currently reading: I am still working on Uncultured. It’s a tough story, so I’m taking a little time to process it, but it’s fascinating. If you want to know what it’s like to grow up in a strict religious cult (she was in Children of God), then you should look up Daniella Mestyanek Young’s story.

I’m also listening to The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchell. This summer I read her The Wedding Season, and I missed this one by her last year. And by missed, I mean I truly missed out. This book is so much fun, and the narrator for it (Nathalie Buscombe) is pitch perfect. I am loving this one so much!

I’ve also got a couple of books brewing for next week. In All I Want for Christmas, two country singers trying to find their big break end up on the same reality competition show. When they are paired up for a duet, fans across the county love them together, and from that point on, the show forces them to work together. Even though they can barely have a civilized conversation between them, they are pretending to be a happy couple for the sake of the show, and more importantly, for their growing fan base. This is a sweet, funny, adorable rom com, and it’s perfect for that upcoming Hallmark holiday movie season. This year, it may be worth it to turn off the television and get pile of Christmas books instead. All I Want for Christmas needs to be on that list, as it is a gift to readers!

I’m also reading Dashing Through the Snowbirds, the latest from Donna Andrews. Anyone who has read this for more than 6 months or so is probably familiar with the fact that I love these books. I am having such fun reading this one. I’m not too far in yet, but Meg and her family have Canadians visiting and working there during the holidays, as they are working with Meg’s brother Rob and his computer company. The Canadian company is a genetics company that is losing customers to the bigger websites, so they have decided to add DNA testing, and they’ve come to Rob to get some advice and help with the coding for their improved site. But they may have bigger problems than Rob first realized, and as Meg is on the board of directors, she’s quietly investigating the company and their leader to find out the truth. I am excited to read this story about small tech companies, and it’s reminded me that Donna Andrews had another cozy mystery series at one point, where the person solving the murder was an AI. I think that that series was ahead of its time, and readers couldn’t really understand what was going on or connect with the idea of an artificial intelligence that could help humans like that. But I would love to see her bring that back now. In any case, you can still find paperbacks of them around at used bookstores, and if you find one, you should grab it and buy it immediately. She is a gifted author.

Also out this week is Savor by Fatima Ali. Fans of Top Chef may remember her from a couple of seasons ago. She didn’t win, but she had an enormous heart and a contagious smile. It also turned out that she had cancer, and she lost her life to it shortly after the series ran. But that last year, she spent her time with family and friends, traveling and tasting as much good food as she could. This book is her final farewell, and I know that there will be lots of laughs and lots of tears in those pages.

For next week, I am so honored that Clarkson Potter has chosen me to be an early reviewer of the new Ina Garten cookbook, Go-To Dinners. It is filled with classic Ina recipes for delicious fall comfort foods, and later this week I will be trying the Overnight Macaroni and Cheese, so I will report back on how good I think it is. (It’s mac and cheese. Of course it will be good!) Go-To Dinners will be out on October 25, so it will be perfect for home cooks who don’t know what to serve family and guests around the holidays, or it will make a perfect holiday gift for yourself or your favorite Ina Garten fan! How easy is that?