Book & Movie Talk 2024

 

         We have books, a movie, and now a series to talk about. I know, tell me about it.

This is hard. It is so hard because I’ve read some bad books, but twice as many good books. You couldn’t possibly ask me what my top 5 are. No one did, Vivian; you asked yourself.

First and foremost, I have never pre-ordered and then not read so many books in my life. Tessa Bailey—the one who started it all for me—has an unread book sitting on my TBR. Did no one read that correctly? It’s on my TBR, not on my read pile. I don’t know why.

Second of all, I’m confused as to what era of reading I’m in now. Is it mafia? Is it billionaire? Is it small town? Single dads? The goddamn 1980s?! No idea.

This year has been a mess in terms of jobs, life, and also in terms of paper pages. Where do we begin? Oh yes, the paper pages.

If you’ve been here for a while, then you know I started this blog before 2023 finished, alongside my Instagram bookish page. I’ve made great progress, even if it’s small, because I have a very unwell mother, and I will prioritize her any day, as one should. I’ve been job hunting, which has been a growth in itself, albeit unsuccessful, but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I also joined LinkedIn, which is overrated. I’ve received more rejections than my little paper heart can take. I’m mentally and emotionally drained from being told I’m not good enough by a random David and Samantha in HR, however, it’s okay. Okay. I hate that word.

Before books, we’re going to speak about the anomalies in life: the movies and series. I’m not a movie person. When it comes to series, The Crown was always a comfort blanket, whereas Bridgerton I disliked more than the word "moist." Rivals on Disney? I ate it up. Kinda wished I discovered it after all the seasons came out. It’s so hard to wait for season 2. It has the tropes, the storyline, and it’s giving the romance vibes of the century. Set in the 1980s, it’s giving. In other news, It Ends with Us. Nope. It ends with me turning my laptop off. Blake Lively, just stop. There was so much PR drama that I had difficulty separating Blake from Lily and Justin from Ryle. I’m not picking sides, but let’s just say I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Ryle and Atlas. Wink, wink.

Let’s talk about Rivals quickly though—I’m rewatching it as we speak. It’s based on the book Rivals by Jilly Cooper. Season 1 covers the first half of the book, so I’m taking a wild guess here and saying season 2 covers the second half. Good thing Waterstones is around the corner because I’ve purchased it and now will get to read all about Rupert and Agatha. Okay, so it’s based around Declan O'Hara and journalism. I actually started watching it after seeing it on TikTok because of this age gap, slow-burn couple thing going on between Rupert and Agatha—Declan’s 20-year-old daughter. Rupert’s old. One thing I do like is that it’s not all about those two. There are so many elements in it. It’s all about this power game between journalists and their competing franchises. Some characters are really grinding my gears. I’m not waiting for the release of season 2 as much as I am for King of Envy, however, it is a close second. Great show with a lot of blush-worthy moments *cough* *cough*.

Like I said, Waterstones made me buy it, but it is so confusing when I read it. My brain cannot comprehend so many characters, which is weird because when I watch the show, it all makes sense. I believe the reason is simply because of how literature was back when it was released in 1988. It’s very descriptive and written in third person, which I’m not entirely used to, considering the dual or single POV we see now days. It speaks to the old soul in me, since I love seeing how writing has changed over time. I’m no quitter though, so give me a minute—I’ll get the book down to a T.

I’ve properly entered my sports era, you know. I’m dying for King of Envy by Ana Huang—I have been since King of Sloth came out back in April aka my birth month. I’m salivating. I need the goddamn ARC, but Ana won’t listen, so I have to wait like every other commoner. Sinners Atone by Somme Sketcher still hasn’t come out, and I swear she said it would before the year ends, so if that’s coming up to Christmas days, it will be the best gift ever. Back to the sports: The Striker (Ana Huang) and Promise Me Not (Meagan Brandy) but the first one was Fangirl Down (Tessa Bailey) trust it to be the same author who got me into the publishing career. What I like the most about these sports reads, particularly, is that they aren’t overly sporty. I don’t want to feel like I’m reading a program declaration. There needs to be enough to keep me interested to where my understanding is relevant without it being jarring, as us Brits say. These had the perfect number of sports, humour, love, and heartbreak in them to keep me on my little toes.

I don’t know why, for the life of me, The Pair Au Affair by Tessa Bailey is on my TBR shelf when I literally pre-ordered it and was on the edge of my seat to read it. I have no reason, and it never happens to me. I bought the whole Shain Rose series but have decided to ignore them all and start reading Between Desire and Denial. I’m finishing it begrudgingly since I’m 53% through it. It’s not giving, considering I haven’t picked it up for the past 5 days—but I have a feeling it will get better.

I’m going to quickly tell you what I didn’t like this year because, hello, nothing is perfect. Not even in the world of books. My Dark Romeo, Snaring Emberly, and Painted Scars just frustrated me. I don’t know what was a bigger disappointment between Wild Love and Love Unwritten. I have mixed feelings about The Emperor by RuNyx. It was there without being there, so the verdict is yet to be given. I’m very interested in Tristan & Morana, if TikTok is anything to go by. I have them; just need to read them. Story of my life. The re-occurring pattern was I rated the characters just not the plot, and they said I am not fit enough to be an editor. Clearly the ones doing the current editing aren’t either.

Still couldn’t get into anything Jagger Cole related or The Shattered series. I tried Aaron—I apologize. We still have mafia romances and small towns to talk about. Let’s not put a damper on our parade. Used to be drooling over Elena Armas. Haven’t even picked up a book from her since The Roommate Experiment. Same goes for Ella Maise. Ex’s and Oh’s as they say.

In terms of the former, Daniell Lori and Somme Sketcher just satisfy that itch I have. If you asked me to choose—again, no one asked me—I couldn’t. Nico and Elena are the unsaid rulers of that world. I almost forgot—how dare I—about Rina Kent. I started off with the Monster Trilogy, which I salivated over. The review is on my page if you want to know the tea, and it actually led me into a spiral into both the Royal Elite series and Legacy of God series. It was hit and miss, considering I’m still getting through some of the instalments. God of War alongside the Monster Trilogy takes the lead. The story of Kirill and Sasha is a great addition to the mafia genre. I haven’t read the Throne Duet yet, and I don’t know if I will, however, considering how much I love Rai, I should. Where’s Molly by H.D. Carlton is just a straight-up dark romance. Not as dark as the Cat & Mouse Duet, but dark nonetheless. It was a 5/5 at the time and still is; however, upon reflection, many months later, I don’t gravitate toward it as much as I do others. When deciding what to rank the reads from this year, it didn’t even cross my mind, so that says something. This is why I always review books at least 2–3 weeks after I’ve read them, because sometimes the hype just gets to me, and I try to steer away from bias.

In terms of small-town romance, I can’t forget to mention who started it all: Fox Thornton and Hannah Bellinger. Ah, to reminisce about this is to drink a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy evening. They’re my book babies. Let’s quickly add Weston Belemont and Skylar Stone to it because Elsie Silver did not miss with Wild Eyes. It gave me goosebumps. I read a lot from her this year, with a full ranking and reviews for her Chesnut Springs series gracing my page. Long story short, Reckless and Hopeless were the best of the best.

High school romances. Promise Me Not was in there for sure, alongside Daydream because Hannah Grace is just that good. Or dreamy, should we say? I am a Hannah Grace stan and love an advocating queen. From supporting the LGBTQ+ community to bringing about awareness for mental health, she is the Beyoncé of the book world. I am an Ana Huang superfan, so no changes there, however, I did re-analyze the Dreamland Billionaire series by Lauren Asher. It turns out they were great, and I take all my words back.

To end it all, we have to give a mention to the Knockemout Series by Lucy Score. I preferred this even more than the Chesnut Springs series, and I never thought I could say that. Ever. I was daydreaming about all the couples even months after discovering their lives; it was always on my mind, and I’ve reread them multiple times too. The only reason I cannot rank Lucy Score and Lauren Asher with Ana Huang is because they aren’t consistent. Whereas I can always, always guarantee a fantastic read from Huang, I cannot with the others. I believe that comes down to personal taste, but it’s true.

Personally, this year was a good year for books. Could it have been better in terms of releases? Yes, it could have. I discovered more older reads than newer ones from 2024. Discovering new authors and falling in love with the worlds they’ve built, in addition to the characters they’ve created, is also such a treat. I had so many that I would pay good money just to re-read again for the first time. I still will never forget the experience of reading Hook, Line & Sinker (Tessa Bailey) for the very first time. The same goes for watching Rivals. I haven’t read a lot of those kinds of reads this year, and it’s a bit dejecting. There is so much literature, great authors, and stories; however, sometimes the wrong editors or deals can get them off the track they’re on. I have discovered some amazing indie authors who I’m currently trying to help get more recognition, and that will be a continuous goal going into 2025 as well.

So, as I leave these paper pages in 2024, read my next post to see the actual ranking of what I loved, likes and disliked from this year. This was a great chat but I’m just such a clickbait tease.

Let’s continue this paper page talk with a hot coffee over on my next post.

Mwah!

Vivian.

Don’t forget to keep reading, because as long as you do, it’s making a struggling authors day that much better. Reach for the starts of success.