The perfect reading month

3 great reads

I’ve written a lot about how I love to take my creative life and reading life a month at a time. One month gives me the right amount of time to explore a new project or read books on a similar theme without feeling either too rushed or too locked into a schedule.

This featured episode of my book podcast, Reading Like an Adult, is all about reading themes I’ve explored month by month. If you love getting into a reading zone and staying there a while, this episode is for you. (You can find it on Podbean or Apple Podcasts.)

Here are three great reads that made up a theme I called “southern ladies.” For more reading theme ideas, you can listen to the full episode.

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw — This spare, haunting, tender short story collection is perfect for fans of Brit Bennett and/or anyone who loves the classic short stories of Alice Munro.

Southern Lady Code: Essays by Helen Ellis — Women writing funny, raw, poignant essays about life is one of my comfort genres. Note: If you’ve already read this one, Ellis’s new collection, Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light, is also delightful.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix — I really enjoyed the balance between characters and plot in this very weird horror novel. There’s enough setup for you to care about the characters and be lulled into the soft southern setting of a small town where everyone knows everyone else, but the pacing picks up quickly and puts you on a thrill ride that you don’t want to put down until the end.