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My Favorite Reads of 2019

December 9, 2019 Roni Loren
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Last week, I posted a list of my top 5 audiobooks of 2019. Today, I’m bringing you my favorites in print and ebook. I had trouble narrowing down the list, which is a good problem to have. It means I’ve read a lot of great books this year! But to make it easier to go through, I’ve separated my faves out by category.

Hopefully, you’ll find some to add to your holiday wishlist!

Favorite Romances

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Yes, I’m a romance writer who had only seen the movie and had never read the actual book. I blame high school for making me scared to read classics. I’m so glad I finally picked this one up. You can read about my full thoughts in this post.

 
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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

This one was just a delight all around. Fun, sexy, and sweet.

About the book:

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?

 
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Misadventures with a Professor by Sierra Simone

I have trouble reading erotic romance these days because I tend to be extra tough on it (having written in that genre for so long) but I’m happy to report that this one was fantastic. Great writing, very steamy, and had likable characters. I’ll definitely be picking up more by this author.

About the book:

Zandy Lynch never planned on going to grad school a virgin. So when her professor father finds her a job abroad as a research assistant the summer before she starts her master’s program, she sees her chance. She’s got one night in London to lose her V-card to a Mr. Darcy lookalike before she has to join some ancient professor in the country.

Oliver Graeme is not looking forward to having some American co-ed hovering around while he’s trying to work, but he owes her father the favor, and besides, his office is an untidy mess of uncatalogued research. He needs the help. Still, he decides to take the edge off his frustration while visiting a colleague in London, and winds up having the sexiest, sweetest night of his life with a stranger, who vanishes in the morning without a trace…

To Zandy’s shock when she arrives at Professor Graeme’s house a day later, the door isn’t opened by a fussy old scholar, but by the wild, passionate man she met in London. Cold and reserved by day, Oliver is ferociously greedy with her at night, and it’s not long before Zandy finds herself falling for both versions of him—the aloof professor and the generous, rough lover. The trouble is that summer only lasts so long, and Zandy already has a plane ticket waiting to take her home…

 
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Picture Perfect Cowboy by Tiffany Reisz

I always enjoy Tiffany’s writing, so this one isn’t a surprise. It’s super steamy with great backstory and emotion packed into this quick novella.

About the book:

Jason "Still" Waters' life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words "World Champion Bull-Rider" after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody...until he meets Simone. She's the kinky girl of his dreams...and his conservative family's worst nightmare.

 

Favorite YA

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Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi

Quotes from my private reading journal about this book: “funny and weird and sweet” and “the end gave me the awws”. This one took a little bit to get into at first, but once I was hooked, I was hooked. Great story.

About the book:

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

 
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This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

I really enjoyed the peek into the art of DJing in this book, and though it wasn’t a romance, I feel like the hook-up was portrayed well and served the story. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.

About the book:

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski's strong suit. All throughout her life, she's been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up.

Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, Leila Sales' This Song Will Save Your Life powerful young adult coming of age novel is an exuberant story about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

 

Favorite Horror/Thriller

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No Exit by Taylor Adams

This was one was billed as a thriller, but I think it reads more like a tense horror movie. I prefer horror to thriller so that totally worked for me. Here’s a quote from my original review: “The best way I can describe this book is take the claustrophobic, trapped feeling of The Shining (minus the supernatural) and mix it with a villain who just won’t stop like Michael Myers in the Halloween movies, and this is what you get.” Read my full review here. This is a great one for a winter read because the main character is snowed in at the rest stop.

About the book:

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

 
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Clever world-building in this one (which took a while to set up in the story, but was worth the time) and I didn’t guess the mystery, which I always love. I’m also a sucker for a dark book set at a university. (This one is set at a supernatural version of Yale.) It did have a cliffhanger about one plot line but wrapped up the main one, so I didn’t get too frustrated with a partial cliffhanger. The next book doesn’t come out until 2021, so I will be eagerly awaiting the next one.

About the book:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

 
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Verity by Colleen Hoover

This one is labeled a romantic thriller. Quote from my private reading journal: “This book was super dark and a mindf**k. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.” This one was legitimately creepy and had a gothic feel to it with a big, old house, an invalid wife, and a creepy kid. It kept me guessing, and I’m really glad it didn’t turn out to be a trope I hate in thrillers. I won’t say what that trope is because I don’t want to risk spoilers.

About the book:

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

 

Favorite Non-Fiction

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Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Y’all probably have figured out that I love just about anything from Cal Newport. This book was no exception. You can read about my digital declutter, inspired by this book, in this blog post.

About the book:

The key to living well in a high tech world is to spend much less time using technology.

Georgetown computer scientist Cal Newport's Deep Work sparked a movement around the idea that unbroken concentration produces far more value than the electronic busyness that defines the modern work day. But his readers had an urgent follow-up question: What about technology in our personal lives?

In recent years, our culture's relationship with personal technology has transformed from something exciting into something darker. Innovations like smartphones and social media are useful, but many of us are increasingly troubled by how much control these tools seem to exert over our daily experiences--including how we spend our free time and how we feel about ourselves.

In Digital Minimalism, Newport proposes a bold solution: a minimalist approach to technology use in which you radically reduce the time you spend online, focusing on a small set of carefully-selected activities while happily ignoring the rest.

He mounts a vigorous defense for this less-is-more approach, combining historical examples with case studies of modern digital minimalists to argue that this philosophy isn't a rejection of technology, but instead a necessary realignment to ensure that these tools serve us, not the other way around.

To make these principles practical, he takes us inside the growing subculture of digital minimalists who have built rich lives on a foundation of intentional technology use, and details a decluttering process that thousands have already used to simplify their online lives. He also stresses the importance of never clicking "like," explores the underappreciated value of analog hobbies, and draws lessons from the "attention underground"--a resistance movement fighting the tech companies' attempts to turn us into gadget addicts.

Digital Minimalism is an indispensable guide for anyone looking to reclaim their life from the alluring diversions of the digital world.

 
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

From my original review: “As some of you know, I was a social worker/therapist before I left to be a full-time writer, so I’m already a psychology nerd. But this book was so much more than a look at psychology. Gottlieb is an experienced writer and storyteller, so what could’ve been dry was a rich and heartfelt page-turner. I got attached to the clients she featured and was invested in her own story as well. I have so many underlined passages in this one, and it made me think deeply about big life issues like mid-life crises and how to deal with fear of death and so much else. This one is sad at parts but ultimately uplifting and life-affirming. I want to put this book in everyone’s hands.”

About the book:

From a New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, and national advice columnist, a hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world--where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients' lives -- a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can't stop hooking up with the wrong guys -- she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is revolutionary in its candor, offering a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.

 
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On Being 40ish edited by Lindsey Mead

Guess who turned 40 this year? ;) I loved this collection of essays. Some were funny, some poignant, some powerful. If you’re a woman of a certain age, there’s a lot here to enjoy.

About the book:

Fifteen powerful women and writers you know and love—from the pages of the New Yorker, New York Times, Vogue, Glamour, and The Atlantic—offer captivating, intimate, and candid explorations about what it’s really like turning forty—and that the best is yet to come.

The big 4-0. Like eighteen and twenty-one, this is a major and meaningful milestone our lives—especially for women. Turning forty is a poignant doorway between youth and…what comes after; a crossroads to reflect on the roads taken and not, and the paths yet before you. The decade that follows is ripe for nostalgia, inspiration, wisdom, and personal growth.

In this dazzling collection, fifteen writers explore this rich phase in essays that are profound, moving and above all, brimming with joie de vivre. With a diverse array of voices—including Veronica Chambers, Meghan Daum, Kate Bolick, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Sloane Crosley, KJ Dell’Antonia, Julie Klam, Jessica Lahey, Catherine Newman, Sujean Rim, Jena Schwartz, Sophfronia Scott, Allison Winn Scotch, Lee Woodruff, and Jill Kargman—On Being 40(ish) offers deeply personal, often hilarious perspectives across a range of universal themes—friendship, independence, sex, beauty, aging, wisdom, and the passage of time.

Beautifully designed to make the perfect gift, and to be a treasure to turn to time and time again, On Being 40(ish) reflects the hopes, fears, challenges and opportunities of a generation.

*Be sure to check out my Top 5 Non-Fiction Favorite in Audio of you want more non-fiction

 

Favorites on Writing/Creativity

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Dear Writer, Are You In Burnout? by Becca Syme

I’m always recommending Becca’s classes to my writer friends, but now she also has books! This one was a must read for me because I am someone who cycles in and out of creative burnout on a pretty consistent basis—some burnouts worse than others. This book goes over the signs and what you can do to work your way out of burnout—and hopefully how to prevent yourself from ending up there again in the future.

About the book:

The industry is moving at a breakneck pace and writers are burning out everywhere. Write fast, write first, write every day... it's all taking its toll.

Some of us are built for this speed. Some of us are not. How do you know if you're in burnout? And if you are in it, how do you get out of it? Is it avoidable?

Author coach Becca Syme has been working with thousands of fiction and nonfiction authors, and has seen the burnout firsthand. This book is based on a popular series of videos from her authortube channel, The QuitCast, where she outlined the process of burnout, how to understand it and how to survive it.

This is a topic that, if it's part of your journey, will not go away until you face it. If you are in burnout, or are afraid you're headed for it, please get this book. It's time to face the pit together.

 
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Keep Going by Austin Kleon

A small book chock full of inspiration and good advice for the creative. I really like Kleon’s style of books (go with the print version and not the ebook because of the drawings.) This is one to keep on your shelf and go back to when you need a little creative boost.

About the book:

In his previous books Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work!, both New York Times bestsellers, Austin Kleon gave readers the keys to unlock their creativity and showed them how to become known. Now he offers his most inspiring work yet, with ten simple rules for how to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself—for life.

The creative life is not a linear journey to a finish line, it’s a loop—so find a daily routine, because today is the only day that matters. Disconnect from the world to connect with yourself—sometimes you just have to switch into airplane mode. Keep Going celebrates getting outdoors and taking a walk (as director Ingmar Bergman told his daughter, ”The demons hate fresh air”). Pay attention, and especially pay attention to what you pay attention to. Worry less about getting things done, and more about the worth of what you’re doing. Instead of focusing on making your mark, work to leave things better than you found them.

Keep Going and its timeless, practical, and ethical principles are for anyone trying to sustain a meaningful and productive life.

 

Hey, you’ve made it to the end! Hope you found something you’d like to read.

I’d love to hear your favorite read of 2019. :)

In Book Recommendations, Books, Reading, What To Read, Writing Tags favorite books of 2019, reading, romance, non-fiction, horror, thriller, young adult, book recommendations, roni loren, best reads of 2019, books on writing
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Books I've Bought Lately & Am Excited About

September 8, 2017 Roni Loren
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Usually, each week I have at least one new book recommendation for y'all. However, for the last two weeks, we've been in the middle of house renovations. So with all the chaos, I've had a hard time concentrating on anything at all except learning how to breathe in all this dust. *coughs* No new books have been read.

However, I have bought some because what's better to distract yourself from renovations but book retail therapy? So I thought I'd share a few of those today.

Also, for any of you facing the hurricane (or still dealing with the fallout of Harvey), I'm sending you thoughts and well wishes. Stay safe, y'all.

Okay, on to the latest book haul...

My Book of the Month picks

For those of you who aren't familiar, Book of the Month club is a great service where you pay 9.99 a month and get a new release hardcover (which is way cheaper than the 20-28 dollar cost of a new release hardback.) The five selections are curated by a panel of judges and you can pick whichever you want or skip the month. I've been a member for over a year now and I love it. In fact, I almost always end up adding at least another book or two to my order. (If you want to join, my referral link will get you a free tote bag with your order.) Here are my picks from the last two months:

 

Other buys:

A few foodie memoirs because I can't seem to resist them lately. The first is one I've heard recommended numerous times. The second is by the author of The Kitchen Counter Cooking School which I read recently and really enjoyed.

 

Some nerdy non-fiction :)

 

FInally, some impulse buys. Some were on sale. Some I heard about on the book podcasts I listen to.

 

What book buying problem? *shifty eyes*

And for those who notice there aren't any romances in here, that's mainly because I got a big stack of free romances at the RWA conference so I'm well-stocked in that book department. :)

What have you bought lately? What are you looking forward to reading?

 

 

In Book Recommendations, Books, Reading Tags book buying, book recommendations, reading, fiction, non-fiction, book haul
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Friday Reads: The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker

January 20, 2017 Roni Loren

It's Friday Reads time! Today I'm going a little outside of the norm with my pick and choosing a non-fiction read. This may not be for everyone. I know I can be a little (a lot) nerdy, and research-focused type books are my jam, but this one is written in a very compelling style and is a page-turner despite the fact that there is a lot of science and a number of research studies discussed.

One of my areas of interest has always been food and nutrition, so I've read and watched a lot in that sub-genre. So it's rare that a book on this topic completely changes my perspective on something. The Dorito Effect  did.

Yes, we all know that artificial flavors (including those listed as "natural" flavors, which this book shows you are no different from artificial) are not great for us. But why? And what exactly does it do to us, our food supply, our children, our tastebuds, our chickens? Why are tomatoes, which used to be so delicious when I was a kid, bland and watery now? Why do we overeat strawberry ice cream but not strawberries even though both have sugar? This book seeks to answer those questions with both history and science.

Spoiler: it's not just about sugar or fat or calories. This is not a diet book. This is a book about flavor and what's happened to it and why.

And it's utterly fascinating. 

This book will make you want a really juicy tomato or flavorful chicken. This book will also probably make you angry. It made me angry (not at the book but at what's happened to our food.)

So if you want the curtain pulled back on the things we eat, I highly recommend it. If you don't want to look at your Doritos or vegetables or meat differently, then maybe pass it by.

About the book:

A lively argument from an award-winning journalist proving that the key to reversing America’s health crisis lies in the overlooked link between nutrition and flavor: “The Dorito Effect is one of the most important health and food books I have read” (Dr. David B. Agus, New York Times bestselling author).

We are in the grip of a food crisis. Obesity has become a leading cause of preventable death, after only smoking. For nearly half a century we’ve been trying to pin the blame somewhere—fat, carbs, sugar, wheat, high-fructose corn syrup. But that search has been in vain, because the food problem that’s killing us is not a nutrient problem. It’s a behavioral problem, and it’s caused by the changing flavor of the food we eat.

Ever since the 1940s, with the rise of industrialized food production, we have been gradually leeching the taste out of what we grow. Simultaneously, we have taken great leaps forward in technology, creating a flavor industry, worth billions annually, in an attempt to put back the tastes we’ve engineered out of our food. The result is a national cuisine that increasingly resembles the paragon of flavor manipulation: Doritos. As food—all food—becomes increasingly bland, we dress it up with calories and flavor chemicals to make it delicious again. We have rewired our palates and our brains, and the results are making us sick and killing us.

With in-depth historical and scientific research, The Dorito Effect casts the food crisis in a fascinating new light, weaving an enthralling tale of how we got to this point and where we are headed. We’ve been telling ourselves that our addiction to flavor is the problem, but it is actually the solution. We are on the cusp of a new revolution in agriculture that will allow us to eat healthier and live longer by enjoying flavor the way nature intended.

Grab a copy: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound

In Book Recommendations, Books, Food, Reading Tags #fridayreads, friday reads, the dorito effect, health, nutrition, food, book recommendations, books, reading, non-fiction
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2017 Read & Watch Challenge: January's Word & Recommendations

January 1, 2017 Roni Loren

Happy New Year, everyone! 

It's time for the start of the 2017 Read & Watch Challenge. Yay! If you missed the initial post that explained how this works, check it out here. (There's also a free checklist and reading journal you can download.) But the basic premise is that each month there will be a theme word. You can choose how to interpret the theme word, but the challenge is to read a book and watch a movie/TV show each month that match the theme.

Also, each month, I'll be posting recommendations here if you're having trouble deciding what to pick. I'll offer my own recommendations and what I plan to read/watch for the challenge BUT I'll also be featuring tastemakers (authors, bloggers, editors) who offer recommendations AND a Reader of the Month who will offer her choices. So lots of reasons to stop by! :)

So, this month's word is BEGIN. I think this one is perfect for January and I hope you'll have fun with it.

Possible interpretations of the theme (but interpret how you like):

  • Begin a series
  • A story about beginnings
  • A book or movie that has the word BEGIN in the title
  • A non-fiction book about a habit you want to start
  • A YA story because teens are beginning their adult lives
  • A prequel
  • A story about the beginning of an era

TASTEMAKER OF THE MONTH: Julie Cross

Author Juile Cross

Author Juile Cross

This month's tastemaker is my friend and NYT Bestselling YA/NA author, Julie Cross. She's got some great suggestions for us. But be sure to also check out her latest book, Chasing Truth, which also fits the theme of BEGIN. Kirkus reviews calls it, "An enjoyably twisty, romantic, and thoughtful prep-school mystery." 

Now, on to Julie's picks!

Novel: Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian

Julie's Thoughts: Open your mind a bit and let this very real, very BEGIN story inside you and I promise you will feel all kinds of things. After Seventeen year old, Evan is severely assaulted by the ex-boyfriend of a girl he hooks up, his father pulls him out of boarding school and the two escape to a family cabin in Minnesota. Evan must begin to mend--inside and out--begin to trust, and begin to love himself while learning to let others in. Lovers of romance, there is a love story here, but be aware, it doesn’t follow the traditional patterns however if you come prepared for a real and emotional journey, you’ll find that love story right alongside the hero.

Recommended for lovers of realistic teen stories, male narrator's, family drama, small-town quirks, friendships, and characters who make dozens of mistakes but grow tremendously throughout the story.

 

TV Show: Veronica Mars

Julie's Thoughts: I watched this entire series just last winter (free via my Amazon Prime membership) so don’t feel intimidated by the “Marshmellows” who were devoted to the series since it’s birth. Unlike the hero in my YA book recommendation, Veronica doesn’t have the luxery of moving to a new place despite the BEGIN she is forced embrace. Her best friend was murdered, her father was booted from his job as town sheriff, her mother has run off to God knows where, and Veronica has gone from popular cheerleader to daughter of the town outcast. She may be stuck in Neptune until graduation, but that doesn’t mean Veronica has to sit quietly and accept her new fate. She’s fierce, witty, hilarious, and very loyal to her father. The two of them have a great relationship and run a damn good P.I. business too. Veronica’s drive and constant curiosity will make you want to get up and BEGIN something of your own. After you binge watch all three seasons plus the follow-up movie, which is also fantastic.

 

READER OF THE MONTH: Dawn Alexander

Next up, we have recommendations from my friend, fellow writer, and avid suspense reader, Dawn Alexander. Dawn likes things with a mystery and a bad guy/gal, so she'll have some different picks for us. Also, be sure to check out her blog! :) 

On to Dawn's picks...

Novels:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

The first of the Stephanie Plum series, an all time favorite.

Naked in Death by JD Robb

First of the In Death series, also an all time favorite.

Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

For a little bit of a twist on a theme. It's a women's fiction about the beginning of summer as well as the beginning of everyone's secrets unraveling. 

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

My choice for my challenge is. I'm cheating a little here. It is the beginning of a series. A is the beginning of the alphabet AND it's the beginning of my Follow the Clues reading Challenge. 

Movies:

Rogue One

It's the beginning of the Star Wars Trilogy I grew up with. Not the prequels.

Hope Floats

The beginning of a new life.

Stand By Me

The beginning of adulthood.

 

 

 

Roni's Recommendations 

Books:

Because January is all about beginnings, I find myself reaching for a lot of non-fiction, self-improvement type books. So if you’re looking for a fresh start, here are a few options:

The Happiness Project or Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

These are great books to reboot at the beginning of the year if you're looking to start new habits or to find some joy this year. I find myself picking these up for rereads in January.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is all about beginning a full, rich creative life without all the “artistic suffering”.

Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD by Susan Pinsky

Not just for those with ADHD. Super helpful organizing solutions that really resonated with me and I still use years after reading the book. So if one of your goals this year is to get yourself organized, this is a great place to begin.

Shameless Self-Promotion:

You know what would also make excellent choices for BEGIN? Beginning one of my series. :) Here are my two series starters:

Crash Into You

First in the Loving on the Edge series (kinky Texas men, BDSM, angst, romance)

 

 

Off the Clock

First in the Pleasure Principle series (smart and sexy therapists and doctors, Grey's Anatomy of mental heath meets erotic romance)

 

 


TV Show:

My So-Called Life

This one is an easy one to start because there is only one season—one perfect, ended-too-soon season--and you can get it streaming. This is about the beginning of high school, adulthood, and contains ALL THE ANGST and super hot Jared Leto. If you grew up in the 90s, you’ve probably already seen it, but there’s a reason that it was picked as one of the top 100 shows of all time by the authors of TV (The Book.)

Movie:

When Harry Met Sally

This is the perfect movie for New Year’s but is also about the beginning of a very long relationship. Plus, you get to see Carrie Fisher in a great role (she plays Meg Ryan’s sassy best friend.)

What I'll be Reading/Watching

Books:

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

A YA about the start of a relationship that only lasts one day (at least that’s what I think it’s about.) This was a Book of the Month Club pick, so I’m looking forward to it.

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The is about beginning love again after a woman loses her true love in a helicopter disappearance. But after she finds a new love years later, her husband is found. Hello, conflict.

 

TV:

OJ: Made in America

I’ve already started this one after hearing so many rave reviews about it. It goes with the BEGIN theme because it’s not just about how OJ ended up but where he started, bringing in the history of America and the influences that shaped him and what was to come. My husband and I watched The People vs. OJ, which was fantastic, and I didn’t think we needed to watch something else on the same topic, but so far this is a different angle on it and compelling.


So that's what I've got for you this month. Any of these suggestions spark your interest? I'd love to hear what you'll be reading and watching for this month's challenge! Leave a comment or use hashtag #readwatch17 to join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. :) 


Thank you to our monthly tastemaker!

At Holden Prep, the rich and powerful rule the school—and they’ll do just about anything to keep their dirty little secrets hidden.

When former con artist Eleanor Ames’ homecoming date commits suicide, she’s positive there’s something more going on. The more questions she asks, though, the more she crosses paths with Miles Beckett. He’s sexy, mysterious, arrogant…and he’s asking all the same questions.

Eleanor might not trust him—she doesn’t even like him—but they can’t keep their hands off of each other. Fighting the infuriating attraction is almost as hard as ignoring the fact that Miles isn’t telling her the truth…and that there’s a good chance he thinks she’s the killer. Grab a copy!

 

 

 

Tags read and watch challenge, #readwatch17, reading challenge, movie challenge, books, book recommendations, reading, YA, NA, suspense, non-fiction, gretchen rubin, writers, readers, book of the month club, julie cross, dawn alexander, roni loren
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