Hi friends,

Hope you all had a fav weekend. It was a double book club weekend for me. First, I met with my normal group to discuss Mia Sosa’s When Javi Dumped Mari (made me laugh!), and then I chatted with my cousin about The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (made me cry!).

And, now, what to read if …

You’re Psyched for “The Life of the Showgirl”

Heartbreak is the National Anthem by Rob Sheffield

Taylor Swift announced her 12^th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl” will be out later this year during an appearance on the New Heights podcast, co-hosted by her boyfriend/three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce, last week. (Sidebar: That sentence sounds like something out of a novel.) The pop star’s legion of fans immediately began celebrating the only way they know how: Examining Swift’s entire canon for hints that she was planning this all along.

If you’re a fan of Taylor Swift — the singer-songwriter or the mastermind — or are curious about the cult of personality surrounding her, you’ll want to pick up Rob Sheffield’s Heartbreak is the National Anthem.

Sheffield, a Rolling Stone journalist and self-proclaimed Swiftie, chronicles the singer’s rise, from dropping of demos in Nashville to her Eras tour heyday. Sheffield is a fan and gives Swift her due as a songwriter and image guru, but is also clear-eyed about the singer’s flaws. It’s that tension that makes Swift such an interesting figure — and Heart Break is the National Anthem an interesting read.

I’m a casual Swift fan. I have a favorite album (Red, obviously) but, mostly, I find her obsessive fans fascinating. Sheffield’s book worked for me, and I’ve heard the same thing from Swift haters, diehard fans and people in between.

You Have a ‘Spelling Bee’ Routine

The Note by Alafair Burke

My mom (hi mom!) begins most days by hitting the highest level — genius — in the New York Times Spelling Bee, a game that has players search for words in letters arranged in a honeycomb structure. (I do the Spelling Bee daily too but it often takes me a few days to hit Genius on a given puzzle). My mom shares this hobby with the three main characters of Alafair Burke’s The Note, who have a running text thread dedicated to finding every word in the puzzle.

The three women — May,