You're Planning Your Annual Viewing of Groundhog Day, Part 4

Want a detective story or a peek at the lives of influencers

Hi book lovers,

Welcome to the last week of the first month of 2024. I’m struggling to write an introduction this week, so let’s jump right to it.

What to read if…

You’re Excited to Celebrate Groundhog Day Again

A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen

As I wrote last year, “I’m embracing the true spirit of the movie “Groundhog Day” by doing the same thing I’ve done every year before to mark the holiday: recommending a time loop book. If you somehow haven’t seen the 1993 classic, it stars Bill Murray as a weatherman reliving the Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, again and again and again.”

This year’s pick is Mike Chen’s A Quantum Love Story, a time loop book unlike any I’ve read. (Quick note: I’m doing something I never do and highlighting a book that comes out tomorrow, January 30^th. It was just the perfect time loop pick.)

As the book opens, Mariana Pineda receives a last-minute invite to tour the particle accelerator her recently deceased best friend and stepsister, Shea, dreamed of working at. Still grieving Shea’s loss, Mariana packs a picture of the two of them and meets her colleagues at the particle accelerator. While there, she runs into Carter Cho, who insists they’ve met before. He tells her to focus on remembering what he’s saying because they’re stuck in a time loop that’s about to restart.

From there, Mariana and Carter repeat the same four days — Monday to Thursday — that culminate in the particle accelerator’s explosion countless times, as they seek to break the repetition and prevent the detonation.

The second half of A Quantum Love Story was unlike anything I’ve seen in a time loop book. It made me cry and consider if my dog would know if I was a time loop (I’ve concluded every day is a time loop for her). I’ve heard great things about Mike Chen’s work for years and am glad I finally read one of his books. I’m looking forward to diving into his backlist. (There’s also a great Easter egg for Phoebe Bridgers fans.)

Reminder recs: Previous Groundhog Day picks were This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub, Christina Lauren’s In a Holidaze and The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

You’re an Armchair Detective — Or the Parent of One

The World’s Greatest Detective by Caroline Carlson

I love middle-grade mysteries because they scratch the whodunnit itch, but aren’t super violent because, well, they’re for kids. Caroline Carlson’s The World’s Greatest Detective is one of the best I’ve read. It’s a book that both adults and kids can enjoy — and would be a great family read.

Toby Montrose lives with his uncle on Detectives’ Row, home to some of the best investigators around. He’s eager to prove his worth to his uncle, serving as his assistant. After his parents’ disappearance, he’s been shuffled between relatives’ houses and he’s hoping to make this his permanent home. Unfortunately, his efforts so far haven’t worked. But when the famous Hugh Abernathy announces a contest to crown the World’s Greatest Detective, he recognizes an opportunity. Together, with his pal Ivy, a self-proclaimed super sleuth, Toby sets out to win the contest. Their mission, though, grows more difficult when what was supposed to be a game turns deadly.

The World’s Greatest Detective is lots of fun and delivers both an emotional story about Toby’s attempts to find a home and a well-crafted mystery. It’s the type of book that kids will feel smart reading, while adults will enjoy the ride.

You Want a #NoFilter Look at the Lives of Influencers

Swipe Up for More by Stephanie McNeal

I finally joined Instagram last year after it became clear that Twitter was (is?) dying a slow, painful death. And while I mostly hang out on Bookstagram, the last few months have given me my first real interaction with influencer culture, beyond the occasional rabbit hole. It is as fascinating as I always thought it would be. Whether you have a favorite Instagrammer or are just trying to wrap your head around the scale of the $21.1 billion influencer marketing industry, check out Stephanie McNeal’s Swipe Up For More.

McNeal, a senior editor at Glamour, spent three years embedded with three leading influencers — Caitlin Covington of Southern Curls & Pearls, fitness influencer Mirna Valerio and Shannon Bird, one of the first mommy bloggers — to understand how they make content, how living online affects their lives and, yes, how much money they actually make. Along the way, McNeal makes a compelling case that these women and others like them (most of the successful influencers are women) shaped the face of the internet as much, if not more, than the internet affected them.

Swipe Up for More is a fascinating and entertaining look at a powerful — yet often mocked — industry. It convinced me, a relative newbie to influencer culture that I had been, well, influenced by it, even without realizing it. Both juicy and tightly written, a great read for anyone interested in how internet culture intersects with the broader world.

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Thanks for reading!

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