Welcome to the biggest weekend of the Summer! We hope you have lots of fun plans in place already, but if you still need some help, or just want to take some time for yourself, we’re here to help with this week’s staff picks!

Avalon’s 4th of July Festivities

Avalon has lots of fun activities and events planned in honor of the 4th of July and America’s 250th Anniversary! A Golf Cart Parade will kick off tonight (7/3) at 6pm from the 29th Street Parking Lot. The theme is of course “USA” and there will be prizes for the 3 best decorated carts. Anyone interested in participating should get to the lot no later than 5:30pm. Afterwards at Surfside Park there will be a special performance by Nashville Express.

If boats are more your speed, gets yours decorated in a patriotic theme and pull up to the Avalon Yacht Club by 11:45am so you can join the celebration through the town’s back bays! If you just want to watch the parade itself will kick off at 12pm. And of course, it wouldn’t be the 4th without some fireworks and Avalon will once again feature one of the shore’s biggest and best displays, viewable from any of the town’s beaches and starting at 9pm. – Sean Farrell

Confessions II by Madonna

The queen is back with her best album in years. Pulling influences from seemingly the entire history of dance music—and therefore also her own decade-spanning career—she takes listeners on a house odyssey, serving up banger after banger before relaxing the tempo as the record draws to a close. Filled with songs that will pack dancefloors just as easily as they will get stuck in listeners’ heads and featuring an almost peak Basement Jaxx level of pleasurable overproduction by returning collaborator Stuart Price (Confessions on a Dancefloor), this is not a rehash of that seminal album, but rather an evolution of it. Sounding both classic and fresh at the same time, it’s an impressive achievement for an artist whose constant reinvention continues to keep her relevant. – SF

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum

This is in my top 5 favorite reads of the year so far! Popular podcaster Joy Moore, who suffers from narcolepsy, and her husband go missing under mysterious circumstances and her co-host and longtime best friend Benny is suspect number one. Benny must clear his name by uncovering the secrets that Joy has been hiding. This one has a ton of twists and turns, with great characters and excellent pacing. – Kara Buono

Minions & Monsters

Everyone’s favorite non-descript yellow creatures are back and this time they’re taking on old Hollywood. Take a tour through the history of film via their usual slapstick antics in what many are considering a series high point. – SF

Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver

Seasons of Carnage Book 2 – brush up on the first book before diving into this one! This book picks up immediately after it and we begin with the main characters (also both serial killers) admitting they have feelings for each other. Between covering up past crimes of Harper’s mentor and avoiding the true crime fanatics that are flocking to the town, Cape Carnage is thrust into the spotlight and a whole cast of characters are ready to take care of the influx of tourists. PSA: Check the trigger warnings for this one! I recommend the audiobook version. – KB

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Cover photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash.

Fireworks photo by Kristian Løvstad on Unsplash.