<![CDATA[Things that Make me Happy! ]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cd-c!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9cf9b75f-c605-40aa-bab4-a92fe4c2463b_256x256.pngThings that Make me Happy! https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.comSubstackSun, 21 Jun 2026 07:32:21 GMT<![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (148)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-148https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-148Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:06:52 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Love

The Radiant Dark: I really wonder why this book is flying under the radar. It’s as much as beautiful as readable. Part sci-fi, part family saga, this novel centers on the possibility of extraterrestrial life while putting humanity on full display.

Read if you like: Speculative Fiction, Sci-Fi Dramas

It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard and her husband are living an ordinary life in a small town in the Adirondacks. They have just had their first child, and though Carol is struggling with the challenges of new motherhood, her future seems clear. Until something extraordinary happens: an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky, which is ultimately determined to be communication from intelligent life on another planet. But these beings are eleven light-years away, and nothing is known about them other than the fact that they seem to know we exist, too.

As humanity reels from a shifting understanding of its place in the universe, we follow the stories of the Girard family: Carol, whose fascination with this other life sparks a desperate search for spiritual meaning; Michael, her loyal son, who finds solace not in the stars above his head but in the ground beneath his feet; and Ro, Carol’s bright and ambitious daughter, whose childhood goal to work in interstellar communication will evolve into something far grander.

📺 What I Watched and Loved

Interview with the Vampire: My favorite supernatural gays are here in time for Pride. This season they amped up the campiness, and it’s making the whole show even better than before. Oh, Lestat, you can never do wrong in my eyes.(AMC+)

Alice and Steve: What happens when your decades-old friend starts dating your daughter? Mess. Very funny mess. (Hulu)

💕 Other things I loved

  • How is it possible that each episode of Widow’s Bay is better than the last? The “Dead baby, dead baby, lesbian” bit had me in tears (of laughter).

  • Office Romance was terrible and perfect at the same time, no notes. JLO is a queen. So refreshing to see a love story where the woman is older and it is not the central point.

  • Summer Fridays. Shutting the laptop at 12 pm is giving me life

✅ To-do List

  • I promise that after this one I will not link more summer reading guides, but this one was too good to not share via

  • Best audiobooks of 2026

  • June TV is great now

  • And the summer movie slate also looks good (Movie theater AC is one of the things I crave in summer when it’s too hot out)

  • Have you noticed that Libby holds are impossible? Maybe it’s Lit Girl summer? Here are some backlist titles to explore

🐰 Rabbit Holes I Went Into

🧜🏼‍♀️  Articles and Bits I loved

👋🏼 Classifieds

  • Don’t clutter your inbox with newsletters; be like me and use Meco to read all your favorite newsletters in one place. It’s life-changing.

  • BOGO time on Libro.fm!!

]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (147)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-147https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-147Sun, 07 Jun 2026 10:39:55 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Saoirse: The storytelling won me over as it’s intimate and beautiful. You’ll feel that you are reading something completely private, like a personal diary not meant for you to discover. I needed to read something tender to take care of myself this week, and this book was exactly it. The audiobook format is a chef’s kiss.

Read if you like: Claire Keegan, Colm Tóibín

In Michigan, Sarah’s childhood was defined by fear and silence. As a teenager, she saw a chance to escape and took it. Now, in 1999, she is an artist living on the rugged coast of Donegal, Ireland, where she is known as Saoirse (pronounced Sear-sha)—a name that sounds like the sea and means freedom in the language of her adopted country. And free is precisely how she is finally beginning to feel. Her partner and two beloved daughters are regular subjects of her paintings, and together they have made the safe home she always longed for. But Saoirse’s secrets haunt her. No one must learn of the identity she has stolen in order to survive; they cannot know of the dangers that she crossed an ocean to escape.

When her artwork wins unexpected acclaim at a Dublin exhibition, the spotlight of fame threatens to unravel the careful lies that hold her world together. Journalists and admirers begin to ask questions about the mysterious artist from Donegal, and she fears the unwanted publicity will expose all that she has done.

📺 What I Watched and Loved

Cape Fear: Apple TV is killing it lately! This is a remake of the 90’s movie that I never watched, so not sure how it compares; But I’m enchanted by the tension, the cinematic elements, and fantastic acting. Javier Bardem is a force. (Apple TV)

Bring Me the Beauties: A cult documentary about models in NYC? This is my algorithm! I was meant to watch this. The first episode is now streaming (HBO Max)

💕 Other things I loved

  • Patricia from Widow’s Bay might be my favorite TV character, ever. The latest episode needs to win all the awards.

  • My new hack. Getting sushi from the Asian grocery store as my takeout treat. Way better than any mid restaurant and very affordable.

  • I finally stopped watching Sullivan’s Crossing; I just can’t with the bad wigs and Chad Michael Murray’s silly boots.

✅ To-do List

  • I’m sorry for your TBR, but I must share more reading guides from people I trust, like this one and this one - From &

  • TOP 50 Horror books will become my personal bible - Not only are the ones I’ve read my favorite ones, but I want to read the rest.

  • A movies and shows guide for June

🐰 Rabbit Holes I Went Into

🧜🏼‍♀️  Articles and Bits I loved

  • Cheap foods you should buy when they are on sale

  • I love a good hack

  • Should you optimize your happiness?

  • Things from the 90’s that can make you a lot of money - spoiler alert, it’s not Beany Babies

  • What makes a great bookshop

👋🏼 Classifieds

  • Don’t clutter your inbox with newsletters; be like me and use Meco to read all your favorite newsletters in one place. It’s life-changing.

]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (145)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-145https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-145Sun, 31 May 2026 11:04:51 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Nerve Damage: This book asks, "What happens when the prey turns into the predator?” Funny and also gripping, this is weird girl lit at its best.

Read if you like: Weird Girl Lit, unreliable narrators

Clarice’s breakup with P.T. began the usual way—she discovered he was cheating. Then came the constant texts, the nonstop emails from burner accounts, countless phone calls from dozens of different numbers. He showed up outside her apartment and her office. He sent her flowers and poems, and, perhaps most sinister of all, a link to the music video for Dido's “White Flag.” Relief arrived only when Clarice finally obtained a restraining order and one-way ticket from New York to L.A.

Just as the restraining order expires—and three years to the day since she left him—Clarice spots a man who looks suspiciously like P.T. at a nightclub. Could it be him? Her best friend thinks she’s imagining things. Her therapist wants her to focus on healing her inner child. Her mother is busy planning her wedding to her fourth husband. As painful memories resurface, Clarice is convinced her ex has returned to ruin her life. But with scant evidence to prove it, she takes increasingly unhinged steps to uncover the truth, ultimately leading to a place where paranoia and reality begin to blur.

📺 What I Watched and Loved

Rivals: Season two of this raunchy soap is as good as the first; David Tennant is still GOAT, and the rest of the cast makes a fantastic ensemble. I’m also weirdly very attracted to Freddie this season; he’s the best. (Hulu)

House of Spirits: As an Isabel Allende and Magical Realism superfan, I had to check out this show based on my favorite novel of hers; I liked it very much; I’ve forgotten how politically charged it was. I wished it had more magic, but alas, a very good show. (Prime)

💕 Micro-Joy

Nothing says summer like switching my daily hot coffee to an all-glass, lots-of-ice cold latte. I’m currently into this one as my base.

✅ To-do List

  • It’s smart girl summer! Go on, make your checklist and revisit the best of the best in literature

  • But if your thing is just being entertained at the beach (or pool, backyard, or even the couch), that’s also valid.

  • What’s coming in books this summer

  • The Summer Reading guides in Substack are getting better every year. My friend created a labor of love, and her recommendations are so fun. Another one I’m obsessed with is this Summer Reading guide by , Such a thoughtful selection. I really don’t know how I’ll be able to contain myself with my TBR.

🐰 Rabbit Holes I Went Into

🧜🏼‍♀️  Articles and Bits I loved

👋🏼 Classifieds

  • Google who? Try Perplexity’s new browser Comet, and be amazed by less annoying ads

  • Don’t clutter your inbox with newsletters; be like me and use Meco to read all your favorite newsletters in one place. It’s life-changing.

]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (144)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-144https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-144Sun, 17 May 2026 10:13:52 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

The Dream Hotel: Short but not sweet, this speculative fiction dystopian book is too close for comfort. I liked the sharp critique of…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (143)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-143https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-143Sun, 10 May 2026 10:59:14 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Leave Your Mess at Home: This novel explores sibling bonds, parental omissions, and layered characters. Heartbreaking and messy, the a…

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]]><![CDATA[ What I Loved This Week (142)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-142https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-142Sun, 03 May 2026 11:31:29 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Flesh: There’s something very emotional and sad about this novel, even if the main character is anything but. I found it to be a detac…

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]]><![CDATA[ What I Loved This Week (141)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-141https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-141Sun, 26 Apr 2026 10:47:47 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Kin: Some books are meant to be savored; this is one of them. Tayari Jones is a master storyteller who builds nuanced characters slowl…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (140)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-140https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-140Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:03:14 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

200 Monas: I’m still completely hesitant to recommend this novel because it was level 10 weird, but personally, it was one of the best…

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]]><![CDATA[ What I Loved This Week (139)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-139-a28https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-139-a28Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:00:48 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

A Good Person: Had so much fun reading Kirsten King’s “A Good Person”. I love a deranged, narcissistic female protagonist and equally …

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]]><![CDATA[ What I Loved This Week (139)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-139https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-139Sun, 05 Apr 2026 10:55:57 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

The Briars: Part mystery, part romance (yes, weird combo but it works), this book is a fantastic way to spend your leisurely hours. Th…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (138)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-138https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-138Sun, 29 Mar 2026 09:49:42 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Bookshop.org Discount Alert! Shop my curated list of books I read and loved in 2026 so far and take 15% OFF when you enter BSO15 at checkout, valid until Apri…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (137)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-137https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-137Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:31:37 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Bookshop.org Discount Alert! Shop my curated list of books I read and loved in 2026 so far and take 15% OFF when you enter BSO15 at checkout, valid until Apri…

Read more

]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (136)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-136https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-136Sun, 15 Mar 2026 11:07:34 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Instructions to best enjoy this note: Grab a beverage of choice, sit somewhere cozy, blanket highly suggested, and enjoy!

📚What I Read and Loved

Her Last Brea…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (135)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-135https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-135Sun, 08 Mar 2026 10:11:23 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Instructions to best enjoy this note: Grab a beverage of choice, sit somewhere cozy, blanket highly suggested, and enjoy!

📚What I Read and Loved

So Old, So Yo…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (134)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-134https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-134Sun, 01 Mar 2026 10:55:17 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Instructions to best enjoy this note: Grab a beverage of choice, sit somewhere cozy, blanket highly suggested, and enjoy!

📚What I Read and Loved

Dream State: …

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (133)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-133https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-133Fri, 20 Feb 2026 10:28:36 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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Instructions to best enjoy this note: Grab a beverage of choice, sit somewhere cozy, blanket highly suggested, and enjoy!

📚What I Read and Loved

Good People: …

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]]><![CDATA[ What I Loved This Week (132)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-132https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-132Fri, 13 Feb 2026 10:20:27 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

Local Heavens: I inhaled this smart retelling of The Great Gatsby with a futuristic cyberpunk twist and a lot of heart. I especially en…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (131)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-131https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-131Fri, 06 Feb 2026 10:14:59 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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📚What I Read and Loved

The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery: I usually don’t pick books like this, and that YA type cover doesn’t do the book any justice, but t…

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]]><![CDATA[What I Loved This Week (130)]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-130https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/what-i-loved-this-week-130Sun, 01 Feb 2026 10:13:21 GMT100% MADE BY A HUMAN. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also support me by buying me coffee or subscribing to a paid membership.

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I’m two days late, but I wanted to participate in the blackout against ICE and the inhumanity of what’s happening right now in the USA (and everywhere, really…

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]]><![CDATA[A broke girl's guide to TV streaming in 2026 - part 1]]>https://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/a-broke-girls-guide-to-tv-streaminghttps://thingsiloveandshare.substack.com/p/a-broke-girls-guide-to-tv-streamingMon, 26 Jan 2026 09:36:17 GMT

I watch a lot of TV. I enjoy it, and it’s a key part of my wind-down routine. Staying on the couch with a blanket and a hot tea while watching TV (until 9 pm, ha) is a habit that calms me.

Here’s the bad news: TV watching has gotten very expensive, almost as bad as cable, and keeping all of those services adds up. Last year, it got to the point where I w…

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