160 Comments
Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Finally reading Aubrey Gordon’s what we don’t talk about when we talk about fat. Cannot put down. I am learning so much from this.

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Oct 1, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Loved this so much for showing what it's really like to live in a fat body. I was disheartened by her friends and relatives denial of her lived experience, "that didn't happen," "you must have misunderstood," when she would tell them about an incident. It does happen, and we understand perfectly.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I think everybody should read her book! She has a new one coming out in January titled "You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People."

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Can’t wait!

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Can’t wait for her new one!!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I'm waiting for it at the library!

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Ooh you just reminded me to download this from the library!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I loved that one! She’s the best!

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I've just restarted this!!

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omg sob sob sob re MY BOOK. HEART EMOJI.

I finished Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle a month ago and CAN NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Sweeping historical family saga with the coolest heroine.

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Oct 1, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I loved Great Circle too!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I loved Great Circle too! Such a cool leading lady with really rich relationships.

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yesssssss! i was so sad when it ended!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I listened to KC’s book recently and I’m gonna reread it soon. Closing Duties have been really transformational around here, so I’m on the lookout for the next great idea to try out on this read through.

I’m currently on a lesbian contemporary romance kick and I’m reading Scent by Kris Bryant, which is really cute.

And I’m about to start The Power of Plus by Gianluca Russo—it’s about the size inclusivity movement in fashion, and a friend of mine is the author’s colleague at Parsons in New York and just hosted the launch.

My friend, Leila, is a size inclusive sewing pattern designer (she co-runs Muna & Broad) in addition to teaching at Parsons and I’m super interested to read about the size inclusivity movement from the fashion perspective. I’ve mostly come at it from the sewing perspective—I make most of my own clothes and fat acceptance and size inclusivity has been a HUGE thing in the sewing community over the last 5 years or so. Understandably so, since so many of us—especially fat women and nb folks—have turned to sewing because of a lack of RTW stuff we want to wear that fits.

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Just ordered The Power of Plus - hoping to get Gianluca on the podcast soon!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I was just thinking about rereading KC's book the other day for the same reason - closing duties are really working well in our family and now I want to see what other nugget I can steal. If you make a choice on something I'd love to know what it is!

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Hoping to have KC on the podcast and making a mental note that asking for everyone’s Closing Duties style hack would be a great Friday Thread....

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I loved so much of How to Keep House, but I was so so turned off by her judgey stuff about birth at the beginning (she says she had unmedicated vaginal births because she "knows how to plan") and it just feels so so off brand for her and I can't quite get over it.

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I bumped on that too, but I *think* it was a sort of self-deprecating comment -- like look how absurd and perfectionist I was being about this?

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I read it the same way Virginia did, although you're totally right, Rachel, that it's a shitty thing to feel superior about if we're meant to read it literally.

I think too (I'm totally projecting here, although KC talks about this in the first podcast episode in a different context) that she's highlighting the cognitive dissonance and feeling that you don't understand yourself that comes along with ADHD. Like, how can I be wildly on top of things and so planful and able to follow through in this one context, but I absolutely cannot in another?

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Oh yeah, that thread would be full of gems! And that will be a great episode.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

For sure! I have a few I'm thinking about--opening duties are an obvious one, but having a set day for certain things is another one that appeals at the moment.

Like lots of KC fans we have some laundry challenges (doing it is no big--getting it put away is the place we fall down), so I'm thinking about tying putting away to TV show that comes out on weekly release so that my brain goes "oh right, it's Friday, so tonight we watch Lord of the Rings and fold/hang all the clothes."

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I need to find that book! I have some Muna and Broad patterns that I like. I just haven’t sewed much since the pandemic stole my oomph. Their underwear is the best I’ve ever made. But the fact I haven’t been sewing has made me more aware of the current state of plus size RTW.

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They're so good, right? Mega comfy. I have big plans to make a bikini for next summer using the undies and the Banksia bralette, which I also love to make and wear.

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My friend is publishing a historical lesbian romance soon about English professors in the 60s - it’s called Blush Red and it’s amazing

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Ahh, that sounds amazing! My dissertation was largely about English professors in love in the 60s so weirdly apropos!

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WHAT!!! Wow this is amazing.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I'm currently reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and it's INCREDIBLE!!! Before that I'd been re-reading Toni Morrison (God Help the Child, The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved), because I love her! Before that I read The Hunger by Alma Katsu--pretty dark, but still a great read!

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Vanishing Half is incredible!

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What’s the explicit trauma/gross-out factor in THE HUNGER? It looks so good but I can’t do violence against children especially...

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Oct 2, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Well, we're dealing with the story of the Donner party, so going in you know it's gonna be pretty bad, but it is VERY graphic--more than what I was prepared for. I had to take breaks from it, but everybody is different.

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OK, good to know. I think it is not for me but I am glad to know about it!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

just added The Vanishing Half to my book list. I've heard such good things

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Love Songs of WEB DuBois also does a deep dive into colorism inside and outside the Black community. It's heartbreaking since either choice -- passing or not -- comes with huge costs.

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LOVED the Vanishing Half!

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I'm so obsessed with threads like this.

I'm about halfway through Colson Whitehead's newest, Harlem Shuffle, and enjoying the hell out of it. His language is SO fresh, like he's coining new turns of phrase on every page. Such different pacing and tone than Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys!

I'm also slogging through The Perfectionism Workbook (blahhhh) with a professional book discussion group, and I'm re-starting Aubrey Gordon's What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat.

I wish I could just sit around reading books and eating bonbons all day.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

On a friend's recommendation, I read Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship

by Gail Caldwell, then HAD to read Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp, the friend of whom Gail wrote. Both lived locally to me in Cambridge MA so there was a kinship. Drinking is a great read especially if you're considering not drinking.

On an educate myself bend, I just finished Invisible Child: Poverty Survival & Hope in an American City (New York) about the shelters and governmental food/housing/drug programs and how they fail us.

Lastly, for a fun, sassy older rich woman's life, The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, was a blast!!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I just started 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I love TJR's books. She's coming to our Literary Arts festival next month and I am super excited to see/hear her speak. 🤩

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

So the theme of books about friendship by Cambridge authors makes me want to recommend one I read a little while back, by my own Cambridge neighbor Wendy Sanford. It's called These Walls Between Us and it's about how she, as a white daughter of privilege, became friends with Mary Norman, her family's Black maid, and her struggle to be an authentic friend. She wrote the book fully in conversation with Mary Norman and it was really written as ... a challenge to other white people, I think, on the question of how it works, in practice, to get past your own unexamined privileges and biases.

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Oh this sounds fascinating.

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I loved that Gail Caldwell and had forgotten about it!

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I really liked the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!

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Me too!! There were a few twists in Evelyn's personality that I didn't expect!

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I started and finished Lessons in Chemistry this week and LOVED it!!! Of course I'm biased since I teach cooking (lol), but still...so good.

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Also such an excellent dog character!!! Oh Six Thirty. Gah.

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Six Thirty cracked me up!

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OMG that book is incredible. So so so so so so good. It made me rather sad to read it, but it's so lovely.

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This one is one of my top reads this year. So wonderful.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I just finished If I Survive You; before that, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Currently reading Black Cake. I’m definitely in a hardcore “moving fiction” place; I think with the start of school, a busy period at work, etc, I’m definitely reading for a feelings-release valve at the moment.

A few weeks ago I read Heartburn by Nora Ephron and it was so witty and cutting and funny and poignant! I had never read anything by her before and I don’t really know where I formed the few general impressions and assumptions I had of what her books would be like, but I had no idea she was so great. So, like, I guess I’m the last person on earth to figure that out, but I’m glad I got there eventually.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I can’t wait to get to Tomorrow and Tomorrow etc. It didn’t sound like my thing at first—I have zero interest in / experience with video games—but so many people have recommended it so highly that I’m going to give it a go.

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Honestly, I really enjoyed it. I found that as far as the video game "main plot" component, I don't think it would really matter if you're into video games or not - but I also could very well be wrong on that, as I am someone who has loved video games for 35 years running now, hahaha. I found that it was more an examination of what video games can be and mean to people - an art form, a storytelling genre, a mirror, a bonding exerciser; silly, thought-provoking, emotional, offensive - than of video games, their actual selves, if that makes sense. It felt more of a "human condition" book than a video game book, basically.

It kind of reminds me of, like, years ago I read and loved this book called Beyond a Boundary, which is about cricket. I don't enjoy basically any sports, in any capacity (playing, watching, learning about, etc) and I know less about cricket than I know/care about most sports, but I really enjoyed the book anyway and found it moving and interesting. I could see Tomorrow etc being kind of like that re: video games.

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Just finished Black Cake about an hour ago. Highly recommend!

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What did you think of Tomorrow... thinking of reading it!

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I honestly loved it! I can see how if you're in a certain mood it could feel slow, but I really found it lovely and kind of expansive-feeling, if that makes sense.

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Makes total sense to me

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It's…breathtaking. Do not think of reading it. Just read it.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I've been holding onto this rec for the right thread and today is my day! If you're into fun romance books, I really enjoyed "If The Shoe Fits."

It's a modern fun retelling of Cinderella with a fat protagonist who goes on a version of the Bachelor. It's very sweet and ends well. It's part of a "Happily Ever After" series (Jasmine Guillory wrote the Beauty and Beast adaptation) and I'm not sure how involved Disney is other than agreeing not to sue anyone, but the book was very fun.

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Oct 1, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Julie Murphy is a national treasure I believe and her YA books are incredible and worth reading at any age.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I just read the Jasmine Guillory one -- By the Book. I grabbed it at the library last time I was there, blindly started reading it without having read the jacket or anything and I was like wait, is this Beauty and the Beast? Then put all the pieces together that were right in front of my face lol. The book was cute but it's the way she develops her female characters that is just the best. There is serious space devoted to talking about snacks and I am here for it.

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For all of you who like retellings of classic fairy tales (which Disney does not own because they really don't own any of them), books by Ursula Vernon are very fun and usually her protagonist is a curvy and independent woman who doesn't fit stereotypes. The Seventh Bride and Bryony and Roses are a couple of examples.

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I agree--this was a fun read!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Young kids, a full-time job, moving to a different state, a global pandemic - it all impacted the time and energy I had to read for a few years. Whenever I tried, I fell asleep instantly. But this year my kids are 2 and 5 y/o and I recommitted to finding time to read. I love reading and it's such a good way to have some alone, undistracted time with myself. I've read about one book a month since the start of the year and even started a book club with my friends who are also working moms with young kids. It's a low stakes club. Books are ideally less than 400 words, fiction, easy-to-read, page-turners. Romance, scifi, chick lit, thrillers are all welcome. Plus we all now have an excuse to get together once every 4-6 weeks. It's been so fun! We just finished "Nothing to See Here" by Kevin Wilson and now we're onto "The It Girl" by Ruth Ware. You, Virginia, helped inspire me with your incredible ability to read so many books - thank you!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I JUST started The Witch and the Tsar as well as White is for Witching. It’s spooky season... 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have recently finished The Last House on Needless Street, The Year of the Witching, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Babel.

I loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. It was such a great cozy fantasy. I am hoping that Sangu Mandanna will write a sequel.

Babel was amazing... I really have nothing bad to say about this book. I can’t begin to understand how R.F. Kuang’s brain works but I love it!

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Oct 5, 2022·edited Oct 5, 2022

Babel was incredible! I just finished The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, which is a fantasy based on the actual rape of Nanjing, among other sources (Kuang is in grad school studying this topic). So, tough going but really really good. I'm waiting for the next book in that trilogy.

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I also just finished the very secret society of irregular witches! hoping for a sequel. these are so different from mandanna's sci-fi series, which I also really liked

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I love a good cozy fantasy. So this was perfect!

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Literally just went and bought this to add to my witchy reading TBR. Thanks!

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Sep 30, 2022·edited Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Just finished Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory (delightful as always) and am working on Acne by Laura Chinn (love a memoir!).

Speaking of memoir, Dinners With Ruth by Nina Totenberg was basically her memoir framed through the lens of her friendship with RBG. It's a great read though I did occasionally have to roll my eyes at a bit of the "privileged white feminist boomer" perspective on the world.

Even though I'm too old to be part of the Nickelodeon generation, I loved I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reed definitely sucked me in!

And if you're up for a wild ride that reads like a summer blockbuster movie script, Falling by TJ Newman had me on the edge of my seat!

I've also read approximately a million romcom type books in the last couple years when I've craved lots of light and easy happy ever after reading that doesn't require my perimenopausal foggy brain to work too hard.

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I'm reading Acne now and, wow, it's both so very hilarious and so very horrifying.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I'm reading Fairy Tale, King's newest, and How the Word is Passed, which are both really good.

I read How to Stop Losing Your Shit with Your Kids last week and WOW, it has really opened my eyes to my triggers and buttons. I have made a bunch of changes in my routine and it's been noticably better. The author, Carla Naumburg, has new book out, too and is going on a book tour.

I would like a recommendation about the patriarchy - history, effects, general knowledge kind of book. Or podcast?

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I’m also reading Fairy Tale! I’m about 100 pages in and am enjoying it so far. I used to eagerly pick up his books the minute they were released but fell off in the late aughts. This is the first one I’ve gotten my hands on this close to release date in a long time, and it seems fitting for spooky season.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

I'm currently reading Chemistry Lessons, which I'm enjoying. But I'd love to read KC's book! I so appreciate everything that she does!

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

Currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, and really into it! This morning I pre-ordered Health Communism by Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant, which is scheduled to ship October 18.

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Sep 30, 2022Liked by Virginia Sole-Smith

My sister and I are reading a book by an author from every country in Latin America so I’m currently working through a collection of short stories by Horacio Quiroga (Uruguay). I recently finished Jennette McCurdy’s memoir which I really enjoyed, but it was a very graphic depiction of her eating disorder (weight, numbers, behaviors, thoughts described) with the ED quite central to the book and I wish people would mention that when they recommend and give 5 stars. And I have Tomorrow x 3 on deck with my book club. Also feeling some fantasy reads during fall so I read The Night Circus last week and really liked it (long but she creates an exquisite vibe).

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I like the challenge your sister and you have started! And agreed on the Jennette McCurdy memoir. I read way too many celebrity memoirs but have held back on hers for this very reason. In the reviews/press I've read, her ED seems to be conjured only as an example of her dark humor. I didn't realize it was so central to the overall book.

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Yes! I heard a YouTuber (book content) recommend the book in a video with NO mention of the ED at all—just said it explored her relationship with her mom. Yes AND. She mentions a goal weight in the prologue of the book. She struggled with bulimia at one point and I read a scene while brushing my teeth which was descriptive enough to trigger my gag reflex. I think a lot of it will be super relatable to anyone who has struggled with dieting or EDs (she goes through the binge-restrict-purge cycle many times) and she does sometimes talk about it in a darkly humorous way, but it sounds like she had a pretty severe ED.

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