Morning Brew - 📚 Bookish

On the Tuesday after Labor Day Weekend, the American workforce was united by one thought: Couldn’t it be like that every week? The four-day workweek has long intrigued US workers, but The Financial Diet, a personal finance website for women, actually tried it out with its 12 employees recently.

“Given that New Yorkers work longer hours than any other city in the US, an important component of our experiment is proving that this can be done even by a small, NYC-based media company, and providing a roadmap for others to follow suit,” wrote Caitlin Lutsch, financial manager at TFD, on LinkedIn.

The road to four went like this:

• The team condensed their workweek to 32 hours, instead of trying to pack the standard 40 hours into four days.
• Meetings always ran on agendas to keep them short, and recurring syncs were deleted if deemed unnecessary.
• Employees communicated the change in schedule to vendors and clients via a short notification in their email signature.

And nothing burned down. Cofounder and CEO Chelsea Fagan posted this update on Twitter: “It’s been about four months since we started our four-day workweek experiment and I can honestly say that the idea of a five-day workweek now seems insane looking back, both because three days are necessary for a proper weekend and no job truly needs all five days.”

That’s a grand statement, given that TFD employs only a dozen people, but what do you think: Could your office run on a 32-hour workweek? Hit reply and tell us your thoughts.

Move over BookTok, the Brew Crew’s Fall reading list is full of gems.

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

“Kristen Arnett is my favorite author. Her fiction is *chef’s kiss* and I love her use of humor and how gross she writes. This novel is a super fun read and also a little heartbreaking.”—Matty Merritt, daily writer

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

“Sally Rooney has a weird obsession with thinness, but otherwise this is the perfect, ‘Get in gang, we’re going crying’ book to start off my seasonal depression.”—Susanna Vogel, HR Brew reporter

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

“A delightful and sometimes dark mystery that intersperses deep examinations of quantum physics and Japanese mythology with the interconnected worlds between a 16-year-old narrator and an American novelist with writer’s block. It’s one of my favorite books about time.”—Gillian Zamora, director of product management

South Riding by Winifred Holtby

“Winifred Holtby raced against the clock to finish this sweeping novel of a seaside English village. In addition to her own quickly approaching death, Holtby was also clearly aware of the coming Second World War. Both of these looming disasters shine through in her quiet meditation of life in a small village and the people and motivations to improve it.”—Michael Ferrante, integrated marketing director

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

“This beautifully written collection of horror short stories is perfect for spooky season. If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the girl with the green ribbon around her neck (you know, from the story that traumatized you in childhood), start with The Husband Stitch. You will cry.”—Amanda Mier, social media coordinator

Read: We’ll have what she’s having: Meg Ryan fall. There’s more to it than the fisherman’s knit and singing “The Surrey with the Fringe On Top.”

Listen: In the spirit of sweater weather, this playlist runs the gamut of fall foliage tunes—The Kooks, new Kacey Musgraves, Bon Iver (because he is autumncore), and Frank Ocean.

Watch: Jazz is cool, always has been—h/t Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. Catch the trailer for their second studio album, Love for Sale, out tomorrow. Their intergenerational friendship and masterpiece vocals are getting us through the workweek.

National Coffee Day was yesterday, but we’re Morning Brew, so we’re still celebrating. A fresh pour of steaming hot recs for you:

• Overwhelmed by the coffee aisle? Trade Coffee matches you with small roasters based on your go-to prep method and taste preferences. Panther, Stumptown, Verve—if you can name a brand, they partner with them.
• Cometeer is frozen coffee in pod form, no Keurig required. After trying it at home, Rachel was impressed by the quality, taste, and convenience...to the point where she’s nonstop talking about it.
• Foam makes or breaks a cappuccino. Achieve that cloud consistency with a PowerLix milk frother. It’s less than $15, easy to clean, and has 40k+ 5-star ratings.
• Oops. We fell into a rabbit hole of Coffee Bae’s satisfying TikToks. There’s her pumpkin cream cold brew, iced mochas, and activated charcoal lattes. We may not try activated charcoal at home but we will copy her glassware collection.
• Chobani Oat's new coffee creamer in pumpkin spice is now in stock for a limited time. It’s not too sweet and is perfect when poured over cold brew.
• Your Thursday evening pick-me-up: an espresso martini. They had a moment earlier this summer, but they’ll always be timeless to us.