What We're Reading, Listening to, and Watching This Week (5/31/2026)
Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This is the breath of fresh air I needed, with many laugh-out-loud moments as the very assertive and unfiltered Vera Wong investigates the murder of a man she found dead in her tea shop. About to start Colette’s The Vagabond for my book club.
Listening: To the sound of my own whistle as I whistle and clap in vain to “scare” two adolescent bears out of my backyard. And also listening to my husband say, “Hi, Sweetie!” to them while I’m doing the above actions. Not helping.
Watching: I’m enjoying The Other Bennet Sister so much and look forward every week to the newest episode. I’m also watching Brokenwood, Death in Paradise, and Canal Boat Diaries in a splendid rotation of New Zealand, Caribbean, and British settings.
Candice Huber / Membership:
Crafting: I've been really enjoying making my own crochet dolls! I've learned how to customize, and making my favorite baseball player and my husband has been fun.
Watching: The Boroughs on Netflix has been really fun! It's basically Stranger Things, even made by the Duffer Brothers, but with 70-somethings in a retirement community as the heroes.
Gardening: I'm soooo late on repotting many of my succulents that I'm propagating. They're outgrowing their pots already! So this weekend, I get my hands dirty, literally.
Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: I am re-reading Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arhundati Roy's memoir of her and her mother, on e-book because I gave my print copy to my mom, who is also reading it and loving it. Mom and I are sympatico about books, and I can always tell what books she will like, and always be sure that the books she likes, I will too. For fiction, I also have Maggie O'farrell's Land on tap, and have dug out my copy of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. I was shocked to hear she had died.
Listening: My current audiobook is American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald, one of those biography-slash-travel memoir things about following along the path of Johnny Appleseed.
Watching: The fawn is still around, right now watching me hang up the laundry on the clothesline. I'm a little worried it is not scared enough of people.
SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: I'm still reading Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes for book club, and though it was written in the 1950s and set in Rome, it's bracingly prescient for here and today.
Listening: A friend shared a Lilith Fair playlist and though I never went, I like to pretend I did.
Watching: For me, Pride Month is basically the most wonderful time of the year (sorry, Andy Williams) for movie watching. So many lists, and collections to dive into and obsess over. I chose Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, the groundbreaking 1978 documentary featuring a diverse chorus of voices of over 20 queer people, as the kick-off. It's powerful, funny, enraging, sad (both the stories and also knowing how many of those voices were silenced by AIDS only a few years later), joyous, and ultimately uplifting. Highly recommended viewing for these times. Also, Sally Gearhart is now on my permanent list of icons. Look her up. My list also includes Eleanor Roosevelt, so she's in good company.
Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I just finished Diana Peterfreund's second installment in the Ellen Poe series and it's so good! They're great YA mysteries with a Poe ghost helping solve things.
Listening: to my cats chase each other around for no reason. It's loud.
Watching: SNL UK has had a really fun first season! I'm looking forward to more from those folks.