Dear Reader,
Lately, I’ve found myself in a predicament that’s both thrilling and slightly chaotic: I’ve never had this many books that I want to read, and that I’m actively in the middle of, all at once. It’s as if every time I pick one up, another calls to me from the stack. Honest to goodness, I don’t remember a time when my shelves felt like such an abundance of possibility—and I love that I have a book for just about every mood. The Japanese have a unique word for this exact predicament: tsundoku.
Tsundoku: the practice of acquiring books and letting them pile up unread.
While I’m happily in-the-middle-of many titles, these two books were so captivating that I raced right through them:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: This gorgeous epistolary novel reflects on the life of a 70-year-old woman—her regrets, her resilience, and her openness to change even late in life. Evans writes with such wisdom about human nature and the power of connection. I immediately finished it and so has everyone I’ve handed it to! It’s definitely a must-read.
Heart the Lover by Lily King: Lily King’s new novel is a clever, haunting exploration of decisions—both small and large—and how their consequences ripple through a lifetime. The narrator revisits a secret from her college years, and the result is a story that lingers long after the last page.
In November, Netflix will release Guillermo del Toro’s version of Frankenstein. I’ve always considered Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein one of the best books I’ve ever read—and not at all what pop culture makes you think. If you haven’t read it, I urge you to do so before seeing the film.
Author and psychotherapist Julia Samuel (whose Grief Works was a favorite podcast conversation of mine) recently shared on her Instagram profile that reading just ten pages a day can change your brain. She writes:
Reading isn’t just entertainment — it sharpens focus, deepens empathy, lowers stress, and even strengthens memory. The ideas you read stay with you long after you’ve put the book down.
And yet, nearly half of adults in the U.K. didn’t read a book last year. We’re distracted, our phones ping endlessly, and maybe (just maybe) AI has something to do with it? Are we outsourcing our attention, our imagination, even our inner stillness?
The good news: you don’t need hours. Ten pages a day is enough to step out of the noise and into another world — one that helps you return to yourself.
I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, the U.S. reading statistic is similar — 46% of Americans did not read a single book in 2023. Reading just ten pages each day is a doable commitment, even in a world where distractions pull us in every direction.
If you need additional recommendations for a book that you just can’t put down, our Just the Right Book! booksellers are ready to help!
Happy reading,
Roxanne J. Coady
Founder
RJ Julia Booksellers & Just the Right Book!
Click here to learn more about Roxanne’s Reads by Just the Right Book!
For over a decade, readers have loved our personalized subscription service, choosing books for themselves or gifting them to loved ones. Now, by popular demand, founder Roxanne Coady is curating her own subscription—handpicking the unforgettable reads that rearrange her brain and linger long after the last page. The subscription is a mix of new hardcovers that she’s loving and paperback editions of some of her all-time favorite books.