Be still my beating heart - thank you for such a beautiful boost to my recent post, my friend. I’m so glad it touched you.
And, oh my - this post is chock full of goodies! First off, W&T sounds a bit too painfully close to home for me and yet I’m super intrigued. I’ve said it before, but curse you, McGlocklin! I will never be done with your recs before I buy the farm 🫠☠️.
The only one on here I’ve read is Underground Railroad. I’ve read a few other Whitehead books - Sag Harbor, the Nickel Boys, Apex Hides the Hurt. What I enjoy about him is his topical range. He mixes serious topics with joy and irony too (not always in the same book, but that’s what I like - you never know what you’ll get when you pick him up. As for his writing style/quality, it’s not my favorite, but nothing I’ve ever wanted to DFR.
I loved your “vibe” description of the teen book - cracked me up!
Question: ever read any non-fiction? I’d say I read 75% NF and 25% F. I wish I had the stomach to review books the way you do (so succinct! so descriptive! so succinct!). If I did, I’d write up a review of the one I’m reading now - A Therapeutic Journey by Alain de Botton. Maybe I’ll do a short review in an upcoming post, because it’s definitely health related. Anyway, it is a simply stunning book. It has taken my breath away multiple times. His turns of phrase are just so sweeping and yet so rooted in reality and relatability. Just gorgeous.
Two last things: 1) I am in love with your kitties - please tell them, 2) I’m going to need you to chart your reading time for me, Spreadsheet Sister. I can never wrap my head around your ability to finish so many books and also do life. I can’t be the only one wondering this! Where’s Jenovia?? lol.
ok thats why I did mention up front that a few of these I started in previous months, so its just what I've finished!! I read 75% of Penance in the spring and forced myself to finish it this month. Also I do a lot of reading on 1. the treadmill and 2. on the weekends instead of doing fun social things because its just what I like doing right now. my husband sits next to me and watches the sopranos while i read 😂
I read some NF but I havent recently because I had a weird relationship with the self-help side of that industry that I had to let go of for a while. I decided i needed a period of time when I wasnt actively working on "becoming a better person" whatever that means. I do LOVE audiobook memoirs though, and liked Catch and Kill but that one got taken back by the library before I could finish. I would love to hear a review of Therapeutic Journey though.
I appreciate that take on Whitehead, I really want to try another book for a different vibe. I havent written him off.
they kitties have been told and they said they love you too!!!
Okay, new questions: are you reading reading on the treadmill or listening to audiobooks? If you’re reading reading, tell me how your eyes and brain don’t make like scrambled eggs (unless you’re walking 1.2 mph or something - and no judgment if you are!)
I hear you on the self-help front. As motivated as I am to recover my health, I had to force myself to stop reading recovery/health books. I was becoming so one-dimensional and honestly there was a point of diminishing returns on that particular genre. But I do love memoirs also and I love learning new, esoteric things. Not self-help, just edifying things like I read a whole book on the history of daylight saving time and I read a fair amount of books on issues of race/racism too. Ooh and I also love to read “I left a cult” memoirs too. The brainwashing and mind control fascinate me and then of course the extreme bravery of escaping. I feel like I’ve told you all this before, sorry 😵💫.
Catch and Kill was so good! For your next Whitehead, I’d go with Sag Harbor, but it’s definitely a summertime vibe, so if not soon, then next year.
You are inspiring me that maybe i need to do a full breakdown on this! I walk about 3.0 sometimes even uphill, i just make the font on the ipad real big and honestly some stories are easier than others - this is one reason I struggled with Martyr! at first, it just was not a treadmill book!! The Nix however was perfect. but i have all these spooky stories lined up and honestly i am not trying to read shirley jackson at the gym lol
you might have but i dont remember it all so we are both out here being old goldfish haha. You are also inspiring me to switch it up on the NF front
I finished 6 books this month but that's because I stop everything and read for hours. Plus I have a partner that is wildly understanding when I say, "I need to finish this book so I can't do anything else right now." He gets it and leaves me alone until I come back to reality. I'm a shut in during the summer months so it's not out of the ordinary to read more than that. When I'm more active and doing things, there may be a month where I only finish two books. I will say that I treat reading like brushing my teeth. I HAVE to do it. When I don't read books, I don't feel like myself.
Oh geez - so you’re like McGlocklin and now I feel like I have to come rescue you both for a GNO 💅🏻 💃🏼. Just kidding! Sort of…I think I am really just envious of the discipline you both have for reading. I am a distracted monkey brain, I guess. And I often use reading as a reward for after I get done all the things, except then I’m often too tired 🥱.
Hahahaha I would def go out with you girls. I did a lot of gallivanting in my youth so now I’m in my señora era where I like to stay at home in comfy cozies with my books and my man…and eventually two kittens (probs next year). Steal away more time for your reading! Even if it’s just 20 minutes. Sometimes I literally set a timer if I have a wildly busy day and want to get it in. ❤️🔥
I love your roundups so much! I'm diving right into spooky season with Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss. It was recommended by Sara Hildreth and I don't know how I'd never heard of it before! It's a totally different story but giving me The Secret History vibes so far...
Thank you Lauren!! I read Sara’s post too and Ghost Wall is the sleeper hit of that rec list for sure, it sounds really good I’ll be waiting to hear if you think it’s worth it
I just finished it! It's a novella so easily read in a day or two. The prologue is *amazing* and I overall loved the vibes. The ending was too rushed imo. I wish it'd been a couple chapters longer because the pacing felt off. Still worth a read I think though, esp since it's short!
on the same book page here: just finishing up W&T and have i have martyr on the docket for my book club. glad to see you liked them both!
tangentially related to the fall creeping season, i may get to the new tana french before martyr!, however. she’s more crime than spooky, (more haunting vibes than salacious details) but still feels appropriate
I love that we are on the same book wavelength!! How do you feel about W&T?? I’m so behind on my Tana French you’ll have to let me know what you think of it.
My face reading the description of Penance 🫨 (setting their classmate on fire). I haven't read any of your August reads yet.
You KNOW I'm excited for spooky season, it's the MOST WONDEFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!! Also wildly excited for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I loved the interviews you linked. I watched/read each one like the fan girl that I am.
Those vintage Stephen King covers are so good 😍 Makes me want to go on a King binge!
The God of The Woods and Becoming Little Shell by Chris La Tray are my two favorite August reads.
Just started Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas and it is feeding all of my spooky desires. 🧛🏻♀️
As always, the kitties look spectacular and so so very loved. ❤️🔥
i am having a bit of analysis paralysis trying to figure out what to read next it all sounds SO good. I have been more hesitant to show my full spooky obsessions here but thats gone THIS is what gets me excited so its ON haha
Thrilled to read about all the love you felt for W&T! Equally love to read your Martyr! thoughts bc I know you started it a while ago and had to break - but you finished and in good spirits at that! I really want to read it, so it pleases me to hear that in the end you were happy w the journey the book took you on. Also The Nix sounds fun?!!?!!?! Consider my interest piqued I have never heard of it before but sounds perfect for the family saga summer we’re having lol
Always considered reading Misery so I’d be interested to hear your take!
Martyr! certainly turned around for me - funny part is the change happened when I acquired a physical copy from the library instead of trying to read on kindle. Weird how that happens?? The Nix was SO SO FUN. I didnt mean to get the messy family drama again but here we are. Will definitely be writing about Misery 🖤
Ooooo I've had my eye on The Nix, regrettably filed under "picked up in a library haul and didn't get to it in time"
I'm reading Lolita for the first time right now. The prose is just as symphonic as everyone says but now that I'm in the thick of the plot it's uhhhh a slow-moving small doses kind of read.
To balance out its dark delirious energy I picked up a book about Waco........ which in theory isn't much of a palette cleanser. But this author, Jeff Guinn, wrote a very well-researched book about Jonestown that read like fiction, so I expect it'll be a great read.
Loved The Nix. Started Wellness but stopped. The same thing happened to me initially with The Nix and i don't remember why. I think it was life interfering rather than the book. This is a good reminder to give Wellness another try. Thanks!
What an excellent list!! I would love to hear your thoughts on Penance if you do read it because you’re a bit younger than me but still old enough I’m curious to know if the language bothers you or not! I Who Have Never Known Men is high on the TBR everyone raves!
Be still my beating heart - thank you for such a beautiful boost to my recent post, my friend. I’m so glad it touched you.
And, oh my - this post is chock full of goodies! First off, W&T sounds a bit too painfully close to home for me and yet I’m super intrigued. I’ve said it before, but curse you, McGlocklin! I will never be done with your recs before I buy the farm 🫠☠️.
The only one on here I’ve read is Underground Railroad. I’ve read a few other Whitehead books - Sag Harbor, the Nickel Boys, Apex Hides the Hurt. What I enjoy about him is his topical range. He mixes serious topics with joy and irony too (not always in the same book, but that’s what I like - you never know what you’ll get when you pick him up. As for his writing style/quality, it’s not my favorite, but nothing I’ve ever wanted to DFR.
I loved your “vibe” description of the teen book - cracked me up!
Question: ever read any non-fiction? I’d say I read 75% NF and 25% F. I wish I had the stomach to review books the way you do (so succinct! so descriptive! so succinct!). If I did, I’d write up a review of the one I’m reading now - A Therapeutic Journey by Alain de Botton. Maybe I’ll do a short review in an upcoming post, because it’s definitely health related. Anyway, it is a simply stunning book. It has taken my breath away multiple times. His turns of phrase are just so sweeping and yet so rooted in reality and relatability. Just gorgeous.
Two last things: 1) I am in love with your kitties - please tell them, 2) I’m going to need you to chart your reading time for me, Spreadsheet Sister. I can never wrap my head around your ability to finish so many books and also do life. I can’t be the only one wondering this! Where’s Jenovia?? lol.
ok thats why I did mention up front that a few of these I started in previous months, so its just what I've finished!! I read 75% of Penance in the spring and forced myself to finish it this month. Also I do a lot of reading on 1. the treadmill and 2. on the weekends instead of doing fun social things because its just what I like doing right now. my husband sits next to me and watches the sopranos while i read 😂
I read some NF but I havent recently because I had a weird relationship with the self-help side of that industry that I had to let go of for a while. I decided i needed a period of time when I wasnt actively working on "becoming a better person" whatever that means. I do LOVE audiobook memoirs though, and liked Catch and Kill but that one got taken back by the library before I could finish. I would love to hear a review of Therapeutic Journey though.
I appreciate that take on Whitehead, I really want to try another book for a different vibe. I havent written him off.
they kitties have been told and they said they love you too!!!
Okay, new questions: are you reading reading on the treadmill or listening to audiobooks? If you’re reading reading, tell me how your eyes and brain don’t make like scrambled eggs (unless you’re walking 1.2 mph or something - and no judgment if you are!)
I hear you on the self-help front. As motivated as I am to recover my health, I had to force myself to stop reading recovery/health books. I was becoming so one-dimensional and honestly there was a point of diminishing returns on that particular genre. But I do love memoirs also and I love learning new, esoteric things. Not self-help, just edifying things like I read a whole book on the history of daylight saving time and I read a fair amount of books on issues of race/racism too. Ooh and I also love to read “I left a cult” memoirs too. The brainwashing and mind control fascinate me and then of course the extreme bravery of escaping. I feel like I’ve told you all this before, sorry 😵💫.
Catch and Kill was so good! For your next Whitehead, I’d go with Sag Harbor, but it’s definitely a summertime vibe, so if not soon, then next year.
You are inspiring me that maybe i need to do a full breakdown on this! I walk about 3.0 sometimes even uphill, i just make the font on the ipad real big and honestly some stories are easier than others - this is one reason I struggled with Martyr! at first, it just was not a treadmill book!! The Nix however was perfect. but i have all these spooky stories lined up and honestly i am not trying to read shirley jackson at the gym lol
you might have but i dont remember it all so we are both out here being old goldfish haha. You are also inspiring me to switch it up on the NF front
OKAY…that makes more sense. For some reason, I pictured you reading actual books and not on an iPad and it was too much for my brain.
This made me 😂
I finished 6 books this month but that's because I stop everything and read for hours. Plus I have a partner that is wildly understanding when I say, "I need to finish this book so I can't do anything else right now." He gets it and leaves me alone until I come back to reality. I'm a shut in during the summer months so it's not out of the ordinary to read more than that. When I'm more active and doing things, there may be a month where I only finish two books. I will say that I treat reading like brushing my teeth. I HAVE to do it. When I don't read books, I don't feel like myself.
Oh geez - so you’re like McGlocklin and now I feel like I have to come rescue you both for a GNO 💅🏻 💃🏼. Just kidding! Sort of…I think I am really just envious of the discipline you both have for reading. I am a distracted monkey brain, I guess. And I often use reading as a reward for after I get done all the things, except then I’m often too tired 🥱.
Hahahaha I would def go out with you girls. I did a lot of gallivanting in my youth so now I’m in my señora era where I like to stay at home in comfy cozies with my books and my man…and eventually two kittens (probs next year). Steal away more time for your reading! Even if it’s just 20 minutes. Sometimes I literally set a timer if I have a wildly busy day and want to get it in. ❤️🔥
good advice! ⏰
Creepy is the name of the game — thanks so much for including Apocrypha!
genuinely excited to see where it takes us!
I love your roundups so much! I'm diving right into spooky season with Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss. It was recommended by Sara Hildreth and I don't know how I'd never heard of it before! It's a totally different story but giving me The Secret History vibes so far...
Thank you Lauren!! I read Sara’s post too and Ghost Wall is the sleeper hit of that rec list for sure, it sounds really good I’ll be waiting to hear if you think it’s worth it
I just finished it! It's a novella so easily read in a day or two. The prologue is *amazing* and I overall loved the vibes. The ending was too rushed imo. I wish it'd been a couple chapters longer because the pacing felt off. Still worth a read I think though, esp since it's short!
The Gilmore Girls post! So good. Also, what a good month you had! You nailed The Nix vibes description.
Thank you 😊 that Gilmore girls post was perfection
on the same book page here: just finishing up W&T and have i have martyr on the docket for my book club. glad to see you liked them both!
tangentially related to the fall creeping season, i may get to the new tana french before martyr!, however. she’s more crime than spooky, (more haunting vibes than salacious details) but still feels appropriate
I love that we are on the same book wavelength!! How do you feel about W&T?? I’m so behind on my Tana French you’ll have to let me know what you think of it.
My face reading the description of Penance 🫨 (setting their classmate on fire). I haven't read any of your August reads yet.
You KNOW I'm excited for spooky season, it's the MOST WONDEFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!! Also wildly excited for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I loved the interviews you linked. I watched/read each one like the fan girl that I am.
Those vintage Stephen King covers are so good 😍 Makes me want to go on a King binge!
The God of The Woods and Becoming Little Shell by Chris La Tray are my two favorite August reads.
Just started Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas and it is feeding all of my spooky desires. 🧛🏻♀️
As always, the kitties look spectacular and so so very loved. ❤️🔥
i am having a bit of analysis paralysis trying to figure out what to read next it all sounds SO good. I have been more hesitant to show my full spooky obsessions here but thats gone THIS is what gets me excited so its ON haha
OMG YES!!! Give us all the spooky Natalie vibes!!!! 👻👻👻😍😍😍
Very very excited for your full dissertation on the Rumaan Alam!!!
I gotta lot of words sister!!!
Thrilled to read about all the love you felt for W&T! Equally love to read your Martyr! thoughts bc I know you started it a while ago and had to break - but you finished and in good spirits at that! I really want to read it, so it pleases me to hear that in the end you were happy w the journey the book took you on. Also The Nix sounds fun?!!?!!?! Consider my interest piqued I have never heard of it before but sounds perfect for the family saga summer we’re having lol
Always considered reading Misery so I’d be interested to hear your take!
Martyr! certainly turned around for me - funny part is the change happened when I acquired a physical copy from the library instead of trying to read on kindle. Weird how that happens?? The Nix was SO SO FUN. I didnt mean to get the messy family drama again but here we are. Will definitely be writing about Misery 🖤
Ooooo I've had my eye on The Nix, regrettably filed under "picked up in a library haul and didn't get to it in time"
I'm reading Lolita for the first time right now. The prose is just as symphonic as everyone says but now that I'm in the thick of the plot it's uhhhh a slow-moving small doses kind of read.
To balance out its dark delirious energy I picked up a book about Waco........ which in theory isn't much of a palette cleanser. But this author, Jeff Guinn, wrote a very well-researched book about Jonestown that read like fiction, so I expect it'll be a great read.
well get it back because it was funny and extremely apropos for the time we are living in!
the words in Lolita are mid boggling. The plot is non existent. and its gross. what a strange strange book!!
Waco does not sound like a palette cleanser at all lol but I've been very interested in that story cant wait to hear your thoughts
Loved The Nix. Started Wellness but stopped. The same thing happened to me initially with The Nix and i don't remember why. I think it was life interfering rather than the book. This is a good reminder to give Wellness another try. Thanks!
I actually stopped and restarted the nix as well! I blame it on the 700 page count because it truly was so good but can feel daunting.
I have been wondering about the Beetlejuice musical. Guess I need to go see it.
I couldnt stop laughing and the production value was so high - i cant recommend enough
Thanks so much for the mention! I’m all over Gilmore girls ❤️
my comfort space for sure 🖤
What an excellent list!! I would love to hear your thoughts on Penance if you do read it because you’re a bit younger than me but still old enough I’m curious to know if the language bothers you or not! I Who Have Never Known Men is high on the TBR everyone raves!