a lifestyle blog for book lovers

What are you up to this weekend? I plan to attend some kids’ sporting events, take a hike with Daisy, and finish a great puzzle I’ve been working on. And maybe do a little fall baking, now that the idea of turning on the oven for an hour isn’t intolerable.

I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you, and that this collection of interesting reads and appealing things helps ease you into that weekend frame of mind.

My favorite finds from around the web:

  • Love Wine? Here Are 10 Ways to Appreciate It Even More. So much of this advice also applies to books. “We can all learn to evaluate wine by asking the simple but important questions: “Do I like the wine?” “Why?” and “Why not?” The answers can help anybody become a more confident wine consumer.”

My Reading Life releases September 21!

My next book My Reading Life: A Book Journal comes out Tuesday! (Be sure to claim your preorder bonuses.) There are some great events, both online and in person, happening during release week. I hope to see you there!

  • 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. Enjoy a boxed lunch during the event, then have your books signed afterward. Because attendees will be unmasked for lunch during this event, all attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Register here
  • September 25, 10 am ET: The Art of Conversation panel with Wiley Cash and Charlie Lovett: This will take place at Hanesbrands Theatre in Winston-Salem, NC. Masks are required for indoor locations. See the Festival of Books & Authors Saturday schedule for more information.
  • September 25, 3 pm ET: Summer Rewind panel with Steven Rowley: This will take place at Calvary Moravian Church. Masks are required for indoor locations. See the Festival of Books & Authors Saturday schedule for more information.

Don’t miss these posts:

Upcoming Events:

  • September 21: 300th episode of What Should I Read Next: It’s a big milestone day for my podcast What Should I Read Next! Listen on your favorite podcast app or visit the website for the full show notes. Whether you’ve listened to one episode or all 300, thank you. We couldn’t do it without you!
  • October 7: Celebrating 300: LIVE event: We’re gathering three of the most-beloved, most-discussed, most-recommended authors on What Should I Read Next for a blend of pre-recorded and live discussion! This special event is for Patreon supporters. (A replay will be available for those who cannot make it 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!

12 comments

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  1. Adrienne says:

    This weekend I’m looking forward to getting caught up with a dear old friend that I have not seen in decades. Yay! And if I get brave enough or ambitious enough, I am going to tackle painting my bathroom. So happy to see the plug for jigsaw puzzles! One of the few good things to come out of this pandemic is it seems there are so many great puzzles to choose from, and I have worked through dozens in the past year. Here’s a recent favorite…
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QSHDBRR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

  2. That candle looks perfectly cozy! I have an Anne’s Octobers art print on sale in my shop right now. L.M. Montgomery’s way with words is so soothing, especially when she’s describing nature.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/1033988719/im-so-glad-i-live-in-a-world-where-there?ref=shop_home_active_33&pro=1

    As for wine… I found this scratch and sniff board book in a little free library a couple years ago, and learned so much! I thought the concept was genius!
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Scratch-Sniff-Becoming-Expert/dp/0544005031

  3. Diane says:

    As a retired school librarian, I enjoyed reading this article. Yes, Mr. Dewey was a man of his time and his organization is not completely right for today’s world. I taught my students about his system, though, so they would be able to use their public libraries. I agree that it is best to have a system that works for patrons to actually find books!! By the way, one of my students’ favorite games (when we had a spare 2 minutes) was to play “stump the librarian.” They’d name a subject and I’d tell them the correct Dewey classification number. They loved it when they could name something wacky and I couldn’t think of the Dewey number!

  4. Elizabeth says:

    Learning something new everyday! Something seeming innocuous, really isn’t when one digs down deep. I would have never given the Dewey Decimal system another thought.

    I learn so much from your links, Thank you .

  5. Ann says:

    As a 61 year old I certainly remember being taught the Dewey decimal system & looking through the card catalog for books!!

    Thank you so much for posting the NPR article about Breakthrough Covid. I just received an invite to a baby shower for my niece. Not sure why, but I had quickly placed an order from her registry and had the gift delivered to my house. In hindsight I should have had it delivered to her home in Austin.

    I discussed the situation with my husband. The majority of the family that will be at the shower are not vaccinated. I am fully vaccinated (as of April, like the article), but started thinking: what if the shower recipient were to catch Covid?? I would not want that responsibility. So we are going to deliver the gift to my sister in law’s house and have her take it to the shower. I’ve decided to bow out.

    I’d rather be safe than sorry. For everyone’s sake. Who know’s, if I can get a booster beforehand, I may change my mind!

  6. Janet says:

    We just finished a 2000-piece puzzle at our house. It took 2 months and 5 people to conquer it! Never again. We will stick with our usual 1000-piece puzzles from now on. But after reading the article, I think all of us that worked on it must be super geniuses now!

    Dewey Decimal is like many other inventions from the last century. They work until they don’t. I was a little surprised the article didn’t mention genrefication as an alternative, some schools are leaning that way. It takes a lot of work to shift books to the new sections, but can make it easier for students to find, similar to the “book store” model.

    • Lisa Z says:

      Every “nonstick” we’ve tried lasts less than a year for us so this year we got a smaller cast iron skillet instead and are trying hard to be very good to it and keep it seasoned. It will last multiple lifetimes and that feels a lot better to my husband and me than continually throwing out fancy “green” pans and such.

  7. Suzy says:

    I LOVED that article about breakthrough Covid—-so timely and helpful!! I totally endorse her conclusion that we all, vaccinated or not, should be being VERY CAREFUL and wearing a mask, the easiest way to avoid getting the virus. I recommend everyone read this article! Thanks for the reference, Anne.

  8. Leigh says:

    Those are my favoruite non stick pans too. I find them at Business Costco in a few sizes. They hold up great to my busy family, but if my FIL leaves them empty on a low burned for a few hours (again!) or my kids use the metal fish spatula and scratch them all up I won’t feel terrible when I have to toss them.

  9. It was such fun, as this week’s Novel Pairings episode started playing in my podcast app, to realize I’d get an extra shot of Anne’s book whispering, too! Great conversation & am looking forward to hearing the other podcast you linked today, thank you.

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