Reading Habits

Below is a non-exhaustive list of events for books and/or authors I love & events that have piqued my interest in the books they’re highlighting. Feel free to email me with suggestions. Stars = highly recommend. Tell me if you go! NYC: “Must Love Memoir” reading at Jake’s Dilemma, Tue. 10/14 Brooklyn: With Jordan Pavlin at Greenlight Bookstore, Tue. 10/14 Fort Washington, PA: With Emma Copley Eisenberg at Upper Dublin Public Library, Fri. 10/17 LA: At Skylight Books, Wed.

Hello, hello! My plan was to send this last week but then, you know, everything. These are events that I would seriously consider attending—or, at the very least, events which have piqued my interest in the books they’re highlighting. Feel free to email me with events, bookstores, and other relevant suggestions for things to include. I’m starring the books and/or authors I especially love.

The fall chill is creeping in but summer is technically not over YET, which means it is within my rights to continue playing the Queens Public Library summer book bingo. It’s my first time taking part in a reading club/game/etc.

ICYMI: We’re doing event roundups now, twice a month. These are events that I would seriously consider attending—or, at the very least, events which have piqued my interest in the books they’re highlighting. Feel free to email me with event recs, or if you know a bookstore I should be including, or if you live somewhere not mentioned here. I’m starring the books and/or authors I especially love. Tell me if you go! <3 Kingston: Night School Reading Series at Rough Draft, Tues.

This newsletter came to me in a dream last night. Not like it’s a revolutionary idea, but I literally spent a portion of my dream life opening tabs and building a spreadsheet. The grind NEVER stops. But I used to love doing virtual event roundups at BuzzFeed, so I woke up and said: let’s do it. These are events that I would seriously consider attending—or, at the very least, events which have piqued my interest in the books they’re highlighting. The lists will come, idk, maybe twice a month.

If you follow me there is zero chance you’ll be surprised to hear that I woke up the morning after saying I would delete my Instagram thinking, hmm… perhaps I’ve been foiled once again by my indignant impulsiveness. But I am too proud and insecure about being a flake to immediately say haha nevermind (especially after compelling so many of you to subscribe here, which: hello! and thank you!) so the account is deactivated while I figure out what the best way forward is.

Depending on how I'm feeling, the great or frustrating thing about having written a book that affirms the decision to live is that it's another reason I can't do the opposite. Now added to the cons side is the possibility that it would betray the people who've found hope in the book and its conclusions. Ultimately I am glad to have more anchors.

Happy [“happy”] 2024! ICYMI I have a newish monthly book column at Bustle, Stacked Up, which has been a true joy but has also made my beloved (by me) newsletter a bit redundant. The books I’d recommend here are now going there, but since I know there is a lot of content on the internet, I thought it would be worthwhile to send some regular recaps to all of you—along with some bonus picks.

I reluctantly checked my email this morning and saw that two sites I love—Libro.fm and Bookshop.org—are running some massive sales. Instead of ignoring these emails and reminding myself I am not supposed to be spending money, I thought—wait a minute, I bet there are some books in here I could recommend. And I was right! These lists include a bunch of favorites, many of which are throwbacks from years ago, which I always love.

When I was in high school my best friends and I decided it would be a good idea to play a “game” wherein we went around a circle and said one thing we liked and one thing we didn’t like about each person. Suffice it to say it wasn’t our best idea, but teens tend to be fledgling masochists, so desperate for an external evaluation of the self that they’ll practically beg for a takedown.