Hi, Hello!!!
Welcome back to the Group Chat! This is our snapshot of things we loved this month: the books, shows, recipes, and rabbit holes we’ve texted each other (and our IRL friends) about lately.
July has been a month of travel and traipsing around our respective states, from the beach to the mountains to a multitude of swimming pools and countless runs to our local libraries. We really gave July our all.
While some school schedules would lead you to believe that summer is over, we’re holding onto the month of August and summer with one final installment of our Nostalgic Summer Book Club. So far we’ve read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (June) and Ella Enchanted (July). Our July Live was nostalgia on overdrive in the best possible way. Who knew that depending on which side of 1985 you were born impacted your nostalgic reading canon in such wild ways?
Our August Book Club pick is The Secret Garden. Kristin is still not over the fact that Betsy hasn’t read this beloved, classic childhood novel. Grab a copy and read along with us as we traipse down memory lane or, in some cases, make first-time memories with a book that has been around since 1911.
We’ll be discussing it during our Substack Live (along with general end-of-summer chaos) on Wednesday, August 26, at 9 p.m.!
Everyone can join us live on the 26th, and paid subscribers get the replay delivered straight to their inboxes!
BKS: Spellstruck + Henry Tudor Must Die + Abby Offsides + The Shampoo Effect. This was such a fun and varied list of books this month; it’s hard to pick a favorite because it feels a little like comparing apples to oranges. For the record, I really enjoyed them all; 4-4.5 stars all around. I’m going to put in a plug for Henry Tudor Must Die because I haven’t seen it many places and it’s a really cool reimagining of Henry VIII and his wives. It’s a mash-up of genres I would call Historical Fantasy. And if you liked the musical Six, you would definitely like this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
KNW: This Story Might Save Your Life + Volume 1 of Emma M. Lion Series and Ungodly Rich. Honestly, it’s hard to pick a Best of the Month. I loved each one of these stories for very different reasons. A not-so-scary thriller read by my favorite audiobook narrator, a period piece with a strong female lead told through journal entries, and a cheeky imaginative soap opera drama intertwining Greek mythology with present day. They all get at least ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars from me.(The Emma M. Lion series is included in Kindle Unlimited, and my library also had the audiobooks. ;))
BKS: This month we finished the final season of The Bear. It was SO. SO. GOOD. The entire season takes place in (almost) one night, and it is such a satisfying end for these characters we’ve come to love. Richie’s character arc over five seasons might be one of my favorites of all time.
KNW: My household watched a lot of World Cup soccer in the month of July. We also watched a LOT of movies. WHO ARE WE?!?! We’ve powered through Toy Story 5, Cheaper By The Dozen, Cheaper By The Dozen 2, Home Alone, The Descendants, The Descendants 2, High School Musical 1, 2, and 3, Princess Diaries, and Princess Diaries 2. What should we watch next? Dare we try Ella Enchanted?
Drop your favorite recent listens in the comments and help us out! xx
BKS: July has had the longest stretch of weeks where we’ve been home, and Sadie has been baking up a storm. She’s made this into a loaf and these cupcakes—both were so very good! I think it’s fair to say that KNW and I are both counting down the days until this cookbook releases. More on that later…
KNW: AGW has been bitten by the cooking bug and started finding recipes in this kid’s cookbook to try. She has made the smoothie recipe at least once a week all month long. I haven’t managed much other interesting cooking this month, but this wine spritzer is a 10/10.
A few of our favorite purchases from July:
These $15 ‘Polarized’ Sunglasses
Little Girl + Big Girl Pajamas
Lake Nightgown (Listen, I bought this on sale and I think it’s worth every penny full price. —BKS)
Whether you’ve been here since day one or wandered into the Briarpatch last week, we’re delighted you’re here. If you like this type of content and want even more recommendations, conversations, and easy ways to be extra, consider upgrading to our paid tier for $5/month.
Paid subscribers receive our weekly podcast + newsletter episodes, book club replays, the Group Chat Library Doc, and a few other fun surprises each month. August's surprise is an extra Substack Live where we'll be making a craft together to kick off one of our favorite Tier 2 holidays: Back-to-School!
We like to think of the Group Chat as a text thread with our favorite people discussing all the best things of the month. We hope it feels like that for you! Here’s to the last month of summer, a few more beach days, and all the back-to-school anticipation.
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