You Need Your Next Book Club Read
Hi friends,
I hope you all had a fabulous Independent Bookstore Day! Please leave a comment sharing where you went, how it was and any books you picked up.
I celebrated a day early with a bookstore crawl through Nashville with my friends at Boutique Book Retreats. I finally made it to Parnassus, Ann Patchett’s bookstore. And, no, I did not keep my cool.
And, now, what to read if …
Your Book Club Needs a New Pick
Good People by Patmeena Sabit
Speaking of Ann Patchett, one of the reasons I picked up the audiobook of Good People was seeing a blurb from her saying, “Good People is a thrilling tour de force of a novel. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone.” Now, I am recommending it to everyone too (in large part because I am DESPERATE to discuss it with someone).
The Sharaf family has achieved the American dream. After immigrating to the Northern Virginia suburbs from Afghanistan, their patriarch built a wildly successful business, leaving the family rich and happy in one of the nation’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The cherry on top will be their daughter Zorah’s acceptance into an elite university. But when tragedy strikes, the Sharafs’ friends and neighbors are left wondering how well they knew the family.
Told as an oral history, we hear the perspectives of everyone — distant cousins, a school principal and a local imam — but the Sharafs, leaving the readers to determine what’s true.
This was a hard recommendation to write because Good People is one of those books that’s best when you go in with little information. The audiobook, featuring a full cast, really illuminates the documentary-style approach and had me hooked. Book clubs will find a lot to discuss here — the immigrant experience, the secrets families keep and the mystery at the center of the novel.
You Worry about Influencer Kids
Like, Follow, Subscribe by Fortesa Latifi
Tennessee became the fifth state to regulate the growing family influencer industry earlier this month, extending child labor protections to children who star in internet content. Journalist Fortesa Latifi takes readers deep inside the world of influencer kids and families in her new book, Like, Follow, Subscribe.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews, Latifi follows the arc of the family influencer sector, from its roots in the “mommy blogs” of the early 2000s to today’s wildly popular TikTok videos. She documents everything from the logistics of bribing a cranky teen to participating in a dance video to the disproportionate number of LDS family influencers, all with an eye towards understanding how such a public childhood affects kids. Latifi also shares real numbers about just how much these families earn from sponsorship deals and ad revenue (spoiler: it can be millions).
I appreciated Latifi’s nuanced approach to the topic. I expected it to be a clear takedown of the industry — and think that might be what she planned on writing — but she acknowledges that it’s not that clear-cut of an issue. She highlights multiple teenage moms, without a college degree or job experience, who earn hundreds of thousands annually from their content. They don’t love the privacy implications, but, for them, the cash is worth it.
Reminder rec: Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza is a delicious, family-influencer/tradwife thriller.
You’re Ready for Summer
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
I was delighted it cooled off this week in D.C. after we spent last week in the 90s, but I know many of you are likely counting down to long, summer days. (I, on the other hand, am dreading swampy season and am investing in anti-frizz hair care products.) But if you are not a curmudgeon like me, grab a copy of Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks, a charming middle-grade novel about four sisters spending a magical summer on a beautiful Massachusetts estate.
There, the girls meet Jeffrey Tifton, the son of the estate’s cold-hearted owner, and the perfect addition for all their adventures. Unfortunately, Mrs. Tifton is less-than-thrilled by the presence of a girl gang and their oversized dog on her immaculate property — and she’s convinced the Penderwick girls are a bad influence on her son. The five kids try to stay out of trouble as they explore the gardens, an attic filled with antique wonders and the kitchen (where cook has the best gingerbread), but no matter how hard they work at it, the Penderwicks cannot win over Mrs. Tifton.
I read The Penderwicks last summer after a young cousin recommended it to me and found it to be a surprisingly soothing experience. Last week, when a friend mentioned her daughter loves “old” books but has already read Little Women and Little House on the Prairie, this novel came to mind because it has a nostalgic feel, even if it was only written 20 years ago. A perfect pick for now or a family book club this summer.
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