Category: Top Reads

I really wanted to do a fun discussion post on book hangovers and thought it’d be even better to chat with my friend Amy about her book hangovers as well as some other fun stuff.  I’ve gotten to know Amy through the world of blogging and over the past 8 months we’ve chatted about books, wine, kids, and our love of all things Bachelor and Bachelorette! Amy was SO helpful when I started blogging and knew nothing about WordPress, connecting with publishers etc and I’m so happy to be able to call her a friend. I decided to post our book hangover chat in June as it’s Amy’s 1 year Blogiversay 🎉🍾! If you haven’t already visited her blog NovelGossip you should absolutely check it out! Amy reviews a wide variety of books and she’s a speed reading wonder so there’s lots to choose from:) I hope you enjoy our chat and as always I’d love to hear all about the books that led to YOUR biggest book hangovers so please feel free to leave a comment! 

 You’ve been featured on other posts so we know you are a speed reader and you love reality tv but share a couple other things we don’t know about you including….favorite Bachelor and favorite Bachelorette:)

Amy: Haha both of those are true! Hmm, things you don’t know…Ok, I danced from the age of 3 until I was 17 and really thought that would be my career but sadly, I got so burnt out and I quit. I did all kinds, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, etc. I still remember some of my old dances too, my kids get embarrassed when I try to recreate my youth.

I’m trying to think of something else, is that sad that I have to think so hard? Don’t answer that. I’m at that stage in my life where I’m so defined by being a mom, maybe because my kids are so little still and need me for everything. Does that change as they get older? Your kids are teenagers…Anyway, I’m honestly so simple and get pleasure from small things. I am a homebody and prefer to be home with all of my kids and husband together. I’m pretty introverted but I do talk a lot. I’m a ball of contradictions!

Now the Bachelor question is tough! I could easily gab about who I hate much easier haha. I really liked Chris, something about the good old farmer made me swoon! I also really liked Andi, she was classy and smart. I predict I’ll love Rachel though she’s so great

Renee: Having teenagers is very different as they tend to try to pretend they don’t need you for anything…except money and rides to their friends:) My favorite Bachelor so far would have to be Ben, he was such a nice guy and fav Bachelorette is Rachel, but I also really liked JoJo.

If you could spend an evening at your fav pub drinking wine with 1 author who would it be and why did you choose that person?

Amy: I actually just recently had a similar thought after reading one of Sue Watson’s books. It was hilarious and I imagine she must be funny as well to write that way. Plus, she’s published by Bookouture so I’m thinking in my fantasy I can get Kim Nash to meet us as well, I just adore that woman and would love to meet her one day! We have fantasized about a house swap. Except that doesn’t help us to actually meet.

Renee: I have to choose Jane Casey. I would love to find out how she creates such intricate mystery plots and also what she’s got in store for my book boyfriend Derwent

Favorite summer reading spot and favorite drink for summer reading?

Amy: Always by the pool or on the beach. I don’t have a pool and I live in Arizona, so that doesn’t happen often, but occasionally! Favorite drink while reading is normally wine, but if I’m enjoying the beach I need some sort of fruity cocktail. We go to the same resort in Mexico every time we travel there and I love their pina coladas.

Renee: I second that…pool or beach is the best! I tend to stick with very cold Pinot Grigio but this summer I’m expanding my wine options to include Rose…crazy I know:)

What book series do you predict will cause you the biggest book hangover when it ends?

Amy: Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series. I’m SO invested in the characters lives that I don’t know how I’ll cope if I have to say goodbye! I’m in denial and convinced she’ll never choose to end the series.

Renee: I need to try that series then! Mine has to be Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series which I’ve recently binged. I feel like the characters are friends and I can’t imagine not hearing from them again

What’s the first book that pops into your head when you think of having a book hangover in the past 6 months?

Amy: A Twist of the Knife. I’m sure everyone is sick of me blabbing on and on about this series (especially you Renee 😂) but I binge read it and didn’t want it to end. Luckily the series isn’t over yet, there’s just not another book out currently.

Renee: Not at all, you’ve got me really wanting to read this series as well as the Will Trent one…I just need about 8 more hours in the day😂 For me it’s Sirens by Joseph Knox. That book had everything I love and I was so bummed to see it end, fingers crossed there may be a second book though

So you read fast and you read tons BUT are there 3 books that you would say stand out in your mind over the last few YEARS that you automatically think of when we talk about book hangovers? What was it about each one that makes them unforgettable?

Amy: It Happens All the Time by Amy Hatvany was such an emotional read, heavy stuff, but so extremely important and relevant. It was hard for me to switch gears and read a new book after such a powerful read.

Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris was a book that left me breathless and had one of my favorite endings of all time.

Between You and Me by Lisa Hall had a stunning twist, it was just perfectly executed and looking back, I wonder how I missed it?! One of those that I want to reread at some point.

Renee: A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara has given me my biggest book hangover to date ( 6 weeks!). I thought about the characters every moment when I wasn’t reading. It was raw and emotionally draining but I loved it

One Day by David Nichols was not only an unputdownable love story with characters I became invested in, it had such a big out of the blue twist that brought out many emotions in me…not all of them good

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a book that sat on my shelf for months and then when I finally read it I didn’t want to say goodbye to that story or those characters.

 We all look forward to our favorite author’s new releases every year…so that being said, what 3 authors do you know without a doubt would create a book hangover for you if you found out tomorrow they were never writing another book?

Amy: Harlan Coben because I already feel like I have to wait forever between his books sometimes. If took five years (I think??) for him to write a new book in his Myron Bolitar series and it was torture!

Angie Marsons because I’m addicted to her Kim Stone series and if it just stopped where it is now I would be crushed.

Jodie Picoult because her books are just so impressive and always leave me thinking on a profound level. She’s one of those authors who just speaks to me. Thinking now, her most recent book, Small Great Things, left me with a pretty epic book hangover.

Renee: I also say Harlan Coben but because of his standalones which I’ve read all and loved so many of them.

Sharon Bolton because I love both her standalones as well as her Lacey Flint series. I love that I can never figure out her mysteries

Dennis Lehane because there’s something magical about his writing and his ability to take the reader into a completely different world. No matter what he writes I’ll read it

Top upcoming summer reads on your TBR that you’re hoping may lead to your next book hangover?

Amy: I’m really excited about Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica, her books are all amazing. Exquisite is another that I’m looking forward to, the early buzz is awesome. Kerry Lonsdale’s sequel to Everything We Keep is out in July and I can’t wait! Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena, Bring Her Home by David Bell, The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green, I’ll stop there 😂

Renee: I’m super excited about The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker, Unsub by Meg Gardiner, Final Girls by Riley Sager, My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallant and The Force by Don Winslow

How do you see the next year of your blogging life? Any changes you’d like to make? Types of books you’d like to read? 

Amy: I’m hoping to slow down as far as committing to specific dates, like blog tours. I’m trying to stick with Bookouture and Orenda who are both amazing publishers and who also took a chance on me as a new blogger, I’m so grateful for their support. I really want to read more of what I want when I want and I’m starting that in July. I read a pretty wide range of genres already but I do want to continue reading more historical fiction as it’s amazing.

Renee: I’m also limiting my blog tours in the future and have already started actually, I only have one this summer and it’s for Orenda who I agree have such consistently good books that I feel confident in whatever Karen publishes. I find that since I’m a mood reader I do better reading without deadlines, basically what I want when I want most of the time. In the future, I’d like to find more quality character driven books that make me really FEEL something, good or bad.

This has been so fun! Thanks so much for chatting Amy and I’m looking forward to talking with you about what books cause our future book hangovers:) 

What books have led to YOUR biggest book hangovers?