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Recently, I put out the bat signal for romance; y’all came through for me, as I knew you would. Thanks to @smallnbookish for recommending, among others, Beach Read by Emily Henry! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I love books about books and the people that love them, and Beach Read definitely qualifies. I loved the chemistry between January and Gus, and I loved watching them explore their love of books and their identities as writers - second chances on so many levels. I loved the way January challenges the perception of romance and women’s fiction versus literary fiction and the way in which her experiences and writing challenge the idea of happily ever afters. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Humor and grief are seen as mutually exclusive things, but that’s rarely true. The grief in this story is profound as characters work through the death of a parent, divorce, loss of confidence and sense of identity - but there’s humor, too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The larger themes really resonated with me, too: how the things that happen in our lives leave us feeling like we’re in a holding pattern, learning to navigate a relationship with your parents as an adult, reconciling what you thought you knew with what is. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I know Henry’s next book, The People We Meet on Vacation is coming out soon, and I can’t wait to pick it up! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TW: cancer, abuse, death of a parent via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/COQEkO3LYFm/