Lara’s Top Picks of 2023

Better late than never, right?! Here are my favorite 10 books of all the 26 books I read last year, in descending order, complete with links to full reviews of each of them. You’ll notice a small handful of Colleen Hoover books; that’s because I did a Colleen Hoover binge last summer and discovered they are a true guilty pleasure for me. Last year happened to be a year of great reads for me, and the top 5 on this list could have really gone in any order. Each of them was incredible.

10. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. It’s the ultimate story of “girl tries to fix boy,” but in this one, she actually does it. While people may hate that trope, I couldn’t put this book down.

9. November 9 by Colleen Hoover. Two lovers meet on November 9 every year as their love story grows. It’s a silly trope that’s been done before, and yet here, it still works.

8. Naturally Tan by Tan France. The Queer Eye host uses his memoir as a vehicle for also offering fashion advice and self-help tips he’s learned along the way. Eloquent and fashionable, just like Tan, himself.

7. Verity by Colleen Hoover. A thriller and page-turner that will make you feel a little icky, but that you won’t be able to put down. For those who like Gone Girl.

6. The Incomplete Book of Running by Peter Sagal. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. NPR Host Peter Sagal writes a compelling memoir about how running is not just for physical health, but for mental and emotional health and gets you through the hardest of hard times.

5. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This is a fun novel for anyone who loves novels about: love, feminism, chemistry, cooking or parenting. Yes, it manages to tackle all of that into one powerful story.

4. The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. Egan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad revisits many of the characters from that original book, telling what feels less like a novel and more like a collection of short stories about characters who are all somehow connected.

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is a one helluva page-turner told through the eyes of a journalist reporting on an elderly actress who recalls all the men she married over the years. But the real story is who Evelyn Hugo’s true love was, and how she and this journalist are connected.

2. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. A sad and yet still hopeful novel, Tomorrow tells the story of soulmates, not in love, but in video game creating.

1. Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. A statement on mid-life in New York City, Fleishman is depressing in how deeply relatable the characters are as well as their perspectives on marriage, parenthood, anxiety and meltdowns.

Series vs. Book: Lessons in Chemistry

For a while, Lessons in Chemistry was one of the biggest literary hits. Every woman I knew seemed to be reading it. So when I finally got around to it, it was just in time for the new adapted limited series version of the book to debut on Apple TV+, starring Brie Larson. I’ve found the book to be slightly controversial. The controversy being over how much people actually liked it. Half of my friends absolutely loved it, and the other had no care for it. Some couldn’t even get through it. Personally, I thought it lacked some subtlety, but I really enjoyed the book and enjoyed the streaming series equally, despite the many changes it made. Here’s a look at some of those changes.

**Warning: SPOILERS BELOW

1. The TV series added a “Ms. Hastings” pageant

In the first episode, the series includes a Ms. Hastings pageant within Elizabeth’s office. Elizabeth, the staunch feminist that she is, doesn’t want to participate, but is forced into it and ultimately walks out early, much to the dismay of the other women participating. This addition stands to further show what an outcast Elizabeth is and how feminist and beyond her time she is. But as viewers and readers, I felt we were beaten over the head with this theme so many times that the addition of a pageant wasn’t necessary.

2. Harriet’s home life and connection to Elizabeth and Calvin

The series GREATLY revamped the Harriet character. In the book, Harriet is one of Elizabeth’s neighbors who comes to help her after Elizabeth gives birth to Mad. Harriet essentially becomes a nanny-like figure in the Zott family, and later befriends Elizabeth. She never had a relationship with Calvin and spends more and more time with the Zott family in part because her husband is abusive. But in the series, she is in a loving relationship with her successful husband doctor. Harriet is a lawyer, herself, and is involved in advocacy efforts in town.

3. Six-Thirty is a goldendoodle

In the book, the dog, Six-Thirty, is a former military bomb-sniffing canine, which would typically be portrayed with a German Shepard. Designer dogs like goldendoodles didn’t even exist in the time frame in which the series is set. But I understand this change as an effort to parallel Elizabeth being ahead of her time. She would have a dog that would wind up becoming trendy 40-50 years later.

4. Calvin is less of a loner

In the book, Calvin is a loner. He’s described as kind of funny looking, and no woman at his office has any romantic interest in him. In the series, Lewis Pullman portrays a much better looking Calvin than I had in mind. He’s friends with Harriet and her husband, and several of his female coworkers have crushes on him (though, they do still think he’s a bit of an oddball).

5. Mad goes to private school

In the series, Elizabeth’s daughter, Mad, goes to private school. The choice was to showcase how smart she is and that she was well beyond the level of her public school classmates. It was also a means to explain why Elizabeth would be seeking out a higher-paying job. But in the book, Mad doesn’t go to private school, and Elizabeth needs the money simply because they’re cash-strapped after the death of Calvin.

6. The protest

Going along with Harriet’s altered role as an advocate, her focus throughout the series is on protesting a highway that’s planned to be built in her predominantly black neighborhood. Her advocacy work culminates in a protest on the highway that leads to police violence on black people and political ramifications for Elizabeth, who also attends the protest. None of this is in the book, but I imagine it was added because the showrunners/writers felt there needed to be a Civil Rights component to the story because of the time period in which it takes place. This also serves as a way to make Harriet a black mirror for Elizabeth as another strong woman who’s ahead of her time in the way she sees the world.

7. Elizabeth hires Fran Frask

In the book, Fran Frask – we later learn – is hired by Reverand Wakely as a typist/assistant. In the series, Elizabeth hires her to work as her assistant. This allows Fran to have a larger role in the story, and for Elizabeth and Fran to connect and create a stronger friendship. It also leads to…

8. Walter has a new love interest

In the series, Fran is a love interest for Walter, Elizabeth’s boss. In the novel, the love interest for Walter is Harriet, who has finally left her abusive husband. Obviously that would not have made sense for Harriet in the TV series because in this version, Harriet is happily married. But I did love the idea of an interracial romantic relationship in the novel and the fact that Harriet found the strength to leave her husband. All of that is lost in the series.

9. No encounter between Elizabeth and Phil

In the novel, Elizabeth has a second sexual assault encounter. The first is in flashback from when she was younger. The second happens when she’s hosting Supper at Six and her boss’s boss, Phil, attempts to sexually assault her. She pulls out a knife, he passes out, and ultimately never returns to the show. In the series, none of this happens. And I wished it did! Mostly because Phil is a monster. But more importantly, it touches on Elizabeth’s PTSD and shows her continued bravery and strength.

10. Elizabeth’s ending

In the book, Elizabeth ultimately takes over Hastings Research, which allows her to complete her research and continue with even more. In the book, she leaves her show and becomes a chemistry teacher. It’s a nice – yet quite literal – homage to the title of novel, but it makes it so she never returns to her true passion of being a scientist.

Review: It Starts With Us

Recap: It Starts With Us is the sequel to Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us and picks up immediately following the epilogue of It Ends With Us. That epilogue ends with about a year’s time jump and a brief interaction between Lily and Atlas, Lily’s first boyfriend from high school. As this second book in the series starts off, Lily is wondering if it’s even possible to make that relationship work again when she still has Ryle in her life. She and Ryle are now divorced, and their daughter is now about a year old. Co-parenting has not been easy. It never is, but when your ex is an abuser, there are added layers of challenges. She and Ryle have learned to get along while passing the baby between them but Ryle is clearly still holding out hope that they will get back together. He doesn’t quite understand the deep-seeded fear that now lies in Lily’s body. She quite literally contracts when he’s near. And he seems to be near a lot as he still has access to Lily’s apartment.

For the first time in the story of Lily and Atlas, the reader gets a clearer idea of how Atlas feels about their history and relationship. The book alternates narration between Lily and Atlas, bringing Atlas to the forefront of the story, compared to the first book in the series. As Lily deals with creating distance and space between her and Ryle to make room for Atlas, Atlas is ready to make room for Lily in his life, but it comes at a bad time. Someone has been vandalizing his new restaurant, and he quickly learns there’s a personal connection. As the two try to navigate all the complicated relationships around them, the one relationship they know they don’t have to question is the one they have with each other.

Analysis: After not loving much of It Ends With Us, I was concerned I would like It Starts With Us even less. But I was wrong. Revisiting familiar characters got me on board with the sequel much more willingly. I was happy to see Lily finally get the true happiness and joy she deserved. I was also happy to see Atlas deal with some of the abuse he faced when he was younger. It’s a point of pride – and relief – when Lily finally creates space between her and Ryle. My biggest gripe is her best friend, Allysa, who also happens to be the sister of Lily’s ex, Ryle. Though Ryle’s actions were reprehensible, it felt pretty implausible for her best friend to so quickly and willingly denounce her brother and stand by her friend. That makes her strong, sure. And her actions are right. But I do find it hard to believe that someone who loves her brother would so quickly take the other side.

It’s interesting to note that author Colleen Hoover did not originally plan to write this sequel at all, but her fans – and later, publisher – demanded it. It was nice to the rest of the story flushed out though. This is a rare occasion in which I feel the sequel actually added something of value, allowing for a real happy ending for Atlas and Lily and a more clear picture of and plan for how Lily and Ryle would continue to co-parent their daughter despite their relationship status. After having read this book, it makes It Ends With Us feel unfinished. This really completes the tale.

MVP: Atlas. He really is the best. He takes on new challenges without doubts and instead, full confidence that he can either a) handle it or b) it will all work out even if he can’t.

Get It Starts With Us in paperback for $9.65.

Or on your Kindle for $13.99.

Review: November 9

Recap: When Fallon goes out to lunch with her father on the dreaded day of November 9th, she’s full-on expecting to have a terrible time with her dad who just serves as a reminder of a the trauma that left her covered in burn scars and ruined her career as an actress. What she doesn’t expect is to have a boy named Ben try to come to her rescue, pretend to be her boyfriend and stand up to her dad, who acted every bit as the ass she anticipated he would. What follows is a magical day with this guy, Ben, who seems to see past her scars and makes her feel sexy and beautiful, something she hasn’t felt since the fire.

But there are two problems: one is that Fallon is about to leave and move across the country from California to New York City in a an effort to revive her acting career. The other problem is her mom told her never to fall in love before she’s 23, so she refuses allow that to happen for another five years. So she and Ben agree to meet with each other every year on November 9 for five years and see where they’re at, at that point. They’ll meet each year on the same date in the same place with absolutely no contact in between. They’re aware their agreement is as ridiculous as it sounds, but they know there’s something special between making it worth it.

Ben, an aspiring author, documents their November 9 over the year in the form of a book he will eventually allow Fallon to read. And the two give each other assignments or goals they want each other to achieve in the upcoming year until they meet again. But each time they meet again, it’s under different circumstances – some positive and some horrific. November 9, what was once a traumatic anniversary for Fallon, becomes a day of love, angst and twists and turns with Ben in a preposterous premise which just might have a happy ending.

Analysis: Yeah, I’ll say it again: preposterous premise. But it DOES work and only because author Colleen Hoover and both of her lead characters are evidently aware of it and make reference to it in a very meta way. She even references other books and movies that use similar concepts like One Day. The tongue-in-cheek of it all allows the reader to resolve and give in to the silliness. What results is a sexy, romantic romp with some twists on each November 9 that really make heads spin. Much like she does in Verity, Hoover proves her talent writing shocks and surprises that are completely gutting and make it impossible to put her books down.

That said, the final November 9 of the book is a little confusing timeline-wise (which does, in fact, matter when so much of the book revolves around the passage of time, recurrent dates and the calendar) and Hoover wraps it up a little too quickly, almost like she was in a rush to just finish the damn book already. But I was so heavily invested at that point, I more or less threw up my hands and said “whatever!” I was just happy to see Ben and Fallon so happy.

MVP: Fallon. She makes mistakes. Ben makes mistakes. Neither is perfect, and I could sit here and say “if she had done this, then it never would have led to this incredibly painful moment…” but ultimately they are teenagers. Young people in love do some crazy, stupid things and don’t necessarily think logically. Fallon makes mistakes that any young girl would but comes out the other side with such growth, strength and confidence. It’s a real hero’s journey for her and it’s satisfying to witness.

Get November 9 in paperback for $9.63.

Or on your Kindle for $12.99.

Review: Ugly Love

Recap: When Tate Collins moves in with her brother, Corbin, she anticipates she’ll have to share space with him and his friends, focus on school and work and make friends with classmates. All that is true. What she doesn’t anticipate is coming home to find a drunk friend of her brother’s outside their apartment, who she then has to drag to a couch. He’s a messy drunk and upset, sad about an ex. Tate is annoyed. This isn’t exactly what she signed up for. When she learns this drunk friend is a guy named Miles who not only works with her brother, but also lives down the hall, she realizes she’s going to be spending a lot of time with him.

And suddenly that’s not so bad. Every time they’re together, she feels an electric pull toward him and his eyes always starting deeply at her, almost through her. It’s not long before it becomes clear she must have Miles. So when he makes a move, another move, a smile, Tate starts to lose it. Before she knows it, the two of them can’t keep their hands off each other. All of this is kept secret from their mutual connection, Corbin, of course. And it’s not officials because Miles refuses to be in a relationship. In fact, he refuses to allow himself to fall in love. Tate thinks she can “handle” this, but of course she can’t.

As this “A” plotline is happening, a separate “B” plotline is underway too, as the book switches narrators. Tate narrates her relationship with Miles, while Miles narrates the story of his relationship with his ex from six years ago, eventually leading up to the reason he is the way he is; aka: completely blocked off from love and any kind of meaningful relationship.

Analysis: Ugly Love is one of the first books I read in a while that feels like a through and through “romance” novel. In fact, the only thing I can compare it to is Fifty Shades of Grey, which…would we really classify that as a romance novel anyway? Regardless, I stand by Colleen Hoover, despite all the flack she gets. Her writing: not the best. Her tropes: many are pretty obvious and have been done time and time again. But the sex scenes are sexy! And the woman can write a good twist. I thought I figured out why Miles was so closed off to love with Tate, and I was 95% of the way there, but I still didn’t figure out that last five percent. I still found myself destroyed when I learned what happened to him. And ultimately, I was so compelled by the story, I couldn’t put the book down. For me, plot trumps everything, even mediocre writing and weak female protagonists. Which is exactly what I found Tate to be. I wanted her to be stronger. I wanted her to speak up against Miles and his assholery even more. But if Hoover is going for realism in that respect, she pretty much hit the nail on the head because I think most women would want to hold onto a guy like Miles even if the situation was messed up. Particularly women in their early 20’s like this character is portrayed. Verity was the book that made me understand why people liked Colleen Hoover, but Ugly Love is the book that made me realize why people stick with her.

MVP: Miles. He’s mysterious. He’s an asshole. But in the world of mysterious assholes who women date and try to fix, he’s one that actually is fixed! And it stems from his own willingness to step outside his comfort zone and grow. Respect.

You can get Ugly Love in paperback for $10.34.

Or on your Kindle for $11.99.

Review: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Recap: When Sam Masur finds himself in a subway station in Boston, he never expects to see in the crowd Sadie Green. Or maybe he does. Maybe he was low-key hoping for this moment for years: a chance meeting that would reunite the two who were so close as children, until Sam learned the “truth” about why Sadie was spending so much time with him. But in this moment, he’s not focused on that. No, instead he is filled with memories of himself as a young, quiet, sick boy who used to play video games for hours with Sadie. After not speaking for six years, Sam is even more surprised when he approaches Sadie and their encounter ends with her handing him a gift: a new game to play. He returns to his dorm and plays the game, Sadie’s creation, with his roommate, Marx. The two boys immediately notice Sadie’s talent and jump on it. It’s not just an opportunity to monetize a great idea and shoot off into stardom (which is ultimately what happens); it’s an opportunity to form a new bond together as a unit.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow follows Sam, Sadie and Marx as they work together for decades, creating video games and marketing and selling them, building a company in a complicated web of will-they-won’t-they between all three of them. There are falling outs, betrayals and death, coupled with moments of true friendship, saving lives and being there for each other. They all love each other deeply and in different ways, but Tomorrow is a book that showcases that love doesn’t always overcome everything. And neither does success.

Analysis: Tomorrow does a beautiful job of weaving together Sam and Sadie’s stories even though they’re told separately, leaving the reader to decide how to feel about each of the characters. The length of time that the story spans in addition to the depth of Sam and Sadie’s relationship, which is not explicitly romantic, creates an “epic” feeling that parallels the very video games the two are creating. Each of the games they creates also parallels where they are in their relationship. When they are close, their video games are successful. When they are not, the games fall apart because it’s clear there is a split vision. It’s these layers of brilliant writing that make the novel one I couldn’t put down. It’s a slice of life kind of book in that the reader is reading about their lives for so long, one almost starts to wonder where the story is going and what the crux of it is supposed to be.

When that climax ultimately happens, it is dark and unexpected and a game-changer (pardon the pun). And that is the moment when the meaning behind the title of the book becomes more clear. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a reference to famous speech from Macbeth, but once the Shakespearean reference is outwardly made, it’s clear that this novel is acknowledging several Shakespearean plays. For instance, the star-crossed lovers of it all is very Romeo and Juliet. Tomorrow is a beautiful literary piece that even those of us who don’t play video games (me! me! me!) can enjoy for one reason and one reason only: it’s one of those books that makes you think about life.

MVP: Marx. Sam has his ups and downs. So does Sadie. Marx is a labrador retriever of a character who is dependable, lovable and courageous, even despite his flaws. He rarely falters, which is exactly what the other two characters need.

Get Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow in hardcover for $14.71.

Or on your Kindle for $13.99.

Review: Verity

Recap: You know the start of author Lowen Ashleigh’s journey is off to a dark start when she’s on her way to a meeting, witnesses a deadly crash at an intersection and finds herself covered in blood splatter. What follows is a man walking behind her until she can get to a public bathroom. He locks himself inside the bathroom with her and offers her his crisp, white button-down to replace her shirt. That’s how Lowen first meets Jeremy. The second time she meets him is minutes later when it turns out her important meeting with him. Jeremy is the husband of another author, Verity Crawford, who is injured from a terrible incident and isn’t able to finish writing the series she had started. Jeremy, along with Verity’s publishing team, now want Lowen to complete the series for her.

Despite all the red flags (she doesn’t want the attention, she doesn’t want the pressure of living up to Verity’s writing, etc.), Lowen signs onto the project in part for the money and certainly in part because she is naturally drawn to Jeremy. Jeremy insists that Lowen stay at his and Verity’s home so she has complete access to all of Verity’s work, manuscripts and outlines. But while there, Lowen finds herself becoming more intrigued by Jeremy and his and Verity’s family. She wants to understand how their two daughters died, what led up to Verity being in this fragile state, what Jeremy’s relationship is like with both Verity and their one remaining child, a son. Lowen also finds something else in Verity’s house: a manuscript, not for the book she’s supposed to finish but for a memoir/autobiography that indicates Verity is much darker than the public, or even her husband, knows her to be. Lowen starts to question the truth about what happened to Verity, what happened to her daughters and whether she’s safe living in Verity’s home…all as the relationship between she and Jeremy evolve.

Analysis: Verity was my entry into Colleen Hoover novels since this is the one I’d seen all over the bookshelves, all over Goodreads and all over the Internet. As such, Verity gave me huge Gone Girl vibes, and I immediately understood why it’s so popular and beloved. There’s the back-and-forth narration between Lowen and the Verity manuscript, the deep, dark secrets, the unreliable narrators, the mysterious deaths of children and the mystery of Jeremy. Reading it promises to put you in a constant state of discomfort in that you don’t know who to trust. There’s nothing you can do but to keep reading to have your questions answered.

And the twists! The twists! There are several. And just when you think there couldn’t be another, Hoover sneaks it in. I tend to find myself a pretty good reader and often pick up on the foreshadowing in books, but I didn’t conceive of what was to come in Verity. Not knowing anything about Colleen Hoover before picking up this book, I didn’t realize that part of what she’s known for her is her sexy writing, and that was a fun surprise. Listen, Colleen Hoover is not a prestige, literary, Nobel Award-worthy novelist. Her writing can be a bit hokey at times. BUT Verity proved her plotline cliffhangers, sex scenes and twists make her books the definition of the kind you simply can’t put down. Making Verity even more interesting is the open-ended interpretation of the ending of this book. The end is finite, but the characters are left wondering why they did what they did, if they made the right the decision and what’s the right thing to believe. There’s no way of knowing, and it’s a fun ending to debate with other friends who have read the book.

MVP: Jeremy and Verity’s son. The reality is none of the lead characters in this novel are good, likeable people. But maybe that’s the beauty of this book; that even so, it’s still a great, entertaining read.

Get Verity in paperback for $10.98.

Or on your Kindle for $13.99.

Review: The Hurricane Sisters

Recap: It’s hurricane season ins South Carolina, and while a big storm hasn’t happened yet this season, Ashley and her mother, Liz, have their own personal hurricanes brewing. Ashley is a young, beautiful artist who’s working a pretty easy job and has a crush on a local lawmaker. So when he notices her at a party, she starts to think her life about it be right on track to be the artistic wife of a politician. But when they start dating, she pushes all red flags aside: his temper, his territorial and controlling nature and his ego. Some of her friends and family see it, but she refuses to accept that he’s not the “one” for her. Meanwhile, her mother is losing sight of her priorities as she hits middle age. While her work in the nonprofit world is going well, her mother, Maisie, is driving her nuts with her quirky elderly boyfriend, and she thinks her husband may have a sidepiece up in New York, where he often travels for business.

As Liz uncovers more family secrets and Ashley and her roommate come up with schemes to make some fast cash (they are poor twenty-somethings, after all), the truths are revealed about the men in their lives and suddenly things aren’t so perfect after all. Everything peaks as a massive hurricane is set to hit the coast where Ashley lives. Amid the internal and external storms, three generations of women must determine their next steps and whether they want to stay with the men who have done them dirty.

Analysis: This book came recommended to me, so I expected it to be a fairy high quality piece of literature. So I was surprised to find it was fairly reductive, predictable and lazily written. Upon more research, I learned these kinds of books are author Dorothea Benton Frank’s M.O. She is known for her chick lit beach read fare which often takes places in the South Carolina Low Country, where she’s from. She’s the author of many bestsellers. Knowing that, I kept with it and better appreciated it for what it was.

While the writing didn’t impress me much and I found myself mentally yelling at Ashley as her boyfriend started to abuse her, I did actually like the way Frank brought everything together in the end. The storylines started to feel as serious as they were, and the characters ultimately made the right choices. Liz even made some decisions I didn’t see coming, as did Ashley. Both of them proved to be much stronger characters, ultimately, than they seemed to be in the onset or even throughout the journey

The women stood together in the end in a way that was very hokey. A bit too saccharine for me. I don’t know that I would read another Dorothea Benton Frank book again unless I was in the mood for particularly light, brainless summer fun.

MVP: Maisie. The grandmother in this novel is a lively, elderly wackadoo and I loved it. She offers some lightness and playfulness that helped offset the melodrama of the women surrounding her in the novel. We could all use someone like Maisie.

Get The Hurricane Sisters in paperback now for $14.99.

Or on your Kindle for $11.99.

Review: Naturally Tan

In my ongoing theme of reading Queer Eye stars’ memoirs before watching the latest season of the show (no, I still haven’t gotten around to it; there are a lot of shows to watch!), I read Tan France’s memoir in quick succession after reading JVN’s. Anticipating it to be not-so-great after reading and not loving JVN’s, Naturally Tan turned out to be a pleasant and vast improvement in the way of QE books. Naturally Tan is as fabulous as the author himself. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised after all. Tan France, as we know from the show, is fashionable, prim, proper, soft-spoken and kind. From his memoir, we also learn he’s an intellect who is extremely in touch with his feelings, self-aware, and lives with intent and love. His showcases all this through his book, which is much more than just a memoir.

It’s part memoir, part self-help, part fashion how-to with chapters about him and his life growing up gay and brown in England interspersed with “PSAs” about little black somethings, T-shirts and accessories as well as life advice asides about not gossiping in the workplace and dating dos-and-don’ts. If it seems like that might be a lot to mix into one book or if it seems like that might become a jumbled mess, it actually isn’t and doesn’t. With the bullying and rebellion Tan went through growing up as a brown outsider, the love he found in his partner and the the no-bullshit approach he’s taken to become an extremely successful business owner and TV personality, the reader quickly trusts him with every piece of advice he offers. After reading about his businesses and the hard work he put into building them, including hiring associates, his chapter on not gossiping with or about coworkers affected me and made me want to be a kinder, more generous employee. His chapters about clothes made me re-think my closet. Even his dos and don’ts of dating forced me to consider the way I treat my partner and myself.

When a person you respect offers advice, you’re more inclined to listen. Naturally Tan enforces – or if you’ve watched Queer Eye, reinforces – that Tan is a person to not only be respected, but admired. He may only be 40 years old, but he’s lived quite some life, one worth writing a memoir about and one worth reading about.

Get Naturally Tan in hardcover for $18.20.

Or on your Kindle for $11.99.

Review: Over The Top

With the new season of Queer Eye about to be released, it felt only fitting to spend my time leading up to it reading the first memoir from Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness (JVN). The title for the memoir is perfect as anyone, including JVN himself, would describe Jonathan Van Ness as over the top. The flamboyant hairdresser has become known on the show for his outspoken, loud praise and positivity, luscious locks and unforgiving, strong style choices and affinity for abbreviating words (“ferosh,” anyone?).

If you’ve watched Queer Eye on Netflix, you already know a little about JVN and his background, as the show best quality is its showcasing of each star and hero’s vulnerability. JVN even went to his old high school in one of the episodes. So we know he grew up closeted in a small town, became a hairdresser, went viral with his reviews of Games of Thrones and ultimately got cast in Queer Eye, undeniably the biggest break of his life. What I didn’t know before reading his memoir was that he was abused as a young child, he battled years and years of addiction to not only drugs but also sex, spent several stints in rehab and was dead broke. His story is sad and powerful. The fact that he’s not only come out the other side, but achieved the level of success he has is beyond commendable. That is not to be denied.

That said, while the content of JVN’s memoir and personal story is tragically and empoweringly gripping, his writing is rough around the edges. His memoir is at some points chronological and some points not, making some sections tough to follow. Instead of taking me back to childhood years to write about his stepdad, I would have preferred to learn about him when I was still reading about the childhood years. And while good writing is supposed to show, not tell, JVN’s does the opposite. There are times when he writes as if he’s trying to public a self-help book and share tidbits he’s learned along the way. For instance, he writes about how hard it is to stay positive but he does it anyway. I found myself asking “well how do you continue to stay positive? What are you doing that evokes positivity? What is it still so hard? What are you still battling? How does that come up for you?” Because the reader isn’t getting the full breadth of what he’s trying to say here, these sections that are clearly trying to make the reader feel hopeful and inspired fell flat. It felt very much like he was glossing over some of the hardships, as if he was still uncomfortable sharing details or is maybe still in the thick of it. But if that’s the case, I’d prefer him to be honest about that instead of writing a page-and-a-half of fake inspo.

I wonder if I would have enjoyed the book more on audio. I assume he reads it himself, and the book is so written in his language, that I imagine I would have laughed a lot and gotten a kick out of it. Maybe that’s it. Maybe JVN’s book is a just a perfect parallel of his own messiness that you just have to be fully in it with him, having him write and speak it into your ears, to enjoy the ride. But if you’re not, it’s probably not worth buying a ticket.

Get Over The Top on your Kindle for $11.99.