💬 Friday Thread: Rec Exchange #2 - What Recommendations Do You Need & What Recs Can You Share?

Plus my review of Slanting Towards the Sea, a summer 2025 must read

Hello!

Happy Friday to you. I’m finally on the upswing from the flu, but it’s been a week that’s for sure. I thought it was high time for another Recommendation Exchange— our first was back in November and you can find a link here if you’d like to browse. As a reminder, the Rec Exchange is a thread where you can ask for recommendations, crowdsource the group, and share your own recommendations. Maybe you’re looking for specific book recommendations, a new tv show to watch, a certain type of product, gift ideas…whatever you’d like a rec for and whatever you’d like to recommend, we’re here to help and benefit from great recommendations.

I’d like to start by sharing a book recommendation with you. Last week when we were on vacation in Cancun I did something wild—well wild for me, someone who rarely reads books more than a month in advance of the publication date—I read through the opening pages of many of the advanced ebooks I have on my kindle and decided to read the one that immediately pulled me in without looking to see when it was being published. I proceeded to spend hours by the pool inhaling the literary love story Slanting Towards the Sea by

Lidija Hilje

. Friends, this debut is stunning!

Spanning across twenty years and one life-altering summer in Croatia, Slanting Towards the Sea is at once an unforgettable love story and a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself.

At its core this is a complicated love story that revolves around Ivona and her great love Vlaho. It’s also a father/daughter love story and a love story of one’s homeland and of new beginnings. I highlighted so many quotes and was left wishing there was at least 50 more pages. The sign (for me) of a truly memorable book. I’ll be holding off on a full review until closer to the July 8th pub date, but I wanted you to know about it now so you can get your preorders and library holds in asap.¹ Since finishing the book I’ve connected with the author who’s here on Substack at For Love of Words . I’m excited to help spread the word about this must read debut, I think it’s the perfect literary summer read. And to top it off, the cover is gorgeous and the story behind the cover is also wild !

Ok, I have a couple other recommendations to share and one recommendation request, so I’ll meet you in the comments….

Question Time

1. What recommendations do you need? - the more detail you can provide the easier it will be for others to give you recs. For example, if you’re looking for a book rec, maybe share your current mood, or details on what types of books you enjoy reading

2. What recommendations can you share? - what books, products, tv shows/movies, etc are you recommending

3. What have you been reading lately?

1. If you’re on Netgalley it’s available to request!