Links I love

What are you looking forward to this weekend? I’m hoping to make some progress on an interesting book —I’ve only read 80 pages in five days, which is not much for me!—and put together some new bookshelves Will picked up for me in Cincinnati. Plus I’m getting ready for Quick Lit on the 15th of the month, when I share short and sweet reviews of what I’m reading and invite you to do the same.

I’m also getting ready for next week’s Summer Reading Guide Unboxing! Join me today on Instagram Live at noon EDT when I’ll share more about it and answer your questions.

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

Join us for the Unboxing!

Less than a week until our live Unboxing event on May 19! We host this super fun event for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club members and What Should I Read Next Patreon community members and look forward to it every year. Members get the guide four days earlier than everyone else and they get an expanded edition. If you’ve ever considered becoming a member, now is an excellent time to jump in.

If you’re not a part of either community, you’ll receive the guide on May 23. Make sure you’re signed up!

My favorite finds from around the web:

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Joins Jennifer Garner In ‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ Apple Limited Series. This is shaping up to be a promising cast.

• I wore this inexpensive Sephora lipstick yesterday and got so many compliments.

• Revealed: Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Was Hidden in This National Park. If you read last year’s Summer Reading Guide pick Chasing the Thrill (or even if you didn’t), you’re going to want to check out this bizarre update.

• American Giant’s new linen collection is here! I adore the shorts, and I’m excited to try the pants. (Take 15% off your first order with the code DARCY at checkout.)

• We Tried 4 Classic French Toast Recipes and the Winner Was from a French Grandma. When someone says the winning recipe ruined them for all other French toast recipes, you have to try it.

• Meet the New Old Book Collectors. “She discovered that ‘general bookishness’ was the only real prerequisite; anyone nerdy, curious and thrifty enough could get into it.” (gift link)

• My pen geek friend tells me I MUST try these Staedtler highlighters. I’ll do anything for a friend!

• Writing While Asian and the Burden of Education. “Some, it seems, want our stories—which are always “timely,” always worth uplifting—to manifest or make apparent a worth, a humanity, that should have already been evident.”

• Friday night? Sorry, I’m booked!

• The Invention of ‘Jaywalking’. Trying to imagine what walking around town would be like if car companies hadn’t done this.

• Will made this chicken stir fry for Wednesday dinner and got rave reviews from everyone. The flavor to effort ratio is fantastic. He followed the skeleton of the recipe while subbing in chicken breasts and broccoli and it worked great. (It’s paywalled for NYT Cooking subscribers but it was too good not to share.)

• Trends are dead. “Trend brain, as I call it, encourages us to simplify everything online into something either buyable, understandable, or moral (and therefore worthy of consumption).”

Don’t miss these posts:

• 13 excellent young adult historical novels for readers of any age. Historical fiction is one of my favorite YA genres to dip in and out of—and to recommend to my own kids!

• 20 interesting recipes to make for dinner with boneless skinless chicken breasts. In case you’re in need of dinner inspiration.

• 10 romance novels that are perfect for summer reading. This list was a Modern Mrs Darcy first!

Upcoming Events:

• May 23: 2022 MMD Summer Reading Guide releases! Details here.

• May 24: Live discussion with Bethany C. Morrow: Time for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club discussion of So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix with author Bethany C. Morrow!

• June 29: Live discussion with Mary Laura Philpott: Time for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club discussion of Bomb Shelter with author Mary Laura Philpott! 

• July 26: Live discussion with Bonnie Garmus: Time for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club discussion of Lessons in Chemistry with author Bonnie Garmus! 

• August 25: Live discussion with Peng Shepherd: Time for our Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club discussion of The Cartographers with author Peng Shepherd!

You can find more upcoming events here.

Have a great weekend!