This Week In My Library 10.10.23

Israel, friendship and 25th editions

Life of a Bookman

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi thats me!!

On my list: I ebb and flow through fiction and prescriptive non-fiction reading. It's been a minute since I've devoured some self-help, but I'm pretty excited to read Origins of You by Vienna Pharon. I've followed her wisdom on Instagram for a longggg time, which helped me through some tough moments in my past relationship. Fall vibes are inspiring me dive into this book-long exploration of new ways to live and love. Has anyone already read? What did you think?

A beautiful book for the writer inside: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott was one of the first books I ever picked up on writing, back when I first dreamed of writing fiction. An old-favorite of creatives everywhere, evident by its 25-year edition, this will definitely open your heart and your writing mind to creating what you need to create. I've cracked her back open as we speak!

What I'm writing: The final stretch. I have 30-pages left to revise of That Novel. It's pretty hard to believe. On one hand I'm so proud of the insane amount of work I've put into this revision the last 6 months, and on the other hand...getting this manuscript ready for beta readers and then my agent still feels so far away. But we're nearing the homestretch!

Women’s Studies

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon: This piece in Women's Health really struck me: Are you experiencing a friendship recession?

I know from many of my galpals that they've had a hard time making new friends, as they've changed cities or traversed new life stages. So if that's you, you're not alone. There was some helpful advice in here for what to do if you find yourself with very few close friends. And as always, follow my friend (and friendship expert) Shasta Nelson if you need strategies for making new friends and deepening the connection you have.

Pass It On

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine: I spent almost two weeks traveling through Israel with a group of storytellers this year. It was a life-altering experience. Like much of the world, I am heartbroken and horrified over the attacks on Israel. My friends there have been heavy on my heart, along with the terrible loss of so many innocent lives. I received videos over the weekend of a corner we were hanging out on after dinner just five months ago, completely decimated. It's impossible to wrap my head around. For real-time coverage from a trusted source, follow my brilliant friend Carrie Keller-Lynn, political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel.

xx