What are you up to this weekend? We’ve had an unusual week around here, including a trip to the hospital for Will’s first colonoscopy. If you haven’t heard, the CDC here in the U.S. is now recommending your first one at age 45. Get your screenings, friends!
Thanks for your movie suggestions last week! We landed on Moonshot, which we decided was just the right amount of cheesy. This weekend is going to have a different feel, with sporting events and get-togethers and one kid is even taking the ACT (remember those days?). I’m hoping to get some good rest as well; I’m tired from early mornings and mentally wrung out from reading the news and talking to friends who have loved ones in the Middle East. My heart breaks for all those suffering right now.
May your weekend be filled with grace, peace, rest, and good books, and may this collection of interesting reads and favorite things help ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
My favorite finds from around the web:
The Queenmaker. (Bustle) Fascinating profile of Felicity Blunt: the game-changing literary agent responsible for the success of Lessons in Chemistry. She also happens to be Stanley Tucci’s wife (which I didn’t realize until reading his memoir Taste) and Emily Blunt’s sister.
12 intriguing novels featuring amateur sleuths. (MMD) Enjoy the vicarious thrill of solving a mystery alongside these intriguing amateur detectives.
Still Popular. (Vulture) Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel reunite for Wicked‘s 20th anniversary!
Favorite Target find: this e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter, which I later learned is a dupe for the much pricier Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter.
Inside Scorsese’s Meeting With the Osage That Changed ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. (Rolling Stone) This is the exact kind of behind-the-scenes movie content I love. Have you watched the adaptation? I’ve been hearing good things.
A Ranking of Taylor Swift’s ‘From the Vault’ Songs. (Time) Happy New 1989 Day to all who celebrate.
How an Academic Uncovered One of the Biggest Museum Heists of All Time. (Wall Street Journal gift link) This real-life story out of the British Museum reminds me of my recent read The Cloisters.
It’s Hard Shell Taco Night (Alison Roman’s A Newsletter substack) After an absence of many years (decades?) we started picking up hard shells again earlier this summer and they’ve been a big hit at my house. Bonus: they’re sooo easy. I like Alison’s explanation and topping suggestions but our go-to filling is Sam Sifton’s middle school tacos recipe. (NYT Cooking gift link)
The 2023 MMD Gift Guide for Bookish Kids. (MMD) Holiday gifts for the kid readers in your life.
Write Who You Love: J. Ryan Stradal on Memorializing His Mother Through Fiction. (Literary Hub) This is beautiful.
The Sephora sale is starting and no matter your status; all Sephora Collection products are 30% off today through November 6. I’m picking up the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Moisturizer (because Jamie B. Golden told me to) and Rare Beauty Mini Blush & Glow 4-Piece Set for me, and the Sephora Favorites Holiday Makeup Must Haves set as a gift—while decidedly not as luxe as the Liberty Advent Beauty Calendar the Sephora Favorites sets are reliably fabulous. I’m restocking the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel Pads (I cut them in half and use them 3x/week, not daily). A top-3 purchase this year is my Merit Brush No. 1 Tapered Blending Brush, available at Sephora, and I’m also loving the Merit Signature Lip Lightweight Lipstick (Cabo is my favorite), and the Solo Shadows (I’ve been using Studio almost daily this fall).
Confessions of a Tableside Flambéur. (Eater) “Every time a pan spiked with sugar and alcohol combusts, flambé sales go viral. One order and the entire restaurant goes up in flames.”
“Write What You Don’t Know.” (Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak substack) “The stories we love make us who we are. They shape us. They stay with us.”
You Can Automatically Make Your iPhone Less Addicting at Bedtime. (Lifehacker) Has anyone tried this? I’m tempted.
Don’t miss these posts:
Travel around the world with these 20 novels. Experience the world from the comfort of your home with a great book!
15 riveting books with unreliable narrators or ambiguous endings. It’s the perfect time of year for this kind of book.
7 spooky (not scary) short story collections. These short story collections will get you in the mood for Halloween without keeping you awake all night!
Have a great weekend!
24 comments
I haven’t tried the grey screen on my phone, but I have set do not disturb to come on every night at 7:00pm, and I leave my phone in the kitchen to charge overnight. Another hack is to have the first screen be free of any apps or folders – I only have the phone, text, calendar and camera apps in the tray.
Taco tip: My mom always filled the taco shells with meat and cheese and then toasted them in the oven on 400 for 7 minutes. I thought this was how everyone did it and was surprised to learn as an adult that people were just toasting the shells. Filling it first and then toasting it is so much better. My husband loved it when I introduced him to it when we got married.
Yes, that’s how I’ve always done them, ever since my husband introduced me to tacos when we were dating (45+ years ago!). These are a staple at our house.
Do the shells not get soggy with the meat already in them? My husband likes to put cheese on bottom and meat next to lessen the crisp loss.
Funnily enough, shortly after I read this post, I was served a link in another email newsletter that turned out to be a pretty interesting and entertaining look at the effectiveness (or not?) of colonoscopies. My favorite line: “This paper was greeted with gastroenterological bedlam.” In case anyone has time on their hands, the post is from Asterisk magazine, titled ‘You’re Invited to a Colonoscopy!’ at https://asteriskmag.com/issues/04/you-re-invited-to-a-colonoscopy/.
I badly want a Light Phone II, but I currently don’t have the funds. As an alternative in the meantime, I started keeping my iphone on greyscale most of the time. I now only use my phone as a tool throughout the day and my use has gone down. I am so pleased with the greyscale mode.
I haven’t tried the grayscale but have heard from others who’ve found it successful. I try to always have a book by me and put the phone out of reach so I’d have to stand up to get it.
Love the suggestion for the e.l.f. glow product as an affordable option. However, it appears to be more of an allover facial solution. Now in my 50s, I struggle with fine lines and dark circles in my dry, sensitive undereye area. Any suggestions for solutions that hydrate, don’t crease or flake, brighten and don’t break the bank (I’m not asking for much!)? I’ve tried so many but the search continues. The struggle is real!
I just want to say how much I love your Friday posts and always look forward to reading.
That is so kind of you to say. Thank you, Bethany!
Did your Liberty Cosmetic Calendar get snagged in customs for any extended time or extra fees?
No, this is the third time I’ve ordered it and it’s come very quickly (with free shipping) every time. It took about a week to arrive this year.
I set my screen time limit for 8:30pm – the phone won’t even let me use safari or apps after that time – LIFE CHANGING!! It only takes a few days for you to realize that It. Can. Wait. By morning I don’t even recall what dumb rabbit hole I was about to go down.
Thanks for sharing this!
We went to go see Killers of the Flower Moon last weekend and I loved it. Really good.
My favourite moisturiser has been described as a dupe for the CT Magic Cream a lot recently so I thought I should mention it here: Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream. Also a lot more affordable.
Thanks for sharing it with us!
Thank you for the wide range of topics, the museum heist article is fascinating. I recommend The Art Thief, (author’s last name is Finkel I think), a non-fiction book that is an amazing story & very readable.
Anne,
I love the Halloween flag in the picture. Where can I get some?
Love your weekly links.
Aren’t they cute? I wish I could point you in the right direction but I didn’t buy (or make) them myself!
I’ve tried grayscale on my phone but did exactly what the writer of the article did and switched it back after a few days – usually when I wanted to look at a photo or take a picture. I’ll give this a try! Thanks.
We went to see Killers of the Flower Moon on Saturday. While I can tell this is a quality production and many things were done well, it was over 3.5 hours long and it was slow. I realize that there were a lot of moving pieces but not being a smart ass when I say, the book WAS definitely better! The only thing that I can say about the movie is this story will reach a larger bunch of folx. And it is definitely one of those stories that needed to see the light of day!
I tried greyscale! It didn’t stop me from scrolling, but might have reduced it a bit. I switched it back after a panicked moment when I was receiving a phone call and couldn’t tell which button was red or green to answer! 🤣
If you shudder at the idea of a colonoscopy, you might ask your doctor about one of those at-home test kits. I used the Cologuard brand one and it was delivered to my door. Easy to use and (I assume) more pleasant than a colonoscopy. I don’t have any affiliation with any pharmaceutical companies; I just had a very unpleasant memory of consuming that prep solution that “cleans you out” before a surgical procedure and was looking for an alternative.