This post is sponsored by PrepDish.
Happy Friday, readers! We’re rolling into the weekend here with a big stack of summer reads and the promise of our first pool time of the season.
My favorite finds from around the web:
• An affable Canadian author with a penchant for murder. “I am a killing machine but a happy one — I get all my resentments out in my books.”
• Why are middle-aged women invisible on book covers? “Women, and in particular older women, have always made up a disproportionate amount of readers. Why not acknowledge that they do, in fact, have faces, after all?”
• Bill Gates shares his top picks for summer reading. “Despite the heavy subject matter, all these books were fun to read, and most of them are pretty short.”
• Gardening 101: tips for happy houseplants. Lara had me at “crazy plant lady.”
I have used and loved Prep Dish for years now and I’m excited to share a special deal to help you eat great all summer long.
Every month, Prep Dish founder Allison sends members weekly meal plans (your choice: gluten-free or paleo; we do paleo) with a shopping list (I love the way Allison lays out these lists) and directions for how to spend a few hours prepping the week’s meals. Then you roll into the week with a fridge full of easy-to-finish dinners you can have on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Through Monday, June 4, Allison is offering MMD readers 50% off a new membership! This is a huge savings that’s going to save you a ton of time in the grocery store and in the kitchen.
Summer is a great time to get started with PrepDish. The changing seasons push me off routine and leave me scrambling and frustrated when it’s time to start dinner. But Allison’s easy-to-follow plans for healthy, tasty meals bring your dinners the routine they need to get you through summer’s erratic schedule.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE (and sign up!)
Favorite Instagram:
It’s been a while since I dropped a copy of Reading People: How Seeing the World Through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything in a Little Free Library, but I couldn’t resist this cute little cubby-themed outpost and I serendipitously had a copy in the car. I hope somebody in Chicagoland enjoys it! (Follow me on instagram @annebogel.)
On the blog:
One year ago: 11 juicy memoirs to toss in your beach bag this summer. “When I think juicy, I think interesting—the kind of stories that, were a friend sharing them over coffee, would make you lean in and lower your voice.”
Two years ago: The difference between a good year and a great year. “My husband and I were once in a series of small groups that was so disastrous that the organization’s leadership sought our permission to use our experiences as the basis for a “what not to do” training video.”
Three years ago: The thirty-year rule. “To generalize: even with a good story and strong prose, too many modern novels lack the depth, richness, and complexity that I hope to glimpse in my serious reads.”
Four years ago: Making a fresh start (and ditching my alarm clock). “Without the alarm clock to fall back on, I have to go to bed on time if I want to wake up on time in the morning.”
Five years ago: On making messes and granting space. “In the past few months, I’ve realized that encouraging my kids’ interests means giving them space to create. The creative process is a mess. And the bolder the project, the bigger the mess.”
Six years ago: My (introverted) guide to surviving summer. “In the past few months, I’ve realized that encouraging my kids’ interests means giving them space to create. The creative process is a mess. And the bolder the project, the bigger the mess.”
Have a great weekend!
5 comments
Every week I look forward to the posts the most, I really like looking back at old ones and always find something really interesting that speaks to me. I have also been known after reading the post to just carry on down the page and read the next couple of them too. x
What a treat to sit down with my first cup of coffee and read about Louise Penny! I just finished Still Life last night and looking forward to more! Thanks for all you do, Anne.
PrepDish question for you: Is it easy to swap out components of the menu if there is something you don’t like or eat (for example, I hate fish)? I love the PrepDish concept, but don’t want to spend the money if the meals don’t fit our tastes.
I’ve found it easy to make substitutions, personally—like one kind of meat for another, or subbing in leftover vegetables in the fridge that I’d like to use up sooner rather than later. I hope that helps!
Just want to give a great big, “Thank You!” for your monthly book club picks. I appreciate your taste and you taking me on journeys I might not otherwise have known to choose or gamble on. I try to read them quickly and keep quiet until my husband gets the book next. Then we can “dish” about it! And I note that Kerri Miller of MN MPR/NPR that runs the “THread” up here is about 12 months behind on recommending similarly titles as you do. I’m glad that both of you find and mine and share the books that some of us just don’t have the time to research. XOXOXO from Minneapolis