recently finished: I listening to Louise Penny's second Chief Inspector Gamache novel, A Fatal Grace. Listening to that is about as perfect a book experience as I have found. Narrator Ralph Cosham, beautiful writing, and a group of characters I could spend the rest of my life with--this was divine. I find Penny's Three Pines so peaceful and lovely, and her overarching themes are so true. I love how she keeps using the metaphor of things that are broken, because that's how the light gets in. It's so hopeful, since life does all it can to break us. That's okay by her, because the breaks can be useful, ways for us to grow and connect and see the light that makes its way through our brokenness. The title was A Fatal Grace, but the grace of Penny's writing is more life-affirming than any other book I've read for quite awhile. 

currently reading: Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam. It's out Tuesday, and it's a humorous and moving look at marriage, sex, money, art, career, parenthood, and all the details of life that make us a little crazy from day to day. And thanks to Claude Combacau, I am learning how to be a badass cat, aka a Catsass. 

up next: The new book by Stephen Pastis (the Pearls Before Swine guy), Suit Your Selfie. And Amy Ettinger's Sweet Spot, about a road trip for ice cream. How is that not the perfect book for July? I can't wait!