Photo by Pratiksha Mohanty via Unsplash

Happy official first day of winter! Before I get into everything I read during the fall, I want to share some changes I’ll be making to the Books category. I noticed I’ve been posting lots of book content over the last few months — more than I’ve posted wellness content. While reading is a huge part of my wellness routine, it was starting to feel a little unbalanced. To balance things out, I’m trying out a new format for my book reviews.

Instead of posting individual book reviews to my blog, I’ll be posting them to my Bookstagram (@readwithjessika). Then, at the end and beginning of every season, I’ll round up everything I read followed by sharing what’s on my reading list next. I hope this new format brings a little more balance back to my blog so that you’re not just reading book reviews all the time. I plan on keeping all of my previously reviewed books so if you need a book recommendation and want to see what I’ve read, head over to the menu and Blog > Books.

Now that that’s out of the way, I must say I read A LOT during fall. I even challenged myself in stepping out of my romance comfort zone and picking up a few new genres like literary fiction and dark romance. Without further adieu, here’s everything I read during fall 2020.

October

The Roommate by Rosie Danan: I loved The Roommate so much I read it in two days. As everyone on Bookstagram promised, it was a steamy book in the “f*ck the patriarchy” kind of way. But I was a little let down that there wasn’t more sex considering every review I read talked about the main characters’ book steam as if it were the fourth book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series. Despite that, the storyline of this book flowed well and I resonated so much with Clara and her need to be perfect.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai: Out of all the books I read during fall 2020, this one is my favorite. It’s everything a contemporary romance should have. I’m a huge fan of the enemies to lovers storyline which this story had lots of. The Marriage Game had so many laugh-out-loud moments I can guarantee you’ll be giggling from beginning to end. Read my full review and favorite quotes from the book here. 

Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight: This book was not originally listed on my fall reading list but I needed to read it after a fellow Bookstagramer kept raving about it when rounding up her favorite dark romance books. Dark romance is dark for a reason, but Den of Vipers is beyond dark. If you’re thinking of reading this book, there are a few triggers you should know about: violence, abuse, drugs, reverse harem, polyamory, BDSM, and more. The book is like 60 chapters long and I got to chapter 25 before I quit. At the end of the day, it was too gory and violent for me. It even got boring after a certain point. I enjoyed learning about the Vipers’ past but that’s pretty much it.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane: After I marked Den of Vipers as DNF (did not finish), I jumped straight into Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane. It took me a long time to become vested in this book’s storyline. Unlike Mhairi’s other book If I Never Met You where we learn about Laurie’s problems in the first few chapters, it took like 40 chapters to finally learn what happened between Georgina and Lucas in Don’t You Forget About Me. I’m glad I didn’t give up though because the end of the book was adorable.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi: This modern-day meet-cute started off strong but ultimately ended up missing the mark for me. I was totally digging Penny and Sam and I thought their individual stories were developed well making them feel like REAL young people. But after the halfway mark it was like my brain stopped connecting with the characters because there were SO. MANY. THINGS. HAPPENING. I felt like I was reading a string of incomplete anecdotes that were strung together because it made sense to the individual character but not to the story as a whole.

November

The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams: This book was the fast-paced chick lit I needed to read after my Emergency Contact. Laura’s writing reminds me of a night in with your best girlfriends but this book, in particular, reminded me of the comedy-drama She’s Gotta Have It by Spike Lee. I enjoyed seeing Penny navigate life and grow throughout the course of the book. Reading her story was like cheering on a friend throughout their own personal growth journey. I also enjoyed how Laura included diverse characters from the LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming communities. It made me so happy to read a book that included characters similar to my friends because it felt open-minded and inclusive.

Just Like You by Nick Hornby: I started reading Just Like You over a month ago and I just can’t get myself to finish it. I’m about 80 pages shy of the end instead, it’s collecting dust on my dresser because it’s so boring. I so wanted to like this book but Joseph is killing me with his awkwardness. A lot of my Bookstagram friends are telling me to push through. Hoping to finish it before the year ends.

December

One Day in December by Josie Silver: This holiday novel by Josie Silver was precisely what I needed to read to shake off this other book that I’m having a tough time finishing. It’s packed with so much emotion (love, happiness, grief, etc.) and is the perfect fairytale story. The end reminded me of Our Stop, another one of my favorites from this year.