You're Enjoying Meg Ryan Fall

Want a gripping novel or a rollicking ride of a book

Hi book lovers,

Quick heads up for people who like to plan their reading (vs. people like me who just grab whatever sounds good at the moment and is in the house): Banned Books Week, an annual event that recognizes the importance of free and open information, kicks off next week.

And, now, what to read if …

You’re Celebrating Meg Ryan Fall

I’ll Have What She’s Having by Erin Carlson

A friend and I recently talked about how “When Harry Met Sally” is the ultimate fall movie, even though it takes place over years and its seminal scene occurs on New Year’s Eve. This is hardly a radical take: The internet has been celebrating Meg Ryan Fall, when we don cozy knits while carrying a hot beverage on a stroll through a park lined with crunchy leaves. If you’re embracing this fall aesthetic, grab a copy of Erin Carlson’s I’ll Have What She’s Having, a history of three of Nora Ephron’s films with Meg Ryan.

I mean it just screams FALL.

Carlson, an entertainment journalist, documents how Nora Ephron reinvented the romcom with her iconic trio of films — “When Harry Met Sally,” “You've Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” She chronicles the famed writer-director’s intense eye for detail (truly, Meg Ryan may be the face, but it’s Nora Ephron Fall), her longtime friendship with Rob Reiner and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the making of the films. The book also movingly explores how Ephron managed to regain her faith in love after dealing with intense heartbreak (see: Heartburn for proof).

I’ll Have What She’s Having is a fun, entertaining and informative read. Ephron — or Meg Ryan — superfans might not learn much new, but it’s still a joy to spend some time in their move magic.  It’s perfect for reading in the park, while enjoying a cup of tea.

Reminder rec: From Hollywood, With Love by Scott Meslow is a broader history of the romcom between “When Harry Met Sally” and “To All the Boys I Loved Before.”

You’re Looking for Something Meaty

The Trees by Percival Everett

I recently described The Trees to a colleague as “the funniest novel I’ve ever read about lynching.” Everett juxtaposes the humor with the horror of the legacy of lynching to create an intense, memorable reading experience.

As the book opens, multiple dead bodies have been found in the small town of Money, Mississippi in just a few days. At the scene of each crime is a white man brutally murdered and a Black man, bearing a strange resemblance to Emmett Till, beaten to death. Even stranger, the body of the Black man keeps disappearing from police custody and ending up at another crime scene.

When two detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they expect resistance from local law enforcement, but they don’t anticipate similar crimes to occur across the country.

Describing The Trees in just a few sentences is difficult. It’s not really a detective story, but it’s also not not a detective story. It pushes the bounds of horror, while delivering some laugh-out-loud moments. Most critically, it forces the reader to think. If you don’t read it with a friend or a book group, my guess is you will be obsessively googling to find out what others thought of the ending.

You Want a Wild Ride of a Novel

The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian

For years, Chrissy Dowling has starred in a Princess Diana revue show at a British-themed off-strip Las Vegas hotel, the Buckingham Palace. But she’s not just playing the princess on stage — she struggles with an eating disorder and speaks in a British accent at all times. Just as her estranged sister Betsy arrives in Las Vegas with her new boyfriend and newly adopted teenage daughter, Chrissy’s life falls apart. Both the Buckingham Palace owners are found dead in mysterious circumstances.

As Chrissy, barely awake with her daily diet of Adderall, Valium and champagne, attempts to understand what happened to the hotel owners and the future of her job, she uncovers a vast conspiracy bringing together organized crime, Betsy’s boyfriend’s crypto company and her new paramour.

As you can tell by this description, there is a lot going on The Princess of Las Vegas. But even with all the nuttiness, it’s still a poignant story about two sisters and a troubled teen trying to figure out how to be a family.

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