You’re Not Over That “Succession” Twist

Find your commute enjoyable or want a true crime novel

Hi friends,

I’m coming off a long weekend at Virginia’s Lake Anna where a friend and I spent the days sunning ourselves and reading while my dog frolicked around. It was absolutely perfect.

And, now, what to read if …

You Want a Real-Life “Succession”

Unscripted by James Stewart and Rachel Abrams

Between the final season of HBO’s hit drama “Succession” and Fox News’s settlement with  Dominion Voting Systems, it’s been a big few weeks for media moguls — real and fictitious. If you’re craving another behind-the-scenes look at a media empire, grab a copy of Unscripted by James Stewart and Rachel Abrams, the epic and wild tale of the power struggle over CBS, Paramount and Viacom.

This book opens with George Pilgrim, a former soap star and con man — he claimed to be a descendant of William Randolph Hearst — teaming up with Sydney Holland, one of Sumner Redstone’s live-in girlfriends, to take down another one of Redstone’s paramours in a lawsuit. It just gets more bonkers from there.

Over the course of Unscripted, Stewart and Abrams describe a tumultuous period for the Redstone family, the majority shareholders of CBS and Viacom, and the two companies. Sumner, the family’s elderly patriarch, was ailing and isolated from his family by Holland and another girlfriend, who bilked the nonagenarian for millions in cash, real estate, jewelry and other gifts.

But more than the story of a family’s scandals, Unscripted is a business story. It takes readers deep into the board room dealings around Les Moonves’s departure from CBS after multiple exposés documented the former CEO’s history of sexual misconduct. It’s a wild ride about a storied American institution — CBS — and well worth the read for anyone who enjoys riveting nonfiction.

You Actually Enjoy Your Commute

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

I was talking with a friend last week about how we both (perhaps weirdly?) enjoy our commutes. I use my time on the metro to read (no surprises there), catch up on my correspondence (text messages and emails) and, occasionally, just to think. For a book that celebrates the ride to work, check out Clare Pooley’s Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting.

Every day, 57-year-old advice columnist and former It Girl Iona Iverson rides the train ten stops from her home to her office with her dog Lulu. Iona enjoys watching the other passengers and bestowing secret nicknames on them, but she never engages. That is until another commuter chokes while on the train one day. Sanjay, a nurse, performs the Heimlich maneuver on Piers, who Iona mentally refers to as “Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader.” Sanjay’s actions save Piers’s life and spark a surprising friendship among the train riders.

I am a sucker for any book about a quirky group of people who come together to build an unlikely community and Iona Iverson fits that bill. Besides Iona, Sanjay and Piers, there’s Martha, a bullied teenager, Emmie, a twenty-something working at a digital ad agency and Jake, a personal trainer. All of them are a little lost — but I loved spending time with this bunch. It’s a timeless tale of overcoming life’s tough moments with the help of friends, without ever feeling trite or saccharine.

You Wonder How True “True Crime” Is

More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez

Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel, published an essay in The New York Times last week about true crime’s “volatile relationship with facts.” Her piece reminded me of Katie Gutierrez’s More Than You’ll Ever Know, a novel exploring the construction of a true crime narrative.

In 1985, Lore Rivera marries Andres Russo in Mexico City — even though she already has a husband and twin boys in Laredo, Texas. Lore secretly carries on a relationship with both men, until they find out about each other, and one murders the other. Thirty-two years later, struggling true crime writer Cassie Bowman stumbles upon an article about Lore and becomes obsessed with the woman’s story. She sets out to write a book about Lore’s relationships and the murder but finds that her subject is less than forthcoming about her past.

I love this cover.

Alternating between two storylines — Lore in the 1980s and both women in 2017 — the novel shows how much goes into creating stories that we believe are true. Simultaneously a captivating family drama and tightly plotted thriller, More Than You’ll Ever Know establishes Gutierrez as an author to watch.

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Thanks for reading! I’ll be back on Thursday with a Q&A featuring author and audiobook narrator Julia Whelan.

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