happy first sunday of 2024! I’ve been back in the city since my early return flight on New Year’s Day and have been relishing in time back in my studio cooking, reading, moving my body, and managing the dreaded “circle back” onslaught with as much optimism as one can. to stay centered, one of my favorite grounding practices remains The Class – I’ve gone to three sessions in-person since being back and will go twice more before my flight to London on saturday, so I guess it’s safe to say I can’t get enough of it; as a reminder, you can stream The Class at home if you’re keen! I bring it up here because I want to dive into one of the messages that my favorite instructor, Sophia, kicked off our January 1st class with: we’re entering a leap year.
this year, we have 366 days at our fingertips. well, I suppose 360, including today. for centuries, leap years have been said to create a vibrational impact or an energy portal that allow us to make a LEAP in our lives — to move forward. I love this concept and will carry its essence with me all year long. the notion ties in perfectly with my word of the year: metamorphosis. for me, 2024 is all about evolution and growth. it’s not about doing the same things I did in 2023 because they are comfortable or the path of least resistance — it’s about finding how I can stretch and challenge myself to see change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
before we jump into a fun bookish Q&A, I wanted to revert back to our old friend, the R.E.P.O.R.T. – what I spent my week reading, eating, playing, obsessing over, recommending, and treating!
“R” is for reading
as always, I started the New Year by re-reading BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR; I learned this hack to starting the january with a fresh perspective from
(recent sunday series guest!) years ago while listening to her podcast, Bad on Paper, and implemented it myself three years ago. I can confidently say I took new things away from the book on my re-listen at the top of the year and highly recommend it for anyone looking to tap into their creativitythis week, I also finished TWICE IN A BLUE MOON by Christina Lauren, and MY BODY by Emily Ratajkowski. my reviews for both are on my Goodreads account!
I started WHISKEY IN A TEACUP by Reese Witherspoon which has been on my bookshelf for ages, and our January West Village Book Club pick, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr
“E” is for eating
is it super boring to say…oatmeal? I’ve loved oatmeal since I was a kid, but here’s how I make it nowadays to make it feel even more decadent: I simmer almond milk, a chopped-up honeycrisp apple, vanilla extract, raisins, and, of course, whole oats! then, once it’s cooked through, I top it with Siggi’s vanilla yogurt, Justin’s maple almond butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, and, depending on what I have in the kitchen, hemp hearts for extra protein or granola with pumpkin seeds for extra crunch! today, it was the latter (pictured below) in bed with a book.
“P” is for playing
speaking of
(author of BIG MAGIC and more!), I’ve been loving her “Letters from Love” Substack series (which also drops every sunday) and especially enjoyed the latest podcast episodes of We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle; check out part one and part two where Abby and Glennon read their “Letters from Love”just played Dolly Alderton’s episode on The Hatchards Podcast, which was such a fun exploration of how she drew inspiration from Nora Ephron’s ability to beautifully write men for her latest, GOOD MATERIAL (mentioned below by my guest today, Maddie). I can’t wait to pick up the UK edition at Daunt Books next week!
“O” is for obsessing over
this TikTok by
about “feeling the winter of it all.” are you acting like summer when it’s winter? I posted this TT to my IG and received so many messages that it resonated! couldn’t agree more with Ally and can’t stop thinking about how important this shift is to sit in stillness and rest“let them” theory: have been talking about this with friends and WOW what an unlock. the below episode by Mel Robbins helps break it down in a succinct and digestible format. if you’re seeking control and peace, two words: LET THEM!
“R” is for recommending
SALTBURN!!! I mean, I know I’m a couple of weeks late on this, but I watched it on friday and truly cannot stop thinking about it. I’ve linked the sensational soundtrack below which is what I’m listening to as I write today’s sunday series! I’ll never be able to hear “Murder on the Dancefloor” and not think of THAT FINAL SCENE…
“T” is for treating
I treated myself to an upgrade from my usual eyebrow threading regime with an appointment to get my brows done by Sania’s Brow Bar and absolutely loved the results. funny enough, I was talking to my friend Jenna about the experience while waiting for The Class yesterday and a woman overheard, chiming in to tell me Sania is the only woman who has touched her brows for nearly twenty years. what a ringing endorsement! highly recommend it if you’re in the city – she’s on W20th and 6th
meet Maddie McGee
with so many bookstagrams out there, it can be overwhelming to find an account that truly resonates with your tastes. when I came across Maddie’s account, @whatmaddieread this past year, I was so intrigued by her eye for visuals combined with her stellar recs. she’s easily one of my favorite follows, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to kick off the 2024 sunday series features section with a Q&A with her!
Kayla Douglas: Maddie, tell us a bit more about your origin story and how you wound up as a content creator in the book world.
Maddie McGee: I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I would bring plastic bins full of books everywhere we went, much to my parents’ chagrin because they would inevitably end up carrying them! I first stumbled upon bookish Instagram accounts in college, but my reading habits had dwindled significantly while I was in school, so I held off on creating my own. After I graduated in 2019, I felt a little lost career-wise but was reading A TON, so I decided to finally take the plunge and start my Instagram in hopes of using it to help get a job in publishing or marketing.
If anyone reading this has even a sliver of interest in creating a book account, this is your sign to go for it! It’s opened so many doors for me – I used my account as part of my grad school application and have gotten jobs and internships by adding it to my resume!
KD: Your book graphics are absolutely stunning. What does your creative process for creating them look like?
Maddie: When I started What Maddie Read, I wanted something that would help my photos stand out because I’m not a great photographer, which I realize sounds completely counterintuitive for creating a Bookstagram. I had seen lots of people sharing tutorials on how to add little flourishes to their photos on TikTok and decided to try some of their techniques on my book content.
About a year into my account, I got an iPad and Apple Pencil combo, and I started handwriting on my photos to create my “doodle review” style. It’s definitely time-consuming but I genuinely have so much fun doing it! My most-used apps are A Design Kit, where most of my stars, scraps of paper, paint strokes, etc., come from, and Procreate, which I use to create all of the handwritten elements.
KD: With so many new books being released, how do you decide what to read next?
Maddie: It’s a delicate balance for sure! I try to prioritize new releases because, from an algorithm standpoint, posts about buzzy new books will always do better than posts featuring backlist titles. I don’t want my entire reading life to be beholden to Instagram’s ever-changing algorithm, so I usually try to select a seasonal title or two each month (think romances in February, campus novels in September, family sagas in November ahead of Thanksgiving).
I’m a frequent library user, so a lot of my ebook reading is dictated by when my library holds come in. Every January, I pull a stack of books that have been lingering on my shelf for at least a year and usually pick one or two of them to read each month. I LOVE doing this – several of my top reads of 2023 came from older books I had in this pile!
KD: Speaking of new releases, what are some of your most anticipated releases of 2024?
Maddie: SO many! We’re in for such a treat this year. I shared a list of 170 (!!!) 2024 releases I’m interested in on Instagram, and while I won’t get to all of them, I’m determined to get through a big chunk of the list. Some standouts are COME AND GET IT by Kiley Reid (January 30), A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE by Tia Williams (February 6), FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry (April 23), THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore (June 4), and SAME AS IT EVER WAS by Claire Lombardo (June 18).
I’ve also been lucky enough to read quite a few 2024 books already – I’d highly recommend THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins (a rich people problems, family feud thriller, out January 9th), ONE IN A MILLENNIAL by Kate Kennedy (a nostalgia-fueled essay collection, out January 23rd), BYE, BABY by Carola Lovering (suspense fiction about a fractured friendship, out March 5th), and EXPIRATION DATES by Rebecca Serle (a love story with a dash of magical realism, also out March 5th)
KD: You're headed to a desert island–which five books are you bringing with you?
Maddie: Selfishly, I’d love to bring my fully-stocked, fully-charged Kindle because narrowing down five was tricky! I think I’d lean on my tried and true faves because the only thing worse than being stuck on a deserted island would be being stuck on a deserted island with a stack of bad books.
I’d 100% have to bring a copy of PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld. It’s a campus novel that I’ve reread every September since I was thirteen, and it is my favorite book of all time! I would probably also bring along 11/22/63 by Stephen King (it’s over 1,000 pages and is a total genre-bender so it would help me pass the time), FROM THE CORNER OF THE OVAL by Beck Dorey-Stein (a memoir that makes me laugh and cry), THESE PRECIOUS DAYS by Ann Patchett (my #1 rec for a feel-good essay collection), and FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES by Min Jin Lee (lit fic that I’ve been meaning to reread!).
KD: Tell us about the most recent work of fiction that left you with a book hangover.
Maddie: The dreaded book hangover! I’m not sure about the most recent book hangover, but the most memorable one from this year was after I finished FOSTER DADE EXPLORES THE COSMOS by Nash Jenkins back in June.
It’s a campus novel, which is very much my thing; it’s over 500 pages and very wordy, which, if I’m in the mood, is also very much my thing. It’s painfully nostalgic about what it was like to be in high school – it even has playlists full of music from 2009, when the book was set. It was borderline impossible to motivate myself to pick anything else up for nearly a week after finishing it. It's not a book for everyone, but if you’re into thought-provoking campus novels that skew rather literary, then it’s a must.
KD: Do you set reading goals at the outset of the year? If so, how do you decide what your target is and where do you track your reading?
Maddie: I set a pretty vague and loose goal at the beginning of the year, and it’s almost always 100 or 150 books. I typically hit 100 by June and 150 by September, and don’t really pay much mind to it after that. I have a Storygraph account (feel free to follow me @whatmaddieread), but I don’t keep it super up-to-date. Instead, I’m pretty old-school and keep track of what I read in a note on my phone because I live and die by my Notes app. I’m pretty sure I write 5-10 notes in there a day, whether it’s an Instagram caption, a to-do list, something I want to read/watch, or a random musing.
I also set some more concrete goals that vary each year. Some of my goals for 2024 are to finally dive into the world of Sarah J. Maas after tentatively becoming a fantasy reader thanks to FOURTH WING and to have 30% of my reading be nonfiction.
KD: What book is on your TBR pile that you're most excited to pick up next?
Maddie: I have an advanced copy of GOOD MATERIAL by Dolly Alderton that I’ve been trying to save, but my willpower is dwindling. Her novel GHOSTS is a personal favorite, and I’m excited to read her take on the male POV in this breakup book. It’s officially out on January 30th, but I’ll likely pick it up before then!
KD: The Sunday Series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you in your neighborhood on Sunday, where would you take us to spend the afternoon?
Maddie: I live in the East Village, so we’d have to start the day with a late brunch at Mud – their Mudman sandwich is to die for. We’ll grab our laptops and head to either Book Club Bar or P&T Knitwear on the Lower East Side for a coffee and a book browsing/writing combo, because I have big writing goals for 2024! Bibi Wine Bar has one of my favorite happy hours in the city, so we’ll wrap up the day with a glass of rosé, a cheese board, and their patatas bravas. I’m a firm believer that every good day must end with a sweet treat – I’m obsessed with the cookies and cream pudding from Baonanas, which I usually buy from 7th Street Burger!
KD: Where can we keep up with what you're reading next?
Maddie: I post everything I’m reading in real time over on Instagram @whatmaddieread! My newsletter,
is also making its triumphant return on January 8th after a long hiatus (and a move to Substack!). We’ll chat about everything from books to pop culture to navigating life in NYC, and I can’t wait! Her return has been in the works for a while, and I’m excited to get back into sharing longform content.
Loved the thought about leap year about leaping into a new version of yourself!
I haven't seen Saltburn yet, but now I have to. Have a great UK trip, looking forward to reading about it :)