My Favorite Reader Shannon

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I hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was full of music as well as friends.  I will fill you in on Friday.

I am thrilled to welcome Shannon back to this series.  You can read her first post here.  I met Shannon through my dear friend, Annie, who is her aunt.  Annie also contributed to this series.  You can read her post here. 

It's so refreshing to have a millennial perspective on books and reading.  Along with being a voracious reader, Shannon is a woman of many talents.  She loves to sew, is an accomplished DIYer, and loves her spin classes. 

Shannon lights up a room with her beautiful smile. 

1.      Refresh our memories and tell us a little about yourself.

Hi, I am Shannon.  I am a millennial living in the Boston area, and I love to read. In 2023 I read 70 books and hope to increase that in 2024.  When not reading or working in health care, I can be found sewing or at the beach.  I really got into making headbands and bracelets last year.  Needless to say, I now have both in every color.

2.  Do you think that 2023 was a good year for books?  What were the standouts for you?

   What are you reading now, and what's next on your list?

 

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I feel it has been a bit mediocre, but perhaps that is just the books I have read. I loved My Magnolia Summer by Victoria Benton Frank, and I believe a sequel is in the works.  I also loved Stars in an Italian Sky by Jill Santopolo, which I read before my trip to Italy last fall.

 

I just finished Doll’s of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl.  It is written by the hosts of the American Girl Podcast, Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks. The book is about the history of AG, how it started, the mania, and how it changed over the years. Growing up, I was all about the American Girl Dolls; I had all the outfits and accessories.  I actually learned to sew by making clothes for the dolls before transitioning to clothes for myself.

 

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Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker and The Coworker by Freida McFadden are the next books on my list to read.

 

 

2.    Did any of the 2023 books make your GOAT list?

So far, not really.  There are still over 400 books on my to-be-read list, so hopefully, there are a few good ones there.

 

3.  Are there any books that you are eagerly awaiting publication?

 

I am excited to read The Academy, which comes out in the Fall by Elin Hilderbrand.  This is a departure from her usual Nantucket beach-themed books and is co-written with her daughter.  It does not matter how many books there are about exclusive boarding schools; I will read them all.

 

5. Was there a book(s) this year that was a disappointment?  Was there a book(s) that was a pleasant surprise?

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I started so many books this year that I didn’t finish.  (The Lost Summers of Newport, Little Monsters, The Plot, The Best Summer of Our Lives, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone)   Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson and The Darlings by Hannah McKinnon were pleasant surprises. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl also looks good. I am hoping to go to France next year and love reading books about the places I will be going.

6. Do you ever skip to the end of the book? Or skim through the boring parts?

 I am guilty of occasionally skipping to the end.  I only do it to find out if a character is still alive. Oh, the shame!  I do not tend to skim over parts. If I find myself having to do that often in a book, then I will usually give up on it.

 

7. How do you choose your books, i.e., bookstagrammers, Goodreads, friends' recommendations?

 

I use all the above to find books.  I follow several bookstagrammers who give a lot of recommendations. Since I track my books through Goodreads, the algorithm is pretty accurate for predicting books I may be interested in.  Most of my friends come to me for recommendations, but my Uncle Ted and Aunt Annie are avid readers and always have good recommendations.

 

8. Have you added any new authors to your favorite list? Have you met any authors this year?

Jenny Jackson

Viola Davis

Heather Marshall

 

I have not met any new authors last year, but I did meet Elin Hilderbrand for the second time. Some new to me authors I enjoyed were Jenny Jackson, Viola Davis, and Heather Marshall.

 

9. Pick any book you have read (it doesn't have to be 2023).  In five sentences or less, convince me to read it.

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A married couple with two children lives in an ideal gated community where no one knows they are serial killers.  They have always worked together on their kills, but when their daughter calls them sick during a kill, the couple is forced to split up.  One disposes of the body, and the other picks up the daughter.  Flash forward to a year later when the body is found and has only been dead for a few days. Is one of them going rogue without the other?  Or setting the other up to take the fall?  My Lovely Wife by Samantha Dowling.

 

10. If you could ask any author a question about a particular book, who would it be, and what would you ask?

I would probably ask Peter Swanson how he came up with such great twists in his books.  I love his books, and they always have twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

 

11. Who would you like to write your life story?  Who would play you?

I have always said that I want Anne Hathaway to play me in the movie of my life.  I would like to think that I could write a book about myself, but who am I kidding?  Jodi Picoult would be a great author because her research is impeccable.

Thank you so much, Shannon.  I am also a big fan of Peter Swanson as well as Jodi Picoult.  I downloaded some of your faves, including My Lovely Wife.

You can follow Shannon on Instagram here. 

Other recent My Favorite Reader participants include Paige and Jude.