What are you up to this weekend? I’m taking a quick trip to Nashville with my teen daughters, and welcome your suggestions for what to do/eat/see in comments!
I hope you have something to look forward to these next few days, and that this collection of interesting reads and favorite things helps ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
Bookmarks NC Festival of Books & Authors is soon!
I’ll be in Winston-Salem next weekend for their annual literary festival. All events on Saturday, September 24 are free and open to the public. The full schedule is available here.
Start your Saturday with our meetup for Modern Mrs Darcy readers and What Should I Read Next listeners. I hope you’ll come by and say hi! Join us at 9:30am for a casual gathering in the picnic area behind Calvary Moravian, the large venue at the center of the festival space. If it rains we’ll move indoors to the Bookmarks bookstore café and look for each other there. I hope you can make it!
My Reading Past Bedtime session is at noon. I’ll speak at noon on cultivating a love of books and reading in young readers. Later that afternoon I’m moderating the Book Club Favorites panel featuring Tia Williams, TJ Klune, Brendan Slocumb, and Andrew Sean Greer. I’ll sign books afterwards in the signing tent and would love to meet you there, as well as sign and personalize all your books.
It’s going to be a great festival. I hope to see you there!
My favorite finds from around the web:
- Maggie O’Farrell Looks for Stories Hiding in Plain Sight. This must be why she works so well for me.
- Now that it’s not always a zillion degrees out I’m wearing the new wide leg pant from American Giant all the time. (Mine are a size 6, in Meteorite.) Because they’re a podcast sponsor: use the code DARCY to save 20% on your first order.
- The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books. So nostalgic.
- Team member Baylee raved about this pumpkin bread recipe so we had to try it! It was a hit, even without the chocolate chips.
- I just found out The Container Store is having a huge sale this weekend with 25% off almost everything, so with that in mind: we adore their dream drawer organizers, stackable folding bookshelves (mine are pictured here), and 3-tier rolling cart in an array of colors that might be perfect for your TBR (or art supplies, or kitchen organization).
- Serena Williams Refused to Bend. She Bent Tennis Instead. Incredible profile of an incredible legacy.
- Do you have a signature scent? Fascinating discussion, and lots of great ideas if you’re looking for your own.
- Award news: The 2022 Booker Prize and 2022 Hugo Awards.
- How to Buy Cheese Like a Pro: Tips from Cheesemonger Anne Saxelby. I feel a great need to go buy some cheese now.
- I bought myself a present in the form of a pretty mug. My husband Will thinks we have enough already but I adamantly disagree.
- 14 Mistakes Everyone Makes With Spaghetti. Great tips.
Don’t miss these posts:
- 25 boarding school novels that are better than your class reunion. This title may or may not tell you how I feel about class reunions.
- Sweaters for every fall wish list. I’m eager for sweater weather to arrive!
- 15 fantasy novels that are grounded in reality. I don’t read a ton of fantasy but when I do, this is the kind I reach for.
Have a great weekend!
28 comments
That mug is gorgeous, Anne! And I can’t wait to try the pumpkin bread recipe – thank you! Enjoy Nashville this weekend 😀
The mug is so pretty, but I’m surprised you didn’t get the Book Club version! Or maybe you actually bought two mugs… Have fun in Nashville!
I have SO MANY BOOK MUGS … and I love flowers!
Have you eaten at The Greenhouse yet in Nashville? It’s been around forever but is a somewhat hidden gem. If you go, make sure you go all the way back into the actual greenhouse and not just the patio! I bet your daughters would love the gram worthy vibe! I think pairing it with a visit to Cheekwood is ideal. Or if you want something delicious on the east side, Red Headed Stranger is always a win. Hunters Station or the food court downtown are great options if you all three want something different!
Go see White Limozeen downtown. It’s a restaurant in a hotel (forgot the name), but has so many eclectic decor features. Named after a Dolly Parton song. Enjoy!
I’ve never been!
The hotel is “The Graduate”! So cool!
Ooohhh I love Graduate hotels! I stayed at one in Oxford MS a few years back and absolutely loved it. I’d be happy to pay the Nashville location a visit!
McKays – we can spend hours in there
Thanks for reminding me! I haven’t been in years.
Big Fat DITTO for Pam’s idea!
If you have time to drive south, you could explore the scenic Natchez Trace on your way to Loveless Cafe.
Or for some fun treats with your girls you could get some Jeni’s ice cream (if you don’t already enjoy it), Five Daughters donuts, or Gracie’s Milkshake Bar in L&L Market (it’s an old factory building converted to shops and restaurants including Culture & Co which features a conveyor belt of cheese & charcuterie!)
We just popped into Five Daughters last month when we were passing through, but have never visited any of these other places. Thanks for the recs!
How do your books not fall over/off on either side of those folding bookshelves?
There’s a small lip on the sides, plus side support frame holds everything in place.
I too love a beautiful coffee mug, but no longer use them, as my daughters bought me an Ember. This is the present I didn’t know I wanted- a heated base that keeps the attached cup warm for 90 minutes. It is attached to an app- you can control how hot you like your coffee. I can get wrapped up in the pages of a book, take a sip 20 minutes in, and the coffee is still steaming hot. It is expensive, but I think quite worth it for anyone who takes their morning coffee seriously.
Sounds fancy and fun!
Have so much fun it Nashville! I love the mug and I can’t wait to start baking.
I recommend Amerigo or Bricktops! Both are excellent eateries!
Hopdoddy’s- their burgers and fries are AMAZING!!! And, Bar Taco- delicious tacos and the BEST margarita I’ve ever had!!!
Nashville has amazing food!!! We love it there!!!!
I loved the photo-story of the “letting my hair go gray”!! Beautiful pictures, beautiful woman! She looked great almost from the start. Only thing I would do differently is cut it to shoulder length by the beginning of this year and then it would all be gray. She’s an inspiration.
And I would love to see the “Choose” books, but I wonder where I could find them, and what they look like! Are they big picture books, or chapter books? I’d never heard of them before, but I would have loved them as a kid!
Martin’s Barbecue Joint! Have fun!!
Biscuit Love for breakfast!
Comments on 2 topics:
For those interested in going gray, I recommend the book, Going Gray, by Anne Kreamer. It’s a compulsively readable and thoroughly engaging memoir of the author’s experience with, and feelings about, letting her hair’s true color shine through, following years of coloring it. A fun and inspiring read!
The conversation about signature scents, and scent in general, was wonderful! I hadn’t worn — or owned — perfume in six years or more, following almost 2 decades of wearing a signature scent. The formula changed and I had changed, and the magic was gone. I looked for a new scent, on and off and unsuccessfully, then had to abandon the search at the start of the pandemic. Reading the post and the comments inspired me anew. I’m hot on the trail again, commenter’s suggestions in hand, for the new me! Thanks, Anne! Thanks, community!
I love the Nashville Farmers Market (shops,music,gardening &
food), Frothy Monkey and The Well for a coffee break, Pins Mechanical Co. for fun games (where dogs are allowed & so much fun to run into cute dogs) and, of course, Vanderbilt and Parnassus for books. Have fun!
This silver sister loved the article about going gray!
We’re about the same height (I’m a bit over 5’9″) so clicked right over when I saw your recommendation for pants. Sadly, the inseam is 29″ and I need 31″ (long legs – a blessing and a curse). I almost always wear dresses because long pants are so hard to come by.
I did the same thing! I was sad the pants were only 29”. There are so many cropped pants out there.