When I checked in with you three weeks ago, I reported that it was blueberry season in my area. We've moved on from blueberries and now we're in hurricane season. Substantially less delicious and more complex when it comes to baking applications. We're currently getting the wet, boggy tail end of Fred and bracing for direct landfall of Henri. He sounds like a jocular fellow who likes his cheeses soft and his liquors hard. Hopefully he doesn't overstay his welcome.

I did make a whole bunch of zucchini bread this month. When I say “a whole bunch," I'm talking about six full loaves. That's what happens when your neighbor sends over three forearm-sized zucchini. Here's the recipe I used (I didn't have any nutmeg so I went with pumpkin pie spice instead) and I loved how these turned out. Some thirteen-odd years ago I had a life-altering slice of zucchini bread and while this recent batch was very solid, I'm still tinkering with how to reach a more pound cake-like consistency. Depending on how aggressively Henri blows through local gardens this weekend, I might be waiting until next summer to tweak the recipe again.

In news that is neither hurricane- nor gourd-centric, members of my private reader group voted on their all-time favorite reads from me this week and I wanted to make sure you also had a chance to get in on the action, even if you're not in the group. You can vote here!

We're in the final weeks of summer vacation and shopping for school supplies and new shoes (kids just don't stop growing, do they?!?), and as much as I'd like to have a great announcement about Sebastian Stremmel and The Worst Guy , I've prioritized beach days and family hikes and ice cream dates this month. I trust you'll hang with me a few more weeks :)

In the meantime, my friend Mae Wood recently released Wildflower , a later-in-life romance featuring a silver fox single dad and lady beer maker (is it brew mistress? must explore) reconnecting in a small Vermont town after decades apart. I hear the audio is especially wonderful. 

Stay well, my friend.

xo kate

There were probably some typos in there. Maybe even a wrong link. It's okay. They're like summer sun showers. It's not clear how they happen but they make us stop, look around, and say, “Huh. That doesn't happen every day.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:


Now in audio: The Belle and the Beard 
New projects: Sebastian Stremmel's book
WhisperSync audio bargain: Before Girl, narrated by the amazing Jason Clarke and Virginia Rose
New narrator alert--rerecorded with Tim Paige: The Magnolia Chronicles 
Recent recommendations: I stepped away from hist-rom for a contemporary breather and stumbled onto the Well Met series by Jen DeLuca after it was recommended as a cozy, low stress read that won't wreck your emotional machinery in the Heaving Bosoms Facebook group a few weeks ago. These books are exactly that. Cozy. Low stress. Romantic and satisfying though less steamy than books I often recommend.