Words by Allyson

1. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim - This was our book club book for the month and I really liked it! The story follows a father who goes missing and a family's search for answers. Angie Kim is a local author, so we invited her to attend our book club and she came! She was a delight - so generous with her process and her vision for the story, told us all about a screen adaptation that she's working on, and which local places inspired the story. Such a cool experience to spend the evening with her!

2. All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley - This memoir was really sweet. Tragedy causes Patrick to quit his job and take up a position working security at the Met. As an art lover, I enjoyed this one, but I'm not sure it's for everyone.

3. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry - This was a delight! I just love Emily Henry books - they hit every time. I will say I feel like this was spicier than usual - I found myself skipping pages - so just be aware.

4 & 5. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol 1. (reread) and Vol. 2 - I started this series last year with the first book. Each book is more novella than full length and it was pitched to me as Victorian Gilmore Girls, which is right up my street. After reading the first book, I liked it, but wasn't jumping to start the next one. My sister-in-law convinced me to give the series another try, and I had such a better experience this time! I've just started the third one and I feel like I'll finish the whole series this summer. Super short and so charming!

6. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power Greed and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams - This tell-all book about Facebook left me conflicted. It felt to me somewhat obvious? Does anyone actually believe this company has our best interests in mind? It felt like it was trying to convince me of something I already knew, and the author wasn't always terribly self aware about the ways she contributed to the harm. That said, there were interesting & thought provoking moments, and I'm not mad that I read it.

I encountered this musical for the first time when I was in college, and I was obsessed for quite some time. I checked my blog archives and found three separate mentions, all in March 2012. It's not a light show by any stretch (and I'd definitely recommend checking the content warnings first, even if it is PBS). Still, this version of the show was a different kind of gut punch than I remember from 2012. The 13 years since have given me more experiences with grief, more familiarity with illness, and a more complex relationship with both.

There is a quote from a book I read a couple of years ago that came to mind as I watched: "He’s beginning to understand that grief doesn’t strike bargains. There’s no way of avoiding the agony—or even of getting through it faster. It’s got him in its claws and it won’t let go till he’s learnt every lesson it has to teach."* I love this visceral image, and it felt like the perfect description of this show.

For the family in the show, they are in the claws of grief. It is harrowing and relentless. I was grateful to be watching it at home, able to take breaks, pause for deep breaths and a little space when I needed it. And yet, I was very aware I had the privilege of distancing myself, something that the family in the musical would never have. As they make their ways deeper into their pain, things start to fracture and then ultimately find the beginnings of a way forward.

The show closes with a piece called "Light," urging each of them to find hope and possibilities. It's my favorite part of the show, and the thing I'll take away the most: "Knowing that the darkest skies will someday see the sun."

If you feel up to crying a lot, maybe give it a watch.

*The book is The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and I would not recommend it, even if it has several good lines that I've remembered.

1. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson - I really love The Odyssey, but I really did not like this translation. I honestly might read another translation this year since this didn't really scratch the itch for me.

2. The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff - My mom mentioned this one to me multiple times before I finally started listening and it was SO good. The audiobook was incredible, and I came away with such a different perspective of Sept 11. Especially was interested in the Pentagon portion - so much that I didn't know before.

3. Funny Story by Emily Henry - I really enjoyed this one, even if it felt the most unrealistic of any of her books. But I love her writing and I flew through this. I think my enjoyment was especially heightened since this was a much needed dose of levity after the previous book.

4. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez - Not my favorite. I liked parts of it, but too much trauma in my romance novel.

5. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters - This was a fun mystery! This is the first in the Amelia Peabody mystery series. I liked the adventure, the Egypt setting, and the main detective was a delight. A very pleasant read - will be reading more in this series!

Here's a few things that I'm excited about:

Tony nominations are tomorrow.

Summer baseball games - I haven't been to a game yet this season and I'm itching to go.

The neighborhood pool opens over Memorial Day weekend and my countdown is on.

Book club! It's still about a month away, but we got especially bold and invited the author of this month's selection to attend book club, and she agreed! I'm a little bit intimidated but also so excited about this!

Speaking of books, Rachel Gillig's new book, The Knight and the Moth, which comes out in about 3 weeks.

The Kentucky Derby.

A day trip I have planned to NYC to see Maybe Happy Ending in a few weeks.

The last piece of cheesecake waiting for me in the fridge.

I've recently done a good bit of spring cleaning. After cleaning out my closet, I've found a couple of gaps in my wardrobe.

I've heard somewhere that there are three things that are ideal when shopping for clothes:

    1. For them to be affordable

    2. For them to be easy to find

    3. To love everything about them: the style, fit, fabric, etc

And you can only pick two.

I nearly always sacrifice the third, but this means that there's often something just a little off about my outfits. 

The tops are too cropped, or the sweaters pill quickly. The trousers could use a hem, or the shoes and belt are different enough shades that they look like a mistake. The purse is the right size, but not fancy enough. The dress is just outdated enough that it's starting to be noticeable. 

It's never the end of the world, and I push through the discomfort. Usually, once I'm no longer looking in the mirror, I don't think about it much.

But I'd like to get it right. To give up convenience of ease, and spend the time and effort required to get exactly what I want at a price I like. To have a closet full of things that make me feel great every single day.

Someday. I'll get there.

A real mixed bag this month!

1. Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano - This is the 5th book in this series and it is definitely my favorite one so far. I wasn't the biggest fan of the previous book, so I was thrilled this one did not disappoint! It was a perfectly silly time. 10/10.

2. A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young - I read another Adrienne Young book in January that I loved, so I was very eager to pick this up. This one is even more character driven than the first, but it still kept me engaged the whole time. The main character suspects foul play in her brother's death, and I loved the mystery part. I really love Young's writing, and I want to read more from her!

3. Die with Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money and Life by Bill Perkins - This was our book club pick this month and everyone had opinions which made the discussion really fun! The book was helpful in making me feel like I had a lot of options with my money, but spending has never been my problem. I still think I'll lean on the saving side. Still, it was definitely thought provoking!

4. Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck - This is next month's book club pick and I picked it. I don't even know what to say about this book. This was one of the most bizarre reading experiences I've ever had, which is to be expected when the synopsis is a man slowly turning into a great white shark. I was not expecting this amount of body horror (I'm not sure that's the right term but I'm not sure what else to call it), and I felt like the momentum really died about halfway through. And yet, there is one scene that left me in heaving sobs, crying into my pillow. A real rollercoaster of emotions, and I will be very selective about who I recommend it to. Can't wait for book club, and scared that all of my friends will hate me for picking it.