What Moved Me: June 2025

Catching up on the books, music, podcasts, and other things that I've loved lately

I’m back for another round up of the books I’ve read, the music I’ve listened to, the podcasts I’ve binged, and a few other things I’m loving.

As always, this monthly offering is free. I love sharing the things I love, especially books. However, if you value what I share here on What Moves You, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support means so much to me.

For those who are already paid subscribers: thank you so much. I am so grateful for you.

Let’s start with the books:

I read 4 books this month. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto, Kunstlers in Paradise by Cathleen Schine, First Time Caller by BK Borison, and A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan.

I read Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers for Book Club and I am so glad I did. It was a fun read. A cozy mystery set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Vera Wong discovers a dead body in her tea shop, swipes a flash drive from the dead guy’s closed fist, and then proceeds to try to find the killer herself (she’s sure it’s a murder). And in finding the killer, she also finds her family. More specifically, she creates a family from her list of “possible murderers”.

It’s a “cozy mystery” so the stakes are fairly low. I figured out the big plot twist early on, but most of the people in my book club didn’t — apparently I am a freak and this is what my brain does with mystery novels, which is partially why I don’t read them often. I have to solve the mystery, too and I usually do before the book is halfway over. That said, there were a few smaller twists that absolutely surprised me — so virtual high five to author Jessie Q Sutanto!

I loved how each character’s voice is so distinct — Vera’s is particularly delightful. And I did love how the book is as much about found family as it is about solving a murder.

*****

Kunstler’s in Paradise is an incredibly mild book. When I say mild, I simply mean that the plot and action is very intimate, personal, and not very dramatic. It’s set in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and captures the quiet intensity of those early weeks and months. Julian escapes from his failures in NYC and lands at his grandmother Mamie’s house in early 2020. What was supposed to be a brief stay turns into a long term living arrangement.

Mamie herself is a refugee, having fled Austria and Hitler in 1939, and landing in LA, thanks to a program helping Jewish artists find a “home” in Hollywood (Mamie’s mother was given a job as a screenplay writer for the studio). As a result, Mamie and her family end up rubbing shoulders with many of the famous emigres from Germany and Austria

Much of the novel is Mamie telling stories of her life to her grandson. And as a result, we only get part of the story of her life — this is a really interesting storytelling choice. We don’t get details about Mamie’s life raising Julian’s dad or her life as a brilliant violinist. That last detail is even one that is offhandedly mentioned. This is partially because it’s assumed that Julian already knows all of this but doesn’t know about her escape from Austria, how her family adapted to being emigres in Hollywood during the golden era, and who she built relationships with in her youth from within that community.

There are even some stories she keeps to herself, but that we get to read and it makes it even more bittersweet knowing that only she knows them.

This whole book felt really tender to me because it reminded me of the relationship I had with my Auntie Milly (my mother’s great aunt) when I lived in NYC. I wish I remembered all of the amazing stories she told me. Wish I’d recorded them somehow like Julian does. Mostly, I remember the time I spent with her and how special it was.

*****

I loved First Time Caller. Loved it. It takes the premise of Sleepless in Seattle, but adjusts it slightly. Lucie’s 12 year old daughter calls into a once-popular radio show about relationships to talk about her mom’s lack of love life. Lucie intercepts the call and ends up having an epic conversation with host, Aiden Valentine, about love and life which goes viral.

Unlike Sleepless, her mom isn’t a widow. In fact, her ex lives next door with his husband. They are best friends and happily raise their daughter together. But she’s had very few “relationships” or even rolls in the sheets since her daughter was born.

Because the conversation she has with Aiden goes viral and boosts the shows rating from the toilet, Lucie is invited onto the show to “find love.” And she does. But not in the way she was meant to, of course.

The book is set in Baltimore, which I love. I am not from Baltimore, but grew up spending a lot of time there so reading it felt a bit like home. Lucie is a mechanic and a single mom — I was just writing about how romance novels rarely feature moms and I am delighted that this book does. And it does motherhood really, really well.

The sexual tension between Lucie and Aiden is thick, although they don’t get down and dirty until the last 3rd of the book. But when they do….whew. HOT. Worth the wait. But also, the story and the chemistry were really enjoyable, even without the spice toward the end.

*****

A Beautiful Family is another quiet book — or it seems that way at first. It’s the story of a family on holiday at the beach, told from the perspective of the of them, 10 year old Alix. She has a keen eye for observation, watching how her parents interact with one another and how her 15 year old sister interacts with them, as well as the friends she makes that summer on the beach.

It’s very clear that her perspective is that of a 10 year old kid. Author Trevelyan doesn’t give her special powers of insight. There are things that Alix tells us that feel very clear to me as an adult, but are fuzzier to her — she doesn’t fully understand them. And that makes some of those things more sinister because you can see how easy it is for kids to be out of their depth in certain situations.

On the other hand, Alix does have really good spidey sense, which helps her navigate some tricky situations.

The book is set in New Zealand in 1986 and portrays a “normal” family — mom, dad, and 2 kids. When they arrive at the holiday house, which is not as picturesque as dad has described, they try to make do. But it’s clear there is something simmering beneath the surface. Spouses who might be going through the motions, sisters who love one another but are far enough apart in age that they don’t understand one another in the way they used to. So much of what they are dealing with are the mundane dramas of family life and relationships and growing up. And yet, there are other things that are slightly more sinister.

Alix makes a friend and they try to solve a local mystery — the disappearance of a young girl 2 years before. But in the process, other secrets come to the light.

I don’t want to give too much away plot-wise because there are hints dropped through the first half of the book that help reveal some of the larger mysteries — we as adults end up seeing what Alix can’t quite, but we don’t get to see it until the last few chapters.

I recommend this book, particularly if you like slowly unraveling mysteries that exist alongside the everyday dramas of being in a family.

(I received an ARC from Penguin, but the opinions I share are entirely my own)

(quick note: all of the links you see in the book review section are affiliate links at Bookshop.org and if you’re thinking about buying any of these, please consider using my links instead of using amazon. For one, I get a tiny commission when you use my links. But also important, bookshop.org directly supports small bookstores, which is of great value to me.)

Things to Watch:

Haven’t quite finished The Good Place, but we’re finally on season 4! Will honestly be devastated when we hit the last episode. My kids are constantly quoting it, often yelling “Bortles!” at random moments, among other things. While they don’t get the intricacies of the philosophical elements of the show, they actually get a lot of the humor, particularly the physical comedy of it all. Highly recommend as a show the whole family can enjoy.

Just last night watched Kpop Demon Hunters and ITS AMAZING. Watch it as soon as possible. It’s an absolute delight. The music, the story, the characters — it’s all so good.

Music and Things to Listen to:

A few songs I’ve been listening to on repeat are All Over Me by Haim, Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter, and the entire new album by The Beaches, but my favorite so far is Did I Say Too Much.

A few podcasts, too:

Loved several conversations on the Tough Cookie Talks podcast with Jenna Jozefowski — both the one about Healthism and Fascism with Ashantis Jones and the conversation with Vinny Welsby about Ozempic/Wegovy (which was a great contrast to another podcast I listened to praising weight loss drugs as empowering for women in their 40’s, which might be inspiring an essay from me soon).

In that same vein, I appreciated the conversation with Virginia Sole-Smith and Audie Cornish on The Assignment. I don’t always like how Cornish interviews people and don’t always love her take on certain topics (she has an episode where she essentially agrees with a pro-natalist that made me see red for days), but this is one of her best, in part because Virginia Sole-Smith is fantastic. Listen here.

And even though I’ve never really spent any time in Boston, I enjoyed the Decoder Ring’s episode about the Boston Cinematic Universe.

A few things to read on your phone:

I loved multiple things that Anna Maltby wrote this month, but my favorite is her latest “In Defense of Phoning it In.” I might be biased because it’s what I teach (and have taught for years) in regard to movement. But it’s an important read, especially if you tend to be an all or nothing exercise person.

I absolutely loved what Bess Kalb wrote about the recent mayoral primary election in NYC. Kalb frequently writes what is in my heart only better than I ever could. I’m not a New York City voter but this piece rally spoke to me in every other way. Read it here.

I felt like I needed a shower after reading “Thin, Fertile, and Conservative: Inside Turning Point USA’S conference for conservative young women” by Madeline Peltz. But read it anyway because it’s good and important reporting.

And I loved A Free Range Summer is Not Free by Rebekah Peeples, mostly because I was thinking about writing something similar but she did it first and more succinctly than I could have (which I value because I am shit at brevity). Plus it’s a really good take on why summer is so damn hard for caregivers.

Here’s my latest video on YouTube:

Well, technically, it’s not my latest. It’s from last week. But it’s a good one, so I wanted to share it here in case you’re not subscribed to my YouTube channel. It’s in praise of the 2 pose flow — I share 3 different 2 pose flows in this video. For those days that you want to move but really have limited time.

While I am a big fan of challenging my body, I’m also a big fan of creating and maintaining the habit of daily movement. I’m writing this from a hotel in Indiana on Day 3 of a cross country road trip with my kids and dog. I’m not doing epic workouts here. I’m doing 2 pose flows and stretching out before getting in the car to drive for 7 hours.

Not every practice has to be hard or sweaty or a certain length of time to be worthwhile.

AND SPEAKING OF THAT….

Tomorrow I am kicking off my popular Power of One challenge. This is a month-long movement challenge all about building the habit of daily movement by making it super easy. Every day in the month of July, I’ll send you an email with one yoga pose, one exercise, or one movement that you can do in less than 2 minutes.

The whole idea is that it’s more important to build the habit of daily movement through super simple actions, like a single pose each day, because it’s more sustainable than jumping in with a 30 minute workout. You can slowly build in more time and energy once you’ve built the habit.

So if you’re looking to en-engage with movement, join me in July for the Power of One. It’s free (and not through substack). Sign up here.

*****

On a personal note, I performed in the Film Fest for the local dance studio where I take classes. You can watch all of the videos here. But if you want to watch mine, here they are. See if you can spot me. In the tap class, You can find me immediately because I’m the first shot (and the video capture below), but in the other 2, I’m the one wearing purple high top converse.

*****

That’s it for June from me, but I want to know, what are you loving lately? Hit me with your book recs, music, podcasts, and anything else moving you right now!

Let me know in the comments!

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