Good morning from Thomasville, Georgia, and happy Independent Bookstore Day weekend! We had a wonderful time at The Bookshelf last night with owner Annie B. Jones and her bookstore staff. (A special hello to those of you there!) Today I’m heading over to Tallahassee for Word of South festival of literature and music. It’s my first time at this renowned event and I can’t wait to experience it for myself—and meet you there! My events are on Sunday, April 27: I’m recording a live What Should I Read Next? episode with my special guests and interviewing Lauren Groff for her keynote appearance. (What should I ask her?)
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.
A quick update:
We want you to know how things work around here, and to that end: we’ve enabled comment moderation for all comments on MMD, which is a change from our previous settings. We want you to know what to expect, and thank you for your patience while my team and I manually approve comments, which we do regularly during our business hours.
There wasn’t any specific event that precipitated this. I’ve been contemplating making this change for actual years. Because of both the increasingly sneaky AI comments and the (very small) number of human comments that we would not choose to approve for our site, I began to notice my anxiety zooming whenever I sat down to review comments—even though I knew 99.9% of them would be kind, compassionate, intelligent, even thoughtfully and respectfully critical. We welcome all these kinds of comments, but the remaining .1% contains words we don’t want to host here. This has been a rough season for me, I am not my best and most resilient self, and putting boundaries around this very small thing helps.
Thanks for reading, thanks for understanding, and thank you truly for your comments in this space. Your words are one of my very favorite things about blogging. I’m grateful for them—and for you.
My favorite finds from around the web:
Why Does Every Famous Woman Have a Book Club Now? (The Cut) “Though Preiss seems likely to be doing much of the legwork here, the whole enterprise has had the effect of making Roberts seem like more of a serious actress and less like Julia Roberts’s niece.”
The most epic Met Gala dresses of all time. (UK Glamour) I love a good red carpet round-up!
In Which We Buy a Bookstore. (The Courage to Live It Substack) Exciting news from Shawn Smucker! I look forward to visiting Nooks in Lancaster, PA someday.
When our team member Brigid shared the link I could not hit “buy” fast enough on this Old Navy book club tee!
Quinta Brunson Can Do ‘Any Type of Television.’ With Her Platform, She’s Planning to Try. (ELLE) I love everything about this.
15 audiobooks I’ve enjoyed lately: literary fiction and love stories. (MMD) An assortment of great audiobook listens.
Welcome to Scam World. (New York Times gift link) “Should you click the link? Pick up that call? Pursue that job opportunity? Is the person who texted you ‘hey’ just now from a number you don’t recognize someone you actually know? Welcome to Scam World, the seedy layer just beneath the world we live in every day.”
Contemporary Literary Novels Are Haunted by the Absence of Money. (Literary Hub) “In Jane Austen’s day, the size of a man’s income was a source of open discussion—this is no longer the case.”
This Washable Stretch Silk Tiered Maxi Dress from Quince (with pockets!) has been a real wardrobe hero this season. (I’m 5’9″ and the medium fits great.)
How to Pack the Ultimate Carry-On Bag of Airplane Snacks. (Food52) This is impressive. Although fellow passengers may appreciate if you eat a couple of the suggestions before you get on the plane.
Eight Cookbooks Worth Reading Cover to Cover. (The Atlantic) I’ve read and loved half of these.
9 Things You Might Regret Tossing Out the Next Time You Tidy Up. (Martha Stewart) Gulp.
On that note: Lean into spring cleaning with these favorite home organization tools. (MMD) Just a few of my tried-and-true (and blessedly inexpensive) favorites.
My Relentless Journey to Find the Perfect White Tee. (The Strategist) Taking notes. I just reordered some of these favorite American Giant slub tees myself. (It looks like the code DARCY still works for 20% off your first order.)
Don’t miss these posts:
8 calming nonfiction books to read when you’re stressed. These titles will help you slow down, breathe deep, and take a well-deserved reading break.
Every bookstore has its own personality. Spreading the love for Independent Bookstore Day.
Give your reading life a quick boost with these 21 short and satisfying novels. When your attention span is short or your reading life feels lackluster, try a novella! It might just be the pick-me-up your reading life needs.
Have a great weekend!
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