We are heading into a holiday weekend which normally means I take every chance to escape into whatever book I’m reading. Except my daughter’s second birthday weekend is also here!

I have two books to read by Wednesday for book club, so obviously my planning skills for reading are still stellar. But I’ll get there somehow. And I’ll get all of the things done for birthday done as well. Somehow. It’ll be fun. Maybe.

But you’re not here to read about my chaotic life. You’re here to find some great reads! So let’s get to them.

Reading Social Media News

People complain about algorithm changes constantly. In most cases, the network itself seems to not give the greatest advice. That is not so when it comes to Instagram. Their advice always seems to be helpful and spot-on for what I’m seeing on the network. In this case, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, advises creating content that people will want to send to a friend to increase your reach. I absolutely love his phrasing on this and I think this article from Social Media Today outlining his advice does a great job of getting you started on what to do next.

There has been this trend of “unhinged” content on Threads, and it just seems like brands think that’s the only way to approach the network. It’s getting old. Fast. Mostly because so many of them are not capable of doing that kind of content in a meaningful way, so it just ends up being crazy for crazy’s sake. Not great. Since the Threads API has recently become available, Buffer has been posting some useful Threads content, and I really appreciate this round up of accounts that are not posting unhinged content.

Reading Books, Books and More Books

Past

Immediately after I finished Godwin by Joseph O’Neill, I started messaging people that they needed to read it. It starts in an idealistic world that I immediately wanted to be a part of. A collective where everything worked, except one person who has become a problem. It then focuses on that one person and the absolute trauma he has experienced in his life. He had extricated himself from all of that trauma, but the door had been opened slightly. So obviously, he walked on through to put himself in that situation again with all the naïve optimism we all experience when say this time will be different. We then find ourselves back in the collective where everything is falling apart fast. I’ll leave it here, but I consumed this book never quite knowing what adventure I was on. That is so unbelievably rare for me. And then the last page just kicked me and really brought home everything. I just truly love this book and would love to read it again. I need to get on reading more Joseph O’Neill. Score: A

Present

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman, but I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s super readable with believable characters. I’m getting some of them confused because there are so many of them that were thrown at me at once, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting my enjoyment of the book. Could I possibly be reading three good books in a row? God, I hope so. That would make my life so much easier as I blast through all of these books this week.

Future

This month’s book club book is You Are Here by David Nicholls. I don’t remember the description, but I do know that Matt Haig has a quote on front of it. I admire Haig’s writing as well as how he shares his mental health struggles. So I feel confident he wouldn’t just take a paycheck for a quote on a the cover of a book he doesn’t like. At least I hope that’s the case. Anyway, I’m feeling hopeful that I can get to four good books in a row. Fingers crossed so hard.

So what are you reading? What books are you looking forward to?