Links I Love

Happy Friday, readers! I’m rolling into the weekend with high hopes (big used book sale this weekend!) and sore quads (attended my first barre classes this week: ouch!). I hope your weekend possibilities include a little bit of relaxing and a whole lot of reading …

My favorite finds from around the web

• Why the pencil is perfect. So much I didn’t know, packed into three and a half minutes. (If you enjoyed this video, go listen to the pencil lady’s guest appearance on What Should I Read Next!)

• Meet the designers behind your favorite book covers. “At their best, covers offer an enticing teaser for what’s to come on a book’s pages, or convey the essence of a story in question. It’s not an easy task, as any book designer will tell you. But it’s certainly a rewarding one.”

• The blow-dry mistakes you may be making (and how to fix them). I appreciate how Kate makes things sound easy.

• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library gives out 100 millionth free book. That is a LOT of books, readers.

• Speaking of Dolly, I am listening to this book right now and loving it.

New month, new titles

March Book of the Month titles are here! Here’s what I know; I’ve only read (most of) the first two mentioned below:

• I thoroughly enjoyed Jessica Strawser’s Not That I Could Tell, a domestic pageturner that revealed itself to be something different than I was expecting in the final pages. This one sucked me right in, and is on my longlist for the 2018 Summer Reading Guide (coming this May!). The release date isn’t till March 27; this is your chance to read it early. (Her debut, Almost Missed You, was a 2017 Summer Reading Guide selection.)

• I abandoned Abbi Waxman’s Other People’s Houses. Waxman excels at finding the wry humor in dark situations, but this novel revolves around the chaos caused by an extramarital affair, and I found myself cringing more than laughing. (I did enjoy her first book, The Garden of Small Beginnings, and I’ll watch what she does in the future.) This one doesn’t officially release till April 3, but you could snag it early through BOTM.

• Kirkus calls Clarissa Goenawan’s Rainbirds “a witty, well-constructed debut.” It’s a novel about a Japanese graduate student coming to terms with his sister’s death, and discovering long-buried family secrets in the process.

• The Last Equation of Isaac Severy is a literary mystery involving a Seattle bookseller, and Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review.

• In the new YA novel The Astonishing Color of After, a grieving family struggles to find hope again after a suicide. Kirkus calls this “an evocative novel that captures the uncertain, unmoored feeling of existing between worlds—culturally, linguistically, ethnically, romantically, and existentially.”

If you’re not yet a member click here to get started, and use the code YESPLZ to get a free book at checkout.

Favorite instagram:

I shared my current bookshelf situation on my all-books, all-the-time What Should I Read Next account. (Click here to follow.)

On the blog

On the blog this week I shared our spring Book Club picks for April and May. Also, I’ve decided to keep the Book Club door’s open year-round. We previously opened to new members just a few weeks a year so we could do a great job of bringing our new readers on board. But now that we’ve got our legs under us, we don’t have to make readers wait when they’re ready to get started now.

Now in the MMD Shop, you can buy my latest class: Book Journaling for Book Lovers. Learning how to journal as a book lover is one of the best things I did for my reading life. It helps me keep track of what I’ve read, what I want to read, book notes, all time favorites, book stores to visit… plus it helps me schedule my reading time. All classes are included as part of the MMD Book Club membership. But if an online book club just isn’t for you, you can buy the classes individually. Use code BOJO50 at checkout to save 50% on the Book Journaling class when you also purchase an MMD Journal, Reading Journal Kit, or Deluxe Reading Journal Kit.

One year ago: 13 questions to ask yourself before buying anything for your wardrobe.

Two years ago: My first week with the bullet journal.

Three years ago: 7 ways I’m minimizing decision fatigue in my daily life.

Four years ago: Managing my day-to-day.

Five years ago: Grown-ups shouldn’t finish books they’re not enjoying.

Have a great weekend!