If you’re a long haul Magpie, you might remember a short-lived in-person book club I hosted in Sheep Meadow in Central Park (and occasionally at the apartments of my glittering and fabulous creative friends, Inslee and Alison) in 2018. The conversations were rich; the friendships ran deep. We one time had the author of the book we were reading call in to the book club, and I still get butterflies thinking about it. It was stitched-together and informal — picnic blankets, paper cups of rose, a famous author crackling through my speaker phone while bikers whizzed by — but also one of those lighting-in-a-bottle arrangements you couldn’t recreate if you tried, with thoughtful readers from all different fields and backgrounds showing up robed in fascinating readings of the texts we’d chosen. I occasionally receive emails from these book club members and we always wax poetic about those nights in the field, and the earnestness with which everyone approached the books and the discourses around them.
I want to recreate elements of that experience, but for more Magpies — and I want to start simple, with the hope that this will evolve into something greater and more rich as time goes on. For now, let’s pick a book and try to read it by the 15th of the following month. I’ll be sharing thoughts, reading questions, conversation prompts as we make our way through, and you can arrive in the comments on the 15th ready to discuss. My thought is that some of you might use this cadence for your own in-person gatherings, too — and I can help by providing reading questions, possible menus, playlists, and other fun add-ons. Sort of a book club in a box vibe?
As I get more organized, I have lots of ambitious thoughts. Can we interview the authors here? Can we do a big Zoom conversation at some point? Can I find a well-read gal / celebrity and unpack the book with her on camera? Can we create our own rating systems? Etc etc etc! Suggestions and ideas welcome, as always.
For this month’s book club, we are reading Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore, which I would describe as a literary suspense.
Book jacket copy:
“A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.”
I am one quarter in and deeply impressed. The writing is poetic and rich, and I am enjoying the genre throttle: it feels at points like allegory, but reads like a juicy and compelling thriller. I know many Magpies have read and raved about this as one of the best books of 2025. You’ve got to join me!
1) what you’re reading right now;
2) what’s next in your TBR pile;
3) how you’d describe yourself as a reader, in AIM handle format, and feel free to be playful or serious — examples might be: repeatreader, hockeysmutgal233, oneofthemarchgirls, etc! Mine would be badbookgirl15 — the 15 is a wink to my actual erstwhile AIM handle, SmileyJen15, because I was 15 when I created it. LOL. More on being a bad book girl here, and below, via my Instagram account!
Post-Scripts.
+You can buy your own bad book girl hat here!
+Version 2.0 of anything is a good thing.
+My most popular book review. I cannot believe how many people have found this post on the Internet. You know what’s funny? Sometimes I’ve cheekily joked about how un-useful an advanced degree in literature is (of course I really believe it’s essential to my way of being), but the fact that — across all my thousands of posts — a book review has garnered the most interest from the outside world sort of makes a powerful point. Like, maybe I did learn something there. Thank you, Georgetown University.
+If you could go back to school, what would you study?
Shopping Break.
+I have a few events coming up next week and just did a big order at Shopbop to simplify. I’ll do a try-on and share next week in a blog post? I ordered these linen pants and this matching top, this butter-yellow SEA blouse, this Alemais mini, and this skirt. Shopbop makes returns so incredibly easy…
+I wore this under-$150 dress to cocktails with friends this week! So into crochet right now! A Magpie reader saw me wearing this (seen here) and shared that J. Crew Factory has a very similar style out now for under $60!
+My favorite counter spray. I have several of the scents and I think my favorite is Mayfair, with Doheny Drive as a close second. This is silly to write but using it gives me a Nancy Meyers kitchen vibe.
+Speaking of home care, a Magpie reader alerted me to the fact that our favorite vacuum is 20% off! We have had ours since our early NYC days and are obsessed with it. My mom bought one on my rec and loves it, too.
+It’s a butter yellow summer. I ordered these VB jeans. I own them in brown, too, and they are SO good. Rigid denim, fyi — take your true size if you are wearing mainly for events/occasion. For everyday wear, I’d go a size up and have them fit a little more loosely.
+Yellow denim looks for less here and here.
+One thought on styling the yellow jeans: a fun little white top like this (or this — $29!, this, this), this sandals (look for less here), a raffia tote, and fun earrings (look for less here).
+Sweetest girls’ sandals — omg.
+Monogrammable pique tissue box covers! Such a chic little bathroom / nightstand upgrade. They also have pique shower curtains — a Matouk vibe but less $.
+Inslee’s new ladybug prints are so charming.
+Love a bold statement pant — these and these are FUN.
+Just restocked my son’s boxer-briefs — these were so cute! (I also keep waiting for a restock on these ones from Quince.)
+Speaking of Quince: new summer colors in their woven bag (the sage is sooo good) and a great summer staple for a woman in a more traditional work environment. Meanwhile, doesn’t this feel like want you want to throw on while barefoot and sipping iced tea this summer?
+Drooling over this vase.
+Pretty summer lingerie.
+This lip liner in the color desert rose is one of my favorite beauty products. The consistency!! Glides on so easily and such a gorgeous everyday color — your lips but better.
+ICYMI: some of the Dorsey paracord necklaces are available for pre-order again!
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation.