Welcome to Sunday Sundries, the antidote to—or at least a distraction from—your Sunday Scaries.
Hi friends,
This week was boring in a way that felt necessary after 10 days away. A lot of time spent at my desk; the rest with my nose buried in a book. I broke my self-imposed hermitude just twice.
Got an early start on soup season (recipe), obsessed with these hawaiian-print sport shorts (size up), evening in my office, meeting a fellow tall Becca, solo dinner with my kindle.
Once, for a book party to celebrate the imminent release of Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison. (I’ve only read her contemporary romances, but heard this paranormal series is great, too!) Then, for a solo dinner at the bar at French Louie after my eyelash appointment on Friday. Turned out it was Restaurant Week, so I got a the whole three-course shebang. The bananas foster profiteroles were sublime!
Let’s dig into the bag on Sundries, shall we?
I love a beach vacation for all the obvious reasons—lack of emails, getting a tan, drinking frozen cocktails—but one less universal reason may be snooping on what everyone else at the pool is reading. Last weekend, I was at The Breakers in Palm Beach and had my eyes peeled for physical books. Surprisingly, not a single copy of Yesteryear, our Book-of-the-Summer-apparent, in sight. (Though there’s no accounting for what’s on those kindles. And there was one copy waiting to be scooped up in the resort store.)
Here’s what I saw:
On our cluster of chairs: my friend Peter was reading These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever, a gay thriller I got him as part of a secret Santa gift last Christmas. Meanwhile, Molly had an ARC of Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle I passed along to her last fall. (I love being a book fairy godmother to my friends.) I was reading Make Nice by Ryan Effgen on my kindle, which was pitched as The Wedding People meets Sandwich. AKA prime fun but not too fluffy beach reading material.
1 copy of Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan. The chair was unmanned or I would have gushed to its owner about how much I loved this book and its author. (Interestingly, no Emily Henry spottings, which have been a fixture at this pool in years past.)
1 copy of Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
A man reading Recursion by Blake Crouch. I couldn’t see what his wife was reading, and had to give up because I felt like I was being a creep.
1 copy of Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
A woman in the pool who seemed very into These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
1 unmanned copy of Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews
This section is sponsored by Sol de Janeiro.
Speaking of poolside reading, you’ve probably heard that my podcast Bad on Paper is teaming up with Brazilian-inspired self-care brand Sol de Janeiro for our Summer of Sol! That means: bonus book clubs, live events (pssst… if you live in Miami, there are still FREE tix available for our Aug 24 event!), and—yes—incredible giveaways. You can enter HERE to win a bounty of our favorite Sol de Janeiro products anytime before August 12.
And if you miss the cut off, or just want to re-stock your faves—for me: the Rosa Charmosa Dewy Cream or the Cheirosa 91 perfume mist—you can use this link to get an exclusive 10% discount on best-sellers!
At the airport last Sunday, I spotted a woman at baggage claim wearing Leset’s Kyoto Carpenter pants in bright blue. I recognized them immediately because I’ve been adding them to my cart all summer, not quite able to stomach the price or convinced that the standard inseam length would work on my 5’10” frame. But this woman looked so effortlessly chic that I ordered the pants on the ride home.
However, I’d forgotten that I also ordered a similar pair of pants from Pistola earlier in the week. So, when they both showed up the same day, we had a good old fashioned pants-off on our hands.
Left: Leset; Right: Pistola
I really like both pairs, but I can’t argue with the fact that the pink pair is $130 cheaper. And I might prefer the shape (more barrel-y?) slightly, too. My DM’s, however, were split.
If you’re in the market for something similar: I’ve also heard great things about the Gap version (from Azora Zoe Paknad, I think?), which come in a tall inseam. The DMs also led me to this J.Crew pair which come in tall and short inseams with very cute color options. Now, if only I could find the half-the-price dupe for the Donni taffeta pants that have also been haunting my shopping cart this summer.
ICYMI: I ran through all my July reads here. Now, what’s on deck for August?
This month, I’m only adding 3 titles to leave room for reading detours and catch up on hopefuls from months past. (I just finished—and loved!—Main Characters by Bobby Palmer from July’s list!)
Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum: I was originally going to skip this book about a male ad exec who decides to “opt out” of capitalism and live off the land of his Connecticut farm house. But then, it got scooped up for adaptation by Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso, Shrinking) and I saw a comment on July’s book report saying how funny it was, and… what can I say… I flipped. Add in a comp to Rufi Thorpe and I’m raring to go.
Meeting New People by Daniel M. Lavery: I swear, it’s really not my norm to read so many books by or about men, but apparently August is an exception. I heard about this book that follows a 50-something woman auditioning new best friends after being dumped by her previous BFF in Svetlana Legetic’s July reading recap. Already interested, I stumbled on this headline when I googled it: “‘Meeting New People’ Asks: Am I the Asshole?” and wound up even more sold. I’m hoping for a funnier version of The Correspondent.
Rabbit Rabbit by Jennifer E. Smith (out Dec 15): I have loved both of Smith’s adult novels—The Unsinkable Greta James and Fun For the Whole Family—so I’m hoping for a three-peat with her latest about a woman who decides to have a baby on her own, only to meet her possible dream man an hour later. Problem is, he doesn’t want kids.
For the comments section: Tell me what’s at the top of your August TBR!
Saved this list of the 26 best TV shows of 2026 to refer to next time I have nothing to watch. (Currently re-watching Ted Lasso to refresh for S4.)
I was giddy when the first trade review for my forthcoming sophomore novel, Back Where We Started, landed in my inbox. And it’s a good one!
One of us needs this dirty martini clutch. (Is it me?)
Jenny Jackson, who is both the author of The Shampoo Effect and the editor of Yesteryear, was on the Open Book with Jenna podcast last week. Interesting to hear how hard she courted the author of Yesteryear.
Hoping this blue faux-suede dress comes back in stock. Potential book tour outfit?
What a coup for Madeline Cash. Also, this feels like a good book club match.
A couple sales to know about:
Madewell has 30% off wear-now styles with code REFRESH. Personally, I’ve been getting a ton of wear out of this breezy mini dress lately.
Me + Em has a lots great pieces in their sale that can be worn into fall. I love this textured short sleeved sweater. On the summer side, I’m eyeing this crochet dress. (Or maybe the shirt version.)
More soon,
Becca
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