WHINING IN PUBLIC PRESENTS: READING IN PUBLIC (OR IN PRIVATE! You do you!)
Happy long weekend! I’m celebrating at WIP not by celebrating America (which I’d say is in its flop era but I think we’ve descended past flop era and into full dystopia vibes) but by celebrating the national pastime of bringing a book on vacation and maybe or maybe not opening it.
I read a lot. This is proof I am a smart person but also an indictment on my social life.
Also an indictment on my social life: the fact that almost nothing make me feel better than someone I know reading a book I’ve recommended to them.
TV and movie recommendations are a dime a dozen – we all have an imaginary “list” we’re working through that we inevitably default to discussing when forced to make small talk with people we don’t really know. Like, yes, I know I should watch Ozark but it’s just so… blue-looking. Of course, this will not stop me from making TV and movie recommendations in this newsletter.
A book recommendation feels so personal. Maybe it’s because there’s more effort required in obtaining the recommended book and more attention required in reading it or maybe it’s just because I love lending my friends books because I can use the stamp my sister Grace got me that says “from the library of Colin J. Burke.”
You know agrees with me? Dua Lipa. Because she is trying to be me, she has a newsletter where she also recommends books. I say this not only as a means to further stoke the competition between us (you’ll never be me, Dua!!!) but to point out that even the richest, most successful, most conventionally beautiful people can’t help themselves from seeking the natural high that comes from someone taking your book rec.
You know who could use one of Dua’s book recommendations? Camila Cabello. I’ve been haunted by an Instagram she recently posted of her reading A Little Life with a frantic, excited caption about her performing at some sporting event. I can’t get over the fact that the caption says “LET’S FUCKING GO!!!!!!” and there’s a picture of her drinking, allegedly chipping away at the emotionally abusive slog that is A Little Life.
Camila Cabello aside, here are my summer recos:
Most of these are conventional “beach reads” – easy-to-read, fast-paced, and not serious or sad enough to spiral you into an existential crisis while on the beach.
That being said, I think you can read anything anywhere if you put your mind to it. After all, I read Call Me By Your Name for the first time as a PDF on my work computer at a summer internship while I was absolutely on the clock.
Here’s the list — in no particular order because I’m too lazy to alphabetize it.
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun: My favorite rom-com maybe ever? I’ve recommended it to anyone who will listen – and now you! It follows a Bachelor-type show where the titular Bachelor, despite having 20 women vying for his love, falls in love with his male producer. Red, White, and Royal Blue – eat your heart out!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry: Look, you can’t go wrong with Emily Henry: her previous books Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation are very good, and her newest, Book Lovers, is GREAT. It’s both a send-up and a love letter to the “city girl goes to a small town” trope with a central love story far more endearing than any straight romance has the right to be.
Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka: A fast-paced thriller with a sharp sense of humor, a lot of action, and a cast of really fun characters. Don’t let the thick spine fool you, it’s a quick read! I have high hopes for the movie adaptation coming out this August, which stars Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock and… Bad Bunny ???
Open Book by Jessica Simpson: This one’s been out for two years but for some reason I resisted until just now. I guess I was never a Jessica fan – MTV was still blocked on the family TV when Newlyweds was airing – so I didn’t feel like I had a strong enough reference point to enjoy it. Let the record show – I am a Jessica FAN now after reading this book, which took me less than a day because I could not stop. She is shockingly, refreshingly candid and honest about her career, her family, her relationships, and her struggles with addiction. It’s also a perfect audiobook because Jessica narrates so well, frequently getting so choked up you can’t help but cry along. Again, sunglasses.
Grown Ups by Marian Keyes: Think Big Little Lies without the murder with more family drama and more Irish accents. You get this gem of an Irish novel about the wives of three brothers and the spectacular ways in which their families fall apart as they spend more and more time together. I read this because someone left their copy at the nudist hotel I stayed at in Mexico. More on that at another time!
A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane: A novel about the friendship between an iconic, aging actress and her gay assistant that happens to be written by Carrie Fisher’s former assistant. I’d honestly put novel in quotes because, this is a very-thinly-veiled memoir.
One To Watch by Kate Stayman-London: A plus-size fashion blogger writes a drunken rant criticizing a Bachelor-type show (sensing a trend among my favorite rom coms?) and ends up getting cast as the lead. She vows to do it for the exposure but definitely won’t take it seriously until… gasp! maybe she’ll actually find love?
Just Last Night by Mhari McFarlane: A smart, surprising romance about longtime friends harboring longtime crushes and a twist of fate that changes their lives forever. (Wait, am I kind of good at writing these loglines?)
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano: I don’t know how to explain this one other than telling you it is capital-F Fun to read. It’s a very meta, ultimately very sweet story about a crime writer who is overheard talking about her latest book (at Panera, naturally) and mistaken for a contract killer. If you’ve ever thought ‘Wait… could I actually pull off a Gone Girl?’ — this one’s for you!
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins: Selfies, mimosas, private yachts – and MURDER! A fun, if slightly silly, thriller about wannabe influencers on a remote island.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey: Another celebrity memoir, another great audiobook listen. Mariah has a fascinating, often devastating story and has somehow maintained a positive outlook throughout it all. She recaps the high highs and the low lows and while she seems to make an excuse for every mistake she’s ever made, she’s too charming to knock her for it.
I’m So (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson: Ex boyfriends pretend to still be together to keep up appearances at a high-profile family wedding. What could go wrong??
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang: An anxious violinist sets out to have a series of one night stands then promptly falls for a hot, motorcycle-riding, cancer-surviving mysterious guy. Sounds like a silly rom com and maybe it is but I also found it to be, like, genuinely moving? Sorry!
The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson: If you’ve read any of these emails: congrats, you’ve read a personal essay! (Also, thank you! Love you!) If you want to read much, much better essays, Casey Wilson’s collection/memoir is your best bet. It’s the perfect blend of humor and heart, with stories about grief and cults and New York and healing and babies and Hollywood and everything else. Also – another audiobook I highly recommend!
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz: An MFA professor and has-been novelist steals an idea for a book from one of his former students after learning he died before ever writing it. It’s an instant blockbuster bestseller and he’s set for life… until he gets an anonymous, threatening message claiming he is a thief. It’s a thrilling mystery that will have you frantically turning the page and may make you want to scream. In a good way.
Memorial by Bryan Washington: Sad and funny and moving and very gay – my favorite descriptors! Benson and Mike, a young couple in Houston, have their already-rocky relationship tested when Mike’s mom suddenly comes to stay with them. It’s then tested even further when Mike goes home to Japan to take care of his ailing, estranged dad, leaving his mom as his boyfriend’s roommate. You may cry but nothing that sunglasses can’t cover!
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson: Settle back into your beach chair and enjoy a sprawling, generational family drama! Two estranged siblings reunite after their mother’s death to listen to a voice recording she left for them, only to learn the real story of their mother’s life was far different than what they thought.
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion: This one is for my girlies out there who are (say it with me) Not Like The Other Girls! We follow an actress in 1960s California who seems hell bent on letting her self-destructive tendencies ruin her career, her family, and her life. In 2022, something like 60 years post-publication (exact year TBD because I am tired and opening up another chrome tab to google the publication date feels, although objectively easier than writing all of this, completely impossible), its darkly comedic tone feels right at home with My Year of Rest and Relaxation and other indie girl favorites
Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam: A tense, exciting, clever story following two families forced to spend a few days together due to… mysterious circumstances. The film version is currently in production with huge movie stars, names of which I won’t reveal in case you want to be surprised! I’m such a thoughtful friend.
Real Life by Brandon Taylor: A tense, intimate story of friendship and trauma and loneliness that somehow doesn’t feel as dark as it sounds? A Black, queer PhD student at a Midwestern university struggles to connect with his predominantly white peers. One weekend, it all comes to a head and his friend group, and potentially his life, unravels.
I welcome all YOUR suggestions in the comments! and let me know if you read any of these / if you like them or hate them !!!
Stay safe! Talk soon! XOXO