May wrapped: the 8 books I read and 5 recs for you!

Reading (and reviewing!) a few of my most-anticipated releases.

May was full of action, baby! More reflecting to come— when you open this I’ll be attending my best friend’s wedding!— but I’m very excited to share my reads and recs with you as usual. I feel like I’m in a great reading zone these days and my TBR looks absolutely thicc and amazing. ICYMI, I wrote a longer piece last week about my experience starting my own “member’s only” club for founders, and what I’d do differently if I ever do it again.

• Summer is almost here!! Boden has the cutest stuff right now and I snagged this bathing suit, counting the days til I am wearing it at the beach.

• Dress season is finally here, thank god! I have a few new ones I’m loving— this Gap midi (pictured below) and this Old Navy dress that could be a Doen or Ciao Lucia dupe.

  

• I had a lot of fun producing this podcast episode— a conversation between Haven’s Kitchen founder Alison Cayne, and GIR founder (now founder of a bunch of other great stuff— and my boss!) Samantha Rose. Ali was really helpful to me when I was a founder and I was sad to see Haven’s Kitchen wind down, but grateful to learn a bit more about the ride and what she’d do differently. Who else should I bring on for an episode that you think might be equally engrossing!?

• Speaking of— dreaming of starting your own company in the food space? Read this and let me know what you think in the comments…

  If You Want To Make A Difference (and a living), Please Don't Start Another Food Brand

• I got the cutest Ginori-inspired paper plates for a party we hosted last week— and I got so many compliments on them! The small business that sells them is called Pavilion Paper. I also sprung for these great outdoor-safe cups from Anthro and a fun new tablecloth.

  

The Sirens by Emilia Hart // I love fiction and Ireland and the ocean and mermaids, so the cover alone had me. For reasons I don’t want to get into (because they may spoil it for you), this book did not deliver on any of those themes, and thus wasn’t for me!

City of Gods and Monsters by Kayla Edwards // This was a TikTok rec for fans of ACOTAR. It’s so ridiculous and insane that I had to laugh… but I also had to flip those pages! I got sucked in!! I haven’t yet read my friend Becca Freeman’s rec for Filthy Rich Fae, but I have a feeling they sit in the exact same genre, which is to say objectively ridiculous but entirely engrossing…

Hotter in the Hamptons by Tinx // I couldn’t resist reading this with all the hype and drama about the ghostwriting situation. It’s not very well written, the characters felt pretty two dimensional to me. I didn’t really get a feel of the Hamptons at all either… I think the cover and the marketing of this book conjure up deeper feelings than the book itself— let me know if you agree or disagree.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry // I have heard that some fans don’t like that Emily Henry wrote a slightly different style of romance book this go-round… uh, okay! This book was great. It was actually my favorite of hers, I think. It was a slow burn, but by the end I was hooked. Great summer read!

Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler // Sometimes you pick a book for its cover. (And title.) This was an overly literary read with unlikeable characters— similar to Otessa Moshfegh and Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr, but didn’t smack the same for me. If you like those books and that style of writing, worth a try, though! By the end I got kind of into it because I needed to know who was getting divorced… nosy, as always…

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton // This book has a touch of magical realism (I think that’s what you’d call it?) and is set in a village in Italy living in the shadow of the richer and more touristy town of Borghese. The villagers experience a dramatic change of fortune that could save their village if they can put old bygones in the past and work together. I loved the author’s sense of humor, but I don’t love ensemble friendship novels, and the plot was a little slow for me! I think you’ll either love this one, or feel meh about it— no in between.

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory // This was by far the best of the Philippa Gregory series (The Plantagenets and Tudors) so far! Elizabeth of York was the most likeable heroine I’ve encountered in the series. Philippa did ruin the ending by deviating from history when the historical events were already crazy enough and didn’t really need embellishment. My girl Philippa is always doing that, though! You can count on her to just throw some crazy stuff in there when she gets bored… and it’s like Philippa! History is already stranger than fiction!

The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley // Susanna Kearsley writes about the Jacobite uprising era the way that I wish Philippa Gregory wrote about the Tudors— yes, there are touches of magic and invented characters, but they’re all grounded. Just her tone of writing is so lovely to me— I admire the voice throughout all of the Susanna Kearsley books I’ve read so far, even the ones that aren’t as much my favorites. This was refreshing to pick up after a few duds!