Subscribe
Sign in
Home
Notes
Chat
Book Recs
Interviews
Travel
Gift Guides
Style
Archive
About
Book Recommendations
Latest
Top
Discussions
12 Unexpected Summer Reads That Aren’t Necessarily “Beach Reads”
Time for a Downtime Summer Reading List, and we've got some of the best folks in books to offer up their picks.
May 8
•
Elise Hu
77
3
2
Downtime Reads: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Is “Yesteryear” worth the hype? Is it Ballerina Farm fanfic or hatefic?
Apr 30
•
Alisha Ramos
158
39
3
Ten Books To Break You Out Of A Reading Rut
Featuring recommendations from Debbie Millman, Ayesha Rascoe, Lisa Lee, Julia Turner and Kat Chow.
Apr 15
•
Elise Hu
64
5
A swoony, grown-up, and utterly charming romance I loved
"One & Only" by Maurene Goo surprised me in the best way
Feb 27
•
Alisha Ramos
98
11
1
Downtime Reads: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
The darkly comic househunting thriller you didn’t know you needed.
Feb 20
•
Alisha Ramos
103
13
4
A Few Self-Helpy Books I Actually Recommend
New year, new perspectives
Feb 11
•
Alisha Ramos
134
50
3
7 Great Books About Love
Get ready to swoon and to weep
Feb 9
•
Alisha Ramos
85
216
1
Downtime Reads: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Notes from parenting in the third trimester and a hopeful book rec for dark times
Feb 3
•
Alisha Ramos
92
12
1
My Most Anticipated Books of 2026
New releases worth knowing about
Jan 22
•
Alisha Ramos
133
41
6
Books to Curl Up With In Winter
A comfort-read list for cold days, suggested by favorite Substackers and Downtime readers.
Dec 10, 2025
•
Alisha Ramos
107
166
1
Reading Recap: Books I Read In July
Checking in with a few mini book reviews from July
Aug 7, 2025
•
Alisha Ramos
135
39
3
Downtime Reads: Transportive Books for Summer Reading Pleasure
Escapism, in novel form
Jul 2, 2025
•
Alisha Ramos
147
114
10
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please
turn on JavaScript
or unblock scripts
