Finished reading: What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long 📚

Oh wow. I love both main characters in this one. The heroine is so tired of being seen as a reliable dog geyser person. The hero is deliberately prickly and mysterious. I love them.

Finished reading: The Secret Garden by Mariah Marsden and Hanna Luechtefeld 📚

The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books from childhood and this is an excellent graphic novel adaptation that captures its magic beautifully.

Finished reading: I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long 📚

A headstrong lady! Shipboard romance! As always, Julie Anne Long does the job.

Finished reading: How to Tell When We Will Die by Johanna Hedva 📚

This book challenged me. I don’t know the last time I had to look up several new-to-me words in a book, but we’re talking decades. This book was full of essays that resonated deeply with my own experiences and others that were like a window into a completely different world. I’m so glad I read it.

Finished reading: Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson 📚

A great picture book about the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham in 1963, perfect model of how kids can make a difference.

Finished reading: The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander 📚

A gorgeous picture book poem.

Finished reading: Since the Surrender by Julie Anne Long 📚

Julie Anne Long is really good at the job. Lots of yearning in this one, in the best way.

Finished reading: How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis 📚

Super fun but also upsetting because of the social commentary middle book in a space heist romance trilogy.

Finished reading: Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas 📚

A great graphic novel!

Finished reading: Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long 📚

So great. Julie Anne Long is excellent both at the plot level and at the prose level.

Finished reading: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman 📚

As great as everyone says. It’s striking how much chronic illness and grad school prepped me for accepting rather than struggling with the ideas here. This is a perfect book to read when you’re in your 40s.

Finished reading: The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long 📚

A book with an awesome heroine and a delightful hero. Julie Anne Long is new to me and seems bound to become one of my favorite historic romance authors.

Finished reading: Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis 📚

The first novella in a series of three. At first I thought it might not be the right moment for me to read this, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The payoff is great.

Finished reading: Dark Russian Angel by Odette Stone 📚

Finished reading: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell 📚

I really enjoyed this! Sad boys falling in love in space.

Finished reading: Whiteout by Adriana Anders 📚

Like if The Thing, that Antarctica episode of The X-Files, and a Michael Crichton book all had a baby with a romance novel. So, you know, pretty great.

Finished reading: The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath 📚

A wild premise deftly handled.

Finished reading: Falling Into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath 📚

Lorraine Heath knows the job. Minerva Dodger is a delightful heroine.

Finished reading: Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes 📚

A very useful and straightforward book about romance novel structure.

Finished reading: The Heroine’s Journey: For Readers, Writers, and Fans of Pop Culture by Gail Carriger 📚

This is a great book about story structure that helped me understand, among other things, why Jean-Luc Picard is my favorite Star Trek captain.

Finished reading: A Duke Worth Falling For by Sarah MacLean 📚

I love Sarah MacLean so much.

Finished reading: The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa 📚

Cute rom-com with a heroine who has put walls around her heart and has to learn when to open the gate and let someone in.

Finished reading: To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins 📚

Another awesome heroine.

Finished reading: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers 📚

Finished reading: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott 📚

A classic for a reason.