Recs #118: The darkly comic househunting thriller you didn't know you neededA review of "Best Offer Wins" by Marisa Kashino. Plus, loads of reads, links, and recs from the week
This is the weekly recs newsletter at Downtime, a roundup of books, culture, media, and other delights. These posts are available exclusively for paid subscribers. Consider upgrading to join us: I’m offering a 20% discount on annual subscriptions for the next 72 hours, so now’s the perfect time. Happy weekend! I realize it’s almost March, but do we have time to squeeze in a mini Feb/March book club before I head out on maternity leave?¹ I’ll set up a discussion post thread for us to chat about the book at the beginning of March.
ICYMI on Downtime…
Under the paywall this week: A roundup of recent reads, watches, and listens - including my current TV obsession. Plus, I’m trying something new and putting a few bonus “recs from my life this week” at the end (e.g. recipes I cooked, things I actually purchased, and other helpful bits).
Downtime ReadsThis week I read… Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino. If you need a book to pick you up out of a reading slump, this is it. It’s a darkly comic thriller all about, of all things, househunting. As a D.C. local, I was especially excited for this debut novel, which promised the kind of hyper-specific detail that only someone who really knows the area can deliver. It did not disappoint!
At the center is Margo, a protagonist in the vein of Amy Dunne from Gone Girl: calculating, manipulative, and then, rather quickly, frightening. She and her somewhat milquetoast husband, Ian, have lost out on eleven offers in D.C.'s brutal post-COVID real estate market. Her dream of owning the perfect home and starting a family has curdled into something darker, and when she uncovers a secret about the owner of the house she covets, she decides blackmail is a perfectly reasonable next step. Kashino previously covered real estate for the Washingtonian, and it shows; the housing market details are painfully accurate. If you've ever been through the househunting process, you'll recognize every excruciating moment and laugh in spite of yourself. I think this book succeeds in holding up a funhouse mirror to a very specific millennial anxiety: the desire to accumulate material wealth and achieve the promised millennial dream (a good job, homeownership, a family) in an economic environment where that feels nearly impossible. Given today's housing market, can we blame Margo for her descent into madness, even as things escalate from charmingly delusional to full-on unhinged? Getting to watch that spiral unfold through Margo's own first-person narration is what made this book such a fun read. This bit in particular made me laugh—both because of its absurdity and because I could relate to Margo’s wine-fueled Pinterest deep dive into designing “her dream home”:
Just how dramatically absurd, yet also somehow relatable, Margo’s inner thoughts are made me laugh out loud many times (at one point, she says, “If we can’t have this house, I will literally lie on the floor and fucking die.”). At other times, though, her voice turns jarringly hateful and dark; it gave me chills and put me more on edge as the storyline progressed. The epilogue was particularly juicy and twisted. I can’t wait to watch Greta Lee play this character on the screen. After reading the book, I think she was perfectly cast. If you’re in need of a fast-paced, darkly humorous, contemporary read with Gone Girl and Beef vibes, I think you’ll enjoy this book. What are you reading? I’d love to hear in the comments! Next I’m reading… I needed a palate cleanser after reading a dark thriller, so I’m currently listening to One & Only by Maureen Goo, a perfectly sweet romance. So far, my initial take is that if you enjoyed The Idea of You, you may enjoy this. I love that the protagonist is 40, and the LA setting makes me want to go back for a visit. As for my hardcopy read, I’m itching for something more literary, so perhaps Lost Lambs by Madeleine Cash or Brawler by Lauren Groff. New on my TBR list… Too many. On Morrison by Namwali Serpell is a primer on Toni Morrison’s works, written by an English professor at Harvard. It makes me wish I could take her class, but an independent study may have to do. Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy sounds like a compelling memoir about a complicated mother-daughter relationship. For more “fun” reads, I have Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik on my radar, as well as Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser, a retelling of Cinderella’s evil stepmother. As you can see, there’s an abundance of great books this year; it’s a great problem to have! (ICYMI, shared a roundup of my most anticipated 2026 releases here.)
Shout out to Sara Hildreth for inspiring this “week in reading” format. I always look to her posts when I’m feeling stuck on what to read next!
Culture RecsThings to read/watch/listen to/think about Substack newsletters I enjoyed this week:
Articles, pods, and TV recs: Continued below the paywall, plus bonus recs from my life this week, including some maternity/postpartum prep bits... Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Downtime to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. A subscription gets you:
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petak, 20. veljače 2026.
Recs #118: The darkly comic househunting thriller you didn't know you needed
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Recs #118: The darkly comic househunting thriller you didn't know you needed
A review of "Best Offer Wins" by Marisa Kashino. Plus, loads of reads, links, and recs from the week ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏...
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