Booked & Busy: Recommendations for Plot Girl Summer
6/27/25: July’s Now Reading announcement is here! Plus a few other tidbits that crossed our desk this week.
Say hello to Plot Girl Summer. The goal? Keeping things interesting, including ourselves. Our totes are full and our opinions are hotter than July pavement. This week, we’re grateful for artful commentary on modern dating, and the intrepid journalists answering our burning question: what the heck is a Labubu? Crack a spine, spill some tea… this is your sign to stay cool and stay booked.
In Our Bag
This July, we’re reading two books together, so they’re both in our bag. Everything else has been temporarily sent back to the TBR bench (with a bookmark, of course).
Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid (2025)
A Woman Is No Man, Etaf Rum (2019)
Here’s the deal, Kaylen has had the hardest time picking a book for July. So since she couldn’t decide, you get to! For those seeking a classic summer beach read that’s as interesting as it is entertaining, look no further than Atmosphere, the latest release from Taylor Jenkins Reid. With Atmosphere, Reid builds on her reputation for juicy, female-led fiction set in distinct arenas of American culture and history. Read this if you want a literal escape from reality, a glimpse of what NASA’s space program looked like for women in the 1980s, and/or a tender and unexpected love story all in one. If you’re looking for something a bit meatier, read A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum, a multi-generational perspective novel set in Palestine, 1990 and Brooklyn, 2008. This one is for the clubbers that want to continue following the thread started in March with The Vanishing Half, and continued in May with our discussions of An Unlasting Home.
Feel like reading both? We salute you.
For Your Information
Trend alerts, OpEds, and other lit information: here’s what caught our thumbs during the endless scroll of 15 minute breaks between meetings.
With the recent release of their new album, I Quit, HAIM has gifted us with the perfect summer soundtrack composed of 70s sound and millennial cool. Slate compares the nostalgic nuance of Gone’s opening lyrics and beat to the same of The Rolling Stones hit Sympathy For The Devil from 1968. As the airwave takeover continues, check out the sisters’ latest interview with Bella Freud of Fashion Neurosis, exploring how fashion informs their identity as a band and as individuals. I Quit and Fashion Neurosis available anywhere you listen to music and get podcasts.
Officially adding “directionless orbiting” to my dating dictionary. The New York Times just dropped another banger Modern Love essay, “Men, Where Have You Gone? Please Come Back” by Chicago-based writer Rachel Drucker, and the internet is a-buzzing. Centered on a particular dating faux pas of modern proportions—something along the lines of bread crumbing and ghosting—Drucker finds a way to name an experience women and the media have been discussing since the onset of pandemic isolation. A unique blend of sincerity, personal experience, and generational reflection, this one is worth diving into, whether it’s site specific (NYT has a paywall) or via online discussion videos.
“The New Must-Have It Bag? A Tote That Holds a Book.” And to this we say: welcome to the party! Any LWL girl knows how essential a functional tote is… if that function is carrying books and notes about books. So let’s make it official! Get your own LWL “It Bag” and let everyone know how much you love to club.
Extra Lit
Beat the heat with activities that can be done in the comfort of AC or the aftersun. Dive in and stay cool.
Film: This year, Films on the Green is back with a special French Film Series presented by Villa Albertine and the French Consulate in Chicago. With a different location for every film, you have the chance to explore more of what makes Chicago special, all while living “la vie en rose.” Programming from June 20th to July 15th. View schedule.
Podcast: Labubu this, Labubu that. I needed to get to the bottom of this fluffy monster craze before I became officially out of the loop. A quick online swipe and I landed on the page of a new favorite podcast from the team behind Polyester Zine, a self published, intersectional feminist arts and culture publication aiming to bridge the gap of url cyberfeminism with the IRL world…From topics like Labubu to the recession indicator memes, Polyester Zine brings a feminist lens to pop culture discourse with witty quips and amazing accents. Give it a listen! Available on all podcast platforms.
Exhibition Opening: Monique Meloche in Chicago presents Yvette Mayorga in her first solo exhibition with the gallery, Pu$h Thru, in which the Chicago-based artist reflects on the last decade of her life in the city through “vibrant fusion of personal narrative, cultural critique, and aesthetic exploration.” We love the consumerist commentary wrapped up in Mayorga’s distinct, confectionary style. On view through July 26th at Monique Meloche Gallery.
On the Books
NOW READING ALERT: We’re opening up the conversation to not one, but two books in July, giving you the chance to select one or both and join us at the end of the month to discuss. Check out what’s “In Our Bag” for details on your choices. Programming announcement to come. Paid tier Members get 24-hour advanced access to July’s event, which will have a limited number of spots available. Keep an eye on Substack/email next week.
A lovely little read with my afternoon DC, can’t wait for July!