Fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” will find an updated and funnier, more relatable millennial version in Kristen Van Nest’s debut memoir, “Where to Nest.”
The title playfully pays homage to the author’s origins. Her name, Van Nest, is an Americanized form of the Dutch name ‘Ness,’ a farm town in Holland. Much like her ancestors who modified their names, she shaped her own life and wrote her own story.
Growing up in a modest household in an extremely wealthy US town in Connecticut, where gym class sometimes consisted of yoga by candlelight, Van Nest’s classmates had life-size Barbies and real pet horses, while she wore secondhand clothes and had a Tamagotchi digital pet. This distinction propelled her to take action and strive to “have it all.”
She had fantasized about achieving the American dream, where she would fill her fancy mansion with objects associated with luxury, like three sinks in the master bedroom, for example. But she soon found that it was not the path she wanted to go on. She traded the big closet in her previous teenage dreams with that of a rolling suitcase.
In an attempt to fit in, Van Nest realized she likely could not. So she stood out. Not just outside of the box, but outside of the country completely. She was bitten by the travel bug at 16 when her grandmother encouraged her to spend some time in Paris and promised to help cover the cost. She went, and returned. Then left again as soon as she could.
“Where to Nest,” which was released on Tuesday, starts with her boarding a one-way flight to China, a place she had never before visited.
She ended up living in Shanghai for three years and, later, in Luxembourg as a Fulbright scholar. She went on to have dizzying adventures, and misadventures, in about 40 countries.
She writes how one year when she attended a New Year’s party in Berlin it felt like a fresh start not only to the year but also for herself.
“I was also going through a rebirth: one where if you stripped away my work, wealth and social status, I was at my core without those silly things we sometimes wrap our identities around.”
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Where to Nest’ by Kristen Van Nest
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Where to Nest’ by Kristen Van Nest
What We Are Reading Today: The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
“The Wishing Game” is a charming mix of playfulness, emotion, and nostalgia, according to PrincetonBookReview.com.
The book takes readers to the magical Clock Island, where the boundaries between made-up stories and real life are fuzzy, creating an atmosphere of whimsical fun and intrigue.
Lucy, a woman on a quest for meaning in her life, is easy to relate to and instantly likable. Her bond with Christopher, a young boy full of promise, forms the story’s heart, drawing readers in with its emotional depth.
What We Are Reading Today: South Sudan: The Untold Story
Author: Hilde F. Johnson
South Sudan was granted independence and became the world’s newest country. Yet just two-and-a-half years after this momentous decision, the country was in the grips of renewed civil war and political strife.
In this book, Hilde F. Johnson provides an unparalleled insider’s account of South Sudan’s descent from the ecstatic celebrations of July 2011 to the outbreak of the disastrous conflict in December 2013 and the early, bloody phase of the fighting.
Johnson’s personal and private contacts at the highest levels of government, accompanied by her deep knowledge of the country and its history, make this a unique eyewitness account of the turbulent first three years of the world’s newest – and yet most fragile – country.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Friction’ by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
Anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing challenges the widespread view that globalization invariably signifies a clash of cultures, developing friction as a metaphor for the diverse and conflicting social interactions that make up our contemporary world.
Focusing on the social drama of the Indonesian rainforests in the 1980s and 1990s, she shows how a host of competing interests—from environmentalists and North American investors to advocates for Brazilian rubber tappers, international funding agencies, and village elders—are drawn into unpredictable, messy misunderstandings, but misunderstandings that sometimes work out.
The Year Ahead: Five of the hottest games coming your way in 2025
Dubai: A look at the hottest games coming our way in 2025.
‘Grand Theft Auto VI’
Rockstar Games’ open world action-adventure series has become one of those creative works that transcends its medium — so the release of “GTA VI” will likely be gaming’s biggest moment of 2025, as likely to make broadcast news headlines as to whip up a social-media frenzy. Its reveal trailer already smashed YouTube records for non-music videos, racking up 46 million views within 12 hours, and 101 million within two days, and sparked a huge spike in Spotify streams for its featured track, Tom Petty’s “Love Is a Long Road.” The game will feature the series’ first female protagonist in a quarter of a century — Lucia, a Latina woman — and her male partner as they try to evade law enforcement around the fictional state of Leonida (a thinly disguised Florida), including Vice City (a thinly disguised Miami) and visit South America too. Expect the usual blend of amoral/immoral action and pop-culture parodies (social-media influencers are apparently a major theme) along with gameplay that will keep you engaged for weeks.
‘Assassin’s Creed: Shadows’
The 14th major installment in Ubisoft’s action-adventure franchise takes the action over to 16th-century Japan, towards the end of a long period of civil wars. Considering how big a part stealth plays in all “Assassin’s Creed” games, ninjas seem a natural fit, and indeed, one of the two central figures of “Shadows” is Naoe, a female shinobi (the game’s stealth mechanics have undergone a major and welcome upgrade, too). The other is Yasuke, an African samurai apparently inspired by an historical figure of the same name. Players will once again be embroiled in the millennia-long conflict between the peace-and-freedom-seeking Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, who believe peace can only be attained through control. After a difficult year for the French publisher, there’s a lot riding on this title.
‘Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game’
Games based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” tend, unsurprisingly, to be foreboding, violent affairs focused on the great battles between good and evil. So this life simulation game from Take-Two Interactive Software will make a refreshing change, allowing you to play a Hobbit without any great responsibility beyond making your idyllic corner of Middle Earth as welcoming and homely as possible — foraging in the forest, fishing in the crystal-clear lakes, gardening, trading with the townsfolk, and cooking for your fellow Hobbits to help build friendships.
‘Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’
Game designer Hideo Kijima is one of the biggest stars in the gamers’ galaxy. He first made a name for himself as the creator of “Metal Gear” at Konami before setting up his own studio, Kojima Productions, and releasing the genre-defying, slow-burn epic “Death Stranding” in 2019, in which the vast majority of the player’s time was spent trekking across post-apocalyptic mountainous landscapes to deliver parcels to isolated communities and attempt to reconnect the shattered chiral network (the internet, basically). Logistical skills were vital. It wasn’t for everyone, but if you bought into it, it was hugely rewarding and surprisingly emotional. Comparisons with some of the isolation felt worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, which arrived shortly after the game’s release, were inevitable, and Kijima has reportedly leaned into that for the sequel, which once again has a stellar cast. Norman Reedus and Léa Seydoux return as main protagonist Sam Bridges and his ally Fragile, while Elle Fanning also joins.
‘Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza’
The latest spinoff from the “Like a Dragon” action-adventure series sees fan favorite Goro Majima, a former Yakuza, taking the helm of his own pirate ship — and crew — after losing his memory. He goes in search of a fabled hidden treasure in islands surrounding Hawaii, including Honolulu, where last year’s excellent installment “Infinite Wealth” was set. Naturally, the game includes sea combat as well as the series’ regular beat ’em up combat style, and also sees the return of a few favorite minigames, including karaoke.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘How the Universe Got Its Spots’ by Janna Levin
Is the universe infinite or just really big? With this question, cosmologist Janna Levin announces the central theme of this book, which established her as one of the most direct, unorthodox, and creative voices in contemporary science.
As Levin sets out to determine how big “really big” may be, she offers a rare intimate look at the daily life of an innovative physicist, complete with jet lag and the tensions between personal relationships and the extreme demands of scientific exploration.
Nimbly explaining geometry, topology, chaos, and string theory, Levin shows how the pattern of hot and cold spots left over from the big bang may one day reveal the size of the cosmos.
