Posts tagged books
Weekly Recap: Beachy Weekends, Fourth of July, and a Quick Catch Up
Weekly Recap: Beachy Weekends, Fourth of July, and a Quick Catch Up

Welcome to 2025 where the first Just Jen Things recap of the year comes… more than halfway through the year. Good job, Jen, good job. In my defense — and I’m going to defend myself here because WHEW — life’s been feeling a little (okay, A LOT) “Lights! Camera! Bitch! Smile!” in 2025. Anyone else agree? Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of things I’m both excited and grateful to have going for me right now, but damn, so many other things have made 2025 feel like the ultimate slog-fest so far. So it seems, my anthem of the year belongs to Taylor Swift’s I Can Do It With a Broken Heart — all the days of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, and yet I’ve had to put on that front because the only way out is through.

Read More
LifeJennifer Brandllife, life lately, recap, weekly recap, reading, watching, listening to, music, books, happeningsComment
Author Ranking: Riley Sager (Through With a Vengeance)
Author Ranking: Riley Sager (Through With a Vengeance)

I can officially say I’ve read every book by New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager published to date. After reading and enjoying the premise of Survive the Night a few years back, then loving The Only One Left when I read it in late-2023, I knew I had to make it my personal mission to finish reading all of Sager’s books, including a handful of older titles and a couple newer ones too. Now that I’m caught up on all nine books in Sager’s backlist (including the summer’s newest release — With a Vengeance), I can FINALLY make and share an author ranking.

Read More
BooksJennifer Brandlbook, bookstagram, goodreads, book blog, riley sager, author ranking, books, reading, with a vengeance, survive the night, the only one leftComment
Recent Book Purchases I'm Excited to Read
Recent Book Purchases I'm Excited to Read

Of course I’ve added a few books to my (already overflowing) TBR. I’m a reader, that’s what we do — we! buy! all! the! books! haha. All jokes aside, I’ve become so much more intentional about the books I buy over the last couple years. I used to grab a copy of every book recommended to me (which resulted in me reading 20-30+ severely “meh” books that current Jen probably wouldn’t have picked up if she’d been smarter), but now that I know my specific reading taste, I’ve really dialed that part back. So, when I buy a book in 2025, it means I’m all about reading it. Here are a handful of books I’ve purchased over the last few weeks that I’m super excited to read.

Read More
BooksJennifer Brandlbooks, book, recent purchaseComment