🤔 Brainteaser of the day: Divide 30 by half and then add 10. What’s the total?
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✅ Today’s Checklist:
🗓️ NEXT THURS 10/22 @ 9AM PT: 61% of you told us you rework about half of what AI gives you. These 3 AI fixes are the training your company didn’t give you. Free, one hour. Save your seat.
🧠 Women with ADHD may hit peak perimenopause symptoms a decade earlier.
🌿 Screen-free fall hobbies, like a time capsule you open next fall.
📢 California’s new chatbot law adds crisis protocols and parent alerts to protect kids.
🎃 Bring the spooky fun to your virtual team with these Halloween activities.
I am a thriller, horror, and mystery girl through and through, with a soft spot for a good laugh in the middle of the dread. Here is what has lived on my nightstand (and what’s about to).
THE CLASSICS
The Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King
This was my intro to Stephen King, and book one had me hooked. A retired detective gets taunted by the killer who got away, and the cat-and-mouse is so good you’ll start the next one before you finish the first.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The most classic horror book you could ever read. It’s sinister and slow-building, and it’s the blueprint for the scary house we all picture the second someone says “haunted house.”
I clearly have a theme of loving a haunted house, so this one will forever be a favorite. A family, an empty hotel, a long winter. If you don’t know the story of The Shining, come on?!
THE PAGE-TURNERS
Funny enough, this was my first Colleen Hoover, and none of her others have topped it. A struggling writer is hired to finish another author’s series and finds something in the house she was never meant to see. It’s unique, I love the dual-perspective writing, and you should read it now that the movie is out.
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
My first Riley Sager, and it has everything I want in a thriller: sisters, a past-meets-present timeline, and a haunted house on the edge of a cliff. Some twists you’ll see coming, and others will come out of left field. His new one, The Unknown, is next on my list, and I’ve heard phenomenal things.
One of my favorite reads of last year. It dropped around spooky season and had a chokehold on my October and November. A 1950s housewife with the perfect gelatin salads starts to unravel after a strange new neighbor moves in across the street. It’s more psychological suspense than horror, but it will drive you mad. Quick heads up: it goes to some heavy places, so check content warnings first.
THE ONES THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
This one is so funny, and lighter than the rest of my list. A mystery writer gets intertwined, to say the least, in a murder case. Perfect palate cleanser between the scary ones.
ON MY TBR (recommended, not yet read)
Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
A wedding, a masked killer, and a time loop. Our heroine dies, wakes up on the morning of the same wedding, and has to survive it again. A friend who is also planning her wedding recommended it, and she promised that anyone in the thick of wedding planning will relate to the family dynamics and all the little things that drive you crazy. As a fellow bride-to-be, I’m saving it for my TBR, and I’ve been told it’s as funny as it is bloody.
I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell by Mackenzie Reed
A receptionist walks in on her boss performing an exorcism after hours, and then they road trip into hell to rescue a coworker. I’m not usually an exorcism girl, but one of my fellow corporate baddies swears it’s hilarious, so I’m trusting her.
Happy reading (and keep the lights on).
Cameron (TA Ops)
Forget the ping-pong tables. Culture comes down to whether people feel seen for their work, and the data there is hard to ignore: well-recognized employees are 45% less likely to leave, and 53% say they’d stay longer if their manager recognized them more. Yet most employees rarely get any.
Bonusly makes recognition a habit without adding to your plate. It’s a peer-to-peer platform: people give each other points for good work, points cash out for real rewards, and a recognition feed makes the good stuff visible instead of buried. Its AI companion, Bizy, reads the patterns and flags where connection is fading before it becomes a resignation.
Getting started takes an afternoon: connect Slack or Teams, set a monthly point allowance, and let the team run with it.
📚 Read: Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus
The Lessons in Chemistry author is back with her new novel, out this week. If Elizabeth Zott won you over, this one belongs at the top of your fall list.
📺 Watch: The Diplomat, Season 4 (Netflix)
Kate Wyler is back as of Thursday with more political chaos and marriage drama. It’s the perfect weekend binge after a long week.
🎧 Listen: How to Survive a Life Quake with Chip Conley (WorkLife)
Big life changes rarely come one at a time, and this episode is all about getting through the pileup. It’s a smart listen for anyone in a season of upheaval.
Three bags of trail mix and a shrinking pile of Kind Bars say something about how much the team matters, and it’s probably not the message you want to send. Sourcing anything better usually means a big-box run you don’t have time for.
Simpalo Snacks sends curated boxes of better-for-you, name-brand snacks straight to your office or your team’s homes, so nobody has to make that store run.
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Rosie is a French Bulldog and her family’s official office mascot, a job she takes very seriously. She provides moral support for the whole team, plus on-lap support whenever it’s needed. You’ll usually find her in one of her many fluffy donut beds, and if she’s not there, check the treat drawer. Folding laundry or calling the electrician? She’s your girl.
Pssst…Lemonade Pet starts at $10/month and settles around half of eligible claims on the spot, right in the app. Add the wellness plan and vaccines, checkups, and dental cleanings come along too. Whatever’s left over from claims at the end of the year goes to a cause you pick.
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