October is a busy month in Austin. Okay, they all are (especially when you have three kiddos!), but this month we’re especially excited about Festival Season, first ACL and ending the month at the Field Guide Festival. ACL tickets sold out super fast, but if you couldn’t get them, or you just prefer to avoid the crowds, grab a paddle board or kayak, sit in Lady Bird lake and enjoy the concert for free! There’s great listening from the safety of the lake. When we’re not out festivaling, we’re going to be stealing every minute we can to read these books. If you check then out or have any suggestions, DM me on Instagram @genpadalecki.
CROSSROADS by Jonathan Franzen
If there is one thing we can agree on in our home it’s that Jonathan Franzen is one of the greatest American authors. We can’t agree on which of his books is the best, Jared says Freedom, I say The Corrections. In any case, we are both claiming our reading nooks so that we can devour Franzen’s newest novel.
PONY by R.J. Palacio
I loved reading Wonder to my kiddos. It was right around the time my middle child was heading off to kindergarten and his head was swirling with doubt and fear about how he would feel walking into a new school with new kids. We read Wonder and with her words Palacio put his mind at ease and painted a world that my kids easily stepped right into and quickly felt right at home. She taught us about tolerance, acceptance and inclusion with humor and honesty. We’ve been waiting for a follow up and have heard Pony is expected to be an instant classic. It’s set in the late 1800s where a twelve-year-old boy named Silas’s father is taken by outlaws in the dead of night. The pony who accompanied the outlaws is left behind. Silas partners with the pony to find his dad. It sounds like an adventure we don’t want to miss and let's just say we will be first in line at the bookstore.
HARLEM SHUFFLE by Colson Whitehead
Harlem Shuffle is Colson Whitehead’s follow-up to The Nickel Boys, a book that earned him a Pulitzer Prize. His second one! This is a heist novel set in Harlem in the 60s that we hear we need to block off some time for because we’ll want to binge-read it in a sitting.
TOWWN TIP
Check out Field Guide Festival! It calls itself a ‘food system festival’ and I’m obsessed. Trisha Sutton of Urban American Farmer and Lindsey Sokol of Blue Norther Live put together this festival showcasing the best produce from local farms and bring in amazing chefs to make brunches and dinners that will have you rethinking how magical farm-to-table can be. There will also be live music and symposiums. You can learn more at FieldGuideFest.com
PS: You’ve probably seen Trisha around town at various gardens and restaurants - she’s responsible for a lot of the locally sourced veggies at our restaurants, including at Comedor ,one of my favorite spots!
