What are you up to this weekend? We have some fun stuff planned, including attending opening night for a school theater production, cheering on our favorite runners at a track meet, and welcoming our college kid home from school for a few days. I hope you have something to look forward to, and that this collection of interesting reads and favorite things helps ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- Mary Laura Philpott on Facing the Unexpected and Absurd with Humor. Lovely conversation between Mary Laura Philpott and Maggie Smith. I adored Bomb Shelter—one of our summer MMD Book Club selections!
- A Bookstore Revival Channels Nostalgia for Big Box Chains. “Chain box stores were big businesses, sure, but they were also a crucial third space for casual hangouts and serendipitous run-ins that metro suburbs, smaller cities and rural places often lack.”
- Revlon updated my favorite blow dry brush and made it even better with more customizable options.
- Books For All: NYPL Supports the Right to Read Banned Books. The New York Public Library is making a few commonly banned books available nationwide via a free e-reader. No library card necessary.
- We Tested 4 Famous Lasagna Recipes and the Winner Blew Us Away. I suddenly feel the need to make lasagna.
- The Invention of Jaywalking. Because I can’t resist a good urban planning read.
- ‘It Feels Like the 36th of February. I Only Count the Days of War’. Heartbreaking accounts of four Ukrainian women.
- My teen daughter ordered the cutest wire-wrapped stone ring and daisy seed beed necklace from Etsy!
- Textual Healing: The Novel World of Bibliotherapy. “Proponents of bibliotherapy firmly believe in the potential of literature to provide people the language to help them make sense of their experiences.”
- The Nocturnals. I might be an introvert but I’m not nocturnal so reading this made me feel like an anthropologist.
Don’t miss these posts:
- Louisville City Guide. Bookmark this for future travels to my hometown.
- 10 comforting classics to read after you run out of Jane Austen novels. When I crave a classic after reading tons of new releases, Austen is my go-to. Here’s what to read when you’ve run out of Austen novels to devour.
Upcoming Events:
- Whether you’re a seasoned lover or poetry, or approaching the form for the first time, we’ll explore poetry together in Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club with special guest Amena Brown—poet, author, and comedic storyteller—sharing inspiration without the intimidation.
- May 19: Summer Reading Guide Unboxing: This is the best book party on the interwebs! In a ninety-minute live session, I reveal every title in the Summer Reading Guide, and tell readers why I chose it. This event is for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club members and What Should I Read Next Patreon community members. Members get the guide in their inboxes just after the Unboxing—which means they get it four days early. They also get an expanded guide with exclusive content, including additional titles, extra book lists, and more fun bonus content.
- May 23: 2022 MMD Summer Reading Guide releases! Details here.
You can find more upcoming events here.
Have a great weekend!
13 comments
And like a moth to the flame I bought the necklace! So cute!!
I’m glad you like it!
Any recommendations for preorders? B&N has a 25% discount on all preorders through today so I’m looking at upcoming releases.
You’re so great at supporting Etsy shops! Thank you!! You once linked to my shop and I still get visits from it. It’s such a help.
The Bloomburg article was fantastic! Thank you!
My husband and I spent hundreds of evenings (and a lot of our tiny college student budgets) during our dating years together in the Schulers Bookstores around Michigan State University. They hold a very fond place in my memory.
My husband hates onions or even the essence of onion. Do you think the turkey sausage lasagna would be OK to make without the onion?
Is there another link to the Nocturnals article? It’s saying I need to sign up for an account. Thank you!
The Bloomberg article about bookstores is right on point. My friends and I spent hours at our local Borders in the late 90s and early 00s, looking at books, perusing the CDs, and drinking mochas. Such nostalgia! I live in Canada now and Indigo is the big national chain here and it’s great. In addition to, in my opinion, very well curated book displays, including ones featuring female authors, minority voices, and Canadian lit, they also have great home decor, kitchen paraphernalia, and baby stuff. Some may say that stuff doesn’t belong in a bookstore—but for me, it’s an added bonus and I almost always leave with something to read and something to brighten my home. But, I love supporting my local indies too (there’s one literally 800 ft from my home), so I like to patron both equally.
Great links, loved the exploration of lasagna! I will definitely be trying the Ina recipe. And Bomb Shelter is now very high on my TBR. Thanks!
Thank you for the Louisville guide! We’re headed there this summer.
‘It Feels Like the 36th of February. I Only Count the Days of War’ broke my heart 🙁
Thanks for the Bloomberg article about big box bookstore chains. My husband and I miss the Borders stores in San Francisco and the Bay Area a great deal since the chain’s demise. They were always great places to hang out for a bit while you waited… or had time to kill — before meeting up with a friend, or until a movie started in a nearby movie theater, or until your dinner reservation. And often, you’d walk out with something unexpected too! Aside from books, I loved the big news stand section, leafing through a good design/architecture book, or looking at stationery — planners, notebooks, pens, cards.
We still have good Barnes & Noble stores in the Bay Area, but none in SF. Sad. They were really good places to absorb a bit of culture — high or low brow. Get some ideas that were not on a screen.
In general, you can’t beat bookstores (large or small/independent) as places to meet up with a friend. If someone’s running late, the other person is guaranteed to find good entertainment until they arrive. And also wanted to give props to Canada’s Indigo and Chapters bookstores (used to be competitors but now owned/operated by same parent company) — they are fantastic callbacks to the glory days of Borders.