My current system for Bookstagram posts/reviews/nonsense is writing frantic notes in my phone when I have an idea.

This book has it all: an enticing premise, vivid and intense action sequences, a romance worth rooting for, and well-defined, complicated secondary characters (so much depth!)

This was my first Christina Lauren book and I was thrilled to finally read this duo’s hilarious and heartwarming rom com. I’m shocked how much I enjoyed this one, I think I am going to call it this year on holiday books now because I want to end on a high note!

I came so close to DNFing this book *many* times, but I still haven’t mastered the art of putting a book down if it doesn’t bring me joy, so I trudged through this one.

Not that anyone asked, but this is not a Christmas read (I don’t think it claims to be) but it is a cozy December read! I was amazed at how much I liked this one, and how quickly I flew through it once I started!

Normal People is, at its core, a raw, emotional love story about two people. It’s as if the camera lens has Connell and Marianne in focus and everything else is blurred.

Wholesome, sweet (almost a little too sweet for me), and heartwarming! The House in the Cerulean Sea charmed me in all of the best ways. Unique and quirky characters, a lovable protagonist, and a magical world that just dares you to believe in hope, friendship, and the best kind of rule-breaking.

I think when this book was pitched, it must have sounded like an absolutely adorable, ingenious idea. In actuality, the context, characters, and description required to take the reader through 12 dates AND have a consistent storyline running throughout the book proved to be too much for a fun holiday book.

An excellent, tried-and-true mystery novel by the Queen of Mystery herself, Agatha Christie

I’m so glad I finally read this book. It was originally published in 2013, but it remains a fascinating examination of identity, both racial and national, americanization, education, what it means to be “home,” and finding your way back to yourself

This wasn’t my favorite CoHo, but it was worth a read! I am so glad I did because I enjoyed the intensity and the banter between our two protagonists, Miles & Tate.

One True Loves was a stressful read in many ways because the premise felt just real enough to work, and just outlandish enough to remind you that it’s fiction.

A complicated, funny, nuanced, heady romance that spans decades and explores other themes like generational curses, Black culture, disability and chronic pain, heartbreak, and lost love? HI MEET SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE.

⚠️ Unpopular opinion ⚠️ I liked this one more than her other book, The Guest List, which I also enjoyed (and reviewed)!

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s takes her readers on an intimate exploration of this romanticized period in time, in a way that both celebrates the innovation of many of these artists while also realizing its faults.

My name is Madeline Mae Smith and I love to write! Though that love quickly turns to the five stages of writer grief when faced with a project: Denial, More Denial But This Time With A Snack, Instagram Scrolling, Reluctant Guilt, and "Okay That Was Decent."

This book is smart, thrilling, creepy, and makes you question reality - yours and that of the characters. The plot and setting lead the way in this mysterious tale with the characters following shortly behind.

A solid three stars for this gang of elderly residents living together at the retirement village of Cooper’s Chase. They spend their time discussing unsolved mysteries in the jigsaw room every Thursday, thus, The Thursday Murder Club.

I thought the writing was beautiful and the idea remarkable! A reimagining of the Faustian Bargain beginning in 1714 stretching to present day? And our main settings are Paris and New York? I was in before we began.