Weekend Recs #9: New books out in August, refreshing recs, and hockey x BookTok

Plus: What if you *didn't* do that thing?

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This is Weekend Recs, a weekly send of ideas and diversions for your downtime. Not subscribed yet? Here you go:

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What paid subscribers got this week: A fun thread about what’s on all our summer bucket lists, and my search for a non-diaper diaper bag.

Four ideas for your weekend…

graphic: Downtime / sandwich image: Cup of Jo

• 📘 There are SO many great books that are getting published this month! Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (just published!) gets my vote for what to read first. A blurb from the publisher:

  “In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.”

  I loved the quiet beauty of Patchett’s The Dutch House and can’t wait to read this one. (Btw, Meryl Streep narrates the audiobook!)

• 🤔 A mindset: “Maybe the thing that’s stressing you out is something that you can let go of.” I heard this on a podcast recently and so desperately needed to hear it. I’m the type to add to my to-do list…and continue adding until it snowballs into a stressful pile of “top priority” things that will never actually get done. This is a mindset that asks you to really prioritize and scrutinize your list. For example, I’ve been stressing about buying the perfect amount and size of newborn diapers and somehow made it up in my head that it’s a “must-do.” But really, it’s something I can let go of—diapers can always be bought at the store as needed. So I guess I’m trying to say…let go of your diapers, whatever those are for you? 🤪

• 🔥💃 Enjoy this FUN and hot dancehall playlist to shimmy along to one of these summer nights with, before, or after dinner. (It’s curated by DJ Ethan Tomas for the no-alcohol spritz brand Ghia, which I also love.)

• 🍎 The Real Housewives of New York City’s newest season. Look, I’ve never watched a Real Housewives franchise until now. I’m not sure what drew me in—probably Jenna Lyons of J.Crew fame? But yeah, so far, it’s excellent as far as “bad TV” goes. Their trip to the Hamptons for a girly sleepover? Sign me up. Ubah? I want to be her friend. John Paul Brammer of

  ¡Hola Papi!
  has the most hilarious episode recaps (hat tip to
  Caroline Cala Donofrio
  for the rec!). Please share any other RHONY-adjacent fan media I should be consuming.

P.S. 📙 Two more August book releases I’m excited about: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (out next Tuesday) and Tomb Sweeping: Stories by Alexandra Chang (also out next Tuesday).

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A grab bag of links and reads worth sharing with the group chat.

image: NYT

• Apps Like Dipsea and Quinn are Redefining Pleasure for Women [NYT *gift link]
  YES THEY ARE. Highly recommend Dipsea if you’re looking to blow off some steam. 😏 “Like mini podcasts but spicier, these stories detailing sexy scenarios fill the space between audio romance novels and visual pornography.”

• Everyone in the Hamptons Is Reading Emma Cline’s ‘The Guest’ [Curbed]
  I’m not sure if this makes me more or less inclined to read it!

• Gen Z loves clothing hauls and hates landfills. Enter the style bundle [Washington Post]
  I posted about this TikTok phenom before in this newsletter: Online secondhand sellers are creating "bundles" of curated clothes and promoting them with viral TikTok videos. Love it!

• On the Gamification of Reading [Shondaland]
  A more measured piece about the good and bad of Goodreads.

• Helpful Things to Say to Someone With a New Baby [Grudge Report]
  Comedy gold! By the ever-brilliant

  Bess Kalb
  .

🌼 More fun fluff…

That delicate wash detergent I mentioned last week is finally back! // Fellow A Court of Thorns & Roses fans, prepare to be impressed. 😍 // After a recent taste test, I’m going to declare Cherry Vanilla the best Olipop flavor. Perfect for summer. 🍒 // Love the idea of a refreshing chilled avocado cucumber soup + a sandwich. // Let’s help the smitten kitchen digest clear some teachers’ wishlists for the new school year. //

Links continued below…

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