-Taurus Season

A friend read my birth chart once and told me I’m a triple Taurus, meaning I have three planets in Taurus. My three are Sun, Mercury and Venus. My rising sign is Gemini. I don’t know what any of this means, but I find great enjoyment in proclaiming “Triple Taurus!” for one month every year. It’s also fun because Abby is a Taurus and Joy is a Gemini, so it feels like our collective time to shine. In true triple Taurus fashion (see, I told you), I’ve been relaxing and reading a lot to come down from what was a heavy news and life month. In honor of me, a triple Taurus, I hope you get to spend some time this month with a good book and some mid television.

Xoxo,

Kim (a triple Taurus)

• However you’re celebrating Mother’s Day, I hope it involves delicious food. If you need some inspiration, as always, our very own Joy THEE Baker™  has you covered with these Mother’s Day brunch ideas.

• Those who know me, know my admiration for Samantha Irby. Did I have her on my podcast? Yes. Do I gobble up every single thing she publishes? Also yes. Harper’s Bazaar published an essay from Irby’s upcoming book and it’s all about how she has realized you can just say, ‘I like it’ to shut down naysayers about whatever basic thing you like. This essay? I like it! (Lady Land)

• Related! Sam’s new book Quietly Hostile comes out on May 16 and if you haven’t already pre-ordered a copy, you can pick one up here. (Bookshop.org)

• Clearly we are all sick of discourse and just want to be left alone to like what we like. This is such a great read on embracing mid entertainment from Kaitlyn Greenidge at Harper’s Bazaar.

• I’m sure I’ve talked about this before, but Lindy West has a Substack called Butt News where she reviews popular movies that she never got around to watching. She watched Bridget Jones Diary for the first time and wrote about it here.

• A friend of mine built a vinyl pressing plant from scratch and the Nashville Scene let me interview her on how she did it. Forever and always, shout-out to women.

• Two women who have had a big impact on my journey with healing from disordered eating are Virigina Sole-Smith and Christy Harrison, and both of them have new books that just came out. Up first, Fat Talk by Virginia Sole-Smith. I think I link to Virginia in every one of these guest posts, so you’re probably familiar with her work. If not, The Cut profiled her about her new book. (Bookshop.org)

• Christy Harrison’s new book is called The Wellness Trap: Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses, and Find Your True Well-Being. It’s a result of nine years of research into wellness culture. I’m 50 pages in and it’s already blowing my mind. For a little teaser, check out this NYT piece on how to spot a wellness scam. (Bookshop.org)

• On a whim, I downloaded the audiobook for Ari Shapiro’s new memoir, The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening. Friends, I loved this audiobook so much. It’s a nice contrast to how heavy the news has been lately. Also, he sings! 

• Speaking of things that felt good to consume but also made me cry: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. I watched the whole first season on Peacock. I cried so much, I started laughing at myself. MMV. If you’ve recently lost someone, this may not be the show for you right now.

• I’m a fan of Nichole Perkins. Obviously, Thirst Aid Kit was a major cultural moment. I also loved her memoir, Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be. Now she has a new podcast (via CNN) called The Prince Mixtape. It’s a must-listen for all of us Gen X Prince fans. (Bookshop.org)

• An argument for appetizers. (TikTok)