A friend recently asked me what my goals were for this newsletter. I have just one, and it’s simple: Write it. Without much further adieu, if only because I’ve spent the past three months NOT writing it, here we go.

Recently I’ve given into my fangirl tendencies and gone down the rabbit hole on a couple of series.

Books I read in Q1

The Correspondent - Virginia Evans ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved the way this was written through letters. It’s charming, sweet and a little bit heartbreaking. I’d recommend this one to anyone.

Game Changer ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Heated Rivalry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Tough Guy ⭐️⭐️ - Rachel Reid

After flying through the TV show, and at the insistence of my coworkers (yes we have a HR group chat), I was convinced to start reading Rachel Reid’s books. Unfortunately, Shane and Ilya’s story is the strongest of the bunch. Fortunately, I can skip ahead to their next book while impatiently waiting for Season 2.

American Royals ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Majesty ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Rivals ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Reign ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Katharine McGee

Meg Cabot fans, this one’s for you. The Reign series is a bit of revisionist history, imagining what America would be like if George Washington never stepped down as President, and instead began a monarchy. Sprinkled in the Laguna Beach-era drama of the young princesses and their friends, you’ll recognize tidbits pulled from the real tabloids.

Pole Position - Rebecca J. Caffery ⭐️⭐️

Heated Rivalry but for Formula 1? Sounded like a good premise but delivered on little to no real action.

The Strength of the Few - James Islington ⭐️⭐️

Full disclosure — This book took me two attempts to finish. The first third I found incredibly difficult to follow, as each chapter follows Vis in one of three settings, and it’s never clear which you’re in when you start reading. Overall this book was a disappointment for me, given how much I enjoyed the first.

Escape! - Stephen Fishbach ⭐️⭐️⭐️

While psyching myself up for Survivor 50, I knew I had to give former contestant (Tocantins) turned author Stephen Fishbach’s debut a shot. It follows the contestants on an island-based reality competition show as the drama unfolds on and off camera. If you liked the show “UnREAL,” you might enjoy this quick read.

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amaze, amaze, amaze! I’m not a sci-fi person but this was such an enjoyable read. It follows a middle school science teacher on his quest to save humanity by going to space. I’ve heard great things about the audiobook version and I’m excited to see the film. Knowing the cast, I read the entire thing in Ryan Gosling’s voice and it fits so well.