Welcome to The Weekend Edition, a weekly series where I share a grab-bag of links and reviews for you to peruse. Think of it as a little dose of delight to start your weekend. Enjoy!

Happy Friday. Last week I shared The Chapman Chronicles Annual Reading Awards, which was basically my version of the Oscars but for books! If you missed that post, be sure to check it out. I’m so incredibly proud of it.

Since I had been in designer mode these past few weeks with creating all the designs for the reading awards, I began to look for other areas on my blog that needed some sprucing up. I decided to give a mini makeover to the layout for The Weekend Edition. Check out the fun headers below! I love ‘em so much. I’ve also thought about redesigning the entire theme for this blog. To me, my site’s layout feels a little clunky and uninspiring. It needs more blank space, more dimension, more…something. What are your thoughts?

Okay, on to the recs!

🎥 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry on Netflix – A lot has been going on for A.J. Fikry. His wife has recently died, his bookstore is in trouble, and now his prized rare edition of Edgar Allan Poe poems has been stolen. But, when a mysterious package appears, its arrival gives A.J. Fikry a chance to start his life over and see things anew. With a cast full of recognizable faces: Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory), Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), Christina Hendricks (Good Girls), David Arquette (Scream), and Scott Foley (Felicity), this tear-jerker film is a good one to watch for anyone who loves books, a quirky storyline, and a few surprises along the way.

📚 Love At First by Kate Clayborn – A teenaged Will Sterling saw -or rather, heard– the girl of his dreams as he was standing outside of his uncle’s apartment building. That memory has never faded, though he’s tried to forget many other things from his past. When he unexpectedly inherits his uncle’s apartment years later, he returns to the address with the intention of selling the space. Instead, he encounters a woman two balconies above whose voice is uncannily familiar. I’m finishing off February with one more swoony romance rec. If you haven’t read a Kate Clayborn book, then you need to! Her stories are so delightful. Love At First might be my favorite book by her. Read this book if you like quirky neighbors, enemies-to-lovers romances, adorable kittens, and a hot doc performing Shakespeare. 

At the start of the year, I read Kate Clayborn’s newest release,The Other Side of Disappearing, which I liked but didn’t love. The premise sounded promising – Jess Greene begrudgingly goes on a road trip with her teenaged half-sister, an award-winning true crime podcast host, and the watchful, handsome producer to search for the truth about her estranged mother’s involvement with a con artist. The podcast element played a huge part in the story and its structure, and as someone who has never listened to a true crime podcast (I know, I know), I had a hard time connecting to the story and the characters. This might be a book that’s better to listen to on audio than read with your eyeballs. However, if you’re a true crime fanatic, you might love this book more than I did.

▶️ Inside Lana Condor’s Dream California Home – I love AD’s Open Door Series because I’m an extremely nosey person and like having a peek into celebrities’ homes. In their most recent episode, actress Lana Cantor took us on a tour of her stunning home that seems just as girly and classy as she is. She kept gushing about her brilliant interior designer, Joseph, throughout the video, and it was the cutest thing. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all want our very own Joseph.

• This is considered old news now, but Meghan, Duchess of Sussex launched her new site, As Ever last week. In a IG story, she described As Ever as an evolution of her previous lifestyle blog, The Tig, which I used to read all the time back in the day. I can’t wait to see what’s to come with her new brand endeavor!
• Hello, olive!
• The 17 Best Beauty launches in February according to Elle.
• If Amazon’s recent decision to remove the option to download purchased books to a computer has left a bad taste in your mouth towards them, then here’s a list of alternative sites to get your e-books and audiobooks.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to subscribe to The Chapman Chronicles so you never miss a post.