Four Fun Things
What are you reading these days? Last night, I stayed up late reading The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai; and over Christmas, my 11-year-old niece informed me that I was talking too much about A Marriage at Sea, which is proof that I loved that, too. Please tell me your list.
For an easy dinner, I’ve been eyeing this crispy halloumi with tomatoes and white beans (NYTimes gift link). Doesn’t it look good? Bonus points for anything you can dip a baguette into.
I’m working on a just-for-fun side project — more on that later, if you’re interested — and searching for 1980s/1990s photos. It’s fun to flash back to those decades.
Finally, Kule is having their annual sale on lots of beautiful pieces, including this sweater, sweatshirt, and scarf. Always love what they do. xoxo
P.S. More fun things, and what has made you laugh lately?
(Halloumi recipe photo by Linda Xiao for The New York Times; food styling by Judy Kim.)
Tags: fun things
Comments
166 commentsLet’s hear about the side project! Those photos make me so happy.
Back to report that we made a riff on the halloumi dish (our kids are obsessed with chickpeas, we had already made garlicky homemade tomato sauce, etc) and it was soooo good! After reading the recipe comments we doubled the ingredients (except the halloumi, as it was a very big block) and we would actually triple it next time for leftovers – we had enough for a very small shared snack the next day and it was even better leftover. We also chopped the halloumi into very small bite size pieces so it would be easier for our toddlers and would highly recommend regardless of age! They crisp up so nicely under the broiler and then the whole dish is spoonable, which I love for a cozy winter dish.
I’m interested in this side project! Love this kind of thing. And can someone please put me out of my misery and tell me who that is the bottom right picture?! I cannot place them and it’s killing me lol!
Google Lens tells me its JFK, Jr and wife, Carolyn Bessette.
Thank you, Anna!! Google lens – great idea!! I tried other reverse image search pages but it kept only identifying Michael Jordan lol – really appreciate you solving this mystery for me!!
The last great book I read was The Hounding, by Xenobe Purvis! Sort of like a dark Little Women meets The Crucible meets Nightbitch meets that Nicole Kidman movie The Beguiled. And for fun, The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood, which is somehow only available in Australia! So funny.
Never mind books…..my teenage self just lit up at the sight of Bjorn Borg *swoon*. My Dad got Sports Illustrated and he was my pin-up !!
The book of lost names by Kristin hammel . It had me weeping at the end
Okay – I read Wild Dark Shore in one evening – stayed up until Midnight, could not stop turning the pages. It was stunning. The other little book that has captivated me – translated from French – The Girl who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury. Delightful. Super short – 172 pages, with a list in the back of all the books they talk about in the book! Utterly delightful.
For anyone who wants to hear more about the story behind A Marriage at Sea, Blair Braverman (a dogsled racer with fascinating insights on survival) walked through it recently on the podcast You’re Wrong About: https://yourewrongabout.buzzsprout.com/1112270/episodes/17926725-the-auralyn-with-blair-braverman
Yes! The book sounds fabulous but Blair did such a good job telling the story I almost feel like I don’t need to read it lol.
Yes!! This episode was amazing. Also loved all the You’re wrong about episodes about survival with Blair, especially the one about the plane crash in the Andes, it was told in such a respectful and touching way.
I just want to pitch two books that I just read and I think were criminally under-recognized last year: The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis The Passenger Seat by Vijay Khurana They’re both short, beautifully told stories about what it means to be a young woman (the hounding) or man (the passenger seat) but couldn’t be more different in plot. Absolutely loved them both, and I had been feeling really uninspired with what I was reading lately. Just a shout out if you feel like you keep seeing the same books everywhere!
Random comment, but can you bring back the Big Salad merch? I need a tote! Or omg, a crewneck sweatshirt :)
thanks for your note! we will talk about it as a team — and fyi we have a couple hats left! https://polished-prints.com/collections/big-salad-merch-shop-for-fans-of-the-weekly-newsletter/products/big-salad-dad-hat xoxo
My most memorable read of last year was The Names by Florence Knapp. Against a backdrop of domestic abuse, it follows three different stories from the turning point of the name chosen for a new son.
Best book I read in like a decade!
Omg I made the halloumi dish last weekend! It was SO good! I recommend following the commenters’ advice to double it and serve with crusty bread! Joanna, I also loved Marriage at Sea!!! I’m currently reading The Editor, which is wonderful, and I read The Correspondent over the holidays. I think It was the best book I read all year!
I made that recipe easily 5 times over the summer. It’s so graceful: even if you have suboptimal tomatoes and a Kroger baguette, it’ll knock your socks off.
My favorite read of 2025 was Katabasis by R. F. Kuang – it was SO good. Normally not a book I’d pick up, 500+ pages (usually an automatic “no” from me), lots of words I had to pick up, math and philosophy themes. BUT. It was fascinating and so well written. About a grad student studying Analytic Magick. Her professor/advisor suddenly dies and she travels to Hell to bring him back. Currently reading Planet Sickness by Kat Giles – a local author in my area. It’s her first novel and it’s a sci-fi about a librarian cataloging documents from an old intergalactic mission in which many of the people died. AND my husband and I are currently listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. HILARIOUS and an incredible audiobook – one guy does all the voices. It’s been super fun to listen to it together – breaks up the monotony of ours evenings a bit! I love books so much!
Have you read/listened to Yellowface by Kuang? Not a very long one and so good!
My husband is currently on book 3 of the DCC series and I know when he’s reading it because he’s audibly cracking up. He loves it so much he asked our kids for permission to read it at the dinner table!
(Gift Article) “The Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/books/review/new-fiction-books-2026.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ClA.oOpp.JeEgXoE-gyiG&smid=url-share
Thank you, Joaquina.
Thank you!!
Hands down one of the most fun things I saw recently: the making-of-behind-the-scenes-moment of “I look like a pencil!” in Fleabag: https://www.instagram.com/p/DShu_vaCkH4/ And now I guess I just have to re-watch Fleabag yet again …
I finished ‘Heart the Lover’ by Lily King last night because CoJ, Kate Baer, all the cool women raved and it was really good! I read it in three nights, which isn’t like me to go so quickly through a book. Going to try and keep the feverish reading momentum through the winter.
I’m reading “Heartbreak,” by Florence Williams. Recommended by Christine Pride in a comment to her recent essay on this site (“The Fragile Heart’s guide to surviving the holidays). It’s a mix of memoir, travel, and science writing, and is fascinating!
Oooh! So many good book suggestions, AND I scrolled through to see if anyone had comments on Kule sweater sizes? Loving the sweater Joanna is wearing in the photo, is it a size small? I think we might be about the same size and since it’s final sale I want to get it right! (Am 5’8″ about 125# w long arms and kinda broad shoulders)
Can I ask a question of. all your wonderful readers please? I love reading to a theme eg myth, classics, and this year I want to dive deep into the question “what is love”? – tell your best books that try to solve this question. I am thinking about Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 – “love is not love which alters when it alteration finds” (he’s strict), or ‘Buried Giant’ by Ishiguro (can a hard life destroy your memories of a love that may have been true), Anna Karenina (I would argue is something less than love, but about love all the same – about what we mistake for love). A friend reminded me about the Unbearable lIghtness of Being. Anyway, please help me compile a definitive list to help me ruminate on this question in 2016. Thank you if you can help me.
Both Nathan Hill titles spoke to me. Wellness and The Nix. Love his writing style. Have you read his books?
All About Love, bell hooks
It seems like you’re looking for classics, Kirby, so here’s one: John Keats and Fanny Brawne’s love letters (“Bright star, would that I were stedfast as thou art…”) https://www.google.ca/books/edition/So_Bright_and_Delicate_Love_Letters_and/-NHSVEFnVg8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=So+Bright+and+Delicate:+Love+Letters+and+Poems+of+John+Keats+to+Fanny+Brawne&printsec=frontcover For something different, you might also like Mandy Len Catron’s take: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Fall-in-Love-with-Anyone/Mandy-Len-Catron/9781501137457
How about Greathouse by Nicole Krauss or for a non-fiction option, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke?
Two divine novels about a mother’s love: – What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt – Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow which explores different types of love and different expressions of love. The Housekeeper and the Professor is a beautiful novella full of acts of care.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. It’s ticks every one of your boxes. I’d share my BM copy if I could.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. It ticks every one of your boxes. I’d share my my copy if I could!
Oh gosh, please please please read On Love (a novel) by Alan de Botton. I read it in my college “Philosophy of Love and Friendship” course 20+ yrs ago and it still bangs around in my head.
I have not, thank you so much for the recommendation I will read them.
try Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman too
If you’re open to non-fiction I recommend Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn.
tomorrow x 3! it’s a real meditation on “what is love,” i think. also remains of the day – another ishiguro!
@Kirby what a fun idea! “A place for us” by Fatima Farheen Mirza is beautiful.
I have been gulping down The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower over the past two months and they are such a treat. It is about a young women who moves into a house she inherits in 1833 London and the ways in which she navigates society. It is hilarious, poignant, and charming and there are currently 8 volumes (more to come). Perfect read for anyone who loves Downton Abbey, Jane Austen, and good social satire. I highly recommend the audiobooks as the voice actress is brilliant, crazy impressive how she does all the voices for characters.
I heard about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion in the comment section of CoJ in the summer and devoured them. Eagerly awaiting volume 9!!
I was sick with the flu over Christmas, so I have done a fair bit of reading. First up I read the 1340s version of ‘Sir Orfeo’, which was so beautiful and a fun challange. Then I read ‘Beautiful World, Where are you?’which I loved much more than her other books. I struggle to accept that Sally Rooney wasn’t born in the 1970s, he writing always seems so perfectly on par with my generation. I am also reading Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘After You’d Gone’. I am heading down the coast today and so I have packed an advanced copy of ‘Code Name Funnel Web’ by Camille Booker (she’s a great storyteller! Her book Woman in the Waves is great if you can get it in the USA).
Here for advice if anyone could help…I’m dating a 52 year old widower, who lost his wife to cancer two years ago. We’ve been dating three months and it’s truly wonderful. Kindness, support and mutual respect along with an amazing attraction. But I am a big feeler, and I am struggling with wondering if I can live up to his wife. They had a great, loving long marriage. I am a divorced single mom with a jerk of an ex-husband. I wonder what he could see in me? After all he’s been through. Maybe these feelings are irrational but i suppose that’s what feelings are.
I suspect he will tell you exactly why he likes you so much if you talk to him about it . Just because of your difficult ex (I have one too) doesn’t make you and less loveable.
Hmmm I wonder if he sees a strong, resilient, and brave woman who has navigated life’s choppy waters, prioritized the well being of herself and her child(ren), and still hasn’t lost hope that there’s something better for her out there..? Because that’s what I hear <3 anxiety and doubt have are thief’s of joy and come for the things we hold most dear. Remember, thoughts are just thoughts!
Very well said, Sally.
I host a chapter of The Gloss book club and our book for January is Finding Flora by Elinor Florence. Not a historical fiction reader normally but I’m loving this one! Favourite read of last year was probably 1984!
Recent reads: Do Admit- The Mitford Sisters- an engaging graphic novel about a group of real-life artist/socialite sisters in 1920’s-30’s Britain The Correspondent- I’m sure you already know about this one. I’ll just say it’s popular for a reason. I really enjoyed it. Perfection- novel about a couple, both millennial graphic designers, struggling to make it in Berlin. Very interesting, somewhat depressing. They look from the outside like they have it together, but they don’t.
Kim, have you watched Outrageous? A britbox series about the Mitford sisters. I just finished it and really enjoyed it.
I’m not much of a non-fiction reader, but I randomly picked up When the Sea Comes Alive An Oral History of D-Day at the library and it is FASCINATING. Highly recommend.
I focused on reading for pleasure in 2025, which meant more fiction and enjoyable but forgettable comfort reads. The most memorable that were the sweet spot of being both pleasurable and compelling while having a certain depth that stayed with me were: Cactus Pear for my Beloved – on a family in Gaza through the early 20th century Monkey Grip – on single motherhood in Melbourne in the 1970s Still Life – on a group of friends in post-WWII London and Florence Taking notes on others’ suggestions for my list for this year!
I love that you focused on comfort reads! That was something I found myself gravitating towards too, because there is already so much darkness in the world. For light but not too saccharine stories, i LOVE the author Amy Poeppel. My favorites of hers are Musical Chairs, The Sweet Spot, and the new Far and Away. But all of her books are so comforting!
Thanks for the recommendation! I realised I’d always felt the need to read literary novels or informative non-fiction, but actually to reduce my screen time / get back into the habit of reading more easy comfort reads has been the answer
In the U K a Marriage at sea was called Maurice and Marilyn – which I read a couple of years ago I also loved the book Pleased that it has done so well in U S A as I don’t think that it did especially well here from what I recall. When they settled down in later years they lived very close to where we live so I knew the area well. Found it all fascinating – gave it to my husband to read.
Thank you Julie, from another Julie Downunder…have found it under that title and reserved it at my library xx
Oh why would they change the title? That’s a mistery to me…
Agnes, historically book titles and/or book covers were often changed/different in various countries due to differing marketing strategies. I think changing titles is less common now because creating a “global digital footprint” only works if titles are the same.
Thank ypu Sybi!
Just returned to say how much I love that any CofJ post can quickly become the BEST book review page of the day! Readers rock!
I made these two recipes lately, yummy and only require low presence/attention. Spanakorizo with Jammy Eggs https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025232-spanakorizo-with-jammy-eggs?unlocked_article_code=1.ClA.zFqh.f58yRfdew9uV&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share Coconut Milk Chicken Adobo, amazing complex flavors from so few ingredients https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020494-coconut-milk-chicken-adobo?unlocked_article_code=1.ClA.m-dU.XJlOTCNboR8N&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share
Does anyone have recommendations for romance novels that feature single moms, a protagonist over the age of thirty, and/or plus sized women? No guns or violence, ideally! And I generally find myself drawn to stories that feature cishet folks but I am very open to expanding my literary horizons here! Thanks in advance!
Is She Really Going Out With Him is about a single mom whose kids choose the dates for her. Generally I thought it was really cute! First Time Caller is also about a single mom. Depending where you are located, Lovestruck Books in Cambridge, MA is an amazing romance bookstore with a lot of various sections on different romance genres. Even if you aren’t near there, I bet you could give them a call to ask for recommendations!
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell sounds right up your alley!
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan — really all of her books, but this one is definitely about a single mom her 30 One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London features a plus-size protagonist, and I enjoyed the author’s approach to the subject
Nora Goes Off Script – single mom protagonist, you’ve probably read already, but that was my entree into romance and it’s such a treat! Also love One to Watch and Talia Hibbert’s Brown sister trio and many of Jasmine Guillory’s books for plus-size protagonists. Flirting Lessons is Jasmine Guillory’s latest, her first queer couple, would start there!
Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon – she’s a single mom (widowed).
Birding With Benefits!! Super smart and good characters: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199797869-birding-with-benefits
I really enjoyed all of the Oliva Dade romance novels I have read (Spoiler Alert, All the Feels, Shipwrecked, At First Spite), every single one features a plus-size female protagonist. I just peeked and didn’t realize she has so many more that I have not read!
First Time Caller by BK Borision features a single mom in her mid-thirties and it’s a fun radio-based romance. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld features a late-thirties character. Echoing the recommendations for Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy. I also can’t totally remember the ages of the characters in Kennedy Ryan’s book Reel, but it ROCKS and the love feels mature. And if you haven’t read it, Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise is one of the best romances with a plus-size heroine, though it did come out in the 2000s, so more explicit fatphobia (especially from a Mother character). Happy reading!!
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory. It’s set over the holiday season, but I’d enjoy it any time of year!
Brigit Jones Mad About the Boy! So good
Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger The Satisfaction Cafe by Kathy Wang All books by Curtis Sittenfeld The Most by Jessica Anthony And I second Shark Heart by Emily Habeck and Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
just reporting back that this week i separated my bananas and laid them out in a little line on my table and they are ripening very nicely! haha thanks for the tip!
Your jeans in the last photo😍
I just finished “Lady Tan’s Circle of Women” and can’t stop talking about it!! I’m not even a big historical fiction person, but this was 10/10
Just borrowed this from the library based on your rec! Read one sentence of the summary and was like yep I’m in lol
I really liked this one, too!
I was “forced” to read this book for a book club. Normally I probably would not have picked up this book. It was slow moving at first but I really enjoyed this book.
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis. Can’t put it down!
I came here to recommend this book too! Ah it’s so good!
I read Maggie O’Farrell’s autobiography right when it came out—highly rec!—but I was late to enjoying her fiction. I devoured The Marriage Portrait at the end of last year. Hamnet became available at my library through Libby over this past weekend and I sobbed my way through that one. I just finished North Woods by Daniel Mason and loved it. Rooted in one place, takes place over a long stretch of time, lots of different characters and narrative styles, supernatural… it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be going in AND I adored it. Next up: Long Man by Amy Greene (print) and The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell (reading via Libby on my tablet).
Helen, isn’t Maggie O’Farrell just the best! I have been reading her two works for children/middle grade since Christmas, they’re great. But honestly, I do loath memoirs however I Am I Am I Am is one of my favourite books ever! – I am currently listening to ‘After You’d Gone’. – I want to be a writer, but whenever I read Maggie, I sort of deflate. She’s a God. I know one should not be envious nor compare ourselves – we all have something to off the world, but gosh, if she isn’t just the bee’s knees I don’t know who is. Wasn’t The Marriage Portrait incredible – the ending where Lucrezia gets to run… ahhhhh!
Agreed! I read Hamnet and then proceeded to read almost everything Maggie O’Farrell has written. I love memoirs so I Am, I Am, I Am was perfect. The Marriage Portrait is my least favorite but still well written.
Helen! I fully subscribe to your taste in books! I am quietly in love with The Marriage Portrait and know I would also sob through Hamnet (which is why I’ve avoided it). I’m going to read all of your recs now!
And North Woods was my FAVORITE book of 2024. The reveal at the end! The sisters and the slave catcher! so. good.
I just finished Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein – I highly recommend. (Carrie Soto is Back vibes!) I read a lot of books in 2025 that I loved (provides escape from the stress of the world!). I usually almost exclusively read women authors but several of my favorites in 2025 were male authors. The Correspondent – Evans Theo of Golden – Levi *To the Moon and Back – Ramage Playworld – Ross Deep Cuts – Brickley Atmosphere – Jenkins Reid Last Twilight in Paris – Jenoff The View from Lake Como – Trigiani The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife – Johnston My Other Heart – Nanami *Culpability – Holzinger Broken Country – Clare Leslie Hall City of Night Birds – Kim *The River is Waiting – Lamb **and my favorite book of the year has to be Buckeye (Ryan).
Thrilled to Sonia and Sunny at the top of this piece :) loved this layered book that defies easy description and was an absolute pleasure to read despite its length. What a rich book with its cast of complex, nuanced characters, the way it brings out the very specific classism of India, the loneliness of immigration, the effortlessly vivid settings … I could go on and on. Definitely the book of 2025 for me.
My favourite book in 2025 was ‚Am Himmel die Flüsse‘ by Elif Shafak. I believe the English title is ‚There are Rivers in the Sky‘. At the moment I‘m reading Ian McEwan ‚What we can know‘. It was a bit hard to get into, but now I‘m really enjoying it.
Theo of Golden!! First book I read in 2026 and loved it
I know there are not a lot of non-fiction recommendations on here. But my husband bought me Owls of the Eastern Ice for my stocking. It is amazing if you are interested nature and the landscape of other countries. I believe it was longlisted for the National Book Award.
I loved this book so much! I read it a few years ago and still think about it, and I recommend it all the time. The book is as much about culture in the far east of Russia as it is about these huge, majestic owls. Highly recommend.
I loved this one!
I also love non-fiction recs! Someone recommended Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky on an COJ post last year, and it was so interesting. I still think about it all the time, and I read it ages ago now. Highly recommend for anyone interested in history!
This is not a new book by any means (originally written in 1987 in Hungarian) but I just finished The Door (in English) by Magda Szabo and found it very affecting!
I’ll write that reference! Hungary has so many great writers…
Does anyone have book recommendations related to divorce? (Novels or nonfiction)…anything to help me prepare mentally / emotionally…
I haven’t actually read it yet, but I hear Heartburn by Norah Ephron is great. I got divorced several years ago and it’s so hard, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel! Obviously have no idea what your situation is, but despite the heart break of having to give up some time with my kid, I feel light and free. Sending you love!
This might not be what you were expecting, but I found the book When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron very helpful as I navigated through all the painful feelings of my divorce. I would listen to audiobook daily to keep me grounded. Wishing you all the best during this difficult time.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (beautiful and powerful) Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison (stressful but juicy) No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce by Haley Mlotek (information heavy but interesting) I did the same and then took the plunge. Best decision of my life. We’re here for you!
Leslie Jamison, Maggie Smith and Lyz Lenz all have written divorce memoirs
Some divorce memoirs I have loved: Sucker Punch – Scaachi Koul Splinters – Leslie Jamison this American Ex-Wife – lyz lenz liars – Sarah manguso You could make this place beautiful – Maggie smith
Awake by Jen Hatmaker is a new memoir; This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz is non-fiction about divorce and marriage in this moment of culture. For fiction, I liked Liars by Sarah Manguso, and We All Live Here by JoJo Moyes is a nice novel about being on the other side and figuring out what family means. When I was at the beginning stages I found Kate Anthony’s Divorce Survival Guide podcast helpful. She interviews lots of authors about different related topics so I found good resources there on particular things I needed more information about, ranging from emotional support (co-dependency, narcissistic tendencies) to more practical things like questions to ask lawyers. Good luck – you’ve got this! It feels like a lot of slog in the middle, but if you’re at this stage, then taking the step will feel like a huge relief, with a new life waiting.
Oh I would like this too please! Hugs, Anon. (I’ve been feeling like I wish there was a mentor program I could sign up for…)
You Could Make This Place Beautiful is Maggie Smith’s memoir in which a significant theme is the end of her marriage. I would recommend!
It’s not a book, but I really enjoy and benefit from the podcast “Reimagining Love” with Dr. Alexandra Solomon. Some of the episodes would apply to your situation for sure.
Wow, thanks everyone!! This is so helpful. And big hugs and strength to you, Gai <3
Drawn To The Rhythm by Sara Hall
I just read the novel “Maggie; Or a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar” and it was hilarious, poignant and tender!!! About a specific context for divorce but I think would be a beautiful read if you’re going through that. Sending love 💕
In addition to several mentioned that I would have also recommended (like Heartburn), these are more related to infidelity and divorce: Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies Runaway Husbands by Vikki Stark Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life by Tracy Schorn
Oh honey – sending hugs. Yes to Awake, double yes to You Could Make this Place Beautiful, yes to Happens every Day. Evvie Drake Starts Over was a great novel about, well, starting over under less than ideal circumstances. I’m four years out after being married for 25 years. It gets better.
Favorite book lately: Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls. The storytelling! The art! The emotional resonance! G’ah!
Over the holidays I tore through Noah Gordon’s Physician, Shaman and Matters of Choice and enjoyed it immensely. I can’t believe I didn’t read it in the Ninties along with everyone else. However now I’m finished I feel utterly bereft and am looking for a new book to fill the hole and let me escape the bleak reality of 2026. any recommendations?
Currently reading The Usual Desire to Kill which is equal parts perfect and tooth grindingly maddening for someone with parents of a certain age. Just finished The Mushroom Tapes (liked but felt they could have done so much more), Heart The Lover (loved) and Cannon by Lee Lai, my first graphic novel and I devoured it
Yes please Jo, I’m interested in your side project! xx
Two novels I’ve really enjoyed recently that I don’t see mentioned much (I’ve also read all these bestsellers here and agree they’re fab!) are Culpability by Holsinger and The Immortal King Rao by Vara. Both make you think about how technology and modern life are changing our perceptions and expectations
I read Culpability and The Compound back to back and then needed a tiny break. Both were amazing!
I just read Girls’Dinner and OMG is was SO good and sexy and completely unhinged! Highly recommend! I read it right after Heart the lovers, so it felt like I was a bit in my campus novel / coming of age era, perfect to keep me warm over the holidays!
Love the Nancy Kerrigan image! I was a tween/teen figure skater in the early 90s glued to the TV watching every move of Nancy Kerrigan and her perfect white skating dresses. Remember her mom who struggled with blindness watching her performance on the special monitor!?! Gosh what a story, what a time…
Oh wow, I forgot about her mom!
I recently discovered Elif Batuman. I read The Possessed, which was amazing, and The Idiot (the references to Dostoevsky are intentional). I need to track down Either/Or and her New Yorker articles. Her style may not be for everyone- she is very matter of fact, almost dry, but she is a keen observer of language and humanity, and sometimes very funny.
Absolutely obsessed with The Idiot. Found it so hilarious and compelling, I recommend it to everyone (although definitely not everyone likes it!)
I discovered her this year too. So good!
I loved The Idiot so much! It was so weird & funny. Either/Or didn’t live up to it for me but I still enjoyed it.
My latest reads are: “Of Monsters and Mainframes” by Barbara Truelove (classic horror characters – Dracula, werewolves, Cthulhu – keep appearing on interstellar voyages made by a sentient ship) “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” by John Wiswell (a shape shifting monster gets sucked into the local royal family’s hunt for the monster who cursed their family, who, it seems, might be her) “Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang (doctoral candidate in magic at Oxford accidentally kills her narcissistic and cruel professor and sets out on a journey to hell to try to bring him back to life, because he’s her only chance of getting her Ph.D) And right now I’m almost done reading “Moonbound” by Robin Sloan (set 13,000 years in the future on Earth, combining sci-fi and fantasy – honestly I have no idea how to describe this book because it’s hella weird, but also really fantastic)
LOVED Wreck so much
Gahhh I love the 90s Bulls so much. Cemented such a deep obsession for basketball at a tender age for me and that’s now what gets me through SAD each winter I literally think about MJ when I’m doing anything hard. The man never quit.
I’ve been listening to music from the late 90s and having such a great time reminiscing about middle and high school, but then some asshole on IG wants to come on and remind me that I Want It That Way is 27 years old crushes my millennial heart. I swear, millenials grew up to the best music. I watched F1 over the winter break and loved it surprisingly, as I know absolutely nothing about formula 1 racing. Definitely recommend. I’m reading Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett and I’m enjoying it so much. It’s a quirky story about a small town, slice of life. I love how Hartnett doesn’t shy away from hard things, but does it in a way where it doesn’t seem so heavy. I just found out Apple stores host free kids workshops where they teach kids how to draw, create, make movies, comics etc on tablets. My kids, who don’t own tablets, are loving these workshops.
The NYT Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli is amazing and very easy! The NYT Sheet Pan Chicken with Turmeric Rice is really good but more time consuming to make. Everyone in our family loved both recipes.
I read 80 books this year in an effort to spend my doom scrolling time more wisely! I loved most of these everyone is mentioning, but one surprise winner for me was Blood Over Brighthaven. I’d rank it with Wild, Dark Shore as the page-turniest books I read this year. Nutshell by Ian McEwen and the Safekeep were also winners for me. Love sifting through the comments for my next reads!
I haven’t been able to start a new book since finishing the Safekeep… can’t stop thinking about it!!
When Women Were Dragons. Women turn into dragons! Dragons as metaphors or dragons as DRAGONS? Strong girls. Strong women. Dragons!
Every January I read a classic that wasn’t assigned in high school or college. This year it’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I’m really enjoying it! I also have the Correspondent and Heart the Lover waiting as Christmas gifts to myself when I finish. My 90s throwback is my teenager’s music tastes: Nirvana, Fiona Apple, and going back a little further, Fleetwood Mac.
Or a lot farther….
Whoops got “post” too fast :) Just read “the rest of our lives” by Ben Markovitz, a road trip novel about a father who has just dropped off his youngest kid at college and whose marriage may be falling apart. I was surprised how much I liked it even with a the male narrator that I was yelling at a lot in my head! Catch Ben on Wednesday night at Books Are Magic, reading, q&a, book signing!
I love reading and truly read some BANGERS this year, but I am consumed by Heated Rivalry—please tell me someone else here has watched and GETS IT (no need to let me know it wasn’t for you!)
Sarah, I GET IT. This f*cking show has changed my brain and I cannot.stop.rewatching.
GET IT.
AMAZING. I was actually giddy and skipping on my treadmill at times while watching, which is very unlike me.
LOL–I read one of the books ages ago, was unimpressed, but after the news lately, I am so ready for a happy-ish ending (hey, there’s got to be some drama for season 2) for beautiful people who make stupid money in fabulous houses. If that makes me shallow, well, there we go.
YES
CONSUMED!!! I’m on my 2nd watch of the show (thanks family, for not leaving me a lot of alone time to enjoy) and am partway through book 5 now. I can’t stop! I’m obsessed!
Yes yes yes I get it. I am consumed, rewired, in love, and incapable/unwilling to move on. I binged my first watch after returning home from too-intense family holidays and now want to watch it with my husband. He is cis and straight and progressive, I have no concerns about him being weird or uncomfortable, but I am NERVOUS because I love it so much and am worried that him not being as obsessed will break my heart. Does anyone have advice for watching with their SO?
@EMS: I am on the obsessed level as these other commenters. My husband watched the series with me (on my prob 7th rewatch) and he cried and loved the show. BUT, warning, try to refrain from noting things you’ve noticed b/c of your repeat watches. “Watch where his hand goes, see he winks here, remember what he said in ep 2, look at his mouth, etc.). Otherwise, you should be good to go.
Thank you all for joining me in this absolutely bonkers obsession (not bonkers at all, honestly) Sam Irby’s substack Bitches Gotta Eat post from today is all about this, I laughed so hard, she’s so real for writing it. The post is in her HELL YEAH BROTHER series (hahaha) and the subtitle is gay smut and heavy metal dinosaurs
My favorites from last year: The sunflower boys by Sam Wachman – a coming of age + queer love story set in Ukraine during the current war Loved and missed by Susie Boyt – the writing will blow you away and the mother-daughter story (more than one and nested) is beautiful A guardian and a thief by Megha Majumdar (her first novel A Burning is also wonderful) Just read
I absolutely LOVED Buckeye, I was so sad when it was over! I’m getting into The Road to Tender Hearts now. January is my favorite reading month – love all the recs in the comments and adding them to my library holds list!
I just finished it yesterday and feel like I’m still in Bonhomie! What a book. It will stick with me for a while.
2 Book recommendations… Remarkably Bright Creatures By Shelby Van Pelt Charming. One of the best books I have read in a long while Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. Thrilling and engaging. The premise was original, and the writing was good. Did I occasionally get a little frustrated and yell at the characters, yes, yes I did. But I enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down,
I read Something in the Water over winter break and really enjoyed it! I had to suspend my disbelief a few times, but it was a page turner and I stayed up way past my bedtime (it’s ok, I’m on vacation!) to finish it.
i get a stack of books every christmas, and just finished last year’s final gift — erasure, by percival everett, just in time to get james by him for this christmas. (along with the loneliness of sonia & sunny! and heart the lover! i feel so lucky.)
Yessss. The first book by Everett I read was Erasure, followed by James – both excellent! Trees is next
Someone on here recommended Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin with the preface – I envy you getting to read this for the first time. This book is amazing – so layered, so French(in a good way).
Oh my gosh. I read that book a couple of months ago … and I believe someone here recommended it. It was my favorite read of 2025.
Listening to spicy audiobooks of late, to get my SAD winter headspace into something sexier. Relistening to “The Idea of You” by Robinne Lee which I love. Also just finished “The Deep End” by Ali Hazelwood, which was wordy but hot while being mostly YA-themed (college kids). Currently into “Lights Out” by Navessa Allen which is getting warm!
My god, The Idea of You was just so damn good…might need to reread it soon.
Just want you to know that if you want to hear about raising kids in the 80s and 90s, I’m at your service. LOL! So much different from today that it’s like another world.
I couldn’t agree more!
OH, yes, I definitely want to hear! Signed, a kid of the late 80s raising kids now
Teach us your ways! Trying to “parent against the tide” and give our kids (7 & 10) tiny bits of independence is exciting, and also feels like we are trying to live on a different planet than everyone else. Yeesh.
Yes please! Born in the early 80s raising kids now, and curious about the difference I’m feeling and whether it’s just me or not… Also, that collage…my childhood!
I loved many of the novels recommended here, and am making a list of must reads from the one’s I haven’t read. As I was cleaning up I sat down for a break and picked up End of the Earth by Neal Shubin. It is a recommended science book that actually bought for my husband aka Mr Science, and not my usual fare, BUT I think it is a fantastic book. It is readable and fascinating all about the poles, with the effects of climate change and some philosophy/ spirituality . I am really enjoying it. Like I said definitely not my usual jam, and Mr Science is impatiently gnashing his teeth wanting to get his hands on his gifts. He will have to wait a bit until I am finished!