Every Book I Read in 2022, Ranked

I read 32 books in 2022, my best reading year yet! 

Although we are already a couple of weeks into the New Year, I wrote this same post last year, and I really wanted to do it again. Ranking every book I read in the previous year feels like a great way to share book recommendations because usually, it's only in hindsight that I realize how much I actually loved (or didn't love) a book. Personally, I tend to think the latest book I've finished is my favorite book ever, but then a month later I can't even remember what it's about! So, I think this retrospective approach is a bit more critical. Hope you find some reading inspiration here!

Last year I ranked my books by rating, so I am going to do that again!

This Week's Top 10: Shopping, Books & NYC Restaurant Recs!

image via pinterest

Happy Friday! Yet another month has flown by and, as always, I can't believe it! This weekend I'm looking forward to heading to the Yankees game tonight, brunch plans tomorrow, and then hopefully just reading and relaxing. I've gotten into a really good routine lately with my kindle (more on that below) and pilates classes, and I feel so at peace. Read on for 10 things I loved this week!

1. Ok, so the Kindle - I am so happy with it. I'll write a full blog post on it soon, but it solves my previous problems of (1) poor lighting while reading, (2) difficulty finding a position on my side that works with both sides of a book (like when I'm laying in bed), and (3) not having immediate access to the books I want to read. I could go on and on about it but I'll say if you're on the fence, you have to at least order and try one! I really didn't think I was going to love it, at least not as much as I do now, but I was completely converted after my first book!

2. Last week I read Every Summer After and Girls with Bright Futures, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed and gave 5/5 stars. Ok well actually, both of them I give 4.75 stars because I thought they should have been longer!!! 

Every Summer After is a pretty similar concept to The Summer I Turned Pretty, but with adults; a classic beach-read romance!

Girls with Bright Futures is about three moms whose daughters all want to get into Stanford, and all of the college admissions dramas and scandals that go on during their senior year after it's discovered there's only one spot! I feel like I'm always either reading a romance or a thriller, so I love it when I enjoy a book about something else. I absolutely loved this! So entertaining.

2. I found this gorgeous dress this week and can not believe it's barely $100! It's so comfortable and the colors & pattern are beautiful. I wore it the other night to happy hour and dinner in the city (it's been so hot here!) and it was perfect; I can't wait to wear it in Turkey in August, too!

3. Speaking of dinner, I have recently tried two spots in the city that I absolutely loved: Daddies, and Sel Rrose.

Mid-Year Reading Review

When I really got into reading in the summer of 2018, I would write a blog post recapping my recent reads after every 3 or 4 books I finished. Last year I documented everything I read in 2021 at the end of the year, but given that this year alone I've already read 15 books, I want to share a mid-year recap! I've been mixing it up a lot more than usual this year and I have thoughts.

My reading goal for 2022 is 30 books, 5 of which I'm aiming to be non-fiction, whether it be biography, self-help, or anything else. So far I've read 15 books, 2 of which have been non-fiction, and I'm halfway done with my third in that category!

Categories are as follows, in no particular order: (1) Non-Fiction (biographies), (2) Fiction Novels (ranges from very serious to adorable beach read, but not romance), (3) Fantasy, (4) Thriller, and (5) Romance!

Every Book I Read in 2021, Ranked

This year I wasn't quite as good about my book update blog posts, so I wanted to share a big round-up of my reads since 2021 was a pretty good year of reading for me! (I tihnk my best year of reading yet!) Although I didn't really read (except for one book) until April of 2021, I read 23 (and a half) books throughout the rest of the year which I am proud of! I am also now a part of two book clubs in New York, which I love because I get to read books I might not hear about oor choose myself, all while meeting new people. 

This Week's Top 10: Books, Weddings, and Lots of Sneakers...

image via town & country

1. I finished The Alchemist this week and absolutely loved it. It's a pretty quick read so I would highly recommend it. If you don't know what The Alchemist is, it's a classic fable written by Paul Coehlo, and it's sort of a mystical, metaphorical story of a boy who goes out on a search to discover his personal treasure and learns many life lessons along the way. It's essentially just a metaphor for life and following your dreams. I found it peaceful, heartwarming, and honestly, really encouraging. I gave it five stars!

2. Up next I am reading The Most Fun We Ever Had, and The Idea of You. I started The Most Fun on the plane last weekend and I am loving it so far. It's the story of four sisters, all going through their own individual crises right now, while their parents are living blissfully in retirement, more or less completely unaware of what the daughters are going through. It is really light so far but I just know something juicy is going to happen! 

3. After I finish that one, I picked up The Idea of You to read next!! I am SO excited to read this one because Grace Atwood (one of my favorite bloggers) has given it the highest praise and it's been on my list for sooo long. I don't even know what the premise is, I just know it's going to be great.

The Best Book I've Read Recently

I originally planned to wait until I read a few more books to write my typical round-up of recent reads, but I finished this a month ago and don't want to wait any longer to share. It's the perfect time to read this book as we round the corner into winter, and it's such a great one that a stand-alone post on it is well-justified. So, let's talk about The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah.

Recent Reads: Summer 2020

Wow, I can't believe it's been over two months since I last shared what I've recently read! I was on a total kick at the beginning of quarantine but then stopped reading consistently in July and August. I know for a fact it's because I've been spending way too much time on my phone and messing around on my computer. My goal for September alone is to read four books!

What I've Read in Quarantine: Part 2

Helloooo, and welcome to part two of what I've read in quarantine!

Books I Want to Read by Black Female Authors

I drafted my blog post that went up this morning. Not bringing attention to the racism pandemic happening in our country (and the world, for that matter) was highly insensitive. Although I have posted on my Instagram story that I am choosing to post "regular" content, I want it to be very clear that in doing so, I am not lacking empathy for the situation or disregarding it at all. Instead, I am choosing to support offline, by living a positive life and spreading love to those around me, on and off of social media.

My Favorite Activities for my Brain

Now that it's officially summer in quarantine, I've been trying to think of ways to stimulate my brain and incorporate activities into my daily routine that aren't just online shopping or Instagram scrolling. I'm not the kind of person who can binge Netflix all day, but I am pretty addicted to my phone. So, I like to do a few things every day that are actually good for my brain. Today I am going to share some of my favorite activities that are a little bit more on this productive side!

What I've Read in Quarantine

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!! hhaha. I have read some books lately that have quickly qualified as some of my all-time favorites. I usually am pretty hard on critiquing books because I don't want to throw out 5/5 stars frivolously, but two of these... I had to. They were incredible.

What I Read Over Winter Break

Hi! Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to share the books I read last month over winter break. There were some really great ones in the mix, and even one of them I scored 5 stars.

Summer Book Reviews (Part II)

I promise I didn't forget about this post! This is long overdue but I am back to share the second installment of what I've read this summer. If you missed the first one, you can check it out here!

Summer Book Reviews (Part I)

I'm excited to share the books I've read so far this summer. If you're a longtime reader, you might remember a few of the summer reading posts I shared last summer, including this one and this one. This summer's selections probably won't be much different, consisting majorly of beach reads and light fiction, but nonetheless hopefully you will find some of these books appealing!

Summer Reading Update

I'm officially back from Palm Beach and excited to have a few days to be productive before leaving for New York on Saturday. I've read six books since I last shared an update on what I'm reading, so I wanted to give an update on the books I've finished and how I liked each of them! As always, my reads are on my Goodreads page, ranked, reviewed (most of the time) and in order!

Coffee Table Books

Whenever I'm bored or in need of a little inspiration, nothing is more aesthetically pleasing than flipping through a gorgeous coffee table book and drooling over all of the pages. As I prepare to move into my apartment in a few weeks, I've been finding myself peeking at a ton of coffee table books lately to personalize our new space and add a pretty element of decor. What is your favorite coffee table book? Shop below!

Summer Reading List

Happy summer babes! I have been done with exams for a little over a week now and I've found great company in a few books since I've been off school. Since I don't start my internship until late next week (more on that later!), I've been reading as much as I can not only because I don't have much else to do (lame, but true) but because I know once things start to pick up speed for the summer I'll be finding myself with less time on my hands to just relax and read. I shared a few reading updates in blog posts last summer and in the last few days on Insta Stories, so I thought it would only be appropriate to put together a formal blog post chatting about what I've read and what I want to read in the next couple of months!

5 Books I Read This Summer

Toward the beginning of the summer I talked a lot about how I wanted to read more and what some of my summer reading goals included. I read a total of 4 and a half books (couldn't get through one of them!) and for the most part I really loved the challenge I set up for myself. Now I feel like reading is more of something I enjoy and want to incorporate into my daily routine, rather than a chore or something I need to do just for an assignment. Oh, speaking of assignments, how fitting that this goes live on the first day of classes! Hard to believe today's the day summer is truly, officially over ;(

I want to recap this post a little and share what I ended up reading, and how I liked each book:

Summer Reading List + Goals

As if I haven't already brought it up enough: I am trying to read more. Because of how crazy my life has been (and probably will be for the entirety of the summer), I am focusing on time-management and trying to get used to "busy" being my new normal. We all have the same amount of hours in the day, and getting everything done that we want to accomplish is truly a work of a time management more than anything else. That said, if I want to read more, then read more I will! I just have to prioritize it.

What I Bookmark {Collab}

I'm excited today to share some of my current reads from this past month (and long before, too!) as a part of a fun and unique collab. One little goal I had for the new year was to try to incorporate more daily reading into my life... whether it be blogs, books, websites, or magazines. I just wanted to expand on the content I was already digesting and broaden my horizons, and I feel like including more reading in my life is a great way to do that.

Books

Lately I've been trying to get into Bossypants by Tina Fey. The book itself, don't get me wrong, is hilarious, but setting aside time to actually read is difficult for me. In the summer I used to be so good about finding a few page turners and blowing through them, but I haven't been able to do that in what seems like forever! It makes me a little sad that I feel like I never read anymore, and most people my age can probably agree with me when I say it seems like no one just "reads for fun" without feeling like that either have way better things to do with their time, or just no time for it at all, and no one even does it anymore! 

However, aside from novels, I am a huge fan of coffee table books. So basic, but #sorrynotsorry. This Hamptons book is the latest edition to my collection, and I have to admit I haven't looked through it too, too much since I got it, but I think it's the perfect mix of reading material and photographs. The Kate Spade book and the Eloise: Ultimate Edition are of course notable favorites in my collection as well! I'm super interested in snagging either this Gray Malin book or this Slim Aarons book sometime soon, too.

Blogs

Just as a little disclaimer, these following blogs are not all of my daily reads, but just the ones I am collaborating with today!

Citrus and Style, of course, is written by both my IRL (in-real-life) and blogging best friend, Caroline. I know we both talk about each other a lot on our platforms, but we really are best friends and I love her content!

A Sunny State of Mind is another one of my daily reads, written by Meg, who is absolutely the cutest person. We text all the time, and she's a fellow foodie just like me, so you already know we are destined to be BFFS.

And last but certainly not least, Macy blogs over at Peonies and Passports and I check her blog daily too! We did a fun collab last week that you can see here (and her post here) in case you missed it. Not only is Macy gorgeous, but her photography is just as fabulous.

Websites

Some of my favorite daily content comes from the websites often featured in my issues of "This Week's Top 10". These sites include Cosmopolitan, the Every Girl, Refinery 29, the Glitter Guide, Town and Country, and the Coveteur.

Cosmo is probably the most lighthearted, right there with Refinery 29, but all of the sites above are wonderful when it comes to producing articles that I actually find helpful and interesting. 

I love the stories on Cosmopolitan and the advice, and from the Coveteur,  Refinery 29, and the Every Girl  I learn so many things that are just helpful with random things in life, whether it be health, fitness, fashion, or beauty. Of course, Town and Country provides some wonderful content that has slightly more worldly value, like a more sophisticated version of People. Glitter Guide is just my go-to for things like home tours, little fashion inspirations here and there, and the like.

What are your favorite books, blogs, and websites as of late? Please share!

xoxo