The first time you share tea, you are a stranger. The second time you share tea, you are an honored guest. And the third time you share tea, you become family.

I like to share with you books that I’ve especially enjoyed, and I recently read one that fits into that category: “Under the Whispering Door” by TJ Klune. TJ Klune, who almost always features gay protagonists in his novels, is one of my favorite authors, so I was super excited when this book came to my attention. Once again, he did not disappoint.

Under the Whispering Door is an otherworldly, heartwarming contemporary fantasy about finding yourself. It follows an unlikable, ruthless and driven lawyer named Wallace Price, who is more than a bit dismayed to find himself at his own funeral. Apparently, Wallace has died, and he is none too happy about it. His suspicions are confirmed when a reaper named Mei shows up to take Wallace to the next stage of his journey.

But instead of taking him to the afterlife, the Reaper brings him to a small tea shop in a remote village called Charon’s Crossing, where he meets a charming man named Hugo, the proprietor, who also happens to be the “Ferryman of Souls.” Hugo’s job is to help souls get ready for crossing over, which turns out not to be such an easy chore for the angry and bitter Wallace Price.

But, of course, anger and denial like Wallace’s isn’t anything new for Hugo — he’s seen it all before. But — he definitely has his work cut out for him as he attempts to lead Wallace out of the darkness and into a more gentle understanding of the mysteries of life.

So with Hugo’s gentle guidance — as well as that from Mei (the Reaper) and Hugo’s ghostly and mischievous grandad Nelson, Wallace begins to understand all that he missed from life, and his outlook slowly begins to change — especially once he learns that it’s never too late to start anew.

It was so delightful to see Wallace’s heart begin to warm as the other charming and quirky characters slowly got under his skin. I loved seeing him grow as a person, and as he did, the more likable and relatable he became. I was stunned by how much I grew to actually care about this formerly cruel and despicable character. My heart warmed to see him begin to form meaningful relationships (for the first time in his life) with the other characters in the book (including Apollo, the lovable ghost dog) and witness him making a genuine effort to become a better person.

The author deals with some pretty tough topics in the story, such as death, PTSD, suicide, and grief, all of which were handled compassionately and delicately. But additionally, the author’s familiar wit, humor, and charm shine through, resulting in a beautiful heartfelt story that is both moving and thought-provoking. While this is a hard-hitting story that’s at times sad and raw, it does teach some valuable lessons as the plot unfolds.

This is the kind of story that causes you to laugh out loud in some places and brings a tear to your eyes in others (at least, it did me), and I still find myself ruminating and contemplating it many days later. I love a good story about hope, redemption, and second chances, and that’s what we get here with this gentle tale. But, of course, I also love stories about the afterlife, so this one also ticked a box.

Now, I did read an advanced review copy of this book, so at the time of this post, the book has not yet been released. It is scheduled to be published on September 21 but is available now for preorder from online retailers.

At the end of each quarter, I go through the list of books I’ve read over the past three months and compile a list of 5 of my favorites. This is the list of my favorite books that I read during the first quarter of the year (I’ll be sharing the second quarter list soon).

1. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

This is an amazing book that takes place in Chinatown in 1954 is about two women, Lily and Kath who fall in love with each other.” This is a dangerous time to fall in love with Red-Scare paranoia threatening their existence, especially Lilly who is Chinese American. So the story kind of revolves around The Telegraph Club, which is a Lesbian bar – a place where Lily and Kat hang out together, after sneaking out of the house. Well, a pivotal event occurs at the bar which changes and shakes up both of their lives. A moving story about discovering where you belong.

2. Dead Sea by Mia Kerrick

The story follows Lenny, a seventeen-year-old talented creative kid who loves to sew and dress up in costumes. After an upsetting event during which all of his secrets risk exposure, Lenny, unable to face the potential humiliation, decides to walk into the ocean and never return. Caught in a riptide, he begins to drown but is rescued by the unlikeliest of heroes: one of the school’s biggest and meanest bullies, Kyle. What follows is a transformation of our two characters, especially of Kyle, after the event. Though the book is layered with complexities of identity and societal expectations, ultimately, Dead Sea ends being a beautifully written story about friendship, redemption, and first love.

3. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

I’ve read a couple of other books by this author: Magic for Liars and When We Were Magic and enjoyed both of them. But I’d say that this book is my favorite one of the three.

This book asks the question: How far would you go in the pursuit of perfection?

The story takes place in the not-so-distant future and follows a brilliant and driven award-winning scientist named Evelyn Caldwell whose work involves Clone technology, in which she is able to perfectly replicate human beings using their DNA. Unbeknownst to Evelyn, her husband Nathan has stolen her research and created a genetic clone of her…of Evelyn, named it Martine. The husband made Martine with only the qualities that HE wanted in a woman: more patient, loving, pliable, meek, even-tempered, more focused on him rather than her work, and especially more obedient. So, snake that he is, he leaves Evelyn, moves in with Martine to live life with his wife’s clone, and files for divorce. Things get really crazy when the cheating bastard ends up dead in Martine’s Kitchen and the two “Mrs. Caldwells” end up having to work together to fix the mess.

4. What You Never Knew by Jessica Hamilton

This is a haunting story told from the point of view of two sisters, one dead and one alive. After the death of her mother and of sister May, June finds out that she is now the owner of Avril Island, a place she hasn’t been to since her father’s sudden disappearance when they were children. Her mother told her that she’d sold the island years ago, so June was more than surprised that it was still in the family and now belonged to her.

Unaware that her dead sister’s ghost accompanies her, June returns to the isolated family island cottage for the first time in decades to find out why her mother lied to her about selling the cabin and perhaps why their father left them one night, never to be heard from again. She begins digging through decades worth of clues and uncovering all sorts of creepy family secrets in the process. What we have here is a wonderfully crafted and thrilling tale about loss, grief, love, lies, betrayal, and dark family secrets that I absolutely loved.

5. When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

I read The Paris Wife by this author, which I loved, so I thought I’d give this one a go as well. Set in the early 1990s, “When the Stars Go Dark” follows Anna Hart, an emotionally damaged detective specializing in searching for and finding missing children. After a horrendous tragedy in her life, Anna escapes to her hometown of Mendocino to try and figure out her next move and find herself. Once there, however, she’s asked by an old friend who is now the Sheriff to assist in the case of a missing 15-year-old girl named Cameron. Alternating between the past and present, Anna not only uncovers similar disappearances in other nearby towns but also unearths information about a missing child case that occurred while she lived in Mendocino years ago. This is a gritty and gripping mystery with many unexpected twists and turns that illustrates the extent of how trauma can affect someone’s life. Because of its dark subject matter — the kidnapping, abuse, and murder of children — the book is heartbreaking and tough to read. I knew this subject will be a gut puncher- but was woefully ill-prepared for how much. It kinda destroyed me for a few days, truth be told.

My 2nd quarter list will be forthcoming. How about you? Read anything good lately?

A question that I receive a lot is how I manage to read so much. I typically average about 150 – 175 books per year, sometimes more, sometimes less.

What’s funny is that I don’t go out of my way to read an excessive amount of books — it kind of just happens. However, I will say that I make a point of reading every night for at least one hour. So that is my first tip: Be consistent. I have built reading into my schedule so that at the same time every evening, I’ll sit down and read for my designated hour. Adding your reading time to your daily calendar or schedule can help with this.

Another reason is that I rarely watch a lot of television. Now, I have nothing against television. It’s simply not a priority for me. Personally, I derive much more enjoyment from reading a book or practicing the piano than watching tv. Some people enjoy heading out to the pub every night, also something that I don’t often do. So in this way, my next tip is: Prioritize your reading time.

Increasing your reading speed can help you read more, and the best way to increase your speed? Read more. Studies indicate that the more you read, the faster you read. As you gain more reading experience, your speed will naturally increase. So the next tip is: Read more to get faster.

I stopped reading for quite a while a few years back. I used to enjoy a lot of young adult and urban fantasy novels. The problem is, is that my hoity-toity, artsy-fartsy friends loved to trash the books I enjoyed, telling me I should read more “adult” books — more serious classic literature and non-fiction. So I did. And… they bored me to tears. So I stopped reading completely for quite some time. Thus, my tip here is: Read what you enjoy. Otherwise, you won’t be motivated to read. These friends, by the way, are now former friends.

This leads me to my next tip: Bail on books you don’t like. If you’re reading a book that’s just not clicking with you, leave and instead pick up a book you will enjoy. There’s no law or rule that says you have to finish a book. If it sucks, ditch it or “DNF” it (DNF stands for “did not finish” and has turned into a verb over the years).

Read more audiobooks. I manage to burn through quite a few audiobooks during the year, probably about 2-3 per month — and this is from someone who works from home and doesn’t commute to work. Whenever I’m cooking, cleaning, or out for a walk, I turn on an audiobook and fall into a story. This way, I get to enjoy many additional books without having to carve out time for reading. Now there are those who say listening to audiobooks isn’t reading. To them, I say rubbish! Consuming a story is consuming a story, no matter how you do it. It can also be argued that writing a novel on the computer isn’t “writing,” it’s “typing” because writing involves a pencil and paper.

Always have a book on your person. I never go anywhere without a book, especially if there’s a possibility of having to wait. Anytime I have a doctor’s appointment, dentist appointment, a morning at the DMV, I ensure that I have my Kindle or a physical book with me. Of course, you can also read books on your smartphone if you’re so inclined.

I also keep a TBR list. This is a list of books that I want to read (TBR = to be read). This way, when I finish a book, I don’t need to agonize for days over what to read next or try to find a book online that sounds interesting. I have a file on my computer, so whenever I hear about a book that sounds interesting, I add it to my list. I also belong to the Book of the Month Club, so that’s one book per month (sometimes more!) that’s moved to the top of my list.

So there you have it. Some ideas on how to read more. How about you? Do you have any tips to share?