Thoughts on Actually Leaving the House + Reading Recs
Book suggestions for specific scenarios.
I made an earth-shattering discovery this week: leaving your house can be kind of great, actually. Controversial, I know, but hear me out.
I’ve become something of a homebody as I’ve gotten older. I’m pretty sure I exhausted the majority of my social energy in college, like, drinking Firefly and wearing Forever 21 bandage skirts or whatever it is I used to do for fun. Now, it takes a lot for me to launch myself into the actual world, especially during the week. Someone recently had the gall to suggest we meet for dinner at 8 p.m. on a school night, and my brain actually burst into blue flames like the shrimp at a hibachi restaurant. Like, 8 p.m.???? On a Tuesday??? M’am, who do you think I am, Hailey Beiber??
Anyways, this week I somehow found myself saddled with a bunch of social excursions. (That is not a humble brag about how popular I am, because this was extremely out of the norm for this hermit crab of a woman, lemme tell ya.) I nutted up and forced myself to go, and I absolutely regret to tell you that it was great. I always forget how energizing it can actually be once you’re out with other people and having a nice lil convo—it’s the whole getting-yourself-out-the-door part that’s the issue. Also, getting out of said door also means more opportunities to see weird, wonderful shit in the wild, like I did earlier this week: Someone tried to throw away an entire, whole-ass watermelon in a trash can at the gas station, as pictured above. Amazing!
This isn’t supposed to be a letter of recommendation for human interaction, because that would be pretty stupid—that’s like recommending someone check out this cool new thing called “oxygen”—but just a reminder, I guess. If you’re like me and more inclined to spend your time at home with an extremely clingy and gassy French bulldog while analyzing the war crimes that are being committed against Aidan in And Just Like That (God, I could go on about this forever—to start, why did we put that man in this dumb-as-hell little jacket??), maybe, ya know, force yourself to bee-bop into the sunshine and get coffee with an actual human. Who knows, perhaps you’ll even like it—or, at the very least, spot a misplaced melon.
Switching gears: A few people recently asked me for reading recommendations for specific scenarios, so I figured I’d share my thoughts with everyone here on the World Wide Web. I’m definitely not a book expert by any means—I am but one lowly human; there are large swaths of genres I’ve never touched, books I’ve never read, etc.—but I’m always happy to give my **thoughts**. Check it out:
What to read if you’re a very busy person with young children and haven’t had time for a book in a while, but you’re going on vacation and you want to pick up something fun—not depressing—and engaging:
My recs: One of my favorite books from last year was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It is genuinely so great—while some of the characters and plot points are supposed to make you feel frustrated, it’s ultimately charming and fun. Plus, it’s very well-written and funny! Part of it is also narrated from the POV of the main character’s dog, Six-Thirty, and he’s maybe one of my favorite characters ever. Bonus: A TV show based on the novel is coming to Apple TV later this year starring Brie Larson. (Speaking of dogs/Brie Larson, I once got a dog-sitting job off Twitter for a Frenchie named Brie Larson. But that’s a story for another day.)
I would also recommend Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, which I’ve talked about ad nauseum because I would **lit-er-ally** die for Curtis. I’d also rec Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. It’s a memoir written from the perspective of the writer’s now-deceased grandmother, who’s speaking to the author, Bess Kalb. She’s very funny—she used to write for Jimmy Kimmel and runs a great satirical Substack—but the book’s also super moving. The grandma-narrator recounts the story of her mother who immigrated to America in the early 1900s, as well as her own relationship with her daughter. It’s an equal parts hilarious and thoughtful reflection on familial relationships and the sometimes sticky bonds between mothers and daughters.
What to suggest to read in a book club you’ve just joined with people you don’t know very well:
It’s hard to assess the vibes of a new group—what if everyone is only down for super light rom-coms? Or what if they’re very intellectual and only want to read Serious Novels™ about, like, the potato famine or trickle-down economics? Who the eff knows! They’re strangers! Which is why I’d recommend something that strikes the balance between plot-forward/digestible and literary—aka a well-written page-turner that’ll appeal to a wide variety and has enough depth to lend itself to discussion.
And as much as I love a weird, kooky book, you might want to ease into something more middle-of-the-road when congregating with a bunch of randos. This is basically the same philosophy I used when dating and how I hoodwinked someone into being my boyfriend: You act mostly normal until it’s established they’re not going anywhere, and then you unleash the weird on them a few months in, once they’re trapped.
Anyways, some suggestions:
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller: This follows a woman who cheats on her husband with her childhood best friend while at her lake house, where she’s spent almost every summer of her life. It switches back and forth from the present day and the woman’s adolescence. This book definitely has some dark elements to it, but it’s written in a suspenseful way that’ll make you want to keep reading to figure out what happens.
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman: This book manages to be both hilarious and heart wrenching—it’s from the perspective of a woman who is taking care of her best friend as she dies of cancer. I know that sounds very dark, but the book really isn’t at all—the author has a great, funny voice that manages to highlight the beautiful aspects of female friendship even in such a crushing scenario. Plus, the main character is a delightful mess, and I loved reading about her trying to figure out her life.
Writers and Lovers by Lily King: I looooove anything by Lily King (check out her other novel, Euphoria, and her collection of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter), but this book is prob my fave of hers. It’s about a young woman who is writing her first novel, processing her mother’s death, trying to make a life for herself as a creative, and in something of a love triangle. Great writing, great premise, highly recommend.
Okay, now I’m off to go ignore my own advice and spend time alone with my dog inside my house. Old habits, blah blah blah.
xoxo Mimi
Came across your Substack on the Explore page and hit subscribe as soon as I read your extremely correct thoughts on Curtis Sittenfeld. Looking forward to reading more from you!