I got a bit behind on recommending books last year. I read these awhile ago, but enjoyed them and wanted to share my reviews on Elana Lyn!
The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be: There isn’t a textbook or college class about navigating your twenties and thirties. But Ann Shoket has written a guide for taking ownership of your personal and professional life and crafting a life you love. As editor-in-chief of Seventeen, Ann helped hundreds of thousands of people traverse their teenage years. Ann realized there wasn’t a similar space for big questions — like how to choose the right career path, negotiate a raise or find a partner whose eyes light up when you talk about your goals — so she decided to do some research and write a book. Shoket hosted Badass Babes dinners — think candid conversations over fancy frozen pizza and rosé — with dozens of women (and a few men) and incorporated their insights and her own into her book, “The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be.”
Rich and Pretty: “Rich and Pretty” is about two best friends for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren. They have been best friends through high school and college, first jobs, and first relationships. (They overheard someone saying that Sarah is rich and Lauren is pretty.) Sarah is engaged and Lauren is the maid of honor even though they have started to grow apart because their lives are different. It’s about the way close childhood friendships evolve and change. The book is a bit slow, but I thought it was a perceptive read about female friendship which is especially interesting because it was written by a man.
The After Party: Joan and Cece have been best friends since childhood. Technically they are both named Joan, but when they were in the same class in elementary school, their teacher decided that Joan should go by Cece to make it easier. Cece lives with Joan and her family after her mother passes away and her father goes off with his mistress. Cece is protective of Joan and overly involved with her life and their relationship even though Cece is married and has a young son who is struggling. Throughout the book, you know that a few pivotal things happened when Joan and Cece were teens and that those things have shaped their lives and relationships now. The Skimm called it a vintage Gossip Girl.
The Singles Game: The Singles Game is a fun read about Charlie Silver, a famous tennis player. She gets injured on the Wimbledon court and decides she needs a new coach to work with her. She becomes Todd Feltner’s first female client and suddenly she starts to become famous. She starts getting endorsement deals, magazine covers, and starts dating another high-profile tennis player. It’s an easy read with some insight into the competitive tennis world.
The Woman in Cabin 10: I love thrillers and this was no exception. Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, gets her first big assignment. She is reporting a luxury cruise trip with some very wealthy guests. At first, the cruise is elegant and beautiful but then a woman is thrown overboard…but no one knows what happened. There are some major twists and turns and I read it so quickly!
