Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. I’m re-reading this for our September book club meeting and loving it. Like the show I’m watching, Young Sheldon, the story centers people who grew up poor. There is no glamorizing poverty and or its lasting effects on children as they become adults. However, the effort of the characters in Slow Dance to be loving and supportive is all the more poignant knowing what they must overcome to provide that for each other.
Listening: I am really enjoying listening to the wind move through the trees, birds calling out to each other, and neighbors greeting me as they pass by on the porch. Sweet moments that slow things down in soothing ways.
Watching: I’m either in Texas (Young Sheldon), Nova Scotia (Sullivan’s Crossing), or England (The Great British Baking Show), depending on the prevailing household mood.

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: I ended up listening to Xeobe Purvis's The Hounding on my drive to New York. Now, I have the book because I have to read it.
Listening: Aside from the road trip audiobooks, the various snarky comments from the GPS system in the car telling me I needed to get into the other lane to get to the upcoming exist. I swear once it suggested I stop for some rest and a cup of coffee. I blame AI.
Watching: Mom and dad are Yankees fans and suscribe to the all-Yankees cable channel. I'm not watching the games, exactly, but they are part of the ambiance.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: After finishing The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis, I spent some time poking around in some other books on my shelves to learn more about the photographer Germaine Krull, who was a contemporary of and should be as well-regarded as Man Ray and Robert Capa. You know, that old story. I added A Green Equinox by Elizabeth Mavor and Disoriental by Négar Djavadi to my TBR stack after a book club meeting and am looking forward to both.
Listening: The song of the week is two versions of the song "Little Girl Blue," a Rodgers and Hart standard from the 1930s, performed by two of the bluest girls around. The first is Nina Simone's from 1959, which is spare, elegant, and wryly emotional, and accompanied by her virtuosic piano playing. The second is Janis Joplin's version on her solo album from 1969, which sets her raw, pure energy in front of a full Nelson Riddle-esque string section.
Watching: I took myself to an actual movie theater to see Honey, Don't, the follow-up to 2024's Drive-Away Dolls, from the same writing and directing team of Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke and starring Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza. I don't think the parts quite added up to a whole, but there are a LOT of very fun parts.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I really loved The Ending Writes Itself by "Evelyn Clarke" which is the pseudonym for two known authors, who will be revealed sometime soon. Mysteries upon mysteries!
Listening: I just finished The Compound by Aisling Rawle and loved it. It's got all my faves - dystopia, reality TV, and dating chaos.
Watching: I can't think of anything that I've been watching lately worth talking about! I guess it's the end of summer TV slump.