Back from hiaitus

Some major life changes but hopping back into it!

If you prefer audio, you can find my amateur recording here:

This summer was such a blur. I haven’t been here since June! My family is undergoing some major transitions and I haven’t been making time for books or baking or Substacking.

The first major development is that we’re expecting our third baby in January. This pregnancy, like the others, had me in bed truly unmotivated to read for over three months. Which is really fine by me; I love an excuse to veg out, though I would have preferred it without the “morning” sickness. Now, I’m at 23 weeks and though the fatigue can be overwhelming, I’m feeling much better and trying to step back into reality.

And the other major change is that my husband and I are starting to take over as caregivers for my mom, which involves a massive amount of time, research, paperwork, and energy. In addition to navigating a lot of emotions during this season of life wherein my mom requires care. While being pregnant and caring for two other little ones. So, generally speaking, it’s been a lot. And I’ve appreciated the pause in my bookstagram and Substack presence if just to have that energy focused solely on my IRL issues . . . but I also haven’t been feeling much like myself.

So, I’m getting back to my passions a little while these changes are happening, and I wanted to dive back into my newsletter with some updates.

There were some books that I read as ARCs earlier this year that are now out in the world and I wanted to give them some love:

Margo’s Got Money Troubles
by Rufi Thorpe

This was fun and inventive. It’s about Margo, a college student who becomes pregnant after an affair with a married professor and she sort of stumbles into OnlyFans as a way to support her baby. There’s a lot here about women, sex work, power, and of course, family. It’s coming-of-age, but it’s also a family drama with Margo and her parents. I will say, I was slightly irked that there wasn’t a bit more about Margo as a mother—her baby is just kind of there and it’s not a huge issue, I felt? Perhaps this is just comparing her early motherhood to mine, but there could’ve been more in the book. There’s a pacifier on the cover, which I thought was a very cute addition. Overall, it was fun and insightful, and it’s being adapted into a series with Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman.

Sandwich
by Catherine Newman

I gave this one to my mom to read after I’d finished. It’s so wonderful. Catherine Newman also just happens to be a wonderful Instagram follow (she’s very responsive and super kind), and a great Substack writer (be warned, there are lots of chickpeas involved). This book found me at such a pivotal moment in my life where I am feeling thrown into the “sandwich generation” earlier than I ever expected. I really came to love this family and their relationships. Newman has a lovely way with dialogue and conversation; some of this was just fun and funny to read and I could easily picture the place and characters in my mind. There isn’t much to the story, but I found it to be poignant and an easy read. Her previous book, We All Want Impossible Things, remains a favorite, but when I put Sandwich down, I felt like a bit of a new person, if you understand? Some books just hit.

The Wedding People
by Alison Espach

I reached out to the publisher via Instagram and requested (/sort of begged) for this one after Annie B. Jones of The Bookshelf raved about it months and months ago. She received a very early ARC and made it sound so great. This is about Phoebe who goes to a fancy hotel for the sole purpose of killing herself, but she finds that she’s the only guest there who is not part of a big wedding. She befriends the bride-to-be and they both help each other through some big emotions. This one was also really lovely and while a bit macabre, it was sweet and snarky and heartwarming.

All three of these books have staying power though you likely won’t catch them on big literary lists (though Margo IS a Kirkus Prize 2024 finalist!!), they’re fun and captivating while still being very genuine and tender-hearted. I’ll remember all three fondly.

Currently Reading:

Blue Sisters
by Coco Mellors

For the first time in four months, I’ve made it over 100 pages into a book. I’ve been feeling more and more myself and more and more motivated to sit and read, and this book came to me at the right time. It was a treat-yo-self gift from when I visited The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia this summer - I bought Annie’s September Shelf Subscription box and this was her pick. It’s about three sisters who are all dealing with the death of a fourth sister. It picks up a year after Nicky’s death, so each sister has had time to process a bit but it seems all of them have avoided grieving. Now, their parents are selling their childhood apartment where Nicky lived and they have to grapple with all of their feelings surrounding the death, their childhood, their family, and their own relationships. I’ve been loving it though it is moody and it is definitely about grief. The girls all have big feelings that Mellors wants you to feel as the reader. Just be ready for that. I’m hoping the rest of my read is just as captivating as it’s been.

I haven’t been baking much lately, but I have been cooking lots of dinners. I’m still obsessed with

Caroline Chambers

and her weekly recipes, though we’ve started using some of her meal plans and WOAH, what a life-changer. She’s planned out five of her recipes as meals for the week and you either turn the leftovers into salads or some other type of lunch for the next day, or she’s included easy lunches to do in between the dinners. I eat so much healthier if we’re doing a meal plan week, and it seems to save us a good bit of grocery money. You’d have to be a paid subscriber to get these meal plans, but they’re so worth it. She releases a new one every month. And her Substack is also just fun.

Speaking of Caroline Chambers, her second cookbook, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking, is HERE. I preordered it months ago and I just love it. So far, I’ve made the Cheater Chicken Tinga Tostadas (so easy & yum) and the Italian Sausage and Kale Pasta (new fave & delicious).

Few other updates:

• I was playing a lot of Animal Crossing (during what used to be my reading time and whatever, I don’t regret it okay!), and I gotta say, it’s so soothing to “farm” and “mine” and try to marry the villagers (I’m still torn between Shane and Harvey haha). Such a cozy game.

• I know there are a billion book lists coming out, but Lit Hub’s is a good one to visit because they’ve compiled the books listed on OTHER LISTS to show what books show up the most!

• Becca Freeman shared that she recently attended a Bookish White Elephant party that sounds SO FUN. Who’s in for one this year?

• BOOK BARS! What a dream!

• It is officially fall because I’ve started rewatching Gilmore Girls. Loving it. No notes. (Well, tons and tons of notes but only for my other Gilmore Girl-enthusiast friend who won’t judge my nit-picking.)

• The girls have started new school years at their respective schools. Our oldest started Pre-K at a new school and the transition was tough, mostly emotionally, but things have settled and she seems generally happy. Our younger daughter is in a new classroom and has been thriving though we did get one “frowny face” day when she wasn’t using her “listening ears” or “soft hands.” Though these things are technically not good, they are still very cute problems.

• My pregnant belly hits the oven display and dings a little every time I’m reaching in and out of the microwave above it, and it gives me a smile every single time. Sometimes it really is the little things (or, bigger things, like the belly).

I hope all is well in your world! Let me know what has helped you during some big life transitions, if anything. I feel like I’m needing to find all of the support I can get!

Thanks for being here & I hope the rest of your week is filled with good books and baked goods. <3