out the entire time which just makes you want to turn the pages.

413

You're following the bride, the maid of honor, and the sister and all three of them have a lot to deal with.

414

It was so entertaining and delightful.

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Like I feel like I just haven't read a book like this really ever

416

and it was just fun and happy

417

and there were still deeper topics in it

418

but i feel like they were handled so well

419

and gave a sweetness to the book

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and the romance was making me swoon there's a few different romances actually

421

but i want more people to read this book i think it's amazing i think the cover is amazing it's

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so like rom -com movie five stars then i read passion

423

project by london sperry i give such an in -depth review in this video

424

if you want to watch that

425

but ultimately i ended up giving this book three stars

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and i really liked that it set in new york city

427

and then i read one and only by maureen goo

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which is one of those magical realism romance books

429

which i feel like i've seen a lot of those this year

430

which is exciting i really like

431

that genre i loved seeing an asian family in this one there was a love triangle

432

which was a little bit stressful but ultimately good

433

and i ended up giving this one four stars

434

and then i read whistler by ann patchett she's one of those authors who has won the pen faulkner award

435

which means critically acclaimed she wins literary awards she writes amazing literary fiction i've listened to tom lake by her

436

because meryl streep does the audiobook of that one

437

and i thought it was good but sometimes with audiobooks i just cannot tell

438

if a book is good or bad i really can

439

but i read this one

440

and from page one it just feels like your grandpa is telling you a story

441

that you are like locked in the whole time

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and hanging on his every word and the dialogue was amazing i'm just

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so impressed that you can write a story about such a random moment in a person's life

444

but make it so intriguing to where i'm turning the pages as

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if it's a thriller book someone's dialogue would just be like

446

oh have you heard about the time i blank it's like oh let me tell you about it

447

and then she would just tell a story through dialogue

448

and it was so captivating it opens with daphne

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and her husband who is like 20 years older than her i think

450

so she's 50 something he's 70 something they're walking around at the met the museum in new york city

451

and jonathan her husband notices this other elderly man who keeps looking at his wife

452

and so he thinks oh

453

that guy is hitting on you turns out it's her long -lost stepdad who she's had like three

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stepdads in her life but this one really made an impact on her when she was nine years old.

455

But yeah that's all I'll really say.

456

It's such a random synopsis.

457

I could not understand what this book was about before I picked it up

458

and bought it but I'm so glad I just went in blind and read it and it was so great.

459

It just felt like a little hug and it was just heartwarming and I absolutely recommend this book.

460

Five stars.

461

Now we're talking about books I read like last week so they're very fresh.

462

Every Version of You by Natalie Messier.

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This is also a magical realism romance and it was

464

so great we're following joey who is 32 and she's a lawyer

465

and she's going to this party where she's in love with a guy who is married to a different girl

466

and then she dies

467

and she opens her eyes to a weird 70s style office with a caseworker

468

and the caseworker looks at her file

469

and says you have enough regrets here to be allowed a second chance at life

470

so when in your life do you want to go back to you can't go below five years old

471

so then she goes back to her college days to the day

472

that she met the love of her life who is now married to a different girl

473

and she's gonna try to stop him from ever marrying someone else

474

and to make him fall in love with her doesn't

475

that just sound so good I feel like the implications of

476

that in the world I wanted to be I wanted to have like ripple effects in the world

477

and it did like everything

478

that I thought should have happened all of those things she covered

479

and then especially at the end whenever we get some of the family dynamics I thought

480

that was so interesting and well -written dynamic between her sister

481

and her mom and her parents expectations of her to be a lawyer

482

and the conversation about if people can change

483

or not especially in this world where they get a second chance

484

and the writing was great

485

so can you guess what i gave i give it five stars

486

and listen i'm not just giving these books five stars

487

because i'm nice genuinely i am giving these books five stars

488

because i think they are worth that and my scale for

489

that has not changed if anything i feel like i've gotten harsher on books since writing

490

but i think i've just been better about what to choose

491

and i have been filming less which you might have been seeing

492

because i've been posting less frequently on here because i've been writing

493

and so with the time that i can spend really vetting a book to see

494

if i want to read it has helped me choose books

495

that i just really love so

496

if i say it's five stars i mean it i think

497

that you should read it this one is spicy though kind

498

of like way more spicy than i was expecting actually

499

so just a heads up and lastly i read daddy issues by kate goldbeck i

500

loved you again by this author one of my favorite romance

501

books ever thought the sentences were great thought the characters were insufferable

502

which i love now this one was interesting

503

because at this point it feels like i'm just reading her books

504

because i like her as an author and i didn't necessarily like the characters

505

or the setting or the trope of this book

506

which i read the author's note at the back

507

and she didn't know that single father trope was a trope before she wrote it but that's what this is.

508

So there is little kid in it who i thought was really funny

509

and well written

510

but you're following a girl named sam who is 26 living

511

with her mom in ohio doesn't have a career necessarily

512

that she thought she would have and then the single dad moves in next door

513

and it's a romance between them so there is nothing glamorous about this book like

514

if you read books for escapism and larger than life stuff

515

and beautiful settings this is not

516

that this is kind of slice of life realistic funny writing maybe it would be cathartic

517

if you're in a place where you just feel like I'm

518

in my 20s I do not know what I'm doing I

519

feel like a mess this is not where I thought my life would be I think

520

that this book would be really comforting

521

because there was something about the small scope of this book

522

that just felt sort of cozy

523

and like intimate he's the manager of a Chili's I love Chili's

524

so I loved that and she also loves graphic novels

525

which is why the cover looks like one

526

and sometimes she'll write her life within a graphic novel

527

which I thought was a really cool little thing in there to make it different

528

so I gave this four stars I really liked some of

529

the arguments towards the end I listened to some of those last chapters on audio

530

and hearing them fight back

531

and forth was really entertaining it felt like I was watching a movie

532

and I will probably read whatever this author writes next

533

because I love her writing so much that is everything

534

that I've read this year 11 books that were five stars

535

so I hope you got a recommendation from this

536

if you have not read my debut novel I highly recommend

537

it she is five stars the beach town absolutely superb childhood friends to lovers absolutely delightful.

538

And if you want a book sleeve, I'll have that link down below.

539

And in the meantime, I'm going to try to go write a book that hopefully you love one day.

540

Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 540 sentences and 6363 words to shadow. The speech runs for 26:44. The speaker talks fast, about 238 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

romance /roʊˈmæn(t)s/ (noun) — An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.
insane /ɪnˈseɪn/ (adjective) — Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/ (noun) — Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose.
literary /ˈlɪt.(ə.)ɹə.ɹi/ (adjective) — Relating to literature.
podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ (noun) — A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
memoir /ˈmɛmˌwɑː/ (noun) — An autobiography; a book describing the personal experiences of an author.
shock /ʃɔk/ (noun) — A sudden, heavy impact.
critic /ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/ (noun) — A person who appraises the works of others.
thriller /ˈθɹɪ.lə/ (noun) — Something that thrills.
entertain /ˌɛntəˈteɪn/ (verb) — To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.
dialogue /ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/ (noun) — A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals.
lover /ˈlʌvɚ/ (noun) — One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.
recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/ (noun) — An act of recommending.
spicy /ˈspaɪsi/ (adjective) — Of, pertaining to, or containing spice.
gross /ɡɹoʊs/ (adjective) — remarkably great, big, vast in an often unpleasant way; (of behaviour) Highly or conspicuously offensive.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

end up (verb) — To bring to a conclusion.
go on /ˈɡoʊˌɒn/ (verb) — To continue in extent.
talk about (verb) — Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.
set in (verb) — To take root, become established.
fall in (verb) — To collapse inwards.
figure out (verb) — To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
go back to (verb) — To stem from; to originate in.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 129 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thriller /ˈθɹɪ.lə/, wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, thoroughly /ˈθʌɹ.ə.li/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/, shock /ʃɔk/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/
Long words — get the stress right: literary /ˈlɪt.(ə.)ɹə.ɹi/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like romance, insane, fiction.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if it sounds interesting I think it'd be · if you also did I would highly · if you want a book sleeve, I'll have
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	i've been reading · have been keeping · have been filming
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	i've read · i've ever given · have happened
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was inspired · be written · are written

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I've read 23 books this year and HALF were 5 star reads... - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?

The worst movie I've ever seen 50 SHADES OF GREY