I had the opportunity to meet Reese Witherspoon, the founder of Reese’s Book Club, for the first time and try Nashville hot chicken. Witherspoon’s club focuses on fiction by women, about women, and has generated impressive sales numbers for the selected books. I have been following Witherspoon’s book club and interviewing some of the authors she has featured for the Book Review. I wanted to speak with her as a fellow book lover, and the lead-up to her 100th pick seemed like the perfect opportunity.
During our lunch, Witherspoon shared that she enjoys reading in the morning after exercising, organizes her books by color, and prefers physical copies to digital ones. She wears reading glasses, a detail that gave me a nerdy thrill. She mentioned that she finds it difficult to read while on vacation, as reading is her job. This made me reflect on the complexity of reading as a hobby in today’s world where readers often turn to experts for recommendations on what to read next.
Witherspoon expressed her original goals for Reese’s Book Club, which included narrowing choices for busy readers and shifting the book club online. She now dreams of bringing the club back into living rooms and away from the digital world. I echo this sentiment, as I believe there is something special about discussing books in person with friends rather than solely relying on online platforms for recommendations. As I traveled home from Nashville, I visited Ann Patchett’s bookstore, Parnassus, where I soaked in the atmosphere and enjoyed the sounds of a busy store on a concourse.
In the realm of culture, the release of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is highly anticipated, with Anya Taylor-Joy taking on the role of Furiosa in this prequel. The film promises to deliver the high-octane action and feminist themes that the franchise is known for. Additionally, a three-ingredient recipe for a potato chip omelet by Ferran Adrià is highlighted as a simple yet delicious dish to try. In the real estate world, a New Yorker’s hunt for a new home with a $400,000 budget in the Hudson Valley is featured, offering insight into the options available within that price range. Lastly, the English Premier League soccer season comes to a thrilling conclusion with Manchester City vying for their fourth straight title.
