Sunday Paper PLUS Recommends—Week of August 30, 2026
At The Sunday Paper, we often discover books, music, shows, and other works that move the needle and spark inspiring change. This week, we are thrilled to hand the mic again to our Sunday Paper PLUS readers! Our thanks to Diana, Maria, and Anne for their recommendations. We hope these suggestions open your heart and mind and encourage you to come together for meaningful conversations.
What Diana Daniele is Watching
Anya Taylor-Joy plays the title role in Lucky, a con artist who thought she’d left her family’s criminal empire behind for good. When a multi-million-dollar heist collapses, she’s forced back into the life she ran from, chased by both the FBI and her own mother-in-law—a mob boss Annette Bening plays without a trace of softness. Based on Marissa Stapley’s novel, the series trades in double-crosses and Vegas glamour without ever losing sight of Lucky’s desperation to actually get free. Timothy Olyphant and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor round out a cast that gives the chase real stakes. All seven episodes are streaming now on Apple TV.
What Maria Lund is Reading
Lyndon Harris spent close to a year leading the ministry at St. Paul’s Chapel, feeding and comforting recovery workers just steps from Ground Zero, a place the world came to know as “the little chapel that stood.” Then the chapel closed, and everything he’d built on that ground came apart with it: his position, his church, his faith. Forgiveness at Ground Zero: A Journey of Service, Loss, and Redemption After 9/11 picks up where the headlines stopped, tracing Harris’s slide into anger and his slow, unglamorous climb back out, forgiveness becoming something he had to practice and relearn. His story is for anyone who has given everything to something and been left with nothing to show for it but grief. As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Harris shows what healing can look like once the world has stopped watching.
What Diana Daniele is Listening To
Last week, this world lost a legend. Dolly Parton spent seven decades turning her hardscrabble Tennessee childhood into songs that became part of the American songbook—“9 to 5,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Coat of Many Colors”—each one carrying her wit and warmth into millions of homes. She brought that same warmth to the screen in films like 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, then to a whole new generation as Aunt Dolly on Hannah Montana, playing on-screen godmother to her real-life goddaughter Miley Cyrus. Her ambitions never stopped at entertaining—she opened Dollywood, the theme park that’s brought jobs and visitors to East Tennessee for decades. But her generosity was always closest to her heart—her Imagination Library has mailed free books to children around the world for decades, all in honor of the father who never learned to read. Her family has gathered her catalog on her YouTube channel, along with a video tribute from those who knew her best. Rediscover the songs that made her a legend, then visit her site to write a memory of Dolly, and finally, join the movement to honor her with a donation to the Imagination Library in her name.
Listen to Dolly's Music Here
Write a Memory of Dolly Here
Donate to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Here
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