The weekly post

The one where my impulse purchase altered my weekend

Greetings! Officially entering the home stretch of finishing up work before the winter holiday break, and I don’t know if I have ever been more ready for time off. This past week tested me - so much so that late Friday, I went for my evening walk with Roe, naturally stopped in Politics & Prose with every intention of doing some holiday shopping (gift guide here!), and walked out with one impulse purchase for myself. And what a relief that I treated myself because I spent all day Saturday wrapped up in this book and am delighted to share my full review with you this week.

If you’re traveling, stay safe and may your travels be easy and expedient. If you’re staying put, I’m with you and hope your time is peaceful. And wherever this holiday season takes you, I hope you’re taking a book along for the journey.

Currently Reading

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver. Gifted to me by my partner-in-crime, friend, and work wife, I am only a few chapters in, and let me tell you, I am invested. I’ve heard only rave reviews of this book so I’m allowing that to fuel my excitement around reading, while also trying not to set wild expectations. And at 546 pages, if I finish this one over the holiday break, I think this will be my lengthiest book for the year. Stay tuned for the full review!

Recent Recommendation

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK by Elissa Sussman (4.5 stars). This book delighted me from start to finish. I cannot tell you the last time I gave myself permission to do nothing but read for an entire Saturday, and it is absolutely what I needed this week.

Funny You Should Ask tells the story of Gabe Parker, a famous actor, and Chani Horowitz, a journalist who has made her living writing celebrity profiles. Gabe and Chani meet when she signs on to write a profile on Gabe in advance of his new film release, and that profile ends up being her most provocative and notorious yet, helping to catapult both of their careers. The story jumps from that weekend of the initial interview to ten years later when they reunite, and if you know me, you know I love a story that jumps back and forth through time.

I loved this story for so many reasons, among them that Gabe and Chani are delightful, charming, imperfect, at times irritating humans, and Elissa Sussman does an incredible job of making them feel so real. Chani repeatedly makes clear her desire to be famous (or at least be near fame), and as someone who can’t imagine a worse fate, there were times when I actually cringed reading her inner dialogue! But she is also so deeply relatable in her insecurities, both about her romantic life and her professional one. I empathized with Chani’s desperate ache to forge her own professional path that wasn’t tied up or connected to a man and wanting so badly to be good and worthy of her craft. And Gabe… I mean, he is written in a way where he feels like the guy you have dated, know to avoid, and desperately want to find and love, all wrapped up in one. The line, “I thought we’d established that I’ve read everything you’ve written… You’re a great writer,” nearly knocked me OUT. I felt captivated by these two and their backstories individually, as well as the dynamic and history between them.

Docking half a star only because the ending felt rushed to me. I was invested! If Sussman needed another 30 pages to tinker with the ending, I would have been along for the journey.

Recommend for… fans of Every Summer After, Romantic Comedy, The View Was Exhausting, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In other words, the perfect blend of some of my absolute favorite reads. Of COURSE I loved this one.

Reading Soundtrack

My NY152 playlist on Spotify, Stick Season deluxe album by Noah Kahan, and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Catch me in my feels this week!

Three Words

Can’t, I’m reading. :)