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Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Here are 10 new books to add to your must-read list
From a comic satire on the world of professional AFL to queer romances; from a study of the creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney to a memoir of life as an elite policeman, this week's books cover wide ground. Pissants Brandon Jack Summit Books, $34.99 Former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack penned an acclaimed memoir, 28, which exposed life in the AFL machine. Some truths can't be fully imagined in non-fiction, a defect colourfully remedied in his debut novel. Pissants is a super-sweary inside job on the world of professional football, a pitch-black comic satire that takes in rivalry and camaraderie and misdeeds. There's locker room goss, sports psychology and the creeping derangements of being steeped in a culture of toxic pressures – from ultra-competitiveness to the psychotic hypermasculinity of bonding and hazing rituals. There are plenty of jaw-dropping shenanigans tinged with narcissism, and the sense of impunity that attends fame on the field, but there's also a fair whack of misery and unacknowledged woundedness. Jack incorporates bingo cards and WhatsApp chats into more conventional narrative modes, as all the dirty laundry gets an airing. AFL fans should enjoy the fly-on-the-wall-of-the-locker-room vibe, and Jack draws out the attractions of elite team sport – and much that's repugnant about how it operates behind the scenes – with brutality and hilarity. Taylor Jenkins Reid became a global publishing phenomenon with the rise of BookTok during the pandemic. Her previous bestsellers have included Daisy Jones & The Six (loosely inspired by the story behind Fleetwood Mac) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (a romantic mystery following a glamorous Hollywood star of yesteryear). Her ninth novel combines romance with adventure and disaster in space. Astrophysicist Joan Goodwin joins the NASA space program in the early 1980s. Training as an astronaut with a team of brilliant, big personalities, she must navigate institutional sexism, a growing bond with colleagues on a dangerous mission, and budding romance. Catastrophe looms, and the action and suspense of the emergency frames a love story that delves deeply into the rigours and routines of life as an astronaut, and how trailblazing women resisted the male-dominated atmosphere of NASA in the 1980s. It's a page-turner with high emotional stakes; Reid's fans are probably producing tear-streaked TikTok vids already. Author of Ghost Wall, Summerwater and The Fell, Sarah Moss is, among other things, an expert excavator of the effects of post-Brexit politics on the British psyche. In Ripeness, the politics turn to reproductive rights, migrant identities and the rights of refugees. Edith is the daughter of a French Jewish Holocaust survivor who escaped being murdered by the Nazis when she was granted asylum in the UK in 1941. Now over 70, comfortable, living in western Ireland, Edith is troubled by her friend Méabh's attitude to African refugees (and notes it doesn't apply to displaced Ukrainians), though she's drawn into her friend's family mystery. Méabh discovers she has an unknown brother, adopted by an American family, who wants to connect with his biological relatives and find out more about his roots. The novel's action flits between this contemporary strand and a trip to Italy in the 1960s, when Edith was a nerdy 17-year-old accompanying her older sister, who is enduring an unwanted pregnancy. Moss crafts a fine balance of sympathy in her portrayal of Edith, contrasting first-person and third-person narration to interrogate how social identities are forged, how rights must be fought for, and the growing cost of complacency. Ordinary Love Marie Rutkoski Virago, $34.99 Queer romance reignites in Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love when teenage sweethearts Emily and Gen reunite as 30-somethings. Their lives have taken different paths since their schooldays. Emily suffers through an abusive marriage to the wealthy Jack and leaves him after a frightening episode of domestic violence at the book's outset. Gen meanwhile becomes an Olympic athlete, aggressively embracing her sexuality through a string of affairs and hook-ups with other women. The story of their adolescent courtship and the homophobia it ran up against is told in flashback, revealing Emily and Gen to be old flames with old wounds that have shaped the courses of their adult lives. Rutkovski is sharp on just how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship, especially when the abuser seeks to isolate the victim from support networks. A subplot involving friends of Emily fighting to help her overcome Jack's influence is so full-blooded it almost becomes the main event. Yet the intimacy and vividness Rutkoski brings to her characters' sexual life is unusual – sex writing so often goes awry – and this is a romance novel that feels refreshingly grounded, written for adults. Big Feelings Amy Lovat Macmillan, $34.99 Another queer romance from Newcastle-based Amy Lovat, returning with a second novel following her debut, Mistakes and Other Lovers. This one's billed as an 'anti-romantic comedy', and it takes place in the shadow of an idealised relationship. Sadie's obsession with finding the perfect partner comes from witnessing the passion and devotion of her parents' marriage – complete with Insta-love tropes and mad romantic pursuits and the happily-ever-after that spawned her. When she meets Chase, Sadie falls wildly in love and thinks she's found the ideal woman, but it isn't long before cynicism, neurosis and self-sabotage rear their heads, and Sadie comes to question what she really desires. Big Feelings captures the relaxed flavour of its setting on the NSW North Coast, while the somewhat unreliable narrator ties herself in comic knots over a relationship we know will break up from the beginning. The mystery is how and why, and Lovat's chaotic ride into the messiness of romance should attract lovebirds of a more sardonic and streetwise disposition, fans of Fleabag or High Fidelity among them. The key contention in this absorbing study of the creative chemistry that existed between Lennon and McCartney, is that we get them 'so wrong', largely because 'we have trouble thinking about intimate male friendships.' But, do we get them so wrong? Much of what Ian Leslie documents – the intensity of the relationship, the shared early deaths of their mothers, the immediate recognition of being soulmates when they first met at the Woolton Church fete (with Paul's flawless rendition of Eddie Cochrane's Twenty Flight Rock), the competitiveness, the bitterness and the love that bound them – is common knowledge to many. Indeed, there were few times when he told me anything I didn't already know. All the same, in its comprehensiveness, the authority with which he details the collaboration (especially contested territory of who did what, Lennon claiming much of Eleanor Rigby, McCartney likewise with In My Life), and the poise and compassion with which he brings his two magicians to life, it's a compelling dissection of the repercussions of that day in 1957 when two 'damaged romantics' met and the culture of the western world shifted. This guide to how to live a more satisfying life is, at least, more informed than most. Fabian, an Associate Professor at Warwick University, begins by distinguishing between the pursuit of happiness and the more complex and fulfilling notion of wellbeing – which embraces life, existential warts and all and a more nuanced sense of self: the good, the bad and the ugly. It's divided into three parts. A Pleasant Life, in which he delves into the wisdom of the Stoics (who seem to be roaring back into public popularity), the Fulfilling Life, about self-realisation and the idea of authenticity, and the Valuable Life, about overcoming modern nihilism. Woven into this are aspects of his own story (early depression and release through rock-climbing) and, more broadly, the positives of living in a pluralistic society as apart from religious orthodoxy. Deliberately 'popular' and, like all of these guides, reads like a talk. Few sportspeople enter the playing field facing the possibility of death like Formula One drivers. In fact, in the 1958 season four drivers died. But it's not the death-defying stunts of the drivers that Reid and Sylt are concerned with here, it's the astonishing money that goes into this international business – these days generating revenue of $3.4 billion and valued at $20 billion, the top drivers receiving around $60 million in wages. The driver's seats are individually designed and the steering wheels cost $75,000. And that's just scratching the surface. In order to trace how this came about, the authors take us back to the leisurely hobbyhorse days of the 1950s when princes and barons drove their Maseratis in competitions. That didn't last long, thanks in large part to a colourful Englishman, Bernie Ecclestone, whose name is now synonymous with Formula One. The drivers and their vehicles might capture the limelight, but this takes us into the billion-dollar industry under the bonnet. When writer/journalist Daniela Torsh's father died in 1958, she was 11 years old and believed she was Christian. What she discovered in the days following his death– she writes warmly about her father, but honestly as well in detailing the fraught nature of the relationship – was the depth of her Jewish ancestry. Her parents had met in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp just north of Prague, in the 1940s. They survived, had Daniela, and eventually immigrated to Sydney in the early 1950s. Her parents were determined that the horrors they had experienced during the war would not be passed on to their child, so they kept her Jewish ancestry a secret. Torsh's tale, told simply but effectively and frequently jumping time frames, is, among other things, a record of intergenerational trauma, of how growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust played out in her life in ways she didn't understand until she put together the pieces of her family's history. A calm retrospective voice, but one that inevitably contains tragedy, anger and deep sadness. Through Fear and Fire John Taylor (with Heath O'Loughlin) Pan Macmillan, $36.99 When John Taylor was growing up in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne he was frequently in schoolyard fights, always outraged by the injustice of the actions of school bullies. It led to joining the Victoria Police Force in 1987, then the Special Operations Group (SOG) two years later, and in 2003, the Bomb Response Unit (BRU). In many ways this is a portrait of a driven individual – his description of the physical training required to get into the SOG is exhausting just to read. And while he might be matter-of-fact in his description of defusing, say, a bomb left in a bus shelter (at the same time dismissing Hollywood myths about the process), you are always in no doubt that it is a highly dangerous occupation. Likewise, his account of his first operation with SOG. At the same time, he also goes into the effect of the job on his family: Taylor, at times, while walking with his wife, imagining threats that aren't there. If you've ever wondered what kind of person is drawn to join an elite force, this will give you a good idea.
The Age
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Here are 10 new books to add to your must-read list
From a comic satire on the world of professional AFL to queer romances; from a study of the creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney to a memoir of life as an elite policeman, this week's books cover wide ground. Pissants Brandon Jack Summit Books, $34.99 Former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack penned an acclaimed memoir, 28, which exposed life in the AFL machine. Some truths can't be fully imagined in non-fiction, a defect colourfully remedied in his debut novel. Pissants is a super-sweary inside job on the world of professional football, a pitch-black comic satire that takes in rivalry and camaraderie and misdeeds. There's locker room goss, sports psychology and the creeping derangements of being steeped in a culture of toxic pressures – from ultra-competitiveness to the psychotic hypermasculinity of bonding and hazing rituals. There are plenty of jaw-dropping shenanigans tinged with narcissism, and the sense of impunity that attends fame on the field, but there's also a fair whack of misery and unacknowledged woundedness. Jack incorporates bingo cards and WhatsApp chats into more conventional narrative modes, as all the dirty laundry gets an airing. AFL fans should enjoy the fly-on-the-wall-of-the-locker-room vibe, and Jack draws out the attractions of elite team sport – and much that's repugnant about how it operates behind the scenes – with brutality and hilarity. Taylor Jenkins Reid became a global publishing phenomenon with the rise of BookTok during the pandemic. Her previous bestsellers have included Daisy Jones & The Six (loosely inspired by the story behind Fleetwood Mac) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (a romantic mystery following a glamorous Hollywood star of yesteryear). Her ninth novel combines romance with adventure and disaster in space. Astrophysicist Joan Goodwin joins the NASA space program in the early 1980s. Training as an astronaut with a team of brilliant, big personalities, she must navigate institutional sexism, a growing bond with colleagues on a dangerous mission, and budding romance. Catastrophe looms, and the action and suspense of the emergency frames a love story that delves deeply into the rigours and routines of life as an astronaut, and how trailblazing women resisted the male-dominated atmosphere of NASA in the 1980s. It's a page-turner with high emotional stakes; Reid's fans are probably producing tear-streaked TikTok vids already. Author of Ghost Wall, Summerwater and The Fell, Sarah Moss is, among other things, an expert excavator of the effects of post-Brexit politics on the British psyche. In Ripeness, the politics turn to reproductive rights, migrant identities and the rights of refugees. Edith is the daughter of a French Jewish Holocaust survivor who escaped being murdered by the Nazis when she was granted asylum in the UK in 1941. Now over 70, comfortable, living in western Ireland, Edith is troubled by her friend Méabh's attitude to African refugees (and notes it doesn't apply to displaced Ukrainians), though she's drawn into her friend's family mystery. Méabh discovers she has an unknown brother, adopted by an American family, who wants to connect with his biological relatives and find out more about his roots. The novel's action flits between this contemporary strand and a trip to Italy in the 1960s, when Edith was a nerdy 17-year-old accompanying her older sister, who is enduring an unwanted pregnancy. Moss crafts a fine balance of sympathy in her portrayal of Edith, contrasting first-person and third-person narration to interrogate how social identities are forged, how rights must be fought for, and the growing cost of complacency. Ordinary Love Marie Rutkoski Virago, $34.99 Queer romance reignites in Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love when teenage sweethearts Emily and Gen reunite as 30-somethings. Their lives have taken different paths since their schooldays. Emily suffers through an abusive marriage to the wealthy Jack and leaves him after a frightening episode of domestic violence at the book's outset. Gen meanwhile becomes an Olympic athlete, aggressively embracing her sexuality through a string of affairs and hook-ups with other women. The story of their adolescent courtship and the homophobia it ran up against is told in flashback, revealing Emily and Gen to be old flames with old wounds that have shaped the courses of their adult lives. Rutkovski is sharp on just how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship, especially when the abuser seeks to isolate the victim from support networks. A subplot involving friends of Emily fighting to help her overcome Jack's influence is so full-blooded it almost becomes the main event. Yet the intimacy and vividness Rutkoski brings to her characters' sexual life is unusual – sex writing so often goes awry – and this is a romance novel that feels refreshingly grounded, written for adults. Big Feelings Amy Lovat Macmillan, $34.99 Another queer romance from Newcastle-based Amy Lovat, returning with a second novel following her debut, Mistakes and Other Lovers. This one's billed as an 'anti-romantic comedy', and it takes place in the shadow of an idealised relationship. Sadie's obsession with finding the perfect partner comes from witnessing the passion and devotion of her parents' marriage – complete with Insta-love tropes and mad romantic pursuits and the happily-ever-after that spawned her. When she meets Chase, Sadie falls wildly in love and thinks she's found the ideal woman, but it isn't long before cynicism, neurosis and self-sabotage rear their heads, and Sadie comes to question what she really desires. Big Feelings captures the relaxed flavour of its setting on the NSW North Coast, while the somewhat unreliable narrator ties herself in comic knots over a relationship we know will break up from the beginning. The mystery is how and why, and Lovat's chaotic ride into the messiness of romance should attract lovebirds of a more sardonic and streetwise disposition, fans of Fleabag or High Fidelity among them. The key contention in this absorbing study of the creative chemistry that existed between Lennon and McCartney, is that we get them 'so wrong', largely because 'we have trouble thinking about intimate male friendships.' But, do we get them so wrong? Much of what Ian Leslie documents – the intensity of the relationship, the shared early deaths of their mothers, the immediate recognition of being soulmates when they first met at the Woolton Church fete (with Paul's flawless rendition of Eddie Cochrane's Twenty Flight Rock), the competitiveness, the bitterness and the love that bound them – is common knowledge to many. Indeed, there were few times when he told me anything I didn't already know. All the same, in its comprehensiveness, the authority with which he details the collaboration (especially contested territory of who did what, Lennon claiming much of Eleanor Rigby, McCartney likewise with In My Life), and the poise and compassion with which he brings his two magicians to life, it's a compelling dissection of the repercussions of that day in 1957 when two 'damaged romantics' met and the culture of the western world shifted. This guide to how to live a more satisfying life is, at least, more informed than most. Fabian, an Associate Professor at Warwick University, begins by distinguishing between the pursuit of happiness and the more complex and fulfilling notion of wellbeing – which embraces life, existential warts and all and a more nuanced sense of self: the good, the bad and the ugly. It's divided into three parts. A Pleasant Life, in which he delves into the wisdom of the Stoics (who seem to be roaring back into public popularity), the Fulfilling Life, about self-realisation and the idea of authenticity, and the Valuable Life, about overcoming modern nihilism. Woven into this are aspects of his own story (early depression and release through rock-climbing) and, more broadly, the positives of living in a pluralistic society as apart from religious orthodoxy. Deliberately 'popular' and, like all of these guides, reads like a talk. Few sportspeople enter the playing field facing the possibility of death like Formula One drivers. In fact, in the 1958 season four drivers died. But it's not the death-defying stunts of the drivers that Reid and Sylt are concerned with here, it's the astonishing money that goes into this international business – these days generating revenue of $3.4 billion and valued at $20 billion, the top drivers receiving around $60 million in wages. The driver's seats are individually designed and the steering wheels cost $75,000. And that's just scratching the surface. In order to trace how this came about, the authors take us back to the leisurely hobbyhorse days of the 1950s when princes and barons drove their Maseratis in competitions. That didn't last long, thanks in large part to a colourful Englishman, Bernie Ecclestone, whose name is now synonymous with Formula One. The drivers and their vehicles might capture the limelight, but this takes us into the billion-dollar industry under the bonnet. When writer/journalist Daniela Torsh's father died in 1958, she was 11 years old and believed she was Christian. What she discovered in the days following his death– she writes warmly about her father, but honestly as well in detailing the fraught nature of the relationship – was the depth of her Jewish ancestry. Her parents had met in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp just north of Prague, in the 1940s. They survived, had Daniela, and eventually immigrated to Sydney in the early 1950s. Her parents were determined that the horrors they had experienced during the war would not be passed on to their child, so they kept her Jewish ancestry a secret. Torsh's tale, told simply but effectively and frequently jumping time frames, is, among other things, a record of intergenerational trauma, of how growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust played out in her life in ways she didn't understand until she put together the pieces of her family's history. A calm retrospective voice, but one that inevitably contains tragedy, anger and deep sadness. Through Fear and Fire John Taylor (with Heath O'Loughlin) Pan Macmillan, $36.99 When John Taylor was growing up in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne he was frequently in schoolyard fights, always outraged by the injustice of the actions of school bullies. It led to joining the Victoria Police Force in 1987, then the Special Operations Group (SOG) two years later, and in 2003, the Bomb Response Unit (BRU). In many ways this is a portrait of a driven individual – his description of the physical training required to get into the SOG is exhausting just to read. And while he might be matter-of-fact in his description of defusing, say, a bomb left in a bus shelter (at the same time dismissing Hollywood myths about the process), you are always in no doubt that it is a highly dangerous occupation. Likewise, his account of his first operation with SOG. At the same time, he also goes into the effect of the job on his family: Taylor, at times, while walking with his wife, imagining threats that aren't there. If you've ever wondered what kind of person is drawn to join an elite force, this will give you a good idea.
Boston Globe
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Here are the summer's most anticipated books
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT For many Americans, summer means more time for leisure. That means more time to read. And that means news outlets publishing lists of books that you might want to consider adding to your list. The Globe has just released 'We figure there's probably not many single readers who will love all the books, but we hope very much that every reader, every kind of reader, will find something that appeals to them,' Kate told me. The goal is to feed existing appetites while also introducing authors whose work you might not yet have picked up. Advertisement The sad truth is that most Americans (myself included!) don't read anywhere close to 75 books in a year, let alone during a summer. Distractions and other ways to spend our time — phones, Netflix — abound. Having kids out of school can increase the demands on parents' time. And as Kate put it, 'a lot of people don't get to take the kind of summer vacations that we all fantasize about' — that is, reading the day away in a hammock. In a December 2023 YouGov poll, nearly half of Americans copped Advertisement And when it comes to summer, even the Globe's 75 suggestions are just a taste. Lots of publications have their own lists of the season's most-anticipated books. We found 16 others — from So to thin out the crowd a bit — and figure out which of this season's new books are truly setting the literary world ablaze — we went through those different publications' lists to find the titles that recurred. Beyond Advertisement Here are the 12 books that appeared on at least five different publications' lists, plus a brief description. Think of it as a shortlist guide to the season's most-anticipated titles. Happy reading! 1. 'Atmosphere: A Love Story,' by Taylor Jenkins Reid (on 10 lists) From the author of 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,' this novel follows an astronomy professor training with the first female astronauts. (Out June 3 from 2. 'King of Ashes' by S.A. Cosby (10 lists) Cosby's novels explore the modern American South. This mob thriller features gangsters, troubled siblings, and a car crash that was no accident. (June 10, 3. 'Flashlight' by Susan Choi (9 lists) Choi, whose last novel won the National Book Award, returns with this 'propulsive story about family secrets and displacement,' reviewer Wadzanai Mhute writes in the Globe. (June 3, 4. 'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' by V.E. Schwab (8 lists) This gothic novel follows three female vampires across centuries and continents. (June 10, 5. 'Great Black Hope' by Rob Franklin (7 lists) This debut novel — the only one on our shortlist — centers on Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate who bounces between New York and his hometown of Atlanta. Things go wrong. (June 10, 6. 'Katabasis' by R.F. Kuang (7 lists) With shades of Dante's 'Inferno,' a student of Magick partners with a rival to retrieve her academic adviser's soul — and a letter of recommendation — from hell. (Aug. 26, Advertisement 7. 'The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex' by Melissa Febos (7 lists) Febos's memoir, the only purely nonfiction book on our shortlist, chronicles her journey to remain celibate after a bad breakup. As Kate Tuttle writes, it explores 'the jagged borders between freedom and intimacy.' (June 3, 8. 'Don't Let Him In' by Lisa Jewell (5 lists) Globe reviewer Daneet Steffens calls this 'whiplash-inducing' psychological thriller a 'perfectly plotted, sinister tale' of charisma and deceit. (June 24, 9. 'Meet Me at the Crossroads' by Megan Giddings (5 lists) An apparent portal into another dimension tests the kinship of two midwestern teenagers. (June 3, 10. 'So Far Gone' by Jess Walter (5 lists) In this novel, a reclusive former journalist must rescue his estranged daughter and grandchildren from a cultlike militia. (June 10, 11. 'The Möbius Book' by Catherine Lacey (5 lists) Fiction and memoir merge in this unique narrative mashup that explores relationships and memory. (June 17, 12. 'Vera, or Faith' by Gary Shteyngart (5 lists) Shteyngart's latest novel tells the story of Vera, a girl whose blended Russian, Jewish, Korean, and New England WASP family is falling apart. (July 8, 🧩 4 Down: 74° POINTS OF INTEREST Part of the stage at Fenway Park after Shakira's concert was canceled. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Boston and Massachusetts Karen Read retrial: The prosecution Helping hand: Mayor Michelle Wu will Under investigation: A state grand jury Guilty: A federal jury Stage fright: A problem with the stage caused Live Nation to Back home: The remains of a World War II airman from Somerville whose plane was shot down in Germany were Trump administration Chilling effect: ICE raids on Nantucket this week have left local immigrants Citations needed: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' report included erroneous footnotes, including fake studies. The White House blamed 'formatting issues' and posted a revised version. ( Independent: Trump met with Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, whom he has hectored to lower interest rates. The Fed said Trump requested the meeting and pledged to keep monetary policy 'non-political.' ( Not her: Someone impersonated Susie Wiles, Trump chief of staff, in messages to top Republicans and business leaders. Federal authorities are investigating. ( MIT minus DEI: The university became the latest institution to The Nation Practice makes perfect: Faizan Zaki, 13, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Last year's runner up, he nearly blew it again last night. ( Plane dealing: JetBlue and United announced a partnership that will let passengers on both airlines Correction: In an item yesterday about recovered images of enslaved people in the US, we mistakenly referred to a descendant as an 'ancestor.' Advertisement VIEWPOINTS Massachusetts subsidizes horse racing to the tune of $20 million per year. As evidence grows that the industry harms horses, Conservatives debate Trump vs. Harvard Yes, Harvard can be out of touch and inhospitable to the right, Austin Taylor, a 2021 graduate, writes in a Globe Ideas essay. The administration's pressure campaign Ilya Shapiro, another conservative Ivy League grad, says the school's progressive rot goes so deep that BESIDE THE POINT By Teresa Hanafin 📺 What to stream this weekend: The latest 'Captain America,' a new British detective mystery, a bunch of Hitchcock hits, 🥣 Let them eat oats: Many breakfast cereals for kids have more fat, salt, and sugar than a decade ago and less protein and fiber. Dr. Leana Wen has ideas for alternatives. ( 👩❤️👨 Dinner with Cupid: This couple on a blind date have so much in common that ... well, 🍹 New spots in R.I.: Oysters on Block Island, an eight-course tasting menu in Providence, a bar focused on unique cocktails. Here are 💗 Love is in the Travel opens up one's heart, experts say, which may explain why so many people find their special someone while on a trip. ( 🐙 Travel tip: If you have visited Portugal, it's likely been in the south. But Christopher Muther argues that the best part of the country is 🎬 The Girls from Boston: They were the movie reviewers for five Boston newspapers starting in the 1930s: Women who were some of the nation's best-known film critics. This is their forgotten story. ( Advertisement 🖼️ Galleries of family life: In a world of digitized photographs, 👩🍼 Too much mom? A new study shows that there has been a significant drop in the mental health of mothers. One psychologist thinks it may be due to Thanks for reading Starting Point. NOTE: The 🎁 emoji that we've started using indicates a gift link. A $ will flag a subscription site that does not offer gift links. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at
