You're Planning your Annual Viewing of Groundhog Day
You're Planning your Annual Viewing of Groundhog Day
Are trying to decode the Gamestop stock saga or like your football with a side of drama
Hi book lovers,
Hello from snowy Washington, D.C. We got about two inches of powder light snow. It was the perfect amount of snow: everything looked pretty and I could sweep it right off my steps.
As an upstate New York native, I enjoy making fun of my adopted city’s reaction to snow. For a storm that promised five inches maximum, the line at Trader Joe’s wrapped around the building outside.
I spent my snowy Sunday baking, watching Netflix and, of course, reading. If you too had snow, I hope you were able to enjoy it.
And now, what to read if …
You Celebrate Groundhog Day with a Viewing of the Bill Murray Classic
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The movie “Groundhog Day,” featuring Bill Murray as a beleaguered weatherman forced to relive February 2nd again and again, is one of my favorites.
Stuart Turton applies “Groundhog Day’s” time loop device to the classic English countryside murder in The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Our narrator, Aiden Bishop, experiences the same day from a series of different perspectives, waking up in a new person’s body each morning to restart the cycle. If he can solve Evelyn’s murder, he’ll break the time loop and return to his own body. His hosts range from the useful — a brilliant man — to the abhorrent — a serial rapist — and Aiden must fight to maintain his personality while inside their bodies.
I was skeptical about this book — I don’t read a lot of fantasy — but I ended up loving it. The combination of the time loop framing device and shifting perspectives allow for a densely-layered mystery, making it clear that nothing — and no one — are what they seem.
You’re Trying to Make Sense of the Game Stop Story
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Last week, the price of GameStop stock soared, after a group of Reddit users began to aggressively buy it. It was part of an effort to cause hedge funds who had bet against the stock, a process known as “shorting it,” to lose money. It’s all a bit complicated, but this Twitter thread lays it out step by step, and I found this analysis from Bob Seawright, a finance expert, super helpful.
The whole saga had me thinking about Michael Lewis’ The Big Short, which does a fantastic job explaining the 2008 financial crisis, and what it means to short a stock. Lewis is widely praised for his ability to describe complex topics in a straightforward but somehow entertaining way, and The Big Short is no different.
Even if you’ve seen the movie (which is excellent), the book is still worth a read, including more details and explanation than could fit in the film. If you’re looking to make heads or tails of the GameStop saga or just want a good read, The Big Short is a great pick.
You’re Not Sure if You’re Going to Watch the Super Bowl or Real Housewives
Fumbled by Alexa Martin
Fumbled, the second book in Alexa Martin’s delightful romcom series follows single-mom Poppy Patterson after she’s suddenly reunited with the father of her son, who just so happens to be the starting wide receiver for her local NFL team, the Denver Mustangs, T.K. Moore. Further complicating matters, T.K. has no idea he has a son.
Martin, whose husband played in the NFL, draws on her experience as a football wife, bringing us behind the scenes of game day and going deep on the effect head injuries have on NFL players. The author’s love of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise also shines through, and the sections depicting meetings of the “Lady Mustangs” are laugh-out-loud funny.
I typically hate romances that use a secret baby trope, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes a special kind of writer to craft a genuinely humorous romance that’s also a searing look at the league’s issues with traumatic brain injury, and Martin pulls it off.
If you need to read a series in order, you can start with Intercepted, but it’s by no means necessary to enjoy the series.
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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