Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani. This book simultaneously slapped me in the face and held my hand. I LOVED it and listened to the entire thing in one day. She’s the founder of Girls Who Code (an awesome organization that my friend K works for in NY) and her book is about breaking out of the expectations for women to be perfect and effortless. Women should 100% read this but men should, too.

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. You know them as Karen from Will and Grace and Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. (I don’t recommend it unless you’ve watched both of those shows.) I’ve heard them do podcast interviews together and this was more of the same but I enjoyed the audiobook. It honestly sounded very ad-libbed and not like they were reading something.

Expecting Better by Emily Oster. My sister mentioned this book while she was pregnant with Alice and I thought she only liked it because she’s a statistics nerd (I mean.. genius) but then I saw Amy Schumer was also raving about it so I figured us normal people could read it. And I highly recommend! She breaks down all the existing research related to all things pregnancy (i.e. you can’t eat sushi, limit your caffeine, wait until 12 weeks to tell anyone, etc.) so that you can make informed choices. And yes, this is how I’m telling you that I’m pregnant. Just checking to see if you’re paying attention.

The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk. This is a YA book written from three teenage perspectives: a girl who lost her twin sister to cancer, a boy who lost his ex-boyfriend to suicide, and a girl who lost her best friend to a car accident. It’s really well written (and well-narrated in the audiobook) and the stories weave together nicely. I’m not jumping to recommend it to all adults but I think it would be good for a younger person to read, especially someone who has suffered a loss.

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. This book has gotten so much hype and I see it everywhere so I figured I should read it. I’m not big into self-help type books (except for Brave, Not Perfect apparently) so I didn’t love it but it’s a pretty quick read and I can see why she’s popular. There were too many references to God/faith/Christianity for my taste.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I found this title to be suspiciously close to The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, one of my favorites by TJR. It had a ton of holds, though, so I figured it would be worth the wait. After reading about 30% of it, I’m convinced all these people thought they were getting Evelyn Hugo. It’s like a weird adult version of a choose your own adventure/murder mystery that is very convoluted and not particularly interesting. I quit it. Read Husbands instead.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. Kate recommended this to me and I was happy to see it was available right away and an excuse to stop reading the above mentioned monstrosity. This is non-fiction, a journalist learning about identifying psychopaths. It’s interesting and a pretty quick read, especially if you’re into true crime/murder podcasts like I am.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner. I always like her books. This one is written from the perspectives of two sisters growing up in suburban Detroit in the 50s, and follows them through present day. I loved it. It’s like an exploration of feminism through different decades and generations and I found all of the characters to be very believably flawed and sympathetic. The audiobook is long- like 17 hours- but worth the listen. Just don’t finish it in public… I cried.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. You know her because of Eat, Pray, Love but this one is a novel about a small theater company in New York City in 1940. It’s not my favorite book I’ve ever listened to but I did enjoy it and it’s beautifully written. My main issue with it is the whole premise that it’s written as a letter to Angela which (and this is not a spoiler) really doesn’t become relevant until like the last quarter of the book. It seemed like unnecessary framing to me. But I still recommend!

Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. A sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, set about 10 years later. These books are trash but I always enjoy them. This one must take place before When Life Gives You Lululemons which I read a few months ago and also involves Emily. And is also trash. Beach read!!

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. The only thing I knew about this book was that it was turned into a Netflix series (movie?) which I haven’t seen. I downloaded the audiobook because there weren’t any holds on it and listened to the first few hours but it is very very YA and I just couldn’t get down with it. A 17-year-old girl still referring to her parents as “mommy” and “daddy” makes me ill.