5. Last Minute Bookish Gifts
Some book talk about Never, book gifts, and a certain debut author doing ... bad things in addition to our weekly top 10, new releases, and author of the week!
Welcome!
On this weekly newsletter, every - you guessed it - Sunday, we’ll discuss upcoming releases, an author of the week, top 10 books from last week, and recommendations from you. To send in your recommendation & review, visit the R&R page. Without further ado, let’s get into this week of The Sunday Reads.
Last Minute Bookish Gifts
Not only are you supporting a small business, but these are so cute! I decided to link the whole page because you can find funny ones to cute ones to embroidered ones. Super creative and cute.
So I actually asked for one of these for Christmas myself! You can choose either a stamp or embosser, and there are a bunch of cute designs to choose from. A really creative way to personalize your books.
Barnes & Noble Giftcard
You really can’t go wrong with one of these. It gives freedom to make sure the bookish person in your life can choose the books they want as well as simply give them an excuse to go to one of our favorite places.
Local Bookstore Giftcard
Arguably one step better than a B&N gift card because you’re supporting your local bookstore!
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
You probably can’t go wrong buying this book for a girl in your life. A brilliant novel about love and life and friendship in your twenties.
A pretty affordable and cool book light for your late night reader. Comes in a bunch of colors with different lighting options.
How adorable are these candles? They have a ton of bookish candles from Azriel to Mr. Darcy. Love these!
Bookish Sweatshirts: EnlightenedSoulCo or Threads by Sabrina
These are two amazing book sweatshirt options! They have their own styles, but both are super awesome. I provided two options because Threads by Sabrina’s current processing time is 3-4 weeks, which puts you at early January but they’re so cute I couldn’t resist!
News & Thoughts
Let’s talk Never by Jessa Hastings. It was my first Hastings novel, and it was pretty dang bad. Her writing style is genuinely fantastic. The cover is stunning. The dedication made me tear up. The idea behind this is brilliant. In the first few chapters, I was feeling good. However, these characters were ridiculously toxic, and there was little to no plot to speak of. I was literally angry when I finished the book. You can read my full review here. Additionally, readers are upset (for good reason) with the slave elves being called “Brownies” and describing Peter Pan’s skin as so tan it is “dirty”. That’s really, really not good. And very uncomfortable, especially when you add in the predatory sex jokes about a 17 year old. Overall, an unfortunate but complete flop, and I would not recommend reading it unless you want to feel angry.
Cait Corrain is the debut author of Crown of Starlight. She was also called out a few days ago for creating a bunch of fake POC Goodreads accounts and 1 star reviewing her fellow debut author’s books while 5 star reviewing her own. She is a white woman, and many of the fellow authors she gave negative reviews to have the same agent, publishing house, and are her friends. She proceeded to create a probably fake conversation with a person named Lily who she claims did this to “help her”. This link will take you to the 31 page document of receipts, if you’re curious. I’d love to hear your thoughts on all this.
Honestly, I had to do some digging to find some books releasing this week, but here they are! Enjoy!
I Didn’t Know I Needed This by Eli Rallo: Dec 12, 2023 (Self Help)
The Miracle Morning (Updated and Expanded Edition) by Hal Elrod: Dec 12, 2023 (Self Help)
Always Only You (rerelease) by Chloe Liese: Dec 12, 2023 (Romance)
Midnight Creed by Alex Kava: Dec 17, 2023 (Mystery/Thriller)
10 books I’ve compiled from B&N Top 100, the NYT Bestsellers List, and Amazon Bestsellers in no particular order. These are not the ones from last week, but they’re all still on the bestsellers list. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.
Baking Yesteryear by B Dylan Hollis (Cookbook)
Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell (Mystery/Thriller)
Endgame by Omid Scobie (Nonfiction, Biography)
Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (Romance)
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Historical Fiction)
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Historical Fiction)
Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T Munger (Business, Finance)
Powerless by Lauren Roberts (Fantasy)
What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez (Fantasy)
How To Be The Love You Seek by Nicole LePera (Self Help)
This week I’m throwing it back to one of my favorite books from August - Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler. Color me surprised when I found out it was her debut novel, as it was written so well! I wanted to write about a debut author this week, and I figured there was no better option for me. She has her next book, Happy Medium, releasing April 30, 2024 - yay!
Sarah currently lives in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and cat named Noodle (stop). She’s just like us - Sarah loves to explore bookstores, go for walks, reading, eating pastries, and crocheting. In the past, she got both her BA and MA in American History in DC. Applause!
I am quite excited to read Sarah’s second book in a few months, and I always love finding and supporting new authors. You can find her on Substack, Instagram, and Twitter (X?).
Before You Go
I tried a new set up this week & new headers, so please let me know if you like it!! If you comment on some of the book news, please stay kind. That's all I have for today, though. Much love.
Izzy