What are you up to this weekend? I’m planning on a pleasantly full spring weekend of watching the Severance season 2 finale, fertilizing my houseplants, and seeing all my college kids in all the places (including a birthday celebration!).
I hope you have something to look forward to this weekend, 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:
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 Don’t Want Anyone to Read My Diaries, Yet I Can’t Burn Them. (New York Times gift link) Dani Shapiro on confronting her old notebooks: “There was so much I had forgotten. So many names and places: editors, publishers, other writers, journalists, restaurants, bars, book parties, an entire world of lost relics I was about to set aflame.” (Today’s One Great Book episode over on our What Should I Read Next patreon is about When Women Were Birds, which pairs perfectly with this essay.)
Why you should make your phone boring. (Vox) “Ironic that I was distracted once again by a notification telling me to look at my phone in order to learn how to look at my phone less.”
What I’ve been reading lately: the new and the notable. (MMD) This month’s roundup of recent reads include a little old, a little new, a variety of genres, but most notably, more nonfiction than fiction.
I’m restocking spring wardrobe staples, which means refreshing my J.Crew Factory Girlfriend tees (XXS–3X; I’m 5’9″ and always get the Medium) and snapping up the pretty new spinach, redwood branch, and lilac colors. I also love their bright patterned swimsuits (XXS–3X) and this cute coverup. (XXS–3X)
Power Lifting Made Me a Better Writer. (Harpers Bazaar) Self-professed “slow writer” R.O. Kwon on creating calm and measuring changes against herself: “Crucially, each time I hit a personal record, nothing can negate the new triumph. It happened; it’s a fact, established. Before long, I’ll push a little higher. Such thrills are difficult to obtain in the rest of my life, much of which is dictated by writing.”
Favorite readers, eyeglasses, and sunglasses. (MMD) This is a delight. “Our team here at MMD wears a lot of different types of specs (prescription and non-prescription) in our bookish daily lives. Many of our Zoom meetings start with a quick gab about our current frames. You could call us quite the inadvertent group of vision product testers, researchers, and reviewers.”
The Facebook tell-all Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want you to read, briefly explained. (Vox) “The book came out on March 11 and is called Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, a reference to The Great Gatsby, which refers to its wealthy characters as ‘careless people‘ who ‘smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money.’ The analogy is not subtle, and neither are the allegations Wynn-Williams makes about her former bosses.”
The Best Botanical Gardens in the US. (Vogue) Missouri is my favorite U.S. garden so far. What about you? (I always love getting recommendations!)
The Nonfiction Files 2: How to Pick Nonfiction You’ll Like. (Unstacked Substack) WSIRN alum Traci Thomas started a great new series devoted to nonfiction books. This installment includes how to decode key words and phrases in blurbs.
Our 15-year-old electric kettle bit the dust and we replaced it with this Hamilton Beach water boiler, which is getting tons of use since I’m drinking heaps of current favorite Harney & Sons Green Tea with Coconut, Ginger and Vanilla and slowly making my way through the Plum Deluxe decaf Tea Lover’s Advent Calendar (no longer available, but their individual teas are great!).
The Rise of Romance Bookstores. (Romancing the Data) I didn’t realize how many there were in the US now! Also: if you’re ever in Louisville, be sure to stop by A Novel Romance. It’s darling!
10 Essential Drinks Every Coffee Lover Needs to Know, From a Flat White to a Cappuccino. (Food & Wine) What’s your go-to?
Revisiting childhood favorites for a nostalgic reading project. (What Should I Read Next) This week’s new episode highlights books that speak to each other across the years.
The Quiet Joy of Doing the Dishes. (Saveur) “Tell me how you wash a plate, and I will tell you who you are.”
Don’t miss these posts:
13 time travel novels from (nearly) every genre. There’s a time travel novel for you, no matter your reading taste!
Try the Bakewell tart, and other rules I’m learning to live by. My husband Will and I traveled to Scotland in December 2018 for an amazing literary adventure. Our time there was magical, though I do have a handful of regrets. Some were beyond our control, but one was completely preventable…
15 immersive historical fiction books about overlooked events. You probably didn’t learn about these events in history class!
Have a great weekend!
30 comments
Re Botanical Gardens, glad to see that my local garden, Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond VA made the list but surprised to see that Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA did not. When I was a student at University of Delaware in the 80s, visiting Longwood Gardens was always a treat!
I was also surprised that Longwood wasn’t included! We’re members and go at least four times a year because there is always something amazing to see. (But of course in SE PA we are spoiled for choice when it comes to gardens: Chanticleer! Bartram’s! Stoneleigh! Jenkins! not to mention the arboreta.)
I was just jumping on to mention Longwood Gardens as well. Truly spectacular!
Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia is amazing.
Every season at Longwood Gardens is beautiful. I try to visit several times a year.
Thank you, so many wonderful links here! The Cleveland Botanical Garden is a particular favorite of mine, as a dear cousin (who is a horticultural therapist) was on staff there for some time and influenced many wonderful installations, including a butterfly garden.
Regarding the quiet joy of doing dishes: Dishes aren’t really my jam, just something that needs to be done, but there are times when ironing brings me great satisfaction. There can be a type of meditation in it, where I pause and focus on what is in front of me, rather than all of the distractions clamoring for my attention.
And last of all, we are traveling to Ireland next month, and thanks to “Try the Bakewell Tart” I will not skip trying local specialties because it might exceed my normal carbohydrate intake – we won’t be back in Ireland any time soon, and I want to taste all the delights of the country!
Botanical Gardens: admittedly, I’ve not been to tons, but my favs (in no particular order) are Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Reynolda gardens in Winston-Salem, and the botanical gardens in Montreal (so gorgeous even in the fall!).
Reynolda this time of year with all the daffodils is enchanting
I was also going to comment that Longwood Gardens should have bee included. Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital, and has many beautiful public gardens to visit as well as an amazing Flower Show in March.
While not technically a botanical garden, Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois is one of my favorite places for beautiful gardens. It is the former country estate of the Robert McCormick, the longtime publisher of the Chicago Tribune that now hosts events and has a military museum (Col. McCormick was a World War I veteran), a golf course and, of course, the gardens. My parents still have a photo of toddler-age me on their wall in front of a gorgeous flower bed at Cantigny.
Anne, I hear you about wanting to put an unnecessary letter in “botanical.” I have a weird mental block that trips me up when I type “San Francisco.” For some reason my brain wants to type a T instead of the second C. Weird.
The San Diego Zoo is a world famous zoo that is also a botanical garden!!
My favorite botanical garden in the U.S. is the Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. It defies description, with walking paths that go all the way down to the ocean. My favorite that I have visited outside the U.S. is
Butchart Gardens in British Columbia. Unbelievable.
Love the Shapiro piece on not being able to burn her diaries and notebooks. I had a different experience. When Brett Kavanaugh was nominated for the Supreme Court and the allegations of inappropriate conduct were made, and his old journals and calendars, going back to high school, were produced for all the world to see, I was horrified. I did not feel sorry for him if those allegations were true, but I was so uncomfortable seeing all of that. I kept a journal from high school through college and not long after the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, I destroyed all of them. I could not stand the thought of anyone reading them after my death.
This time of year, when spring doesn’t really show up until late April/early May in the area of NY where I live (woke up to snow this morning), I always try to take a day trip in early March to Northampton, MA, for Smith College’s Spring Bulb Show in their botanical garden’s conservatory. It’s not the biggest or best botanical garden in the country, but the explosion of color in an otherwise drab world always fills me up with hope and joy.
I also recommend Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, NY. Its design is based on Chinese and Japanese style gardens and feels unique for this area. It’s very peaceful.
I love the Bulb Show! I grew up in Northampton and went to Smith, and it was such a joy to go every year in the middle of winter!
On the topic of gardens, I always enjoy visiting a botanical garden garden. One of my favorites is Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida. Eighty-three acres of well maintained tropical plants and there’s also a tram which provides some educational commentary. It’s a really great place.
Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI and Filoli in Woodside, CA are both wonderful.
I discovered A Novel Romance when I was visiting in August and it’s so cute! I’ll definitely return when I’m back in May!
I am also still enjoying working my way through a Plum Deluxe advent calendar. They are my new favorite place to find unique and delicious tea blends!
My favorite botanical garden in the U.S. (so far!) is the Dallas Arboretum. It’s fantastic.
The Missouri Botanical Gardens (aka Shaw’s Garden) is hands down the best garden in the US! And so overlooked. On your next visit may I also suggest the Bellefountaine Cemetery & Arboretum (Level III). An amazing collection of trees and full of fascinating graves.
Such a great recommendation! I love that Bellefountaine has tours too. This is such a gorgeous time of year for both spaces and really the whole city. It’s like I can see everything in STL waking up.
I’m headed to the Open Book in two days, so I need to know where to stop for this Bakewell tart?
I’m so excited for you! We stopped at a lovely cafe/farm shop halfway between Wigtown and Edinburgh, not in Wigtown itself. But I would have happily tried Bakewell tart anywhere at all!
I haven’t visited any big gardens in a long time. Now I live in Maine, and for those coming to Mt Desert Island or Bar Harbor for a summer vacation, I recommend that you seek out 3 exquisite little gardens—Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s Garden in Seal Cove (it’s inside a red Chinese wall and designed by Beatrix Farrand!), Thuya Gardens in Northeast Harbor (it’s on the top of a hill with great views if you climb up the hill face–you can also drive up—and it’s designed in the manner of Gertrude Jekyll—so idyllic!), as well as the Asticou Azalea Gardens also in Northeast Harbor (just around the corner from Thuya) which are a Maine version of a Japanese Garden. Serene. I love to take visitors to all 3 of these.
About the diaries, I kept one from age 12 to 20, and never reread it until I was in my 60s (I was afraid it would be too teenage angsty or too boring!), but it wasn’t, and I discovered lots of gems I had forgotten. If they exist after I die, I don’t mind people (well, MY FAMILY!) reading them. Although what got me started was the Diary of Anne Frank! I imagined my early tragic death and people reading my diaries….I’d be famous…
I am loving Severence,too,and loved/hated the season finale. So fun to have a show to look forward to, and I will miss this one!
So I was reading the time travel article, and it mentions the book Wrong Place, Wrong Time, with no author. There’s at least 15 books with that name! And I didn’t see a way to make a comment. Any idea which author it is? I love time travel books and read a series by Shawn Inmon which is a lot like the First Fifteen Lives of Henry August, people wake up as their old self and have to learn enough to go on.
Hi Tracy,
It’s by Gillian McAllister and it’s really good!
Gillian McAllister!
My favorite Wisconsin gardens are Boerner Botanical Gardens just outside of Milwaukee and Bookworm Gardens in Sheboygan.
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