Happy weekend, readers! This has been a big week around here, and so it was extra-enjoyable to kick off our weekend with a relaxing Friday night: we made homemade pizza (thanks to the local bakery that now sells one-pound bags of yeast the grocery is cleaned out of) and a showing of this old movie that the whole family loved. With a family of six, that always feels like a big win!
About that big week: on Thursday we launched our 9th annual Summer Reading Guide, after Unboxing it for What Should I Read Next Patreon and MMD Book Club members on Tuesday. The bookish enthusiasm was OFF THE CHARTS: we knew to expect a big turnout for our live events, and a high demand for the guide itself, but we didn’t anticipate how thoroughly a global health pandemic would disrupt our plans! It turns out that readers really need some bookish delight right now. We’re happy to provide it.
If you haven’t yet, click here to get your 2020 Summer Reading Guide.
Next I’m continuing my rainy weekend by starting a new audiobook and baking this bread, which is totally easier than it looks. (If you’ve read any great audiobooks lately, tell me in comments?)
I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you, and I hope you enjoy perusing these reads at your leisure.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- Jennifer Weiner on Representations of Fatness and the Line Between Affirmation and Self-Loathing. Important and extra-interesting to read after this week’s episode of What Should I Read Next.)
- The Office Cast Reunites for Zoom Wedding: Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 7. Office fans, this will add some joy to your day. The segment starts at 7:18.
- I left a pile of signed copies of Don’t Overthink It at the Strand, then they were closed for well over a month, and have just recently reopened to online orders only. The signed copies with the red sticker are so stinking adorable and they’d be happy for your business right now.
- So you want to read the classics. In case you feel so inspired.
- Our MMD Book Club community manager Ginger has gorgeous hair that’s even longer and thicker than mine, so when she recommended this quick blow dry spray I couldn’t try it fast enough. (I’m also quite fond of this $4 drugstore product.)
- New Yorkers are posting elaborate recreations of famous book covers while stuck inside. This is so great! What book cover would you want to recreate?
- The FabFitFun summer box is available now: Use code FLOWERS at checkout and get 20% off. I’ve loved my boxes over the years.
- How a Pandemic and Nuclear Threats Shaped Madeleine L’Engle’s Writing and Worldview. Fascinating perspective. I’m looking forward to L’Engle’s short story collection.
- A few podcast appearances from this past week: my friend Laura Tremaine and I talked about what our reading life looks like during the global pandemic, how #Bookstagram changed the way we share what we’re reading, and more on 10 Things To Tell You. I went on A Bookish Home to give tips for adjusting to a new routine and remote work, shared some comfort read suggestions, and more. I also went on #AmWriting Podcast to talk about genres, owning your expertise, and launching a book in a global health pandemic.
Don’t miss these posts:
- 10 romance novels that are perfect for summer reading. This list was a Modern Mrs Darcy first!
- 20 interesting recipes to make for dinner with boneless skinless chicken breasts. In case you’re in need of dinner inspiration.
- The ten item wardrobe. This concept doesn’t overwhelm me like the mix-and-match possibilities of the capsule wardrobes do.
Have a great weekend!
23 comments
What old movie did your family watch?
Thanks and love everything you do!!
Yes! Was wondering the same. Always in need of decent family movies
Oh no, so sorry about that! It was Groundhog Day. Lately we’ve been making our way through a string of movies Will and I haven’t seen in twenty or more years. 🙂
And thanks for the heads up; I fixed the link.
Just finished Stephen Frys Mythos on Audible. He has such a great reading voice and was able to tame the Ancient Greek myths into some semblance of cohesion. It was such a treat!
I just finished listening to The Office, The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000’s. I knew lots of folks were watching reruns, but didn’t realize how popular it still is. The audio had all the actors, writers, etc. speaking and has so much information about every aspect of the show. A great read for fans – now I’m inspired to start over with season one.
I’m halfway thru Hidden Valley Road on audio and it’s very good. I like to read fiction and listen to nonfiction (because I have some trouble getting thru non-fiction books). Lately I’ve listened to Talking to Strangers, The Vagabonds, and Bad Blood.
Love this post every single week…so excited when it appears in my inbox. Any chance for another post soon as what is getting you and your followers through this time of corona virus/so much time inside ? Thanks either way
Nancy, that’s a great idea! Duly noted.
I saw these links at the Morgan Library website the other day. Needed to share!
https://www.themorgan.org/blog/jane-austens-writing-technical-perspective
I listened to Valentine on audio and loved it! I highly recommend it.
That article from The Atlantic on safety as the states reopen was really helpful and informative. Thank you for sharing that, Anne. And it says that they’re making their articles about coronavirus free to the public, which I think is great. More online publications should’ve done that.
I know you’ve read and maybe even listened to 84 Charing Cross Road. But I mention it here because it was such an OUTSTANDING audiobook. I would not have enjoyed it anywhere near as much on paper.
Another example of that would be “Shantaram.” Gloriously long and exquisitely narrated. Beautiful.
Anne, I didn’t know that about 84, Charing Cross Road! Thanks for letting me know.
Happy weekend!
Oh YAY. I totally skipped making dinner last night because I was so bored with the chicken breasts I’d thawed out for the purpose. Today is “no really, you have to cook this chicken” day and your timing is much appreciated.
Last weekend we were painting many walls in our house, which is clearly a situation where an audiobook is needed. Winterfrost by Michelle Houts got me through four hours of cutting in edges.
I just finished Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell and liked how the audiobook included clips of interviews, etc.
I also loved My Dear Hamilton on audio!
I just finished listening to Valentine, a beautifully written debut novel, and now I have started the audio of Simon the Fiddler. So happy to see Simon the Fiddler in the 2020 Summer Reading Guide. I always look forward to the guide, and this year’s is extra-BEAUTIFUL! Thanks, Anne!
I added that recipe page to my desktop after I decided I wanted to make all of them.😂
I just finished listening to Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave is Forgiven. I really liked this book in that format. I am now listening to Mrs. Fletcher. This is my first audiobook with multiple narrators. Not sure how I’m feeling about that just yet. Sometimes it startles me when a new voice comes on!
Regarding staying safe during the pandemic, I just need someone to tell me what to do so I appreciate that article! Talk about overthinking it… I need to read your book just to deal with this situation alone! Also, that bread! It looks gorgeous and I bet it’s also delicious.
I just finished The Mothers by Brit Bennett on audio (well, mostly on audio with a few chapters read via a library book). It’s excellent! I’m so looking forward to her new release, The Vanishing Half, in June.
Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein made a terrific audiobook. It’s filled with music, family stories, insanely famous friends, a glamorous life and plenty of drama. Bernstein is a terrific writer and she narrates her story with verve and delight. Plus she manages to be clear-eyed about her celebrity father without being nasty.
I just finshed the audio version of As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Carey Elwes and read by him too (with other cast members reading their own sidebars). This was a great, soothing audiobook and though it’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, now I can’t wait to see it again and also read Goldman’s book! I would also throw out The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Great narration and has Groundhog Day-esque elements. A twisty, inticate, body-hopping mystery. One of the best things I’ve read this year, and I felt that the audio format was perfect for it!