What are you up to this weekend? Around here we are LIMPING to the end of our first full week of school—but I’m looking forward to catching up and cleaning up this weekend.
I hope you enjoy these favorite things and interesting reads to ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- An Afghan Author On Losing Her Homeland — For The Second Time. A beautiful, poignant piece from Nadia Hashimi. (The book she references in this piece—her most recent novel, Sparks Like Stars—is wonderful. I highly recommend it as a transporting work of historical fiction and insightful glimpse into Afghanistan, past and present.)
- 8 Cool Bookstores and Libraries You Can Spend the Night In. I’ve done one of these! I stayed at The Open Book in Wigtown, Scotland a few years ago.
- Just a few more days left to order your My Reading Life special journal box!
- How to Transform Your Outdoor Summer Entertaining Space Into a Cozy Fall Retreat. These tweaks seem doable.
- The Spine Collector. This tale of literary theft is wild.
- My daughter ordered these Liberty Art Fabrics sneakers and sadly they are just about sold out but aren’t they the cutest?
- The 200-Year-Old Glassware Brand Hoteliers Swear By. Bookmarking for later!
- The ancient Persian way to keep cool. Fascinating!
- I just reordered this magical favorite body lotion.
- The Winner of the 2021 Public Library of the Year Has Been Announced. And it sounds very impressive.
- We Can’t Quit the Ziploc. I knew nothing about the product’s history!
- This cheerful book print put a big smile on my face.
- Why “The Baby-Sitters Club” Still Matters. A fun and insightful interview with the editors of the anthology We Are The Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers. (More BSC appreciation in WSIRN episode 51 with Jack and Tanner from The Baby-Sitters Club Club podcast.)
Don’t miss these posts:
- 14 books with thought-provoking structures. Books with interesting structures give the reader an extra layer to unravel and appreciate.
- My 6 favorite summer-to-fall transition pieces. I’m dreaming about crisp fall sweater weather and these pieces will carry me through this in-between season.
- Restart your life with these 12 nonfiction titles. This is a great time of year to give yourself a fresh start or adopt a new habit or routine.
Upcoming Events:
- August 28: Backlist Book Club: Stay With Me: Whether you’re a long-time MMD Book Club member looking to revisit some favorites, or a new member wondering where to start, we’re taking a look back at some of the best of Book Club from the past few years.
- September 9: What kind of classics reader are you?: Our Book Clubbers often lament that they’re intimidated by old novels—the ones they’ve been meaning to read for ages, but have been hesitant to start. We’re here to help! In this fun and accessible class we’ll give you practical tips for diving in, based on your unique reading style. (This is a Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club event. Events are available as replays for members who cannot attend live.)
- September 21: My Reading Life: A Book Journal release day: My book My Reading Life: A Book Journal is finally here! I can’t wait to get it in your hands. (Learn more about the preorder bonuses.)
- September 21, 7 pm ET: My Reading Life: A Book Journal release day party at Carmichael’s Bookstore: Come celebrate the release of My Reading Life at my local indie bookstore! I’ll be in conversation with Tara Anderson of Louisville Public Media. Masks are required. Learn more and register to attend here.
- September 24, 11:30 am ET: Eat & Greet event with Kendra Adachi: Join me at Bookmarks’s Festival of Books & Authors in Winston-Salem, NC! I’ll be in conversation with my friend and author Kendra Adachi. We’ll talk about books, journaling, and the reading life to celebrate the publication of my new book, My Reading Life: A Book Journal. Register here.
- September 25, time TBD: Panel at Bookmarks with Wiley Cash and Charlie Lovett. More info to come.
- September 30: Live chat with author M. L. Rio: Time for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club discussion of If We Were Villains with author M. L. Rio! (Events are available as replays for members who cannot attend live.)
- October 21, 1 pm and 7 pm ET: Fall Book Preview: Join us for our third annual Fall Book Preview, where I’ll share a curated list of the season’s hottest new titles, plus the info you need to decide which belong on your TBR. This is an exclusive event for Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club members and What Should I Read Next Patreon “Book Lover” supporters. Our communities will also receive a printable with every title included in our preview.
You can find more upcoming events here.
Have a great weekend!
8 comments
I finished reading Sparks Like Stars in late spring early summer. I recommended this to a friend of mine, and she suggested it to her 80 year old mom. Who read it and finished it just as everything was happening in Afghanistan.
She said it was really hard to read because of the timing.
Which makes a lot of sense. I LOVED this book, but it would have been super hard to read in the past couple of weeks.
This is definitely one of my favorite books for the year. And very poignant.
I read and loved Sparks Like Stars as well. Knew virtually nothing about life and culture in Afganistan going in, and really appreciated becoming aware. Beautifully written and compelling story. Also enjoyed the article by the author posted today in Anne’s Links I Love feature.
I immediately thought of Sparks Like Stars when I heard what was happening in Afghanistan. Such a powerful book that should be read by all!
Libbey has a glass outlet in Toledo, OH-The Glass City (home of Libbey) Just in case you ever need to take a road trip to Toledo or are in the area. It’s not that far from Kentucky!
Libbey Factory Outlet Toledo
205 S Erie St.
Toledo, OH 43604
(419) 254-5000
Toll Free 1-888-794-8469
M-F 9:30AM – 5:30PM
Sat 8:00AM – 5:00PM
Sun 10:00AM – 5:00PM
I fly to Portland every June from NJ, get in my friend’s car and we go to Sylvia Beach Hotel! It’s pricey, we spend two (next year THREE!) days and nights. Running, reading and relaxing. It’s truly a reader’s retreat. Highly recommend eating dinner at their in-house restaurant!!
I love the list of what to look for in a great children’s book. Finding the perfect book for your child isn’t easy to do without some practice. It’s great to have some helpful information like this available!
I found halloumi cheese at Sprouts. Just wanted to let you know in case you can’t find it at TJs. 🙂
They also have it at Fresh Markets
I just ordered your book box and I’m so excited! I love supporting you and your lovely books, Anne, and I’m going to really love that personal ink stamp. What a wonderful idea.