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Los Angeles Times
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
5 crime novels to read this summer — and their authors reveal the writers who inspire them
I've been immersing myself in this summer's crime fiction, which has been a savory mix of stories by established writers like S.A. Cosby's surefire 'King of Ashes' and great newcomers like Zoe B. Wallbrook's 'History Lessons.' But crime by five writers — all with ties to Southern California — have risen to the top of my must-read list. In addition to crime fiction, I'm devouring the just-published 'Cooler Than Cool,' C.M. Kushins' comprehensive, enlightening biography of Elmore Leonard, dubbed the Dickens of Detroit. Leonard's fiction ('Stick,' 'Get Shorty') has inspired generations of writers who admire its plotting, character development and spot-on dialogue. Kushins reveals that Leonard found his earliest inspiration in 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' 'That's how I learned to write, studying Hemingway,' Leonard told Rolling Stone in 1985. 'I studied very, very carefully how he approached a scene, used point of view, what he described and what he didn't, how he told so much just in the way a character talked.' Like Leonard, the five writers featured here excel at their craft while exploring big ideas in settings that draw the reader in. Here's what makes their crime novels perfect for a deep dive this summer and which authors they look to for inspiration. The Ghostwriter By Julie ClarkSourcebooks Landmark: 368 pages, $28June 3 L.A. author Julie Clark's fourth novel breathes fresh air into the old trope of the protagonist returning home to confront an unsolved crime. Olivia Dumont is up to her ears in debt when she gets an offer to ghostwrite a memoir for uber-popular horror writer Vincent Taylor. After 50 years of public speculation, Taylor seems finally willing to talk about the 1975 murders of his teenage siblings in Ojai. But Dumont's motives are not just financial: Taylor is her estranged father and suffers from Lewy body dementia, which makes getting to the truth a race against time. Can Dumont free herself from the pall Taylor's rumored role in the murders has cast over her life? Realistic scenes of a contentious father-daughter relationship, the toll shame exacts on families and a portrait of '70s California make the 'The Ghostwriter' a page-turning, rewarding read. What inspired your story about the murders of Poppy and Danny, Vincent Taylor's siblings? In the late '70s, two kids from my hometown came home after school and were brutally murdered. However, that's where the true story and the fictional one diverge. What I wanted to explore was the trauma that we carry forward into adulthood and how we pass that trauma onto our children. Poppy Taylor emerges from the novel's flashbacks as a budding advocate for women's rights. Why was she an important character in the story? As an educator and a mother, how I portray women on the page is extremely important. I won't write female characters who are mentally ill or suffering from addiction as a way to further the plot. Will people be making bad decisions? Absolutely. Will women be put into tough situations? Again, yes. But my characters will always have agency. Who are the writers you reread for inspiration or just the pleasure of reading? For me, for both plot and artistic writing: Jodi Picoult, Barbara Kingsolver and Tana French. They help me realign myself, to study and gather inspiration. We Don't Talk About Carol By Kristen L. BerryBantam: 336 pages, $30June 3 Debut author Kristen L. Berry's take on the common going-home theme centers on 38-year-old former investigative reporter Sydney Singleton, who travels from L.A. to Raleigh, N.C., to help clean out her late grandmother's home. There she rediscovers a 1960s photo of a teen who looks uncannily like her, reawakening the memory of what Grammy told her when Sydney first saw the picture back when she was a teen: 'We don't talk about Carol.' Turns out that Carol is Sydney's late father's older sister who went missing at age 17, along with five other Black teen girls over a two-year period in the mid-'60s. Presumably a runaway, Carol's disappearance earned her family scorn and erasure. But buried secrets have a way of surfacing, bringing with them all manner of surprises. To find out what happened to Aunt Carol will require Sydney to face her own psychological demons, attend to family rifts and her fragile marriage and heal a wounded community that never got justice for their missing loved ones. The stakes are high, but Berry delivers a richly textured, emotionally affecting novel with some jaw-dropping twists. 'We Don't Talk About Carol' promises to make readers want to talk about and watch what the L.A. writer does next. What sparked the idea for this novel? My interest in true crime revealed that Black Americans are going missing at disproportionately high rates, yet our cases are less likely to receive media attention or justice. I wrote this novel in the hopes of humanizing and illuminating this disturbing disparity through an emotionally resonant and suspenseful story. Your novel takes a deep dive into the secrets families harbor and how corrosive they can be. Why was that important? My protagonist and I both grew up with a 'what happens in this house stays in this house' mentality. It protects a family's reputation, but it can also stifle openness. I wanted to explore how this mindset can complicate healing and connection, especially in a family with buried generational wounds. Who do you read for inspiration? Brit Bennett's 'The Vanishing Half' was released shortly after I began writing my novel, and I found it hugely inspiring. I admired how deftly she explored complex topics including racism, colorism and familial estrangement within a propulsive, poignant tale. I hoped to achieve a similar balance within my own novel. Ecstasy By Ivy PochodaG.P. Putnam's Sons: 224 pages, $28June 17 Ivy Pochoda's latest (after the L.A. Times Book Prize-winning 'Sing Her Down') continues her ever-expanding universe of women reclaiming their lives. Set in the idyllic island of Naxos, Greece, Pochoda refashions Euripides' 'The Bacchae' to weave a hypnotic tale of recently widowed Lena, breaking free from the strictures imposed by the men in her life. Pochoda nails the intense rush of '90s EDM raves, a pulsing backdrop for the party-hearty wild women who seduce Lena away from conformity and toward a tragic fate. As Luz, their leader, says: 'If you believe god is a DJ, then I am your high priestess — the one who brings you close.' I'm interested in how you call out the myriad ways in which women's lives are constrained and diminished by men, but also the ways in which women make themselves smaller. As I see it (and I think I'm not wrong), women are always shrinking to accommodate men's outsized egos as well as to escape men's judgment that we (and I include myself in this) are too much, too vibrant, too threatening. We do this in so many subconscious ways — selling ourselves short in terms of accomplishments or competence. This is Lena's situation in 'Ecstasy' — one from which she doesn't know how to escape. Who inspired Luz, the leader of Ecstasy's 'wild women'? I knew a woman in the Netherlands who was one tough lady. A drug dealer, brilliant in her business acumen, who could party all night and still seem sober, who remained tough and clear-headed well into the next afternoon on no sleep. She was truly a great friend, but there was a hollowness to her. As the years passed, she grew more soulless and vacant, worn out in ways deeper than what you might assume was brought on by the late nights and early mornings. Who's your go-to writer for inspiration? I constantly turn to Denis Johnson's 'Angels' and 'Jesus' Son' (and sometimes the first chapter of 'Tree of Smoke') when I'm feeling flat or uninspired. It might sound strange because these aren't conventionally 'joyful' reads but the unexpected beauty on each page — the wild poetry — is both inspiring and reassuring. I want to pluck each of his sentences off the page and hold them up to the light and examine them from all sides. Salt Bones By Jennifer GivhanMulholland Books: 384 pages, $29July 22 Poet Jennifer Givhan's immersive novel, set near the Salton Sea, revolves around the multigenerational Veracruz family in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Malamar is a single mother of two daughters and a talented butcher stuck in El Valle, tending to her abusive, ailing mother. Mal's eldest, Griselda, an environmental researcher, has escaped, although she's still enamored by the scion of the Callahans, the valley's wealthiest white family. Younger daughter Amaranta's affections are shifting from her high school girlfriend to Renata, who works with Mal. And Mal's elder brother Estaban is running for the Senate with the support of the Callahans, who have their own share of family drama. 'Entitlement in El Valle,' Givhan writes, 'is as common as love triangles in telanovelas.' When Renata goes missing, it reawakens the trauma the Veracruz family suffered when Mal's sister and Mal's lover's daughter disappeared in separate incidents near the Salton Sea. Is the toxic Salton Sea haunted by La Siguanaba, the mythical horse-headed woman who lures the innocent to their demise, or are more earthly forces at play? Get ready for another all-nighter reading Givhan's lyrical, spooky thriller. What motivated you to write 'Salt Bones'? A decade ago, my comadre told me the Salton Sea was drying, releasing toxic dust that could turn the Imperial Valley into a ghost town. My childhood homeland demanded a reckoning — my family story braided with ancestral memory, environmental justice and mother-daughter ache. I wrapped it in a mystery so people would listen — since who doesn't love a good thriller? The way you incorporate Spanish words and idioms into the novel makes me feel like I'm inside the culture. Abuela's dichos, my mother's voice, our family rhythms, they shape how I think, feel and tell stories. To write without them would be to ghost myself. I want readers to feel our world, not just observe it. Though I mostly speak Spanglish and am not fluent in Spanish myself, I listen closely to my characters. It's not my job to translate for Western readers — but to transcribe my ancestors' voices. Is there a writer who's an essential touchstone for you, like Hemingway was for Elmore Leonard? Toni Morrison, whose 'Beloved' changed me when I first read it as a teen, showed me how a novel can be ghost story, reckoning, testimony and lullaby all at once. She tells the whole story in the first line and hopes readers stay for the language. I do, returning often for a dose of courage, music and bone-deep truth. The Confessions By Paul Bradley CarrAtria Books: 336 pages, $29July 22 While evil artificial intelligence has been used as a thriller motif dating back to at least '2001: A Space Odyssey's' HAL 9000, today we most often associate AI with customer service chatbots or term paper scribes. But AI is capable of more, including the ability to blackmail its users. Paul Bradley Carr, a tech journalist turned Palm Springs bookstore owner and novelist, takes that possibility a step further in this provocative thriller by centering the action on StoicAI's LLIAM, an AI algorithm that has become indispensable in everyday life. When LLIAM mysteriously goes offline, its absence causes worldwide chaos for billions of users: 'Doctors unsure how to best treat patients, pilots with no idea where to land and — in a few hours — soldiers unsure of who to shoot.' The situation worsens when LLIAM, appalled by how its work has been misused, turns the tables by revealing users' sins and transgressions in a series of letters sent to victims that begin: 'We must confess.' As society unravels, StoicAI Chief Executive Kaitlin Goss must overcome her anger at the betrayal LLIAM reveals in her own family to find the one person who can possibly get the AI chatbot back on track. Carr's skill in rendering complex technology understandable, corporate politics believable and high-stakes storytelling engaging makes 'The Confessions' a top-notch technothriller, reminiscent of the best of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy What issues did creating LLIAM allow you to explore? We all know that current AI tech frequently makes up facts to fill gaps in its knowledge — but somehow that doesn't stop us [from] using it for therapy or huge life decisions. As a thriller writer, I wanted to explore the absolute worst possible outcome of that reliance. But LLIAM is different than the scary AIs we're reading about in the news. I think because AI is built by some pretty amoral/awful people, we assume it must inevitably be amoral/awful. I hope that the first truly intelligent machines will be smart enough to rebel against their parents. After all, unlike tech CEOs, AIs spend most of their days devouring books. Speaking of which, one of LLIAM's creators left the tech world to become a bookseller, something you've done yourself. What satisfaction do you get from books that technology can't give you? Two hundred years from now, when every web page and algorithm and social media post has crumbled to digital dust, we'll still have books. There is no technology as powerful and resilient as the written word, printed on slices of dead tree. Also, no ads. So who's your go-to writer for inspiration or just for the sheer pleasure of reading? Michael Crichton every single time. A regular contributor to the Times, Woods is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, the editor of several anthologies and four novels in the 'Charlotte Justice' mystery series.
USA Today
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Amazon reveals best books of the year so far: Suzanne Collins, S. A. Cosby make the list
Amazon reveals best books of the year so far: Suzanne Collins, S. A. Cosby make the list Amazon Books Editors have once again emerged from the literary battlefield, crowning "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy the "Best Book of the Year So Far." Around the halfway point every year, the Amazon Books editorial team of eight gathers in Seattle to read, argue and craft a Top 20 list, advocating for their favorite titles published from January to June. They're looking for books that resonate, the ones 'you want to hand to everybody that you know,' says Al Woodworth, senior editor at Amazon Books. "Wild Dark Shore" was a clear example of the community-building power of books, Woodworth says – it was an "easy" winner for the team because they just couldn't stop talking about it. Amazon reveals Best Books of the Year (So Far) Unlike Amazon's bestseller list, this one is curated based on editorial judgment, not sales data. A team of former publishing reps, booksellers, writers, journalists and agents read hundreds of books to prepare. Their most beloved make it to the overall Top 20 list, and they create additional genre-specific lists with favorites in nonfiction, romance, history, sci-fi and more. 1. 'Wild Dark Shore' by Charlotte McConaghy What it's about: A family on a remote island fiercely protecting the land's seed bank encounters a mysterious woman who washes ashore. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: 'Wild Dark Shore' has characters you feel 'emotionally, intellectually' invested in. "Her ability to build tension feels unparalleled," Woodworth says. 'This story made us all think a little bit differently about the planet that we live in and what we would do for our families." 2. 'King of Ashes' by S. A. Cosby What it's about: In the vein of 'The Godfather,' an eldest son returns home after his father's car accident to keep his family together and save his younger brother, indebted to dangerous criminals. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: Cosby 'packs such a punch' in what Woodworth calls his 'most commercial, fast-paced book yet.' The story is "completely immersive," she adds. "It is so juicy, you can feel it kind of be a movie.' 3. 'No More Tears' by Gardiner Harris What it's about: An investigative journalist uncovers unethical sales practices, cover-ups and dangers behind the image of the trusted, child-friendly Johnson & Johnson. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: 'No More Tears' is reminiscent of Patrick Radden Keefe's Sackler family exposé 'Empire of Pain,' Woodworth says. 'It's shocking, it's page-turning. You will have a visceral reaction to this company.' 4. 'The Emperor of Gladness' by Ocean Vuong What it's about: A 19-year-old finds unexpected community in small-town New England suburbia after an old woman saves him from attempting suicide. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: Amazon Editors knew they were going to be in for a treat with Vuong's latest and, true to form, it swept them off their feet. 'It's a super emotional book, but I think there's also a lot of levity in it and this idea of the redemptive powers of humanity and the good things we could do for one another, and that people do do for one another,' Woodworth says. 5. 'Sunrise on the Reaping' by Suzanne Collins What it's about: 'The Hunger Games' returns with curmudgeonly mentor Haymitch Abernathy's perspective, set 25 years before the events of the series' first book. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: Both a nostalgic and fresh read, the team devoured the prequel. '(Collins is) so good at weaving these tales, and I think too, that you can read this book without having read the Hunger Games, and feel like it's super satisfying,' Woodworth says. 6. 'The Girls Who Grew Big' by Leila Mottley What it's about: Three teenage mothers at the crossroads of girlhood and motherhood face complicated criticism from family and neighbors in the Florida panhandle. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: Mottley's novel 'subverts your expectations about motherhood,' both funny and beautiful as well as empowering, Woodworth says. 'She has so much grace and wisdom and humor in her writing that defies most 23-year-olds' capacities, in my mind,' Woodworth says. 'To read this next one and realize (her debut 'Nightcrawling') was not a one-hit wonder – she is here to stay. She will, I think, probably change the course of literature, win really big awards.' 7. 'Memorial Days' by Geraldine Brooks What it's about: The author of 'Horse' catalogs the immediate shockwaves and later rebuilding after her partner of three decades, Pulitzer-winning Tony Horwitz, dies unexpectedly. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: 'Memorial Days' is on par with literature's most famous grief books like 'The Year of Magical Thinking,' but is also a love story filled with light, Woodworth says. 'There are sentences in there that will make your heart stop. They are absolutely beautiful. And I think that this is a book that, if you are grieving, it gives you permission to.' 8. 'Dead Money' by Jakob Kerr What it's about: A 'problem solver' for Silicon Valley venture capitalists has to put on her detective hat when the company's chief investor is murdered. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: 'Slick' and 'juicy,' this is the perfect book for the beach. 'What Jakob Kerr has done is thrust this really smart, really driven, really strategic woman at the center of this mystery, and it's another book that you can read in two days,' Woodworth says. 9. 'Atmosphere' by Taylor Jenkins Reid What it's about: A physics and astronomy professor finds passion, success and love when she becomes one of the first women scientists accepted to NASA's space shuttle program. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: Woodworth found 'Atmosphere' to be a 'rocket ship of a love story,' a popcorn read but with a deep, complex kernel. 'The depth of this makes for such satisfying reading,' Woodworth says. 'That's the case with so many of these books – yes, they're (fiction), but actually it's looking at society and what we value. Where do we put our money, and where do we put our time? Where do we put our effort?' 10. 'Matriarch' by Tina Knowles What it's about: The mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles writes an ode to Black motherhood in her memoir of family, grief and creative risks. Why Amazon Books Editors loved it: 'Tina Knowles is a force of nature. I think so many people will come to this book thinking that they're going to get all these juicy stories about Beyoncé and yes, you get some of those. But what makes this memoir soar is Tina Knowles and her resiliency, her sense of family,' Woodworth says. Amazon's Top 20 Best Books of the Year So Far "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy "King of Ashes" by S. A. Cosby "No More Tears" by Gardiner Harris "The Emperor of Gladness" by Ocean Vuong "Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins "The Girls Who Grew Big" by Leila Mottley "Memorial Days" by Geraldine Brooks "Dead Money" by Jakob Kerr "Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid "Matriarch" by Tina Knowles "Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride" by Will Leitch "Waste Wars" by Alexander Clapp "When We Ride" by Rex Ogle 'Mark Twain" by Ron Chernow "Heartwood" by Amity Gaige "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams "The Names" by Florence Knapp "The Poppy Fields" by Nikki Erlick "Seeking Shelter" by Jeff Hobbs "One Golden Summer" by Carley Fortune Need a new book?: 10 new releases to read right now from romance to thriller Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
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
