August 24th is National Waffle Day and our inner Leslie Knope is shouting for us to celebrate this holiday every day – or at least ten times a year, to coincide with our ten favorite waffle moments on Parks and Recreation. This year, we’re celebrating this silly holiday with our entire selves, by pairing some of our favorite books with some of our favorite waffles. Grab a napkin; things might get sticky.
This past Sunday was National Roller Coaster Day (whee!!), and we have literary roller coasters on the brain. We love books that send us on a journey, digging into our emotions and taking us through the protagonist’s ups and downs in a way that feels like we’ve been dropped right into their life, their body. It’s a beautiful and exhausting experience – and by the end it’s hard to imagine any other book will measure up. To celebrate this silly and momentous holiday, here are some of our favorite books that send readers on emotional roller coasters. Just remember: if you must scream, scream inside your heart.
[Photo by Martin Lopez from Pexels]
Happy 35th birthday to Anna Kendrick – a voracious reader, dedicated tweeter, and published author. Are we missing something? We’re kidding, of course. Because who could forget that she’s a delightful actor and wonderful person to boot. It’s hard not to love her! With production schedules on hold and the future of film and television uncertain, we thought we’d have a little fun and pitch Anna on a few yet-to-be-announced film adaptations that we know she’d be wonderful in. Let’s dive in!
[Image by David Mark from Pixabay]
If the phrase “it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” conjures up images of cardigans and trollies to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, then you’re going to love our two newest board books: It’s You I Like and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Both of these gorgeous books feature the lyrics (and the warm neighborly welcome) of Fred Rogers, with beautiful illustrations by Luke Flowers. We recommend them for the littlest readers in your life – or for your millennial friends and family who could use a visit from Mister Rogers right about now.
One thing we love about Mister Rogers is the way he welcomed us into both his home in Pittsburgh and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe in equal measure. He treated us like guests in his world, and we’ll never stop thanking him for that. And what better way to welcome these Mister Rogers books into the world than by exploring some of our favorite neighborhoods in pop culture!
[Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels]
Let’s face it: our friends are the best thing in our lives right now. They’re the best thing in our lives always, but with all the distractions of commuting and commerce and “normalcy” (whatever that means, right?) pushed to the side over these past few months, our friends have remained a constant – like the co-protagonists of our lives that they are. Today we’re celebrating unlikely friendships in literature and pop culture. Because all of our truly favorite people IRL started out as our own unlikely companions.
