Hi friends!
Summer in suburban St. Paul continues apace. I find myself meeting new people weekly as my 8 year old daughter does the summer camp gauntlet. Right now, she’s at Camp Invention working on a glowing jellyfish named Strawberry. I’m told it’s definitely NOT a robot, but it does glow. So there you go.
My reading life has picked up a bit, possibly because the nightly Wimbledon high-definition games have me dreaming of bumping into Kate Middleton and talking fashion. A blog to that effect.
The Palace Papers by Tina Brown. Look, I know these books are gossip, but there are levels of quality to gossip biographies. Tina Brown seems to have interviewed everyone within a hundred mile radius of the Queen and Di. She covers Camilla with so much compassion and appreciation that I’m starting to see her as a plucky survivor instead of a villain!
Battle of Brothers by Robert Lacey. More baldly tabloid but amusing account of the rift between Harry & Meghan and the rest of the royals, especially the Cambridges (Will and Kate). Both of these books have lots of glossy pictures.
The Anxious Perfectionist by Clarissa W. Ong and Michael P. Twohig. These are clinical psychologists talking about how to work through the bad feelings that unrealistic expectations bring. My therapist recommended it when I asked her what she was reading lately. This description of acceptance really helped me this week: “Accepting is giving feelings room to exist so you can focus on things that matter to you, rather than be preoccupied with when the feelings are going to leave.”
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. I was led to this book after reading this article. What can I say? This is historical fiction at the most granular and profound. Can’t wait to read the end.