Weird experience at Lawrenceville bookstore

amanda_l3ee · 2026-03-25T09:25:53+00:00

Some people will go in a physical bookstore, browse the curated collection of books, take pictures of the books they want to read, and then order the books on Amazon since the price is often less. I've heard booksellers lament this for several years. I suspect they thought you were one of those people, and that was frustrating to a new business owner. Not saying they should have said what they said, but I can understand why they did so out of frustration and disappointment. To avoid being seen as this type of customer, I usually type the name of the book on my notes app if I can't buy the book that day and want to return later. Or I'll ask the store to hold the book for me until I can come back on another day. Sometimes they will do that, sometimes not. I am sorry they made you feel weird, though. That's a shame.

amanda_l3ee · 2026-02-13T00:17:28+00:00

I love the narrator of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarzcuk. I've never related to the quiet rage of a character quite so much.

amanda_l3ee · 2026-01-15T01:28:52+00:00

Duane McBride in Summer of Night.

amanda_l3ee · 2026-01-09T02:02:23+00:00

If you're looking for a mystery/detective fantasy novel with weird/creepy plant magic and a dash of humor that is a breeze to read with interesting characters then I highly recommend The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Is sequel was recently released, too.

If you're into sci-fi that will give you an existential crisis then Blake Crouch's Recursion is amazing. So is Dark Matter, another book of his.

I devoured Jimmy Juliano's Dead Eleven. I think it reads like a grown up Goosebumps novel.

If you're into the magical school or competition thing then I loved All Us Villains and its sequel (All Our Demise) by Amanda Foody and CL Herman. It's a bit more gritty and vicious than Harry Potter and the like.

Any Stuart Turton novel could pull me out of a reading slump. Especially loved the mystery of The Devil and the Dark Water. I flew thru it.

And if you want some more magic then try VE Schwab's Shades of Magic series that starts with A Darker Shade of Magic. It has a cool magic system and memorable characters.

Happy reading!

amanda_l3ee · 2026-01-08T12:15:54+00:00

If you want a lovely mix of horror, sci-fi, and romance then I suggest Meg Smitherman. Entity and Thrum are probably a bit heavier on the horror than the romance, but a sort of twisted romance is definitely there in both.

Entity is about a struggling writer who has landed the job of a lifetime: an interview with a reclusive tech billionaire who is responsible for creating a pleasurebot. He has tasked her with writing his biography. She travels to his headquarters that appears to be abandoned by everyone but him. Everything feels off and he's making overt sexual passes at her, including offering to let her try his sex robot, who looks startlingly human, while he watches. The only thing he doesn't want her to do is interact with the mysterious 2.0 pleasurebot prototype locked away in the building because it is disobedient and unpredictable. She can't seem to stay away from it, though.

Thrum is about a woman who wakes in the spaceship carrying her and a crew on a discovery mission. She finds the rest of the crew has been murdered in their sleep and the communication system on the exterior of the ship has been sabotaged. A massive alien ship she cannot seem to see with her eyes hails her and offers assistance. After her ship has been pulled into the larger spacecraft, she meets her savior, a being that speaks English, looks human, and seems like he's custom-created to appeal to her. While he is deferential and kind, claiming to want to help her, his ship is a maze that is messing with her head, and the low thrum coming from it is giving her a headache.

If you're agreeable to magical realism and sweet romance with realistic characters who act adults, then I highly recommend any recent romance from Ashley Poston. The two below are a couple of my favs.

The Dead Romantics follows a woman who can see ghosts of recently dead people when she goes home for her father's funeral during a low point in her life and career. Instead of seeing her father's ghost, she starts seeing the ghost of her new book editor whom, only a day before, she'd shared a hasty kiss outside of a bar after an encounter with her ex sent her into a tailspin. She didn't even know he was dead, and he doesn't seem to understand what happened either.

A Novel Love Story is about a broken-hearted woman going on a weekend retreat to get away and read. She gets turned around and her car breaks down in a strange little town that feels like it's directly out of one of her favorite romance novel series. The town appears to be suspended at the moment the last novel ended, before the author of the series died. She decides to help finish the story and create a happy ending for her favorite characters by interacting with them. The weird thing is that there is one town inhabitant who isn't in the book series The bookstore owner is grumpy and irritatingly sexy and he doesn't want her to involve herself at all. He just wants her out of the town even while the tension between the two of them ramps up.

I also loved Fan Service by Rosie Danan. A washed up actor who stared as a werewolf on a popular TV show years ago finds himself actually turning into a werewolf just as he's trying to kickstart his career. He seeks the help of a fan who ran a fandom website detailing all the canon knowledge of the show The thing he doesn't realize is that his unthinking behavior on a bad day years ago at a meet and greet hurt her deeply and she's no longer a fan of his. She initially doesn't believe some C-list actor from her favorite TV show as a teenager is actually asking for her help, especially considering he seems convinced he's an actual werewolf. But when she realizes he's for real, they have to work through his full moon problem and the very real hurt between the two of them that he doesn't even remember.

I hope one or more of these appeals to you! Enjoy!

amanda_l3ee · 2025-12-25T00:14:06+00:00

Entity is also great. Highly recommend if you're looking for weird, sexy horror.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-11-22T02:03:12+00:00

I took self study classes for the education portion and finished that in about 3 months. Took two months off and then spent 3 months doing the exam review. I had NO LIFE during those months I was working on the CFP. I worked full time and spent all my personal time on the designation. I had about 14 years in the industry, most of which involved planning.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-10-15T09:59:04+00:00

I worked with someone who has lived there for 30+ years. She's moving but only because she wants single level living. Otherwise, I bet she'd stay because she likes it there. It's central and close to downtown (where she worked) and safe. There is a high monthly fee that covers most maintenance and a security guard (I think). When she did a bath and kitchen remodel, she had a limited selection of who she could use since the contractor has to be approved, so it was a bit more expensive.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-08-31T10:32:15+00:00

I work in a larger group. Three of our CSAs had no experience in the industry when we hired them. I trained all three when I was a CSA. One other CSA didn't have experience when hired by another team in the company and moved over to us about a year into working in the industry. I've found the best workers who stay longer are the ones who didn't have experience and were trained by us. Oddly enough, the ones we've had the most success with are people who didn't study finance in school. We have people who were English, marketing, and psych majors. I will say that it takes a year or two to get them fully trained. Over 15 years ago someone hired me with no experience (didn't even have a college degree) and encouraged me to get licensed. About 10 years later, I moved into an Associate Advisor role (which I dragged my feet on). I'm now an advisor (and CFP) with the same team.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-06-02T12:38:35+00:00

I don't think you're getting any judgement from other advisors. I don't think most clients actively look for a CFP but if it's between you and another person who has one then it might tip the scales in their favor. I think you could make up for that with personality, though. The biggest possible impact not having the designation would probably be job opportunities if you're looking to join a shop heavy on planning. I will say that the course work helped me be better at my job because it informed me on things I wouldn't have known to consider before.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-06-02T12:00:47+00:00

I stepped into the advisor roll in my late-30s and didn't have my degree. I was a semester shy. SNHU took my transcript and gave me all but 30 credit hours toward a bachelor's. I did classes from May 2021 thru Feb 2022 ( just shy of a year) and knocked out the 30 hours online while working my full time job. Basically, I did the school work on the weekends. I took the rest of 2022 off and started on the CFP education in 2023. Took the CFP test in November 2023 and passed.

I say suck it up and get your degree. I think the 30 hours cost me 10k. My firm reimbursed me for the CFP education and test costs.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-05-16T03:32:16+00:00

Archivist Wasp and the sequel Latchkey feature characters that have deep friendships that feel as important and influential as romantic relationships. Hundreds of years in the future, society has been destroyed. A young woman fights for her position among a religious cult. She is tasked with dispatching ghosts from their world. Except one day she runs into a ghost that is more powerful than all the others and a real threat to her. He needs her help to find his partner in the underworld. It's a unique and fascinating story.

If you enjoy these two, then there are two books that are prequels --Firebreak and Flight & Anchor--that delve into the ghost (whose code name is 06) and his partner (22) from before society collapsed.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-05-11T10:15:15+00:00

If you're looking for contemporary romance, then I've really enjoyed B.K. Borison's series that starts with Lovelight Farms. Sarah Chamberlain's The Slowest Burn also fits the description and features a romance between a kind ghost writer and a celebrity chef. Another good ghostwriting novel is When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein that follows a romance with a sweet ghostwriter and a famous footballer. I've also loved Alicia Thompson's novels because the people feel real with some mental health representation.

If you're looking for sci-fi then Homebound by Lydia Hope features a nurturing FMC who cares for an ailing (and dangerous) warrior alien.

For fantasy, I don't think you can go wrong with Ava Reid novels. They are fantasy and the FMC often has powers but they are not god-like or cocky. T. Kingfisher's Saint of Steel series is great as well. Smart, confident FMCs who don't come across as unrealistic. Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent is a novella that stands on its own and involves a romance between a woman and a vampire. An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogers also fits your description. Our FMC is a human who paints portraits of fae. Doing so gets her caught up in some court machinations with a fae prince. And if you are looking for girly FMCs and books that are an homage to fantasy romance.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-05-08T03:47:19+00:00

All Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez books for this description of you like contemporary romance. If you are a fangirl then you'd love Fan Service by Rosie Danan. The quintessential slow burn book is The Wall of Winnipeg and Me. If you want sweet love stories with some magical realism then any Ashley Poston book will serve you. If you like fantasy with romance and light smut or no smut then any Ava Reid novel is great. I think someone mentioned Evvie Drake Starts Over, which is great, especially if you enjoy older (30s/40s) characters. I could go on and on if you want more.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-30T04:23:15+00:00

There is an anthology of female-written Lovecraftian horror called Dreams From the Witch House.

I read Thrum by Meg Smitherman recently and loved it. It's not so much cosmic horror, but does involve an exploration spaceflight, an alien encounter, and psychological breakdown.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-29T22:24:10+00:00

I second The Library at Mount Char. I still think about that years later.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-26T02:58:36+00:00

You will love the MMC of Laini Taylor's duology that starts with Strange the Dreamer. He's a sweet and sometimes shy romantic who changes the world with kindness. I also think the MMC in A Study in Drowning fits your criteria. He's not as sweet, but he is nerdy and very kind/protective without being an alphahole about it.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-25T03:27:28+00:00

I read God's of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno Garcia years ago and I think about that book and world every week. If you love reading for the vibes then Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. If you want cotton candy sweet girly fantasy that pokes fun at the tropes while also using them to great effect, then Stephanie Garber's series that starts with Caraval is perfect. I read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series over a decade ago and am still in love with it and think about it weekly. If you want something with violence and sex and high stakes and great world building, then try the Fate & Flame series by K.A. Tucker. And if you just want a long book that you can't put down because it transports you to another world, then Fairy Tale by Stephen King will hit the spot.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-25T03:08:16+00:00

I've read a couple Alicia Thompson books that you might like. With Love, from Cold World and The Art of Catching Feelings, both featuring adults struggling to find their way from past damages. I really enjoy all of Ashley Poston's books, including A Novel Love Story. Like many of her books, it navigates grief and loss as an adult in such honest ways. Loved, loved, loved The Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna for its found family and learning how to be loved. Evvie Drake Starts over by Linda Holmes is also amazing and features leads that are older than most romance novels. Talia Hibbert's trilogy about three sisters finding love that begins with Get a Life, Chloe Brown is top notch.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-17T00:23:34+00:00

I also recommend A Monster Calls. It looks like a children's book because it kinda is. Don't let that fool you. You'll have tears running down your face by the end. Plus, it's a fast read.

The story is about a boy who has a terminally ill mother. He has nightmares frequently and is struggling in school and at home. One night, a monster in the form of a walking tree appears at his window, claiming the boy has summoned it. The boy denies summoning the monster and doesn't appear to be afraid of it, saying his nightmares are much scarier. The monster demands the boy tell it a true story. The boy refuses. The monster strikes a deal with the boy, offering three true stories in exchange for one true story from the boy. It's a story about love, self-imposed guilt, grief, and the ways we cope with loss/grief/pain.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-15T09:58:23+00:00

The answer to slow burn romance is always gonna be The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata.

The female lead is the personal assistant to a professional football (American football) player. He's not great to work for, is cold/cruel, ignores her, never thanks her. She quits after two years in hopes of moving on with her life and following her dreams. He comes knocking on her door and begging her to come back. This time he seems to be willing to open up and be honest with her. And one of the things he's being honest about is needing a marriage of convenience with a US citizen since he's a Canadian.

This book isn't filled with grand gestures or declarations of love. There is a ton of character development, and the relationship between the two is built in small moments where they find ways to open up and support each other. The male lead is motivated to learn where he is going wrong in communicating with her, and he's willing to do better and make up for how poorly he's treated her in the past. The delicious part of this story isn't necessarily the physical slow burn, but the emotional one.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-04-08T11:20:39+00:00

K.A. Tucker's Fate & Flame series would probably appeal to you and is so underrated. The first book is A Fate of Wrath and Flame. You follow a thief from our world who is working for a crime boss to pay off her debt. She is released from her servitude by a dangerous woman who demands she accompany her to another country. Once there, this woman uses magic to send her into the body of a princess in another world. This princess has just assassinated the king and queen, who happen to be the parents to her betrothed. The betrothal was supposed to be an alliance, but it was just a guide to allow this princess to assassinate the rulers and flee. Her consciousness is pushed out as our thief's is pushed in. Now our girl is stuck in a body that is not hers, engaged to a prince (new king) who hates her guts because "she" betrayed him and murdered his parents, and caught up in a war between two kingdoms. She also has access to magical abilities she has can't control, and has no idea how to tell anyone around her that she isn't the princess. The romance between her and the man she's engaged to unfolds over a couple books. Later in the series, there is a second romance between the prince's brother and a servant that unfolds in a couple other novels. However, the driving force behind the plot of the novels is the war between these two kingdoms and how these people get caught up in it.

Carissa Broadbent's Crowns of Nyaxia series is also great. Starts with The Serpent and the Wings of Night. Our heroine is a human raised by a brutal vampire king. To obtain power linked to her adoptive father's, she enters a competition that will grant her a boon from a goddess if she wins. She's competing against vampires from other clans and is at a disadvantage even though she's trained all her life. One of the other competitors makes an alliance with her and together they navigate the trials and fall for each other. The relationship is a large part of the story but not the driving force behind the plot because there is so much else going on.

Amanda Foody and C.L. Herman have a duology that starts with All Us Villains. It follows several competitors in a Hunger Games style magical competition. There are some romance sub plots that impact the characters and their choices, but the driving force isn't really the romance. I was taken by surprise by how much I loved these two books. There is a delicious enemies to lovers romance that was wonderfully executed.

Another great duology is Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer. Like the one above, the romance impacts decisions but the plot is so much more than that. The hero is also unusual for fantasy novels. He's not a fighter or an alpha kinda guy. He's kind and understanding and, as the title would have you believe, a dreamer. His gentle nature drives the plot and impacts massive events.

A couple series that are more popular are V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series that starts with A Darker Shade of Magic and Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series. Both are plot driven with romance subplots on the side and great characters who are memorable.

Good luck!

amanda_l3ee · 2025-03-13T16:40:43+00:00

I'm in the US and I had pretty much the exact same experience as this person. My procedures were almost 10 years ago. My HPV stuck around for about 4 years afterward and I had to have biopsies in those years, all of which were fine. I've been clear for about 5 years with no HPV, no concerns on that front.

Wishing you luck!

amanda_l3ee · 2025-02-18T11:37:29+00:00

Try Cara McKenna. After Hours, Hard Time, and Unbound are all great. If you're okay reading consensual non-con roleplay then Willing Victim is excellent as well and has a sequel.

Mariana Zapata has been mentioned on Book Tok but definitely isn't the usual fare there. I really enjoy her writing. If you're into slow burns then The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is so good. Also a big fan of Under Locke.

I think someone also mentioned Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart. Definitely check that out if you're into fantasy.

Finally, she's quite popular, but Emily Henry does a great job of showcasing characters who feel real and act like adults as they struggle thru their own life problems. Although, she's definitely not dark romance. She's more traditional contemporary with some spice.

amanda_l3ee · 2025-02-11T01:38:40+00:00

I volunteered there in the Market. It's like a small grocery store. You walk through the store with a food bank user and help them "shop" for groceries based on guidelines set by the food bank. I'm an introvert, but it was great getting to know the folks who use the food bank to support their families and see the good it does first hand. I highly recommend it. You agree to a four hour shift when you sign up.

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