Might take a summer vacation

In this post: tragedy, vacation reading, Bronte adaptations, Jane Austen, More than a Million sneak peak, preorders

Hi friends, how are you? It’s been such a sad week here in central Texas. There are green ribbons wrapped around so many trees and stop signs in the area in remembrance of the people who died in the tragic flash floods. There are no words, but here is a link with different ways to offer support.

On a lighter note, this week we returned from our annual summer vacation to Rhode Island (with a couple detours to Maine and Connecticut). Here are some beach pictures:

basketball courts we visited in Rhode Island (left to right: Cristofaro Park in Narragansett, South Kingston Rec Center, Paterson Park in Providence)

Haha, just kidding these are just a fraction of the basketball courts my ten year old Russ begged me to take him to since he doesn’t love the beach. Doesn’t love the beach! Can you believe it?

Gouache and fireworks

2025 has been such a nice reading year for me, and so far my summer reading has exceeded expectations. In June I began with Along Came Amor which was, in a word, excellent. The perfect finale to this series. Then I read Square Waves, another romance, which I loved for the setting (Bay Area), the surfing, and the redemption arcs. Then on to When Javi Dumped Mari, a delightful When Harry Met Sally retelling. It’s a Love Story was very fun and the graphic novel about a group of U17 women soccer players in suburban Paris Season of the Roses is so beautiful.

This week I read the climate change literary thriller Wild Dark Shore which I think is a loose retelling of Jane Eyre (although I can’t find any confirmation of this anywhere even though a paperback copy of Jane Eyre is present on the island and is a metaphorical albatross. There are also actual albatrosses nesting on the island.). Have you read it? What did you think? I would love to know what you thought about the ending especially. The premise is that a woman washes ashore on a barely inhabited “subantarctic” island where a dad and his three kids are the caretakers of (what remains of a scientific lab and) a seed vault. Has something nefarious happened??? The atmospheric vibes from the very first page suggest yes.

The author seems to have accomplished two impossible tasks here: making a novel about climate change that doesn’t feel preachy, and writing an unputdownable thriller that somehow has occasional chapters devoted to the natural history of the dandelion or thistle. Wait, this makes me think of the heath, so let’s pause for a little Bronte break. Once on a trip to the UK I convinced my husband to take me and our kids to the Bronte parsonage and that portion of the trip did not unfold the way I wanted it to, which actually felt very true to a Bronte storyline.

In Bronte adjacent news, my mom and I went to see the French movie Jane Austen Wrecked My Life at the Austin Film Society. If you are in Austin, I recommend that location for movie viewing! Such a nice art house cinema feel. The movie is still playing there, and is such a delight. I’m also enjoying the new season of the Buccaneers.

Today is the final day of the Barnes and Nobles annual preorders sale, where preorders are 25% off. You can preorder More than a Million here! It comes out in January (aka Valentine’s szn). Here’s a sneak peak below. I’m so excited about it, it’s so cute!

While you’re at it, you may want to preorder See One, Do One, Teach One which comes out in March (!). It’s a graphic memoir about med school and residency, how I met my husband, my son’s birth (!!), etc. More to come, including the cover.

recent comic for cupofjo

Ok guys, send me your book recs, fashion finds, longreads, etc. I might send out some preliminary data from my 2025 swimsuit search next week. Have a nice weekend!