​The Hounding​

I finished this last night and loved it. Set in an uncharacteristically hot Oxfordshire summer in the 18th century, it’s been perfect reading during this ridiculous heat wave. Kind of The Virgin Suicides meets The Crucible—I was completely hooked until the very last page.

A Modern Romance Novel

A friend recently turned me on to modern romance novels (think: less bodice-ripping, more character development), and I’ve been having fun digging into the worlds of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, and Annabel Monaghan. In the last few months, I’ve read Beach Read, Part of Your World, and I recently finished Nora Goes off Script. Next up: People We Meet on Vacation (which is also now a Netflix movie) and Dolly All the Time. Perfect poolside pageturners.

Also on my nightstand

I have Lázár and Creation Lake on deck—if you’ve read either, let me know your thoughts!

​The Other Bennet Sister​

Imagines the story of everyone’s favorite forgotten middle child, Mary Bennet. This one just wrapped up, so if you don’t have BritBox, you can get a one-month trial and binge the whole thing—it’s worth it!

​Twenty Twenty-Six​

While you have that BritBox trial, also watch Hugh Bonneville wrangle a team of World Cup organizers in Miami in this hilarious mockumentary. This is a continuation of Twenty Twelve and W1A, which are also both excellent.

​Disclosure Day​

If you’re in need of some air conditioning (and popcorn, let’s be honest), I can’t recommend this one highly enough. It explores the search for our shared humanity and facing the unknown with curiosity and openness instead of fear—in other words, exactly what I love about travel. And it feels like old-school Spielberg at his best: riveting, action-packed, and emotional all at once—I’ve been telling anyone who’ll listen to go see it.

Bonus

If you’re an Austenhead like me, we have a couple more remakes to get excited about—check out the trailers for Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, both out later this year.

​Taracá​

Something international for you: I’ve never listened much to Jorge Drexler, but in his latest album, the singer-songwriter goes back to his Uruguayan roots, and the result is excellent. I also highly recommend this wonderful interview with him on NPR’s Alt.Latino (in English).

​Good Hang​

Does this one even need an intro? Amy Poehler’s fun, friendly interviews are like medicine for the soul. I’m always laughing to myself like an idiot when I listen to this one on my afternoon walks—and I’m fine with that. If you haven’t listened yet, get on it! The episodes with Gwyneth Paltrow, Billie Eilish, and Sarah Sherman are great (but really, they’re all great).

The Love Story soundtrack

The series has been over for months, but the soundtrack is SO good I’m still listening to it—takes me right back to high school (and remember how fun summers were in high school?)

​Famesick​

I’m only one chapter into Lena Dunham’s autobiography and am already laughing and nodding in recognition.