Featured

Jun 12, 2019

One of my favorite settings to read about is Paris and the French countryside, so today I’m giving you all a list of my favorite Francophile books, a few from my TBr, and two to skip!

Jun 12, 2019

May 30, 2019

10 Thrillers You Should *Actually* Read

May 30, 2019

Have you read your fair share of thrillers that disappointed? Well, so have I, so I am saving you from that terror. Here are 10 thrillers that are actually worth the read!

May 30, 2019

May 14, 2019

A Week in My Life: My 9-5 Career + Instagram & Blogging

May 14, 2019

Come join me as I answer the most asked question I get on the ‘gram: How do you balance your life, your 9-5 job, and your Instagram/ blog?

May 14, 2019

Apr 16, 2019

Quarter Year Goals Check-in: 2019

Apr 16, 2019

Do you still remember the goals you set for yourself in January? If not, here is the perfect opportunity to set new ones, and if you do, let’s do a check-in and see where we could improve! There are definitely some things I’ll be changing to accomplish my 2019 goals.

Apr 16, 2019

Mar 26, 2019

Book Cover Design Trends of 2019 (so far!)

Mar 26, 2019

Book cover deigns that have become trendy this year and that we will be seeing everywhere in the following months!

Mar 26, 2019

Mar 6, 2019

Most Anticipated Spring 2019 Book Releases

Mar 6, 2019

Featured

Jul 22, 2019

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Jul 22, 2019

Lori Gottlieb is a therapist that takes us into the goings-on of her office and patient’s lives in this nonfiction book , but she is also seeing a therapist as she works through an unexpected and emotionally devastating break-up.

Jul 22, 2019

Featured

Jul 5, 2019

Burn the Place by Iliana Regan

Jul 5, 2019

Iliana Regan takes us back to her roots in rural Indiana in this memoir and then, eventually, to Chicago as she opens up her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth.

Jul 5, 2019

Featured

Jun 25, 2019

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Jun 25, 2019

Ash and Goodman, Julie (soon to become “Jules”) Jacobson, Ethan, Jonah, and Cathy meet at a summer camp for artistic youth called Spirit-in-the-Woods in 1974 and, though they didn’t comprehend it at the time, their lives would become forever-fused.

Jun 25, 2019

Featured

Jun 18, 2019

She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge

Jun 18, 2019

In July of 1983, a group of six high schoolers head out into the woods to party and camp out. The next day, only five return.

Jun 18, 2019

Featured

Jun 10, 2019

Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker

Jun 10, 2019

Bianca Bosker was a tech editor when she first stumbled into the world of wine. By the time she had come up for air from her internet rabbit hole, she was completely hooked

Jun 10, 2019

Featured

Jun 3, 2019

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Jun 3, 2019

Queenie Jenkins is a Jamaican Londoner who is desperately trying to keep her life together.

Jun 3, 2019

Featured

May 29, 2019

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

May 29, 2019

Picture a glorious phone-free, kale-heavy retreat nestled into the beautiful countryside of New York State. You’re paid handsomely to be here … as long as you carry a healthy baby to term.

May 29, 2019

Featured

May 20, 2019

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

May 20, 2019

Picking up this book made me realize how much I enjoy more classic thrillers— books that invite you to solve a mystery, look for clues, and guess until the very end. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is the most classic of Ware’s books.

May 20, 2019

Featured

May 14, 2019

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

May 14, 2019

In an alternate reality, the United States votes differently in the 2016 election and chooses its first female president, Ellen Clarendon.

May 14, 2019

Featured

May 9, 2019

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

May 9, 2019

Sedaris talks about things we all do as we age: first jobs, family vacations, sibling’s weddings, handles pest control. Yet? Everything he says is hysterical.

May 9, 2019

Hello! My name is Megan. 90% of life is books: face behind @the_spines, publishing professional, and all day reader. So glad you're here!

[gifted 📖] hi friends! Coming at you with a review for the first time in a little while AND it’s a five star review at that. 👀 MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE // Lori Gottlieb is a big nonfiction brick and also a journey I would highly recommend you embark on if the premise sparks interest. Full review is over ✨on the blog✨ as always, but here’s a mini:
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I, like many people in this time of constant mental health talk, am very curious about therapy. This book seemed like the perfect foray into the topic, since the author takes us into the therapists room both as a client and as a psychiatrist. I found myself so consistently invested in this book because it’s doing the hard work of normalizing exercising good mental health while also conveying some very helpful and comforting pieces of encouragement and enlightenment that I personally found so practical and insightful. I would happily sit down and read another 400 pages inside Lori Gottlieb’s office! •
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💭 anyone else out there read this book? Or are you curious about it?💭 let’s chat! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

weekend views ... ☁️ 📖 •
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Currently reading: A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE by Shari Lapena. It’s pretty okay! I’m very curious to see if the ending is what i think it is, but I’m not dying to go home and read it. Either way, very happy to be able to lay around on the beach with an entertaining book all weekend!
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💭 what’re you reading this weekend? 💭 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

I FINALLY started a new book! A little palette cleanser in the form of a fun thriller by Shari Lapena. Her book AN UNWANTED GUEST is on my favorite thrillers, so I’ve been eyeing this one for awhile. So far the present tense narration is hitting me weird, but I’m going to keep on. Will update you when I’m done!
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Secondly, hi Chicagoans! 👋🏻 I’m co-hosting a ✨picnic party & book swap✨ on August 18th and I’d love to see you there. ❣️ Come hang out in the park! No need to be a book blogger, just a book lover. 😉 check out my Picnic Party story highlight for details! •
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💭 any other Shari Lapena readers out there? 💭 come chat 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

hi friends! It’s a rainy day, so I thought I’d tell you a little story... 👀
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When people ask me what my favorite book is, I don’t have just one answer. I have a rotation of probably ten books that I consider my absolute favorites, and this book, THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway, is always in that rotation. It’s not my favorite because of the story, but rather what the story meant to me. Hemingway’s Pamplona immersed me in a story and took me away to the running of the bulls, to an adventure I was able to borrow, and into this book in a way I hadn’t been pulled in in awhile at the time. Beyond that, it made me think about where books came from and the entities that have been sending them out into the world. This book opened my eyes to a career I hadn’t realized was there before— book publishing. I still love the story and the adventure, but I also love it for opening a very important door for me and starting me down a path that I’m still on today. •
My sweet friend @hayhails found this copy for me last year and I love it so much! ❣️
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I’d love to hear your stories! 💭Tell me about a favorite book and why it’s your favorite if you have a minute. 💭 I’d love to hear about them! ✨

Hi, how do I get this pink velvet couch to my apartment? 👀 I’ve been on a major home decor kick lately, so I foresee some apartment updates coming to the blog soon! In other news, I have no reading updates for you today. Sometimes I just have those weeks where no reading happens because everything else is so crazy and that’s fine by me!
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💭 Tell me about your reading week in emojis! 💭 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Happy Monday! Postin up in my house today with my laptop and blue light glasses (Excel is on the agenda today, which is when I never skip my computer glasses) and my giant book for after work! 📖 I also had to swap out my usual fourth cup of coffee for this unsightly orange smoothie— fending off Murat’s illness from this weekend!! Pls wish me luck. 👀
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I’m also very happy to be back to the grindstone today. I had a (much needed) couch potato weekend, but starting my day with a long pre-work walk energized me x1000 to get the week started! I need to remember this and bring back my runs on mornings i work from home. And on that note, back to this view!👋🏻
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💭 tell me something you’re looking forward to this week! 💭 I know Monday’s are hard, this will help. 🤗❣️

Never not cheesin’ and playin with weird photo angles. 🥰 •
I heard something really interesting on a podcast today about inspiration that i want to share with you all. On @julssolomon ‘s The Influencer Podcast, @officiallyquigley talked a lot about analyzing her intentions when she opens her Instagram app. Once she realized she doesn’t actually go to IG for inspiration, it changed the way she used the app and her time as a whole. I relate to that a lot, as Instagram is more of a place to connect with people for me than a place to tap into my creativity. This all really got me thinking about where *I* find inspiration! Here are the things I do that inspire me:
✨take long walks
✨have long talks with friends
✨dance parties/ dog beach dates/ anything at all with Murat 🥰
✨Pinterest! ✨watch movies ✨do something I haven’t done before
✨take a break from IG / taking photos
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Breaks and quality time are the secrets to my creativity, not mindless scroll time. definitely need to keep this in mind!! 💭 What inspires your creativity? 👀💭 tell me about it here!👇🏼👇🏼

happy Thursday! This month has been absolutely insane, so finding a moment this morning to sit and read a book was really lovely. 📖☕️ I also finally found time to take a long walk last night, which was much needed and a very nice break from the busy-ness!
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I often get asked which books i keep and which books i get rid of, so here’s a good example. On my walk, I dropped off 2 books from last month: THE SILENT PATIENT, which I read and felt meh about, and ALMOST FRENCH, which I DNF’d last month. The first came from a little free library and I wanted to return it there for someone else to try out. And the second I think someone else will enjoy more than me! I try to drop off at least one or two books a week in my neighborhood libraries. •
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💭 Do you keep all the books you read? Which ones stay in your personal collection? 💭 I’d love to know how you decide what to get rid of! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Well well well, look who matched their outfit to their book. 👀✋🏻[gifted 📖] I started reading MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE by Lori Gottlieb a couple of days ago and I’m enjoying it so much. 👏🏼 It’s not quite what I expected, but in the best way. The author is a therapist talking about situations she’s encountered both professionally and personally in therapy and she weaves them together to make some very interesting observations. She is so down to earth and everything I’ve read so far has made me want to read more! Will keep you updated as I go.
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PS I’m having a very nonfiction month, unexpectedly! 📚 I love when I randomly find myself drawn to NF instead of fiction. •
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💭 Any thoughts on this book? 💭 id love to hear about your latest nonfiction reads, too! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

‼️You know what i learned when I snapped this photo? That that *very* tall bookstack on the right is held up ONLY by the whiteboard nailed flimsily into the wall. 😂 guess it’s time to get another bookshelf already. •
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Current TBR shelf (second one) is suspiciously empty right now so I think it’s time for some recommendations. See anything I should read? Tell me below! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Sunday picnic for one! 🙌🏻📖☕️🐶
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I love spending weekend mornings outside with a book more than most other things in the world. (obviously I need to move to a climate that is more conducive to this 😂) Today I met so many dogs, got a sick halter top tan line, read 100 pages, and overall enjoyed my own company. Goals for our next apartment include either a balcony, rooftop, or (very ambitiously) some kind of yard so that i can do this every day. Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday!
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💭 are you an indoor or outdoor reader? 💭 tell me here! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

A good outfit & a good book makes for a good day. ✨
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I finished BURN THE PLACE by Iliana Regan [gifted 📖] last night and reviewed it for you on the blog this morning! Head over there for my ✨full review✨ as always. Even though this memoir is written by the head chef of a Michelin-started restaurant, it’s only about 25% food lit. Regan talks broadly about her roots in rural America, her gender disassociation, her struggle with alcoholism, and so much more and i found it to be really honest and engaging. I don’t always review memoirs, because It’s a little too close to being critical of people’s lives for my liking, but I did want to give this book its moment.
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💭 any thoughts on reviewing memoirs? Intrigued by this book? 💭 let’s chat! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

[gifted 📖] Happy July 4th, friends! Found myself back in my favorite spot this week with a book I’ve been looking forward to reading for a very long time. BURN THE PLACE is a memoir by Iliana Regan, founder of the Michelin-started restaurant Elizabeth. We love a local Chicago author AND a local indie press! Will keep you updated as I read this one. ✨
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💭Are those of you in the US getting up to anything today for Independence Day?💭 I’ll be doing this: 🏖🍹😎💤👨‍👩‍👧‍👧📖🥰

Hi friends, happy July! 🌞📖 Apparently June was the month of GIANT books for me, as you can see, and I am able to include a library book for the first time in one of these wrap-ups! Of this stack, I highly recommend you read SHE LIES IN WAIT by Gytha Lodge, especially if you’re looking for a summer suspenseful thriller. Some of you will also love THE INTERESTINGS by Meg Wolitzer!
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Head over ✨to the blog✨ for full reviews!
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THE SILENT PATIENT // Alex Michaelides: 👀⁉️🤐I 💤
SHE LIES IN WAIT // Gytha Lodge: 💀😰👭👫👬🌲🧗🏻‍♀️I 👌🏼
FINALE // Stephanie Garber 🤹‍♂️🎪🔮👭♥️I 🤷‍♀️
THE INTERESTINGS // Meg Wolitzer: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧👨‍👩‍👧‍👧📆🧨💸| 🥰
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💭 Best book you read in June? Have you read any of these books? 💭 let’s chat! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Hello from the other side of Lake Michigan! I’ve been doing some *serious* vacation reading up here and I started and finished THE SILENT PATIENT yesterday. 👀📖 Thrillers are my jam when I’m lounging on the beach or in a cabin and lots of people recommended this one on my thriller post a few weeks back. I serendipitously found it in a Little Free Library a few days ago! •
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Review-wise, i though it was entertaining but I didn’t love it. To me, it was a forgettable thriller, even though the concept is very intriguing. The twist was delivered in a kinda meh way and the plot requires some suspension of disbelief around the law and around certain characters behaviors. However, I know a lot of you love this book, so let’s chat about it! 👇🏼👇🏼
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💭 do any of you also like to read thrillers on vacation?💭

[ad] FRIENDS, my road trip vacation to Michigan starts in t-minus SIX HOURS and then it’s four straight days of beach, sun, relaxation, and reading. Can you tell I’m excited?? 😉
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Storing my ice cream money on the beach, at a festival, or really ... anywhere.... is obviously top priority, thank u flashlight-turned-secret-compartment, but swipe over 👉🏼 to see all my other @prettyusefultools essentials (yes, pink bobby pins are essentials) *and* the books I’m bringing along! 🍦📖 Trust me, never go to the beach without a charged and preferably cute external charger for your Kindle. Having a dead “book” in the middle of a plot twist is not okay. 👀 •
#wildandwolf #prettyusefultools #summerthriving
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💭 what’s your ideal ice cream cone, no restrictions? 💭 I’ve put a lot of thought into mine: waffle cone dipped in marshmallow and rolled in Fruity Pebbles, brambleberry crisp ice cream inside, cherry on top. Invent yours! 😂👇🏼👇🏼

Y’all it took me two full weeks but I finished this book! 📖🙌🏻 THE INTERESTINGS by Meg Wolitzer is a 468 page giant and I had a lot to say about it. Check out my full review ✨on the blog!✨ Here’s the mini:
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This book is a bit of an enigma to me. It is completely character-driven, with a plot that can only be described as ‘life being lived’ and, as a result, it is one of the most sprawling books I’ve read in recent years. Wolitzer takes her time and makes big observations about the things we will all experience. I loved her perspective on the eroding effect of wealth on both those who have it and those who are only adjacent to it. I found her view on marriage to be bleak most of the time, but powerful in its lessons. These and many other huge themes are able to be tackled in a book so large, and for that I really appreciated THE INTERESTINGS. I’m a a bit torn because I do think having space to work out the themes was important and necessary, but I still think it dragged a little bit too much. It’s one I would recommend, but to the right reader. •
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💭 Have you read any Wolitzer books? Did you like them or dislike them? 💭 I’ve also read The Female Persuasion by her and I can see the similarities and her writing style SO clearly now. Let’s chat! 👇🏼👇🏼

Hi friends, happy Monday! Let’s take a brief book break today to talk about TV, shall we? I’m always saying we are in a ✨golden age✨ of TV because there’s so much goodness out there. 🙌🏻
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Here are the shows I’m currently watching:
1. BIG LITTLE LIES, Season 2 // So far, a less exciting season but the cinematography and cast is just so strong, i do not mind. (Renata is a human embodiment of a cyclone and she’s singlehandedly breathing life into the show. Meryl is 👏🏼not👏🏼well👏🏼 and needs to go back home. Ed is starting to turn into a villain and i do not trust him one bit. Oh, and WHO decided on that new hair for Jane!?) 2. YOUNGER // I know some of you publishing people are equally in love with this completely unrealistic world. 😂
3. FRASIER // Murat and I watch this show together and i find it so charming and hilarious. Niles is my favorite character ever.
4. BROAD CITY // I just started this this weekend when faced with a lot of laundry to fold and I was cackling through every episode. 🙌🏻
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💭 What’s your favorite TV show right now? 💭 leave us all suggestions and also leave all your Big Little Lies hot takes! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

hi friends! 👋🏻 Today #thespinesreads outside! 🌞📖 There is nothing better to me than posting up in the grass and getting sucked into a good book. And, bonus to this spot is that TONS of people bring their dogs here to play. 👀🙌🏻 •
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Today’s read: MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE // Lori Gottlieb! (Yes, still. 😂)
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💭 tell me about the book you’re reading! Is it good? Meh? Amazing? 💭 let’s chat! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

happy Sunday! 📖✨ Super enjoying this vacation reading time and the change in scenery. Leaving the city makes returning to the city so much better!
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PS please enjoy Murat’s surprise appearances in today’s #thespinesreads 👀😂 Currently reading: ALMOST FRENCH // Sarah Turnbull
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💭 What are you all reading this weekend?💭👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

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the spines I megan r. prokott

Big Little Lies still has the best music intertwined with the most cinematic moments
about a month ago
the spines I megan r. prokott

wow what a rollercoaster of a thread 👀 https://t.co/X6Q2dMuxBw
about a month ago
the spines I megan r. prokott

unpopular opinions are nearly always just pretty popular opinions dipped in a conspiratorial tone
about a month ago
the spines I megan r. prokott

hello, here are some thrillers you should actually read! They’ve been vetted and approved for gasps and betrayals.… https://t.co/AvGzWOVHCT
about a month ago
the spines I megan r. prokott

Being in a relationship is like 40% bringing the other person water
about a month ago