A Summer Must Read and Cat Lovers Unite

This week's reads, listens, links & more

Hello and Happy Sunday,

I don’t have much to offer as an update because I’ve done nothing but rest and go a bit stir crazy as I recover from the flu. The good news is I’ve done a ton of reading, both books and Substacks, so I’ll share more on that below. I hope you’ve gotten to do something you enjoy this weekend.

Recent Reads

• Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje (July 8) Amazon

  • You can read by mini review and additional thoughts in this week’s Friday Thread. So far this is my favorite book of February

• Heartwood by Amity Gaige (April 1) Amazon

  A search and rescue, race against time story set in the heart of the Maine woods, when an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

  Overall, I enjoyed the story, especially the main character Bev. What I didn't like was a technique that authors sometimes use when in the middle of action or intense scenes the character narrating will all of a sudden "remember" a time in the past and then back we go with into detail overloaded backstory that (for me) takes me right out of the present day scene and action. I inevitably end up skimming a lot of this backstory dumping. This happened repeatedly throughout this story. I also thought the ending was rushed, but that's all I'll say about it for now. I did enjoy her writing itself and do think I'll give Sea Wife a try. I do think this would make a good fiction/nonfiction pairing with the book that inspired it, When You Find My Body by D. Dauphinee¹

• Assumption by Percival Everett Amazon

  Ogden Walker, deputy sheriff of a small New Mexico town, is on the trail of an old woman's murderer. But at the crime scene, his are the only footprints leading up to and away from her door. Something is amiss, and even his mother knows it. As other cases pile up, Ogden gives chase, pursuing flimsy leads for even flimsier reasons

  After loving Erasure and James last year, I wanted to start dipping into Percival Everett’s backlist and when I saw that this title was a crime fiction mystery I decided to jump in. In short, I liked this ok. However, it wasn’t in the same literary greatness hemisphere as Erasure or James though. What I loved: the writing and the main character Ogden. He was complex and I liked the themes that Percival Everett explored using Ogden. I was quite surprised and also disappointed in Ogden’s character arc. I can see the “point” of it, I just didn’t like it. I thought many parts of the story felt disjointed. I read this in print and I do wonder if the audio would’ve helped bring the characters alive a bit more and perhaps increased my enjoyment.

Current Read

I started this upcoming release yesterday and I’m about 40% in— it’s….different than I expected. I’ll withhold any other thoughts until I’ve finished. I’m invested and want to see where this complicated love story will end up going

Listens & Watches

What I watched and listened to this week

• The Bachelor - Yes I still watch this and yes I text friends during to complain about it haha. I’ve watched every season of every spin off too so at this point I probably won’t stop. I think Grant seems like a very nice, genuine guy² and I like the ladies, so far. I’m a hopeless romantic so I do start every season hoping people will find true love and that ABC doesn’t cause them too much angst³ In case you didn’t hear, we’re not getting a new Bachelorette this summer- I’m super bummed, that’s my favorite show in this franchise along with The Golden Bachelorette

• Hit Man (Netflix) - This will not win any Oscars but it was super entertaining. It’s based on the life of a real person and both my husband and I enjoyed so two thumbs up

Links I Love

They Don’t Call Them the Big 5 For Nothing (Publishers Weekly)

Books That Break Your Heart and Put It Back Together Again (Bookriot)

The Biggest Snubs and Surprises From the 2025 Oscar Nominations (W)

It’s Ok If You Don’t Love Reading the Classics - from

Kolina Cicero

The Ultimate Guide to What to Watch in February (TV Guide)

The 2025 Edgar Nominations - I look forward to these every year! (Novel Suspects)

Midlife Fiction Recommendations (Any Shiny Thing)

Inspiration

Veterinarian has perfect response after being told it’s “disgusting” to let cats on furniture - I’ve been owned by two cats in my life and I can’t imagine trying to keep them off the furniture. And I wouldn’t have wanted to- or the counters. Cats do what they want and I for one love that about them. In fact, since my cat died last August our counters seem so empty and boring without him waltzing across them or sitting like a statue judging the rest of us haha. I love this video I found via Upworthy and I’ve started following Dr. Matt McGlasson on Instagram where this video has racked up over 1 million likes- cat lovers unite!!

What did you read, watch, or listen to this week?

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1. And that made my top 10 books of 2024 list

2. We’ve been fooled before though

3. Who am I kidding, of course ABC will cause them tremendous angst, I hope everyone gets out emotionally ok