We’re having a strange start to the weekend here: school is out and many businesses are closed because of the pounding hurricane rains that made their way up to Kentucky last night. The deluge and its potential impacts are scary even though we’re hundreds of miles from the center of the storm. I hope this weekend finds you safe, warm, and dry, and that you have something good to read and something to look forward to.
My favorite finds from around the web:
I offer gift links for articles whenever possible (you may still need to create an account with the publication); if there’s no gift link and you’re not a subscriber, check to see if your library carries the publication or use a service like Pocket.
‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing. (The Guardian) Fun conversation. (I loved his new book!)
Why is it so hard to make new friends as an adult? (Vox) “So, how can I make more friends? We should act like kids again.” (The 200 hours statistic surprised me.)
My 2024 Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar is already here and it’s so good. I’m into trying new high-end beauty and skincare plus grabbing some tried-and-true cult classics at a great value, so I’ve been thrilled with the Liberty calendar these past few years. This will horrify some but when it arrives I open the whole thing at once and start using it right away, so I can confidently report that in addition to the full-size favorites that persuaded me to order (Sunday Riley, La Mer, Augustinus Bader, Trish McEvoy) I LOVE the Skin Rocks moisturizer and Byredo lipstick (mine is Reunion).
More beauty calendars: commenter Alicia put the Space NK Beauty Advent Calendar on my radar and mine arrives on Monday. The products are so good, including some pricey-but-worth-it personal favorites that convinced me to take the plunge: the K18 hair mask, Augustinus Bader serum, Olaplex bonding oil, Milk Makeup primer, Supergoop! glow screen, and more. Alicia shared great advice on deciding if a certain beauty calendar is worth it for you: “Before getting a calendar, especially since many of them are pretty expensive, check the products inside and the value of them. Add up the value of the products you know you would use and decide if the price is reasonable for that. I do that for every calendar and rule several out this way every time. It’s great that it’s $300 for $1,500 worth of stuff, but if you would never have paid $300 for those items, then it’s not actually a great deal.” Thanks, Alicia!
5 Changes That Matter From The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition (Writer’s Digest) “Each update in the Manual is significant in some way, but here are five that matter more than most.” I’ve found myself in the middle of a conversation about the preposition update three times this week!
12 quiet novels for those seeking compelling character-driven reads. (MMD) Novels that invite readers to savor the story. For a longer list of quiet reads, browse through the comments.
When it comes to weeknight dinners these days, we’re looking for the trifecta of delicious, easy, and fast—and this Smitten Kitchen soy-glazed chicken nailed it. We took Deb’s recommendation and served it with chili crisp plus the simplest snap pea and cucumber salad.
One House, One Homeowner and More Than 100 Shades of White. (New York Times gift link) “Though real estate is about location, color is about ‘context, context, context.'”As someone who lived in a house with all-white walls for a year, I read this with great interest.
Live a Life You Don’t Need Rescuing From (The Beaty Beat) 40 “practical tips and bits of lady wisdom upon turning 40,” including bookish goodness like “abandon books you can’t get into” and “read a book once a year that you understand maybe 70 percent of.”
New favorite fall jeans: Kut from the Kloth’s Sienna Wide Cuff style. Easy to dress up or dress down and adorable with basically everything. Essential information: in my experience Kut runs large. I typically expect to wear a 6-8 in jeans (or a 28, plus or minus a size) but I wear a 0 in this style. It took me numerous attempts to get the sizing right; I hope that tip saves you the hassle.
Margot Robbie And Jacob Elordi To Star In Emerald Fennell’s Adaptation Of ‘Wuthering Heights’ From MRC And LuckyChap. (Deadline) Wuthering Heights is one of those books I’m glad I read and also never want to read again—yet I’m intrigued by this news and lineup. (Psst—did we all notice that headline is not MLA-approved? Ha!)
This Quince vintage camp shirt is perfect for the summer-to-fall transition: cute, easy to wear, and a steal at $29.90. I wore the terra cotta this week and got lots of compliments. I usually wear a Small in Quince tops but needed an XS for the shoulder seams to hit right. (This shirt is strikingly similar to the pricier—and sold-out—camp shirt I wore in our Summer Reading Guide photos, as pictured here.)
Not Just Fargo: Why Minnesota Makes the Perfect Setting for Crime Fiction. (CrimeReads) “Minnesota’s great writers, among them Louise Erdrich, Marcie Rendon, and William Kent Krueger, manage to convey a deep love of the state’s natural beauty and its peoples while simultaneously exposing the darker sides to its history… They embody the most poignant of the state’s sharp contrasts.”
This is why autumn can make you feel extra sleepy. (Glamour UK) I knew it!
Don’t miss these posts:
31 mystery novels avid readers recommend again and again. Calling all mystery readers!
How to create a cozy reading area. Here’s how to establish a dedicated reading area in your home.
7 novels set during class reunions. Would you rather go to your class reunion or read about one?
Have a great weekend!
10 comments
Would appreciate recommendations for cozy mysteries. I have read all of Laura Childs but would like to read others. I love to curl up with them in the fall before bed and be intrigued but not unable to sleep! LOL
Thanks!
Chicago Manual of Style (CMos) was an almost daily companion when I went back to grad school in my 50s and got a Master’s degree in Music (Choral Conducting) to start my encore career. I am happy that I can ignore all of these updates to a weighty book!
Some of my favorite cozy mystery writers are Ellery Adams (any of her series), Vicky Delany (any of her series), Eva Gates (aka Vicky Delany, Lighthouse Library series), Sarah Fox (any of her series), Paige Shelton (Scottish Bookshop series), Diane Kelly (Mountain Lodge series and House Flipper series), Gretchen Rue (Witches’ Brew series).
I happily clicked on almost every link–thank you 🙂
As an XL woman, I suggest you reconsider recommending any company that does not even try to server larger women. Their XL is on the smaller side compared to other companies. Half of American women wear plus sizes.
I wear 2x and don’t mind f Anne recommends what works for her even if it won’t fit me. However, I would really appreciate if she would mention what size it goes up to . in her post to spare us having to click through to find out.
Or just state the largest size in the jeans is 16, and the largest size in the camp shirt is XL. Then I know to ignore those links. I don’t mind that the links are there – I just get sad when I click and there’s nothing even possible for me.
The Vox article mentions that as adults, we are no longer subject to the forced interaction of school and the like which easily gives kids the 200+ hours needed to form close friendships. But what I find interesting is that it doesn’t talk about the decline in engagement in civic or religious communities. I moved A LOT in my 20s before settling in my current place 9 years ago at age 31 – and in each location I was able to make friends quickly by becoming involved in a local church. I was in one location for only 9 weeks (internship), yet made a connection through church that remained strong enough for her to be a bridesmaid for me 6 years later! The article mentions finding clubs that share your interests and that’s good – but those clubs may not offer as many hours of interaction as a religious or civic (such as Rotary, JA, etc) does, since these groups will have a diversity of activities that happen throughout the week – not just at the main meeting. So it will take longer to form close friendships versus seeing someone on Sunday for church service, then on Wednesday for a mid-week Bible study, and again on Saturday for a volunteer activity (as an example).
As a literature and language nerd, I’ve been telling people for years that “they” exists as a singular. 🙂
Thanks for including the article from the “Beauty Beat, “Live a Live You Don’t Need Rescuing From.” Excellent for women of any age. Really, really good advice.
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