For as long as I can remember the car has been a refuge for us. I enjoy it specifically because I get to watch people and scenery without having to exhaust my social meter. The rest of the family enjoys it because going for a drive usually involves a long drive around town (or road trip), treats for the road, and something fun coming out of the speakers.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As a bookseller partner with Libro.fm and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. At no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting QNB.

Audiobooks have been our thing for most weekdays on our way to school, on the ride back home, and anywhere in-between where it is just me and the kids. We started out with fantasy books like Harry Potter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (which is actually on some classics list now) and Netherwings by Django Wexler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The kids would get so excited and make me promise not to listen ahead, which sometimes I did and just went back to where we stopped together. They’d never notice.

FIRST REAL CLASSIC

It was about 5 years ago that I really started putting in hardcore work into getting through classics. I was picking at least one a month to listen to or read. So one afternoon on the ride home from guitar practice, they fell asleep (or so I thought) and started playing Animal Farm by George Orwell. I knew it was a little gory, but nothing more than some cartoons or TV and figured if they woke up it’s a book about animals. How wrong was I to assume they’d be so simple. Kids are much more perceptive than adults give them credit for. So, anyway, of course they woke up midway through the start of Animal Farm, and when we were pulling into our drive I had an interesting conversation.

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M (son): Hey mom, those pigs sound like they’re being sneaky.

J (daughter): Yeah!

Me: Well, they are. Ok, I’ll be brief because this probably won’t make too much sense, but the pigs are pushing for a rebellion because they want to take over in the end. The book isn’t really about pigs and farmers. It is meant to be a satirical, which just means a kind of fun and interesting way, to explain how some countries end up in totalitarian governments like when I talk about Cuba or if you’ve about Russia.

M: That makes sense. During our social studies class last unit, our teacher was teaching us about capitalism, socialism, and communism. Those type of totali….whatever governments have communist economies where it is centralized and controlled by the government.

Me: wide eyed and trying to process this conversation I’m having with my 10 year old

J: Oh, is this like democracy, autocracy, and oligarchy? We were learning about that too. So, the pigs want to be like an oligarchy? The few that control everything?

Me: more baffled open mouthed staring

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

After their understanding of the circumstances, I upped my game as we continued to listen to the book and stopped to discuss certain things I thought would be beyond them and answered questions. It was one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read, but it was so much more interesting because I got to hear their perspective too. Needless to say, it was the beginning of me bringing them into the fold on some of the age appropriate classics. They’ve enjoyed so many, but we’ll start with these 4.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This classic is usually under 150 pages, so it is a short, easy read. It is about farm animals that begin a rebellion against their farmers because they wish to create a society where all animals are free and equal. It starts off innocent enough. However, some of the farm animals begin to have louder voices and use harsher tactics to get their views and agendas pushed forward, which feels oddly like they’re not equals anymore. In the end, those same farm animals that pushed for the rebellion in the name of freedom become the oppressors of their own kind until the new society is worse than the one they started with. Fear is the new currency, and all animals are equal until they’re not. It is a satirical story about totalitarianism.

The kids ended up loving this one btw! We had a lot of conversations about how dark it was and the meaning behind the words, but it is a fan favorite. My daughter bought a nice copy of it for her book collection.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Can we stay in the car for a little longer to keep listening? Just until this chapter is over? Pretty please.” - M

Need I say more? This is an epic fantasy of 4 children who walk through a wardrobe and find themselves in a wintry land ruled by the White Witch. Every creature in this strange new world is cursed, as is the land. It is always winter, but it will never be Christmas. The adventure!! The kids must join Aslan, the lion, to try and break the curse and free everyone. It is about friendship, found family, and betrayal. My husband even told us there is a religious component to it and went on and on, but I may have tuned him out. I personally found it to be a good book with a few lulls here and there, but the kids were absolutely in love. We went on to read books 2 & 3 soon after, which they did not find nearly as good as the first.

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A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Oh no, this is the same guy who wrote Oliver Twist? Ugghhh….” - M

Can you tell we had a run-in with Dickens already? That’ll be for another day but the kids were mixed on starting A Christmas Carol. On the one hand, we’ve obviously seen dozens of TV series and movies inspired by this tale. It is the classic Scrooge is too grumpy and selfish to appreciate the magic of Christmas, so he is pursued by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future in an attempt to remind him that he wasn’t always this version of himself. The premise is beautiful, and despite our reservations about Dickens, the original was actually quite sweet. However, Dickens strikes again with an overwritten and incredibly dense book. Was he paid by the word? Because if he was, it shows. Overall, good to read the original once but that was more than enough. We’ll be sticking to the remakes in the future.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I rate it 5-stars. I mean, it was sad, but it actually made me feel everything which is exactly what you want from a book. To make you feel it.” - J

My kids and I read this book separately. I read it back in 2023 because my husband kept recommending it to me. He said it was a short read, and it would be a good introduction to Steinbeck. He was a local author, so I’ve been really interested in reading his work. However, it feels intimidating, like I’m stumbling into true great literature here that I won’t appreciate because I’m too simple. It’s hard to get out of this mindset of being worthy enough for classics btw. Anyways, so at his recommendation I read it and was blown away by how well-written it was but of course it has a emotionally fraught end. Fast forward 3 years, my daughter’s middle school English class had a project where they had to choose a classic and do a whole report on it including an oral presentation. She chose Of Mice and Men, despite my warning that it would not be her fav because she is usually into bizarre mysteries or HEAs. I remember when we first discussed it after she read it; her eyes were watery and puffy from her emotions about the ending. We had a good, deep talk about how heavy life was back then, and how an author can write something so simple yet utterly devastating.

Sometimes it feels like reading classics is hard enough as an adult, let alone trying to bring kids into it. Plus, many classics are also on banned book lists, so there is that too. On the other hand, they are at the core of much of the media we consume today, so they might already relate to it or be exposed to it from school, teachers, friends, and family.

Whatever your opinion on classics or age appropriate reading lists, don’t count out classics.

Until next week…..keep your spaces cozy, and your reading a little unhinged.

Take care,

Your Resident (future) Bookseller
Quiet Nook Books

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As a bookseller partner with Libro.fm and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. At no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting QNB.

OUIJA BOARDS AND SECT RELIGIONS

Growing up, my parents were so contradictory. They were staunch Catholics - baptizing me as a baby and pushing me through all of the traditional sacraments. They required me to wear a cross and an azabache, which is a protective amulet made of onyx or jet stone that wards off negative energy and the ‘evil eye’

Yet, the line between “holy” and “haunted” was incredibly blurry in our house. My grandmother almost had a heart attack when my friends showed up with a Ouija board during a sleepover because she believed it was satanic to attempt to reach the dead. (It’s a board game people!) Meanwhile, my mom believed in mediums and sect religions on and off throughout my childhood. Her faith left her many times, and other times it reached levels of borderline fanaticism. I never judged her. It wasn’t my place.

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That melting pot of beliefs meant that by my teen years, rituals felt pretty normal. I remember vividly sitting in on one of the tarot card reading sessions my mom had with a local medium. My view at the time was that they were charlatans - trained in basic psychology and body language, with a honed-in intuition that made the desperate, lost souls at their door easy marks.

However, looking past my teenage cynicism in those moments, all I could think about was how much I wish I could touch those tarot cards. They were usually kept inside an intricately carved wooden box with a crystal atop, in a dim room with one small round table, two chairs, soft instrumental music playing, and incense burning. The only person allowed to touch them besides the medium was the person who was getting the reading, something about pouring their energy into to the cards. I didn’t understand much more then, except that there were rules to follow.

WHAT DO I REALLY KNOW NOW?

I’ll skip the religious or sect parts because I’m about as knowledgeable as anyone can be about such things. As for tarot cards, I’m not sure I know much more, but I’ve definitely spent the last year researching them.

Last year, I bought a playful set of cards: the Cozy Witch Tarot Deck by Janaina Medeiros and bestselling poet Amanda Lovelace. I purposely didn’t buy the traditional Rider-Waite set because I wanted visuals that were a little less intense. The deck I bought is really comfy cozy for a bookish girlie. It came with its own guidebook explaining how the deck was setup and layouts for readings.

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It sparked a lot of curiosity in me. I wanted to understand more deeply what each card meant, why, and how those symbols could turn into a cohesive reading. I mean, I’ve never believed they were some magical source of fortune telling, but I understood well enough that they served the beautiful purpose of storytelling.

For other tarot card newbies like me, here are a few basics of how a deck works:

• The Structure: A standard deck has 78 cards, divided into two main categories: Major and Minor Arcana.

• Major Arcana (22 cards): These represent the big monumental life lessons, major archetypes, and spiritual journeys. Think of The Fool, The Lovers, Death.

• Minor Arcana (56 cards): These represent the daily trails & tribulations and fleeting emotions of day-to-day life. They are broken down into four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.

• The Go-To Layout: The most common reading style for beginners is a simple 3-card pull, which usually represents your past, present, and future.

See? It’s literally a framework for building a narrative.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

All this tarot card talk also made me hyper-aware of the theme in fiction. During one of many library trips, I found myself noticing a book that seemed explicitly inspired by the cards. It gave major Hunger Games survival vibes with a romance sub-plot, where all the characters were based on the Major Arcana of a tarot deck. It turned out to be amazing, and it was a whole series! That was the moment I realized tarot was a recurring theme in fantasy books, and my TBR list started growing again.

If you’re new to tarot cards or happened to land here because you are curious about it like me, here are 3 books I loved that are inspired by tarot cards, plus an extra-cozy witchy favorite you need on your radar.

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

(Book 1 of 6 from the Arcana Chronicles series)

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.

• My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

The day after buying my tarot deck, I went to the library and found this gem! This was the first book series I read inspired by tarot cards (or so I thought).

In a post-apocalyptic world, characters Evie and Jack have to lean on each other to survive. They don’t realize until later that in this new world, they’re actually living avatars of cards from the Major Arcana. AND……so are all the other dangerous forces trying to control the world.

This story gave me great starting points for my research on what the Major Arcana cards represent and how stories can be woven through them. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just a gimmicky story. It was an amazing, quick, action-packed read full of forced proximity, yearning slow burns, and love triangles. If you need a total palate cleanser, start here.

All the Hidden Gifts by Carolyn O’Donoghue

(Book 1 of 3 from the Gifts series)

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.

• My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Spice level: 🌶️

This book is about Maeve, a high school student trying to fit in with the cool kids when she accidentally finds an old tarot deck hidden at her school. She starts off innocently enough doing 3-card readings for her classmates, but things get weird when she starts to intensely bond with the deck. After a major blowout with her former bestie, a reading goes off the rails and they summon a supernatural entity known as ‘The Housekeeper’, which causes her friend to vanish. Maeve and her crew have to survive a religious entity taking over their town to bring their friend back home.

Super good read! I enjoyed the diverse characters, eerie vibes, and the illustrations sprinkled throughout the book. It is a slower paced YA, but every moment matters because that’s exactly how it feels when you’re a teenager. I’ve started to read less YA lately, probably because I relate to the characters less. However, with my own kids officially entering their teen years, I’ve started enjoying the genre again because I can relate to it through them - the heightened emotions, first loves, and trying to find their place when everything seems to hard.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

(Book 1 of 4 from The Raven Cycle series)

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.

• My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Spice level: 🫑 No spice, just pure slow-burn

If you want a series where tarot cards aren’t just a plot device, but a central part of the world, you have to read this book.

Blue is the daughter of a clairvoyant and lives in a house full of psychics. While Blue is not a psychic herself, she has an interesting power that amplifies everyone else’s powers. When she finds herself caught up with a group of wealthy, obsessive private school boys on the hunt for ley lines in the city, her world is turned upside down.

Another YA that hit so well. It was a beautifully set urban fantasy that is shrouded in ancient magic and found family. When I first read this book years ago, I didn’t even realize that tarot card readings were involved (if you forget what you read as quickly as you read it like me lol).

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.

• My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

Rainy March is a book witch, which means she literally hops in and out of books to keep them and the fictional characters safe from themselves and ‘burners’ who want to destroy stories. Her coven has strict, corporate-like rules to preserve the integrity of their work. But when her latest mission lands her in the same book as her bookish crush, the Duke of Chicago, she starts bending all the rules.

Another amazing book! I got this as an Advanced Listening Copy (ALC) through Libro.fm and thought it would be a fun car ride read with my teens. NOPE! Lol. My kids are never going to let me live it down that I told them this was a witchy mystery with a romance sub-plot. The first three chapters were literally Rainy mooning over the Duke’s eyes, clothes, and forearms. My kids still tease me about my supposed bait and switch. Despite the excessive yearning and a couple of fade to black moments, we absolutely loved their unique magic system, the mystery of her grandfather, and the HEA, of course.

BONUS!! A few more tarot card and witchy-inspired titles to consider. I have NOT read these yet, but they have been on my radar, so I figured I’d share them with you too.

• The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (A heavy tarot-inspired fantasy con-artist story)

• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Ultimate cozy coven vibes)

• The Tarot Trials by Katee Robert (expected to release on October 20, 2026 - a dark, high stakes romance option)

Hope some or all of these make it into your TBR list (I’m not sorry, you’re welcome lol).

If you have any other recommendations for tarot card or witchy books, please drop them in the comments below. I’m always looking to expand my shelves!

Until next week…..keep your spaces cozy, and your reading a little unhinged.

Take care,

Your Resident (future) Bookseller
Quiet Nook Books

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This rabbit hole has me thinking so deeply about hidden identity tropes. And no, I don’t mean the ones where the billionaire pretends to be a commoner. (Though, I do love a good billionaire story where they have to actually work for a change lol). I mean the kind where the characters prove they can love someone for who they are rather than their status or beauty. It is truly the kind of anonymity that comes from hiding behind a screen or in some cases behind an agreement that involves never meeting and hundreds of Post-it notes.

Even last week’s Sunshine Diary jumped us right into a connection sparking online where two people have found parity without ever meeting. They set their rules of engagement based on anonymity, consistency, needs, and accountability.

Here are 4 book recommendations where hidden identity tropes reign and/or the rules of engagement get fuzzy:

#1 Anonymity in the Digital Age

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

I read this book while I was a passenger princess on a road trip with my family. I was supposed to be sleeping half the time, but I couldn’t put it down. It’s such a fun hidden identity trope mixed in with some good ol’ miscommunication for our resident friends-to-lovers.

When a tight knit group of friends decide to try online dating, our two main characters, Millie and Reid, decide to cool it irl. But surprise, surprise, Millie creates a fake profile and ends up matching with Reid’s real profile. Let the catfish begin! They start to confide in each other on a different level than they ever would in real life.

It perfectly mirrors the whole ‘getting to know someone behind a screen aspect’ I’ve been thinking about. It is often so much easier to be vulnerable when you aren’t worried about social norms and your real-world reputation. There is a safety behind that screen that makes it easier to be "brave" when you’re typing instead of talking. For me, this is the gold standard for "the safety of the screen." It’s about finding the courage to be your truest self when nobody can see your face.

#2 Consistency & The Art of the Sticky Note

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

This is the ultimate book about how consistent communication is key for a good relationship - digital or irl. I specifically bought this book because, on my quest for hidden identity tropes, this kept coming up as a way to have one in real life.

Tiffy and Leon aren’t behind a screen, but they are hiding in plain sight. They agree to share an apartment (and a bed) because they’re both in a financial bind. She’s recently left her abusive ex, and he’s dropping every bit of cash he has on his brother’s legal fees (love Ritchie!).

Their agreement comes with a few strict rules of engagement, the main one being that they never meet. They are never supposed to be in the apartment at the same time. However, what started as quick exchanges about baked goods and leftovers, soon turns into two lonely people bearing their souls on sticky notes. Morning and evening check-ins, daily affirmations, and chats about how to monetize knitted scarves (it matters I promise!) become their lifeline. Since their schedules don’t align for months, their consistency is the only way that the friendship flourishes.

These roommate-to-lovers find that they fall in love well before they ever know what the other looks like. Their kindness and understanding is all each of them ever needed to be feel safe and loved.

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#3 Needs & The Dangers of a “One-Night” Mask

Ready or Not by Cara Bastone

The hidden identity here is revealed immediately to the reader in this book, but it becomes this looming ghost for Eve. This story is all about our needs and how we sometimes think a moment of anonymity can stay in the shadows forever, until it doesn’t.

Eve has a one-night stand with a bartender she meets during a rare and impulsive night out. She was never supposed to see him again…..until she finds out she’s pregnant. Through her pregnancy, her best friend’s brother, Shep, steps in to be absolutely everything she needs.

But everyone here is wearing a mask. Eve just wanted a night out in the shadows to escape her reality. Ethan just wanted to blow off some steam while on break FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND. Even Shep who steps in as a good samaritan, when in reality, he’s been waiting in the wings for an opening with Eve for years. It’s a story about the pure, supportive version of being needed vs. a dependency. It shows how even the best intentions can start to fall apart when we’ve been hiding our true selves the whole time.

#4 Accountability & Hiding from Ourselves

Atomic Habits by James Clear

This is my left field pick. It’s a book about follow-through and ownership, but it’s also about a different kind of hidden identity. Give me a chance to get you there…..

There is a massive irony in how much we hide from ourselves. We spend so much time wearing a mask of being ‘so busy’ or being ‘incapable’, telling ourselves that we can’t do something or don’t have enough time. We hide our potential behind fear and excuses.

Atomic Habits is about becoming your own best accountability buddy. This self-help giant shows us that despite our best efforts to keep our masks on, we can still become a better version of ourselves with just a little bit of consistent effort. This book took me by surprise when I read it with my family because it forced us all to take an analytical eye to the things we try to sweep under the rug. It’s about revealing the part of ourselves we should share with the world by building the habits that let them shine.

A few years ago, I was thrust into the world of paranormal romance when I stumbled upon The Darkest King by Gena Showalter. It was book 15 of the Lords of the Underworld (LOTU) series - because if you know me, you know that my toxic reader trait is reading books in a series out of order.

The author was a mystery to me at the time, but the cover gave me major ‘Booth on Bones’ vibes, so I couldn’t pass it up. The book was 100% a 5-star read, and it led me on a journey all the way back to the beginning. Well, it really took me down a much broader path, where I discovered paranormal romance as a sub-genre and Gena Showalter was my guide. She was the “gateway drug” that led me to Jeanine Frost, J.R. Ward, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and others who write in this sub-genre that is often mixed in with fantasy and young adult.

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By now, I’ve read pretty much every book from the aforementioned authors and more, because in my opinion, paranormal romance is the best. It’s the cross-section of everything book girlies enjoy most: a love story at the center of it all, blended with urban fantasy, suspense, and little bits of sci-fi and horror. I mean, who doesn’t love a good vampire romance?

THE REDDIT DRAMA

Last year, on a bookish Reddit thread (I know, why the heck was I there?), an adamant group insisted that the sub-genre of paranormal romance was dead. Their argument? Romantasy killed it! When I vehemently disagreed and pointed out my favorites, they proceeded to tell me my favs were the reason the genre was dead. They claimed these authors had been releasing the same type of books from the same old “tired” series using formulaic plots, and that nothing new was coming out.

Like…..whaaaaaa?? Excuse me!?!?

I was floored. Now, of course, I respect people’s opinions on what they read. No hard feelings if we don’t love the same books, but it made me question everything about a genre that single handedly sustained my reading life for years.

THE NOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

If you’ve never dipped your toes into this sub-genre, it is so worthy of your time. Think Underworld vibes (the movies) but in book form. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

1. Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter
   Cursed lords attempting to break their ancient chains, protect their brothers, and find love that’s worth the pain.

2. Night Prince series by Jeanine Frost
   A high voltage spin-off where a woman who can see the dead meets the most legendary (and lethal) vampire of all time.

   

3. Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout
   The quintessential hottie “alien-next-door” story with explosive chemistry, government secrets, and a hero you’ll love to hate.

4. Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward
   Six vampire brothers who live together, fight together, and have the most intense and protective romances in this genre.

   

5. House of Night series by P.C. Cast
   A unique take on a “vampyre” school, where being “Marked” is just the beginning of a messy, magical coming-of-age journey.

   

6. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
   Forbidden romance, royal intrigue, and a kick-ass heroine who would do anything to protect her best friend.

   

7. Ghostwalkers series by Christine Feehan
   Military experiments gone supernatural. Think super soldiers with psychic abilities finding the only women who can handle their powers.

   

8. Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
   The series that defined a generation, not sure it needs any introduction, but this is the ultimate small town meets supernatural secret romance.

   

BONUS: The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
A recent discovery for me that I just had to sneak in here! It’s steampunk meet vampires and werewolves. It is more proof this genre still has plenty of surprises left.

If you have heard or read paranormal romances, let me know what you think in the comments. Is Reddit right, or are we just getting started?

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Dark and spicy romance has flooded booktok and bookstagram. I can hardly scroll without Lights Out by Naveesa Allen or Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton smacking me in the face. Who doesn’t love a good morally grey MMC who’ll burn it all down for her - while stalking her, tying her up ‘for her own good’, and bringing her to orgasmic bliss several times before finally taking her for himself?

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When I got back into reading, I’d been out of college for a couple of years and thought I was done with literary fiction. I’d had enough of Schindler’s List, 1984, and The Scarlet Letter. It wasn’t personal. The plots all felt full of doom & gloom, which was exactly the mood I was in every time I had an assignment due. Book reports, essays, and literary analysis simply took the fun out of reading, and I refused to fall into that rut again.

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STARTING A JOURNEY

Fast forward a few years. My reading goals were hitting their peak, and my feed started to flood with posts about the top classics I should read. I was in a different head space. School was a distant memory, and I’d realized that I’d only read a fraction of the classics out there. I mean, I hadn’t even read Romeo & Juliet or Hamlet, which are staples in middle school and high school TV shows! Plus, it had been a long time since a pretentious nobody tried to sell me on how reading classics was the only way to go. *major eyerolls* After much deliberation with my husband (who’s pretty much read them all), I decided that I would start a side quest of reading classics hoping to understand what all the hype was about. My kids were psyched too because they kept hearing about classics and had no idea what that meant. Mind you, Nancy Drew is a classic to them.
*more major eyerolls*

To start my side quest, I needed an incentive. Ever heard of Been There Done That? They create posters to document journeys - movies watched, books read, desserts eaten, whiskies or beers or coffees tried. They had a scratch off poster that listed the 100 most epic reads of all-time. I had to have it. It was literally a list of the classics to try. It was a good starting point and visual for the girlies like me who love checking off that box on their to do list. Currently, it hangs framed in a hallway just outside my personal library documenting my slow going journey of read classics through the years.

100 Most Epic Reads of a Lifetime

The poster remains a huge feat that I’ll hopefully finish in MY lifetime, but for now, it is a source of inspiration and motivation.

By now, I’ve read perhaps a few dozen classics. Some good, some bad, some I don’t care about enough to remember. When I talked myself into reading classics, I thought I’d attempt a couple, hate them, and move on. Boy, was I wrong. It turns out that I can see the deeper meaning behind classics now that I’m an adult. They aren’t (all) sad stories about poverty, fear, and loss. They have hidden meanings of love, friendship, and power. Sometimes, they’re a mix of all of the above, and those often leave a mark. I’m impressed that I’ve learned to love so many of them because I genuinely thought I wouldn’t. For years, my husband has had to endure my literary analysis and interpretation on classics that he read back in college. Bless his soul.

Amidst the fantastic and moving classics, there have been a few duds. And by duds I mean books that outright drove me mad. No matter the high praise or recommendations, different media types, and multiple attempts to come back to them, I could never finish these books. At first, I felt like a failure because I would never be able to count them as done on my poster. Then, I realized forget the poster, I’d know that I couldn’t finish them and it would forever irk me. Finally, I started to make peace with DNF’ing classics like I do with any other genre. If it was ok to give myself grace when I didn’t enjoy a book in my wheelhouse, it was more than ok to do so with a classic. Plus, I decided if I gave it a good try and DNF’d it anyway I’d still scratch it off my poster. Win win! It took a while, but I’m officially ok to DNF any book that doesn’t bring me joy in some way.

NO READ LIST

The next few titles are classics that were given many chances, but they simply didn’t make the cut.

Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes

Is he insane? Delusional? Why does this feel like it isn’t happening as he says? Why does it feel like I’m in the same scene from two hours ago? Does he even have a maiden waiting for him? Does he really even have a sword? When first starting this book, I had no previous knowledge of the premise, except that it was a Spanish novel by Cervantes from the 17th century and Sancho Panza comes up on TV. Curiosity about him and Don Quixote is what really drove me in its direction. Started with the paperback and when that failed miserably, I went with the audiobook. It was a 20+ hour book, where I got to about 5 hours in before realizing I kept asking myself the same questions over and over. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to look up the book, only to find out that I was right. He was delusional. Sancho Panza was his squire that knew he was mentally ill and went along with this schemes anyway. Dulcinea wasn’t even….The point is that when I realized I was right continuing seemed pointless. The writing was tough for me to enjoy.

Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

There was so much yarn!!! Need I say more?

It wasn’t a bad book, but it was incredibly dull. I went the audiobook route here too after not being able to get far on the paperback. I made it to chapter 13 before deciding it probably wasn’t going to get any better.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

This book popped up on my radar as a recommendation from one of my favorite TV shows Younger. In that show, the main character Liza is a 40 year old pretending to be 26, so she can work as a publishing assistant in New York City. A lot of authors and books were mentioned, and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart came up as a notable mention on the classics. Other recommendations from the show had gone over well, so this was one more added to the tbr. When I finally got the paperback, I started reading it and felt that it had a lot of potential. The main character, warrior Okonkwo, was so focused on not being like his father that it was becoming an overcorrection. The first couple of chapters were interesting, but it progressively felt like it droned on. I picked up the book at least half a dozen times and each time never made it past page 100. No one thing ever made me stop reading the book other than I could not get through it. Eventually, it became ok to shelf it indefinitely.

Sometimes DNF’ing isn’t about something being inherently bad (which is subjective anyways) but rather a book that never quite hits right. In the end, these books come back as memories of classics I couldn’t finish, but I’m indifferent to them.

WISH I HADN’T

The next few titles though are classics that I wish I had never finished reading because thinking of them still irks me.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Oh dear, I wish I’d never started this book. After finishing Animal Farm, the kids and I were excited about getting into classics. We’d gotten through A Christmas Carol by Dickens though it was a bit of a tough read, but we (I mean me) thought another Dickens novel would be fine. I should have known better.

Oliver Twist is about an orphan who lived a hard criminal life after escaping what passed for an orphanage at the time. He endured non-stop hardships. It was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. Eventually, the book does have a happy ending, sort of, but getting there was no picnic. The writing was dense, and it felt never-ending. Scenes droned on. The bad guys never seemed to get what they deserved. Poor Oliver. By the end, we were listening to it on 2.0x and hoping for the best. Needless to say that when my kids are asked what was the worst book they’ve ever read, Oliver Twist is 100% the only answer you’ll get.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Too sad and unnecessarily uncomfortable. And that is saying something considering I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple, which made me squirm AND moved me to tears. This book had merit with its challenging themes, and Huck Finn was a loveable character despite his flaws. However, you spend the whole first part of the book horrified by his father’s actions but also kind of wondering why he stays, until he doesn’t. Then, enter Jim. And Tom Sawyer. Oh boy, he’s quite the unlovable one. The pace of the book was odd with large chunks feeling like they were lulls and others were full of constant chaos. It may have been a bit of the language barrier that threw the pace off for me. Plus, the ending felt expected but unsatisfying because he essentially rides off into the sunset. I mean, I guess I can follow the whole wild stallion unwilling to be tamed vibe, but it was too on the nose for me.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Do NOT get me started on this book. Since the movie has come out, I’ve given my husband several earfuls about why this movie is flawed, the mainstream pitch on this book is a complete lie, and how this is another man’s delusional fantasy. Ok, since we’re here, let me give you the same earful. First of all, Wuthering Heights is NOT a romance novel. It is not “like Pride and Prejudice” or a star-crossed lovers book like they say of “Romeo & Juliet” (still haven’t read this one). It is about an orphan boy who grows up with the young lady of the family he works for (technically he is an adopted brother but they don’t treat him well in the family). They are good friends growing up, and yes, I admit that you get an inkling that she felt deeply connected to him like he felt for her when she was 12 years old. But one summer at the Linton’s reminded her that she was a young lady in the late 18th/early 19th century. Women then were only as good as the social standing they procured by marrying well. A life of wealth and luxury is hard to pass for anyone, let alone an adolescent child. She spends years still caring for Heathcliff, but she does slowly erode the friendship by treating him poorly and continuing on to marry into the Linton’s. She did want to marry well-off with the intention to gain social standing and wealth for herself, but also for her family, which included Heathcliff. He obviously doesn’t take it well and goes off to better himself and returns a complete monster meddling with the lives of their children as a way to get this so-called “ultimate revenge”. This a dark, psychological thriller. Really this book is about a whiny child who felt like the girl he liked didn’t like him back anymore, so he lost it. Instead of mourning the loss and moving on to someone new like a rational person would, he came back to ruin the lives of the next generation of two families to feel vindicated. But surprise, surprise, he doesn’t feel satisfaction when his revenge is complete. So, great, he ruined everyone’s lives over some scorned teen love and now he decides he can finally let go and dies?? Great! Just freaking great! Like, how is this even a romance? She cared for him, sure, but she was 12!!!!! She treated him like crap for 5 years before finally being married off and having a child AND dying shortly after! I mean….I can’t. The point is that this is barely a romance, definitely not a love to romanticize or even worth remembering. I can appreciate that the dramatics can make for a good screenplay, but the book itself was 300+ pages of a bitter man complaining about the circumstances of life and blaming his adopted sister for 100% of it.

Classics are classics for a reason. The meaning behind many of these stories are incredibly beautiful and powerful. I lament not reading more classics growing up. However, I am thankful that I do get the opportunity to read them now as an adult that can understand them more thoroughly. Though, it has become apparent that as easy as some are to read and understand, others are weighed down by the language of their time, translations, heavy and redundant prose, and characters and themes that did not age well. Others are simply books that don’t align with my interests, which is perfectly ok. It happens all the time when reading current titles too.

My closing statement for today is give classics a chance, if you haven’t already. These books may surprise you. They aren’t all boring school books. Many will take you on adventures beyond your wildest dreams or treacherous journeys. And while the above mentioned are on my ‘No Read List’, they still may be of interest to you. So give them a try. Any book.

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Millenial here - who grew up in the era of AOL chat rooms and Buffy <3 Angel. It always felt like relationships with older men was quite normal and expected almost. My own parents were 6 years apart, and growing up others in their circle sported even larger age gaps. History doesn’t do much to contradict this narrative when younger women were often married off to older men like chattel really. Nowadays, even after the #metoo movement and despite Gen Z’s best efforts to quell age gaps, some of our most popular books, movies, and music push the same narrative - enter ACOTAR’s Feyre and Rhysand (ACOMAF is better though!). I myself have been in a relationship with someone nearly 10 years my senior for several years. Early on, our age difference was startling enough that once on vacation a Vegas store clerk asked for my ID at checkout, then quietly asked if I was ok and there of my own volition. We laughed about it then - now it’s just ammunition for me to rib him about being older. He doesn’t mind, especially since he knows that I’m tiny and sometimes look like a toddler next to him. The point I’m trying to make is - despite how normalized it felt growing up and does now, when I read this book I was involuntary forced to re-examine relationships from long ago. Not unlike Vanessa, relationships with older men in those youthful years. Even those that don’t involve an authority figure or 30+ year gap or anything egregious can still feel dubious when re-examined with a new lens. Looking back at those moments, when you thought you were in control. Choosing who to be with, what happened, and for how long, but did you ever really have control then?

My Dark Vanessa bounces back and forth between adult Vanessa (now) and 15 year old Vanessa (past) as it explores her memories of the relationship she had with her 42 year old English teacher, Mr. Jacob Strane. She struggles to process how her relationship started and ended amidst recent allegations against Mr. Strane for sexual abuse of another former student. It is tough as an outsider to see her student/teacher relationship slowly evolve into something more with a few cleverly placed words from him. It is harder to see her realize that it may not have been this romanticized version of events that she’s been peddling to herself. The realization left her more lost than ever, and his hold on her as an adult is downright eerie up until the end.

When I read My Dark Vanessa, it made me question everything about those days. Reading how Mr. Strane manipulated and groomed Vanessa was eye-opening because 20 years later she was still sure she wanted it. She’d made every choice willingly. But we know it wasn’t true. There is a specific example on pages 72-76 of the book, where Mr. Strane challenges his class to consider a poem from a different perspective, a sexual one. They are all pretty scandalized. Vanessa works hard to keep her cool to seem mature, and Mr. Strane takes the opportunity to challenge her further when they’re alone during Creative Writing to read Lolita. In the pages that follow, she spends her time devouring the novel drawing parallels between her and Mr. Strane to Lo and Humbert. Her conclusion on the matter ended like as such,

Lolita is NOT the poster child for a love story. If you’ve read it, you know that it is written in what I always perceived as the mind of a pedophile that excused his own tendencies since he was a young man until the time of his death. She tried to escape. They weren’t kept apart. It was a vulnerable moment for Vanessa that Mr. Strane took to manipulate her and groom her into thinking theirs was too an epic, forbidden love story to gain the favor he wanted from her. It is hard to think clearly when you’re in the thick of it. Her power was never her own. Worst of all, she was a mess of an adult because he continued to be present in her life. He no longer sought her for his own desire, she was too old of course, but rather to keep her in line and feel validated by her devotion. The whole situation is rather unsavory, but the book really makes you stop and think and analyze and re-analyze what you thought you knew. Relationships are hard enough for adults. It is doubly so for teenagers because they’re still developing a sense of self and place an undue amount of weight on what other people think about them. This book highlights not only how relationships can turn toxic on many levels, but most importantly how a developing brain can be manipulated so easily.

FUN FACT: The only reason I found this book was because a reading challenge I was doing a few years back asked for a book with your (my) name in the title.

If you haven’t read My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, I highly recommend it. Check trigger warnings though because it is a tough one, but written so well. If you haven’t read the classic Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, I suggest you do too. It is an interesting read. I won’t say much other than I’ll let you decide what you think about the narrator, and that I had literal visceral reactions while I read it. Eek!

These book recommendations have earned their success, but it goes beyond the 5 stars for me. They remind me of interesting times in my life that are worth remembering and sharing.

Watership Down by Robert Adams

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Classic

Did you know that Watership Down didn’t have an easy road to be published, despite holding classic status now? I guess most authors have their own horror stories about getting published, but if you are interested, this book has a good intro that gives you its backstory. I listened to this book on Audible the first time, and thanks to my husband for getting me a US first edition copy. It is a book about one rabbit breaking off from the core group and taking a few others with him because of a hunch. They go on this massive journey to find a new home, and they gain (and lose) some friends along the way. Don’t let the cute bunny on the cover fool you. It is a gruesome book - full of battles, loss, and survival. However, beneath it all you see true friendship, belief, and love. Over time, my connection to the book has become a little bit of the same too. I was recommended this book by a friend I had once upon a time. They knew I was on this crazy kick to catch up on reading all the classics I never got to read growing up, and this book was on the top of their list for me. They thought the story would have a little of everything, plus bunnies! They’re my favorite! I have a cutest one, Wrexy man! Anyways, every time I think or read the book, I reminded of that great friendship that existed then.

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Zhao

Genre: YA

You’ve Reached Sam has been a catalyst in opening up the waterworks. I’ll start by saying I don’t generally cry. I know everyone says this, but I’m serious! I do get choked up during sad moments in movies, but that’s it. I’ve never suffered a loss, except for my dog, and I’m actually pretty aloof because I’ve had to be all my life. I don’t show emotions well. However, this book, first 50 pages, I was ugly crying in the middle of a library. It was embarrassing! Then, of course, I decided to check out the book, and when I start the book over again in the car, I started to sob all over again. My husband was driving us home, and he thought I was having a nervous breakdown and panicked. I kept trying to explain that I couldn’t understand why I was so touched by the book and kept crying, but I could hardly get a word out in between the sobbing, hyperventilating, and hiccuping. To make matters worst, I couldn’t believe I’d cried twice, so I started the book a third time and wash, rinse, repeat, except this time I was finally in the comfort of my own home. This book is tangled up in grief, loss, friendship, and love. The story is told from the fmc’s POV after her boyfriend passes away tragically in a car accident. You follow her journey of dealing with his loss along with her somewhat supernatural connection with him beyond death. The author does a great job of walking you through all the stages of grief and how his life ending shapes the fmc’s life who is a senior in high school - on the cusp of her beginning. I still cannot explain what about this book gets to me, but it gets me every time.

-Note: Just did a book review on it and was crying while I looked for quotes to include in the review. Major eyerolls.

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Genre: Fiction, Dystopian, Classic

Sooo…..I’m starting to sense a pattern here because Farenheit 451 is another book riddled in loss but most pointedly, their sense of self. The main character in this book starts off following the mission given to him, doing the job, and blindly executing orders despite this nagging feeling that there is something wrong. His wife is a mess, and I suspect a representation of who we are turning into, essentially this mindless drone lost to the media. Another cog in the wheel. His evolution as a character was huge because this one moment caused him to re-evaluate everything he’d ever believed in including transitioning to fight FOR the opposition.

I read Farenheit 451 shortly after COVID and the 2020 elections. It was a devastating time in our country. Between being locked up in our homes full-time, which was unheard of, and the fear mongering of the media, I was feeling vulnerable. Reading this book made me find parity between moments in the book and the censorship and chaos I was seeing unravel around me. I wondered how someone back then could see into a window of today. Reminded me of how much of my anthropological studies showed that life is cyclical, and society seems doomed to repeat its mistakes. Since, the book remains top of mind for me as one of many I’ve read recently that tackle difficult topics about societal issues and what we’re evolving towards. I try NOT to think about it because life is messy enough without the dreary news, but it still creeps in.

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Is it ok to read a book simply because it is hilarious? My favorite trope? Part of a series with a fun concept? This book is exactly it! Interestingly enough, I didn’t read this book in the series first. During one of my many B&N hauls, I found the book Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams and fell in love with the cover of a man holding a cat and reading what seemed like a romance novel. The description only confirmed my suspicions, and while I wasn’t totally sold on the friends to lovers trope because it is NOT my favorite, the cover got me. Surprisingly, the book was good. Win for friends to lovers. It was well written, super interesting concept about a group of male friends who read romance novels to help them navigate their own relationship issues, and the side characters were so loveable. This book made me go back to the beginning and start reading book 1 and onward. Btw I’m all caught up now and waiting for book 6 to be released.

This book is #2 in the series, and it is my #2 all-time favorite romance (recently dethroned for #1 by First Time Caller). Enemies to lovers, a fiercely independent yet fragile fmc, a rich pretty boy that “cannot be trusted”, and a support group of besties to help and unwittingly sabotage them too along the way. The memory this book triggers is tied to a friend who used to read books to me. This was one of my favorites, so they put a lot of effort in reading and recording clips of my favorite parts. I haven’t had a lot of people do that for me, so it is a forever sweet memory tied to a super funny romcom.

First Time Caller by B.K. Borison

Genre: Contemporary Romance

This is the newest to make the list and round out my top 5. It is my new #1 favorite contemporary romance. B.K Borison is incredible at creating loveable main characters, quirky side characters, and a slow burn that ends up in too hot spicy moments. It’s about a single mom who has a pre-teen daughter that calls into a romance radio show with a host who doesn’t believe in love to get advice about her mom’s non-existent dating life. And you guessed it! The single mom gets sucked into some Bachelor version of a radio show where she and the host slow burn their way to an HEA. When I put it like that it sounds like the formula of every other good romance novel out there. However, this one hit on a personal note. I was a single mom for a few years (no judgment here please). Dating was tough(er) because no matter how put together I was plenty of guys I met would run for the hills when they found out I was a single mom. Some were blunt and honest enough to tell me that they weren’t interested in a woman who showed poor judgment in the past. Others…..needless to say it wasn’t pretty out there. So, I have a soft spot for guys who accept women for who they are and don’t judge them for their past. Still gushing over it!

Sooooo these are my recommendations for you and they’re great to me, but remember to read what makes you feel something. It’s what matters the most and makes reading so incredibly special. Like seeing a piece of art at a museum, it never means the same thing to everyone.