August Mishmash

AUGUST SUBTITLE (it's all I can come up with!)

Aug 31, 2024

Hi friends :)
I have to admit, I am struggling to get this newsletter together each month. I keep putting it off until the last minute and my heart just isn’t in it as much as it has been previously. I might retire this substack at the end of the year? Tbd.

Food!

The Best Zucchini Bread!! Seems like people are always in need of more zucchini recipes as summer winds down, and this is a great one!!!

Books

You can shop all my recent reads here: https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook (Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

I have 2 non-fiction and 4 fiction books to talk about this month! I listened to audiobooks for all of these except for Real Americans.

Non-fiction:
- Just Kids by Patti Smith - the audiobook read by Patti was wonderful. No good reason why I waited so long to give this one a go. A really lovely memoir about life as an artist and a long and meaningful friendship.
- The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul - a pretty light memoir, fun as you’d expect it to be, and the audiobook read by Ru was great!
Fiction:
- Real Americans by Rachel Khong - a multi generational story told from three distinct points of view. This is my favorite of the bunch.
- It’s All Relative by Rachel Magee - a modern retelling of A Midsummer Nights Dream! A lighthearted rom com set over a wedding weekend.
- The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer - a story of a musical family with a few secrets. Mother-daughter dynamics are the main theme.
- Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne - a fun story with a quirky main character. I was expecting more murder, but I liked it all the same!

TV/Movies

If you like your tv shows strange, unhinged, creepy, a little bit gross, and with some dark humor, definitely check out Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)!
We watched two docuseries about Scott Peterson this month, and while I definitely don’t like the guy, I am still not fully convinced he killed Laci. The Innocence Project has taken on his case and I am curious to see what news may come out related to this case in months to come.
Love is Blind UK - Not as much drama as the US version, but entertaining nonetheless.
We watched Furiosa and it was really fun. Action packed revenge story!
We also watched Dune Part 2, which was pretty cool, but it also sent us on a Dune rabbit hole and we watched Jodorowsky’s Dune (we rented it, it’s not streaming anywhere), which is a documentary about a failed attempt to make Dune in the 1970s, and really interesting! Here’s the trailer.

Projects!

My second quilt pattern, Sightline, is going to be released next month, but I have to share my finished throw size quilt with you! I used fall colors and included some ice-dyed fabrics from Dust and Waves (I wish I used more of them, they look so good!). I haven’t had the chance to take fancy glamour shots of the finished quilt yet, but here’s the finished top! Ah I love it so much.
I am also working on a baby-size Sightline in black and white that will be for sale soon! And maybe another throw size with prints? Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Check out this very cool Foundation Paper Pieced Open Book pattern that I made!!! this pattern comes from Quilts by Keila and was challenging and fun to put together. books + sewing = 💜
I forgot to share the July block last month, so here are July and August blocks from the Sweet Potato Quilts Block of the month club! the August block is particularly cute!!!
July and August blocks!