Weekend Reads
Weekend Reads
Plus: a genius Father's Day gift, and your most pressing summer problems, solved!
What I’m Reading
I’m halfway through Yellowface, a novel by RF Kuang, and love, love, love it, so far! It’s the story of a writer, who, after her very successful writer frenemy dies, “steals” the manuscript for a book and passes it off as her own. There’s a lot going on: envy, suspense, publishing industry scoop, and issues of race and cultural appropriation. It’s a little reminiscent of The Plot, which I also highly recommend if you haven’t read it.
If that one doesn’t sound right for you, my favorite reads of 2023 so far are Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai, and The Guest by Emma Cline. All of these would be great Book Club picks. Another good series for plane rides and airport layovers, if you’re lucky enough to be traveling somewhere fun, are the Thursday Murder Club books by Richard Osman.
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Other Reading…
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere who fervently anticipate summer and the promise of lazing around on vacation, here’s a timely reminder that enjoying ourselves takes work, and high expectations can get in the way…
…sitting in a rental or hotel with nothing but time on your hands can incite a kind of panic: SHOULD I READ A BOOK? SHOULD I TAKE A NAP? HOW DO PEOPLE RELAX? DO I EVEN KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN ANYMORE?
On the topic of summer, here’s a solution to a very serious problem: what to name your new Superyacht?! My personal faves:
“Shoulda Had a Prenup”
“Impulse Buy”
“Don’t You Wish Your Boyfriend Was Yacht Like Me?”
Another serious problem, solved: How to Hire a Pop Star For Your Private Party! Definitely happening on the new Superyacht!
I was thrilled to come across a recent piece in Bustle on the same topic as my essay last week: The HR-ification Of Marriage. As that writer said:
My relationship is so much more like a business partnership than I ever expected it to be, especially when kids are involved. The products of the company I seem to be running with my husband are well-adjusted and happy children, a decent retirement account, and occasionally content adult humans.
And I loved this profile of Margot Robbie, who is full of surprises, including the story of how she convinced Mattel to allow her production company to make this summer’s Barbie movie, and this:
When Robbie is not working she is often checking the websites of train companies around the world. “All I want to do is live on a train,” she says.
Arthur Brooks delivers another gem for the How To Build A Life series with this counterintuitive advice about how to happily change jobs:
…the biggest predictor of work happiness is nonwork happiness…When things are good in the rest of your life, they seem more stable and less bothersome at the job. Conversely, when we look for our overall well-being in what we are doing to earn a living, it places too much emphasis and pressure on the job, making it into a kind of a religion.
And I didn’t expect to be brought to tears by a Humor piece in The New Yorker, but this one, written from the point of view of a Participation Trophy, did just that…
But there were always bigger awards to win, so you kept pushing, even after your children were born. And sometimes they would run into your office, in their Velcro shoes and oversized T-shirts, and try to play with your trophies by making them kiss each other. And, as you ushered the kids out of your office, you wondered if participation trophies still existed. You doubted it, but you couldn’t be completely sure, because you didn’t attend many of their athletic events. The school was kind of far away, and you were busy.
What I’m Watching
I have savored every minute of each episode of the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. To make it last as long as possible, I watched the finale in three separate sittings. If you haven’t seen this incredible series, I can’t recommend it enough - and now you can watch all five seasons all the way through. Midge is a fictional character, but I’ve found the trials and tribulations of her comedy career motivating and inspiring. I will miss her, and this beautifully written, acted, filmed, and gorgeously costumed show!
Nothing and no one can replace the iconic Mrs. Maisel, but Platonic is a very fun watch. I am really enjoying Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne’s rekindled, middle-aged/mid-life crisis friendship and this show’s take on marriage, family life, career, and all the rest of it!
My other current obsession is The Other Two, on Max, which is in its third season. I don’t know how I missed this when it came out in 2019 - it is very clever and LOL. The setup: the youngest sibling in a family suddenly becomes massively famous as a teen pop singer (think: OG Justin Bieber) while the “other two” are the millennial older siblings, whose career dreams have stalled, and who must now deal with the stratospheric rise of their younger brother. It’s entirely over the top: the pop singer’s stage name is Chase Dreams; his “songs” are truly terrible; the mother is played by a delightfully ditzy Molly Shannon; and Justin Theroux’s NYC apartment provides many punchlines. A warning: there are many “inappropriate” scenes…
If you’re into documentaries, there are two I’m dying to see: The Secrets of Hillsong (which, incidentally, the real Justin Bieber attended), about the Australian-founded megachurch; and Flamin’ Hot, the somewhat disputed story of the janitor who invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
What I’m Listening To
Inspired by Astrud Gilberto, I’ve been on a Brazilian Bossa Nova kick - listening to Astrud Gilberto radio and my own Bossa Nova playlist…
What I’m We’re Cooking
With the kids on summer vacation, our kitchen has been churning out smoothies, avocado toast, assorted chips and crackers, and a LOT of ice cream. The dishwasher is getting quite the workout.
The biggest homemade hit has been these No-Bake Chocolate Mousse Bars, cheffed up by Sadie (16).
It’s Father’s Day here this Sunday, and for a special dinner, I’m planning to make this delicious-looking Garlic Lime Steak with Noodle Salad from Smitten Kitchen (see image above). It checks every box for our family: gluten and dairy-free (for me); noodles (for my kids); steak (for Jim); and healthy (me, again).
Speaking of cooking, have you seen the viral Big Mac Taco recipe on social media? It has been a long time since I’ve eaten a Big Mac but I am thinking about trying it, or at least the Big Mac sauce, which I’ve always loved. I’d be doing it for my kids…or would I?!
And while we’re on the topic of McDonald’s, here’s a very handy guide to the best fast food french fries, at least in the US…
Genius Last Minute Father’s Day Gift
Are you scrambling for a gift for the father/s in your life? Well, Paul Rudd and Jimmy Fallon have all the inspo you need.
Get Dad a Teenie Weenie Beanie:
“It’s made out of wool and it makes you look cool.”
What more could any father want? Even better: you probably have a Teenie Weenie Beanie (or three) in the house - just wrap one up and say Happy Father’s Day!
Pairs well with dry martinis, fettuccine, vaseline-y, Jolene, tangerines, and more…
And finally, an interesting observation from Seth Godin:
Inconvenient!
That’s great news.
The thing you need, the road ahead, the element that will transform your project–it appears to be inconvenient.
That’s terrific, because it means that most other people can’t be bothered. It’s valuable because the very inconvenience of it makes it scarce.
The stuff that matters is almost always inconvenient. If it’s not, you might be mistaken about what matters.