You’re in a Reading Slump
Are an avid royal watcher or need some motivation
Hi book lovers,
Welcome to March. Are you ready for the influx of pandemic anniversary stories? Yeah, me neither.
Some bookish updates for you all:
A few of you requested a way to see all of the books included in previous newsletters, so I set up a Bookshop.org “store.” Bookshop is an online bookstore that directs its proceeds to independent bookstores across the country. Since its launch roughly a year ago, Bookshop has raised more than 12 million dollars for bookstores.
One important note: if you purchase a book through the link above or one of the Bookshop links below, I’ll receive a small commission.
A number of you reached out looking for a book like “WandaVision.” I haven’t watched the TV show yet but am super intrigued and added it to my list. Since I can’t do anything halfway, I decided to watch all of the Marvel movies (a phenomenon that I had mostly skipped) before diving in. I have the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie on now in the background while I write this — so I’m hoping to have a “WandaVision” book soon.
As always, drop me a note or leave a comment below if you’re looking for a book and I’ll send one your way.
And now, what to read if …
Your Attention Span is Shot
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
A lot of friends have told me recently they’re having trouble concentrating on reading right now. I hear you. When I feel this way, I turn to short story or essay collections. They give you the chance to start and finish reading something without the full commitment of a book. From there, you can gain momentum.
Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is the perfect reading slump buster. The stories, which explore the hidden desires of good, church-going Black women in the 1980s through today, are no longer than thirty pages. Many, though, pack an emotional wallop far greater than books ten times their length and their characters will stick with me for a long time.
Three of the stories focus on how women in love with other women navigate their relationships with religion and family, while another enumerates the rules a serial mistress gives to her affair partners.
My book club had a lively discussion of the collection, Philyaw’s first, yesterday. I’m eager to read more from her in the future.
You Have a Google Alert for the Royal Family
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
It’s been a big few weeks for royal watchers. Meghan Markle is pregnant. The 99-year-old Prince Phillip has been hospitalized. Kate Middleton and Prince William are “aghast” that Markle and Prince Harry are giving an interview to Oprah. And, Harry offered a new spin on James Corden’s popular Carpool Karaoke with a new interview that set the internet on fire.
If you’ve devoured these developments, Jasmine Guillory’s Royal Holiday is the book for you. Guillory wrote the book, her fourth in a series of interconnected romances, after seeing a tweet about Meghan Markle’s single mom, Doria Ragland, spending Christmas with the royal family.
I’m not sure what the experience was like for Ragland, but Guillory’s book is warm and cozy, the kind of book best read next to a fire, drinking a cup of tea. It follows Vivian Forest, American mother of a royal stylist, as she spends Christmas in Britain and falls in love with the Queen’s private secretary. Complications, of course, ensue, but it’s a romance, so a happy ending is guaranteed.
Bonus rec: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan was inspired by William and Kate’s courtship, but, in many ways, it predicted the romance between Harry and Meghan. The Royal We is about American Bex Porter, who falls in love with Prince Nick after they meet during Bex’s year abroad at Oxford. I should note this book hits darker themes than I first expected when I started it. It’s worth reading, but don’t go in expecting a happy-go-lucky romp.
You’re Looking for Motivation
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
It seems like many of us have hit the “pandemic wall” over the past few weeks, a phrase coined by New York Public Radio host Tanzina Vega to describe the sudden feeling of Covid-related emotional exhaustion. I’ll be honest — I’ve hit the wall, and based on the number of requests I’ve received for motivational books; I think some of you have too.
Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly was designed for this time. It’s a manifesto for taking action, even when doing so is scary. The title comes from a quote from Theodore Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
Each day, I challenge myself to remain in the arena instead of standing outside of it. Some days, being in the arena means launching this newsletter and daring that people would be interested. Other days, it means getting out of bed and putting away my laundry while watching a Marvel movie.
I’m not sure there’s much that’s groundbreaking in Daring Greatly, but reading it though is inspiring and might just give you the push you need to enter that arena and keep fighting.
That’s it for me this week. If you’ve read any of the books mentioned above and loved or hated them, let me know in a comment.
What to Read If is a free weekly book recommendation newsletter. Need a rec? Want to gush about a book? Reply to this email, leave a comment or find me on Twitter @elizabethheld.
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I´ve had Daring Greatyly in my Audible library for at least a year and for some reason I´ve picked it up yesterday. Reading your post made me realize why. This book speaks volumes to me. It´s just what I need it.