The Books That We Read (#1: Steinbeck on Stephens Street)

I just finished my first manuscript!

Imagine Before Sunrise meeting Bridget Jones’s Diary: authentic, funny, and tender, with less smut and more integrity. That’s the world of The Books That We Read—a story about the ache of being deeply alive in a world that prefers small talk, and the quiet strength it takes to keep writing your own story even when the ending isn’t clear.

Gabby isn’t easy. She questions what others accept, speaks what she thinks, and never quite learned the art of letting things slide. Her master plan was simple: Step 1 — move in with her long-time friends. Step 2 — start grad school.Step 3 — transform the world.

But just as she begins stepping into the life she imagined, everything unravels. Suddenly alone in a city she barely knows, Gabby lands in the guest house of a ninety-year-old stranger with a deaf cat, a cluttered attic, and a quiet neighbor who’s harder to read than any book on her shelf.

As she settles into this unplanned refuge, Gabby begins slowly rebuilding—through lesson plans, hard conversations, and the messy, ordinary work of becoming herself again. Journaling her way through grief, distance, and the heartbreak of being deeply misunderstood, she starts to wonder if she’s not alone in learning to hope again.

She was only meant to stay for the semester. But what happens if she finds something that feels like home—just as it’s time to go?

This isn’t a story of tidy endings. It’s the first chapter of something deeper—and it leaves the door open for more.

This story will hit home for anyone who’s ever been called “too much” — loving with their whole heart and pointing to what’s real — yet still left out of the group text. It gives language and texture to that quiet cost, and it’s about growing wiser, not colder.

Sample chapters will be released in the coming weeks. To be notified, please join the list at the bottom of the page.

(This is the first of a planned 5-book series.)

The Books That We Read by Angela Belle