Hi, hello!

I took Tuesday off this week.

I had every intention of publishing something, and then Monday night I looked at the week ahead and decided that what I actually needed was to take my own advice and REST. So I did! No newsletter. No scrambling to finish something just so I could say I published it. I gave myself the day off.

And now I’m back just in time for the long weekend!!

Which feels particularly well-timed because August somehow became one of the busiest months I’ve had in a while.

The funny thing is, if you had asked me a week ago what I did in August, I probably would have said, Not much? Then I looked at my calendar. August was basically two completely different months.

The first half was still very much summer. I went to Vegas (for work), spent a weekend in Newport Beach visiting my college roommate, hiked five miles near China Peak, went to live music, ate good food, read a lot of books, took walks, did crosswords, and generally squeezed in as much summer as I could.

Then school started.

And suddenly we went from long summer evenings to alarms and backpacks and lunches and practices and games and trying to figure out who needs to be where at what time.

Both kids are in fall sports, and our calendars are full. Our evenings now require significantly more logistical planning than they did approximately three weeks ago, and I have already been informed about multiple things needed for school approximately twelve minutes before bedtime. We are adjusting!

I know we’ll find our rhythm because we always do, but I forgot how much of August is exactly that: one minute you’re eating a lobster roll overlooking the Pacific and the next you’re standing in the kitchen at 7:14 a.m. asking everyone where their shoes are.

Both versions were pretty good!

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

FRIDAY

Do not plan anything ambitious! Order something good or make the easiest dinner in your repertoire. If you don’t want to think about what to make, start with one of these easy dinner ideas. Put on comfortable clothes as soon as you finish work, open a bottle of something you enjoy, and light a candle and open the windows if its starting to cool down like it is over in California!

Spend the evening reading your book or watching something comforting. If you need a new book, browse the 300 books readers couldn't put down, pick something entirely based on vibes, and go to bed whenever you want. You have nowhere to be tomorrow morning!

SATURDAY

This feels like the perfect morning for coffee and wandering.

Go somewhere you enjoy for coffee and try the seasonal drink that sounds the most like fall. Or, if you want to stay home a little longer, make a pumpkin spice latte and drink it out of an unnecessarily autumnal mug.

Then go wander!

Walk around the farmers market, visit your local library (don’t forget your library bag!) spend some time thrifting, or browse a bookstore with absolutely no intention of being responsible. If you don’t already have a favorite indie near you, Bookshop has a bookstore finder that makes it very easy to find one!

Buy one completely unnecessary little treat while you are out. This is a very important part of the assignment! i’m already draming of a petite cinnamon roll from La Boulangerie at Fig Garden!

Then come home and watch college football. Make snacks, open the windows if the weather is pretending to cooperate, work on a crossword during commercials, and read twenty pages while everyone argues about a call. On Saturday night, go somewhere. Dinner, live music, a patio, or a friend’s house.

We have both Sunday and Monday to recover, which is the luxury of a three-day weekend!

SUNDAY

Sunday is for slowing everything back down. Sleep in, make breakfast, and read the paper or, more realistically, open the crossword and immediately become personally offended by 17-Across.

Spend an hour reading. Take a walk. If you want to make it a slightly more adventurous one, find a new trail near you on AllTrails. If you’re local to Fresno might I suggest Angel Falls. Anout an hour and a half outside of Fresno. A glorious spot with a bit of an ambigous trail, but beautiful water and falls!

Then do something creative that has absolutely no productivity attached to it. You could paint something badly, take your camera on your walk, make a collage, write in your journal, or go somewhere you've never been simply because you're curious about it.

Make dinner with someone you love. And, conveniently, there will be a brand-new August reading recap waiting in your inbox from yours truly. Look at me, planning your entire day for you!

MONDAY

Do not turn Labor Day into a productivity contest! (Reminding myself.)

Whenever I have an “extra day off,” I tend to want to use it to catch up on all the things I haven’t been able to get to. I know the temptation is strong. September arrives with the promise of a new month, new routines, and new systems, and suddenly it seems like the perfect time to reorganize every closet in the house.

Resist it! Have another cup of coffee, go outside, visit the pool, read your book, and take a nap.

And because Labor Day is basically summer’s last official cookout, eat something grilled. If you don’t know what yet, I found 59 Labor Day cookout recipes, which range from burgers and grilled corn to salmon skewers and peach cake. Pick something that requires eating outside.

You can wash your sheets if it makes you feel like you have your life together, but that is where I am drawing the line!!

Summer is not technically over yet, so let's give it one more day.

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A Few Things Worth Mentioning

I finished my writing class!

Eight weeks. Done!!

I signed up for this class right as I was starting a new novel, which felt like perfect timing. I was going to learn all these new things about character and structure and plot and immediately apply them to my book.

Instead, I stopped writing for 32 days.

HAHA.

Not quite the creative renaissance I had envisioned.

The strange thing was that I wasn't disconnected from writing at all. I was thinking about my book constantly, learning about writing every week, reading, taking notes, and talking about stories.

I just couldn’t seem to write mine.

Eventually, I had a call with my critique partner and realized that the problem was not necessarily that I could not write; I had not figured out the story yet.

There were pieces missing, the plot wasn't big enough, and I was trying to force myself to draft a book I hadn't fully understood.

So I stopped trying to make the existing version work and started asking bigger questions about it.

And then, finally...

I’m writing again.

Thirty-two days!!

That is by far the longest I’ve gone without writing fiction in years, and opening the manuscript again felt a little like approaching a wild animal.

I approached it very slowly, without making any sudden movements that might scare it away. But I’m back in it!

The book has changed quite a bit from the version I started with, and I think that’s what it needed. There are new connections, bigger surprises, and much more happening underneath the story than there was before.

I am excited about it again, which feels like the most important part.

I’ll tell you more soon.

I have apparently become a crossword person.

This was not an identity I was actively pursuing, but here we are.

I now look forward to doing them, have opinions about clues, and get irrationally irritated when I know that I know an answer but cannot access whatever tiny filing cabinet in my brain has decided to store it.

I especially love doing a crossword while half-watching something on TV, which I’m sure means I am giving neither activity my full attention, but that’s between me and my screen-time report.

Anyway. If you need me this weekend, there’s a decent chance I’ll be arguing with 17-Across.

College football is back.

I don’t have anything particularly insightful to add here. I’m just happy about it.

There is something deeply satisfying about having a game on in the background on a Saturday afternoon while you’re reading or doing a crossword or making something to eat.

We have entered the portion of the year when I can say, “I can’t, there’s a game on,” and I intend to take full advantage.

I read some VERY good books.

I was going to put my entire August reading recap here, and then I remembered that you probably don’t need a 4,000-word email from me heading into a holiday weekend.

You’re welcome. So I’m saving it for Sunday!

I’ll have everything I read in August, what I rated it, what I’d skip, and, most importantly, the books I think are actually worth adding to your TBR.

There are a couple I have been DYING to talk to you about. More on that Sunday!

A few fall outfits and how I’d style them:

I’d style this dress with:

rugby stripe dress, chocolate brown loafers, denim boyfriend jacket, shoulder bag

I’d style this dress with:

denim dress (alternate option), double metal belt, shoulder bag,
double buckle mesh flats, triangle scarf

I’d style this sweatshirt with:

amour sweatshirt, denim mini pocket skirt, plaid ruffle blouse

And that’s it from me this week!

I’m taking my own advice and heading into the long weekend without a giant list of things I need to accomplish.

I want to read. I want to watch football. I want to eat something good. I want to spend time outside. I want to have at least one stretch of the weekend when I look at the clock and realize I have absolutely nowhere I need to be.

And if I manage to wash my sheets somewhere in there, we’ll consider the weekend a tremendous success.

I’ll be back Sunday with everything I read in August. Until then, I hope you eat something delicious, stay up a little too late, read something you can’t put down, and get at least one afternoon with nowhere you need to be.

See you Sunday. 🤍

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The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

I finished my eight-week writing course! (Cue the confetti.)

And somewhere in the middle of those eight weeks, I also stopped writing for 32 days!!

Which was…not exactly how I pictured this going.

I signed up for this course at precisely the right moment. I was starting Book Two, I was excited about the idea, and I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about literary fiction, character, structure, plot, and all the other things that feel very straightforward when someone is explaining them to you and significantly less straightforward when you open your own manuscript.

Every week, I’d finish class with pages of notes and that particular kind of creative adrenaline that makes you want to immediately go fix your entire book.

I’d underline something. Star something else. Write BOOK TWO!!! beside a note because apparently three exclamation points would ensure I remembered its importance.

I kept thinking, I want to use this. I wanted to take everything I was learning and pour it directly into this new book. Instead, I couldn’t write.

The 32-day slump

I’ve had days when I don’t feel like writing before. Weeks when life gets busy. Stretches when I choose reading or painting or literally reorganizing a drawer over opening my manuscript. This felt different.

I would open the manuscript, reread the last few pages I’d written, move a sentence around, maybe add a few words, and close it again.

Meanwhile, I became remarkably interested in doing almost anything else. The longer I went without writing, the heavier it became. Partly because I was taking an intensive writing course at the exact same time.

I was surrounded by conversations about writing. I was doing exercises about writing. I was reading about writing. I was learning how character desire drives plot and how tension works and why certain stories pull us forward.

Then I’d sit down with my own book and stare at it. There is something uniquely frustrating about learning more about your craft while simultaneously feeling less capable of actually doing it. And because I wanted to be writing, I kept assuming the problem was me.

Maybe I needed more discipline.

Maybe I was overthinking it.

Maybe I needed to stop waiting until I felt inspired and just put some bad words on the page.

I kept telling myself some version of tomorrow I’ll get back into it. Tomorrow became another tomorrow. And another. Eventually, I had to consider that maybe I didn’t have a writing problem. Maybe I had a story problem.

The conversation that cracked something open

One of the best things to come out of the course was meeting another writer who has since become a critique partner.

Recently, we got on a call to talk about our books.

I started walking her through Book Two. I explained the premise, introduced the characters, described the structure I had been working from, and told her where I thought the story was going.

She started asking questions.

What does your main character want badly enough to drive an entire book?

What happens if she doesn’t get it?

I had answers.

Technically.

Then she asked:

Where does the story surprise you?

And I stopped.

Because I didn’t really have an answer.

Or, more accurately, I had answers. They just weren’t very exciting.

The more we talked, the more I started to notice something uncomfortable. I could explain why everything in my outline happened. I could tell her why a character made a particular decision or why one scene led to another.

But I was explaining the book more than I was getting excited about it. There was nothing wrong with the story. That was almost the problem. My outline worked. Things happened, the characters had motivations, there was conflict, and I could see exactly how to get from Chapter One to the ending. And apparently some part of my brain had absolutely no interest in walking down that perfectly reasonable path. I had spent weeks thinking I couldn’t make myself write. What if I simply didn’t want to write that version of the book?

So I threw out the outline

Not the book.

Not the characters.

Not even the central idea that made me want to write this story in the first place.

Just the version of it I’d been trying so hard to make work. I opened a blank document. And instead of asking, What happens next? according to the outline I already had, I started asking different questions.

What if this happened instead?

What would make this messier?

What haven’t I considered?

What would genuinely surprise me?

Most importantly: What if I stopped worrying about whether an idea fit neatly into the book I’d already planned?

Almost immediately, the story started getting bigger.

Not necessarily bigger in the more plot! more drama! sense.

Bigger in possibility.

I started seeing connections I hadn’t considered before. Characters suddenly had more complicated reasons for doing what they were doing. One choice created consequences somewhere else. Pieces of the story that had previously existed neatly beside each other started colliding. And then I had one of those ideas. You know the kind. The wait…WHAT IF idea.

The one that makes you sit up a little straighter because suddenly you can see ten new possibilities branching out from it. I’m not telling you what it is yet. Sorry! But it was the first time in weeks I felt genuinely surprised by my own book. And I realized how much I had missed that feeling. I’d been treating knowing the entire story as proof that I was prepared to write it. Maybe I’d actually planned some of the life out of it.

Maybe the slump was trying to tell me something

I don’t particularly want to romanticize not writing for 32 days. It felt terrible!! Especially because I wanted to write. I was taking a class about something I love, surrounded by people talking about stories, collecting pages of notes I couldn’t wait to use, and then not using any of them.

There were definitely moments when I wondered whether I had somehow lost the momentum I’d had with this book. But now that I’m on the other side of it, I don’t think those 32 days were wasted. I finished an eight-week course that changed the way I think about fiction. I met writers I can text when I have a completely unhinged plot idea and need someone to tell me whether it’s brilliant or ridiculous. I learned more about my own creative process. And apparently, I spent 32 days resisting a version of a book I didn’t actually want to write. That’s useful information. Annoying information, but useful nonetheless.

I’m realizing there is a difference between avoiding the work because the work is hard and avoiding the work because something underneath it isn’t working. I’m still learning how to tell the difference. Maybe that’s part of becoming a better writer too.

Where Book Two stands now

Book Two looks very different than it did a month ago. The original outline has been set aside. I have a broader, more expansive version of the story now. One that leaves room for surprise and lets the characters complicate things in ways my first outline didn’t. There are still giant question marks. Actually, there may be more question marks than there were before. A month ago, that would have terrified me. Now they feel like invitations.

Because one of the things I’m taking away from this course, and from the strange experience of barely writing while taking a writing course, is that I don’t need to know every single thing that’s going to happen before I start. I need enough structure to know what story I’m telling. But I also need enough uncertainty to be curious about it. And right now, I am.

What I’m working on next

For the next stretch, I’m less interested in chasing a specific word-count goal and more interested in staying close to the story.

I want to keep testing this new plot.

I want to let characters make inconvenient decisions.

I want to follow ideas that make me think wait, could I actually do that?

I want to notice when I’m choosing the obvious answer simply because it’s easier to outline.

Mostly, though, I want to get back to the pages.

Because somewhere around day twenty-something, I started wondering whether I had simply lost whatever momentum I’d had with this book. Maybe I’d waited too long. Maybe I’d thought about it so much that I’d managed to think myself right out of wanting to write it.

And then, recently, I caught myself thinking about a scene when I wasn’t trying to. Then another. I opened my notes because I wanted to write something down, not because I’d told myself I should. It was such a small thing. But after 32 days, it felt enormous. I missed my book. Maybe that’s the writing update this month. I thought I had stopped writing because I’d lost my way with the story. It turns out I was figuring out which story I actually wanted to tell. And now I really want to know what happens next.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

Hi, hello!

I’ve been thinking about the question what else?

Not what's next? That's a different question, and one I tend to ask myself far too often. What's next? implies that we should already be moving forward, that we need a plan, and that whatever is happening right now has been sufficiently dealt with so it's time to get on with it. What else? asks us to stay put for another minute.

I started thinking about this while reading about the tendency we have to answer difficult questions with I don’t know. What do you want? I don’t know. Why isn’t this working? I don’t know. What’s bothering you? I don’t know.

Except sometimes I think we do know. Or at least, we know there’s more underneath the first answer. This week I’ve been trying to stay there a little longer.

Anyway, more on that below. First, it’s almost the weekend, and I have some ideas!!

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️
on the bottom? I promise it helps!

I am entering the portion of August where I am mentally drinking something warm in a sweater while the actual weather outside remains deeply committed to summer. So this weekend’s itinerary is for anyone else who would like to gently pretend fall is coming without turning their air conditioner down to 64 degrees.

Friday night: Pick up something good for dinner instead of cooking. [Thai, sushi, chipotle, whatever your heart desires. Then put your phone somewhere you can’t absentmindedly reach for it and watch Don’t Say Goodluck. A heartfelt coming-of-age movie about a teen balancing ordinary high school life with the crushing news that her mom’s cancer has returned. Tender, emotional, and surprisingly warm without feeling overly sentimental. Bonus points for popcorn in an actual bowl instead of eating it directly from the bag, which is mostly a note to myself.

Saturday morning: Take your book somewhere. Coffee shop, park, backyard, wherever. Order the drink you actually want, read for an hour, and don’t turn it into an errand. I’m currently reading The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, which feels particularly good for a slow Saturday morning when I want something absorbing but not too demanding.

Later, make something simply because you want to make it. I’m eyeing tomato galette with basil and goat cheese, but this could also be painting, baking, rearranging a bookshelf, starting a puzzle, working in the garden, or buying the ingredients for a dinner you’ve been saving for some imaginary future occasion.

Sunday: Make breakfast slowly. Put on this playlist. Go for a walk without anything playing in your ears. Stop somewhere you’ve driven past a hundred times but never actually gone into. Come home, do one thing that will make Monday-you incredibly happy, and then call it good!

And sometime this weekend, when you catch yourself saying I don’t know, see what happens if you ask yourself:

Okay. What else?

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What Else?

I recently came across an idea in The Artist’s Way about specificity. The premise is that creativity asks us to get particular about our lives. Not things aren’t great, but this specific thing isn’t working. Not I want something different, but here is the thing I keep thinking about wanting. Not I’m uninspired, but I’m bored with what I’m making. That last distinction got me.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about my own creative work, especially after going through a writing slump that lasted much longer than I wanted it to. For 32 days, I wasn’t writing.

The timing made it especially frustrating. I was in the middle of an eight-week writing course. Every week I was learning new things about character and structure and story, filling notebooks with ideas I couldn’t wait to try, and then sitting down in front of my own book and…nothing.

My first answer was that I was in a slump. Ok, fair enough but...

What else?

Eventually, I got on a call with a critique partner I’d met through the course and started talking through my book. I explained the premise. The characters. The outline I’d spent all this time creating. She asked me questions about where the story could go, and I kept finding myself without satisfying answers.

That’s when something finally clicked. I wasn’t only struggling to write the story. I didn’t think the story was big enough yet. That was a much more specific answer, and therefore a much less comfortable one.

Because I’m in a writing slump asks very little of me. I can wait for inspiration to return. I can change my routine. I can buy another notebook, which is obviously my preferred treatment for most creative ailments.

This story isn’t developed enough requires me to do something about it. So I did!

I set aside the plot I’d been trying so hard to make work and let myself imagine a larger version of the book. I followed threads I hadn’t followed before. I started asking questions that weren’t about how to fix what I already had, but about what might happen if I stopped protecting it.

And suddenly there was surprise again! Not certainty. I definitely don’t have that, but possibility.

Our first answer is often simply the one that lets us avoid changing anything.

I’m too busy.

I’m tired.

I’m not inspired.

I don’t know.

Sometimes those answers are completely true. Sometimes tired really does just mean tired. But sometimes there’s another answer underneath.

Maybe I don’t have time means I don’t want to spend my time on this anymore.

Maybe I can’t decide means I know which one I want, but I’m afraid I’ll regret choosing it.

Maybe I’m uninspired means this isn’t exciting me anymore.

Maybe I don’t know what I want means I know exactly what I want, but saying it out loud would require something from me.

Specificity has consequences. Once you’ve named something, it’s much harder to pretend you haven’t noticed it. I think that’s why what else? feels gentler to me than demanding an immediate answer. It isn’t Tell me the truth right now. It’s simply an invitation to keep going.

What else are you feeling?

What else isn’t working?

What else would you try?

What else might be true?

There doesn’t always have to be a revelation waiting at the bottom. Sometimes the second answer is just as mundane as the first. But I’ve started to wonder how many things I’ve labeled I don’t know when what I really meant was I haven’t stayed with the question long enough.

So that’s what I’m practicing lately! Not rushing toward what’s next and trying to stay with what else.

A few decidedly less existential things currently making life better!

Denim Wide Leg Pants in Leopard Print — Apparently leopard really is a neutral, because I can already think of about ten ways I’d wear these. I love the wide-leg shape and that they’re a little unexpected without feeling impossible to style. I’d pair them with a Relaxed V-Neck Sweater Tee and let the pants do all the work.

Sunday Riley Tidal Deep Hydration and Plumping Serum — I've been using this for over a month now, and it has been such a treat for my skin. My skin tends to run on the drier side, and this serum is soooo good when I need that extra hit of hydration. I've been wearing it under my moisturizer on especially dry days or by itself when I want something lighter. One of those products my skin just seems genuinely happy about.

Rugby Stripe Mini Dress — Stripes get me every time, and this one is so cute. Sporty, preppy, and easy, the kind of dress I'd throw on with sneakers and call it a day.

K18 AirWash Dry Shampoo — A dry shampoo that actually makes my hair feel clean instead of coated in more product. It's lightweight, and so good at refreshing my hair between washes. I’m not a big dry shampoo girlie but this one changed my mind!!

Ribbon Stripe Icon Juice Glass — The cutest little glass for making an ordinary drink feel more fun. I'm convinced tiny, unnecessary-but-delightful things like this make everyday life better.

Libby — A free app that lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library, which is excellent for anyone who wants to read more without adding another subscription.

Green Ceramic Table Lamp — The green ceramic base! The pleated shade! Such an easy way to make a room feel instantly cozier, especially as we head into fall.

Kindle Cases — Lizzie makes the cutest Kindle cases, and I'm obsessed. Such a fun way to dress up something that's basically always in my hand anyway. I especially have m y eye on the candy stripe case!

Harvest Tray — Such a pretty fall piece without screaming FALL DECOR. I love the warm, natural look and can already picture it styled on a coffee table or kitchen counter.

Cove Slipcover Lana Dining Chair — I want this to be my new desk chair so badly. It looks ridiculously cozy, and I loooove the print. Tell me this wouldn't make sitting down to write immediately more appealing.

I’m heading into the weekend trying to pay attention to the moment right after my first answer, the tiny space where I would normally shrug, say I don’t know, and move on. Maybe there isn’t anything else there, but maybe there is. And lately, I think it’s worth asking.

Your turn! Tell me one of your “what else?” answers in the comments. It can be big and existential or completely ordinary. What’s something you’ve recently realized, admitted to yourself, changed your mind about, or finally found a more specific answer for?

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Happy weekend, friends. ❤️

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

I used to think knowing yourself meant having definitive answers.

I used to believe that self-knowledge meant having clear, permanent preferences and a fixed idea of who I was. I thought I needed to know exactly what I liked, what I avoided, and what kind of person I would always be.

There’s something satisfying about being able to describe yourself in absolutes. It makes you feel settled. Like you’ve done the work, figured yourself out, and can now move through the world with a neatly labeled instruction manual.

I don’t do mornings.

I don’t like horror books.

I could never live there.

I’m not someone who goes places alone.

I would never date someone like that.

That’s just not who I am.

We say these things so confidently, and sometimes they’re completely true.

Until they aren’t.

I’ve been thinking about how many opinions I’ve held about myself that eventually expired. Things I once considered facts about who I was that turned out to be preferences for a particular season of my life.

I’ve changed my mind about books I thought weren’t for me. I’ve picked up hobbies I never imagined enjoying. I’ve found myself comfortable in situations that an earlier version of me would have avoided completely. Things I once thought I needed have become less important, while things I barely considered before have somehow moved to the top of the list.

And every time it happens, there’s this tiny moment of resistance.

But I don’t do this.

Except apparently, I do now.

I think we sometimes confuse consistency with authenticity. We assume that being true to ourselves means continuing to want the things we’ve always wanted.

But what if being true to yourself also means being willing to admit when you don’t want them anymore?

Maybe you spent years convinced you wanted the big house and now you’d rather have less to take care of. Maybe you built your identity around being busy and suddenly an empty Saturday sounds luxurious. Maybe you always said you weren’t outdoorsy and then somebody convinced you to go on a hike and, annoyingly, you loved it.

Maybe the life you pictured at twenty-five simply isn’t the life you want at thirty-five or forty-five.

That doesn’t make the younger version of you wrong.

She was making decisions with the information she had. She wanted what she wanted because of the life she was living then. You don’t have to look back at her and wonder how she got everything so wrong.

She didn’t.

You just know more now.

You’ve met more people. You’ve lost things you thought you’d always have. You’ve gotten things you were certain would make you happy and discovered they didn’t quite do the job. You’ve traveled somewhere new, read something that rearranged your thinking, had conversations that stayed with you longer than you expected.

Of course you changed.

It would almost be stranger if you didn’t.

Still, I think we have a hard time giving ourselves permission to contradict ourselves.

Once we’ve announced something loudly enough, changing our minds can feel like admitting we were wrong. There’s almost an embarrassment to it.

I know I said I’d never…

Those five words have probably preceded some of the best decisions people have ever made.

Because “never” is such a strange promise to make on behalf of a person you haven’t met yet.

The version of you five years from now is going to know things you don’t know. She’ll have experiences you haven’t had. She’ll meet people you can’t imagine yet. Something that feels nonnegotiable to you today may barely register for her.

I find that incredibly comforting.

There are parts of myself I hope never change, of course. The values underneath everything. The way I want to treat people. The things I believe matter most.

But the rest?

I’m starting to think I should hold it a little more loosely.

Maybe I’ll always love the books I love now, or maybe someday I’ll pick one up and wonder what I ever saw in it. Maybe a hobby I’m obsessed with will eventually collect dust. Maybe I’ll fall completely in love with something I currently have no interest in whatsoever.

Maybe I’ll become someone who wakes up at five in the morning.

Actually, let’s not get carried away.

But I want to leave room for her.

I want to stop making decisions for future me based entirely on what present me knows. I want to be curious when I catch myself enjoying something I swore I didn’t like instead of immediately trying to explain it away.

Because I don’t think changing your mind means you didn’t know yourself before.

I think sometimes it means you kept getting to know yourself.

There’s a difference.

We’re allowed to outgrow our own rules. We’re allowed to reconsider what we thought we wanted. We’re allowed to become interested in things we once dismissed and less interested in things that used to define us.

We’re even allowed to surprise ourselves.

Maybe that’s part of the fun of getting older. Not finally arriving at some finished version of ourselves, but realizing there was never supposed to be one.

There’s no final draft.

There’s just the person you are now, carrying all the versions you’ve been before, with enough room left for whoever you might become next.

What’s something you once said you’d never do, like, want, or become, and then completely changed your mind about? Tell me in the comments.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

There is a very specific kind of book I am always looking for.

Not necessarily the best book you’ve ever read. Not the most beautifully written or the one you think everyone should read.

I mean the book that completely ruins your plans.

The one you bring with you while you brush your teeth. The one that makes you say one more chapter at 11:47 p.m. even though you know exactly how this is going to end. The book you think about while you’re making dinner because technically you could probably stir the pasta with one hand and hold your Kindle with the other.

That kind of book.

So a few days ago, I posted one very simple question on Substack:

I expected some good recommendations.

I did not expect 300 comments.

Apparently, asking readers about the books that made them abandon sleep, responsibilities and reasonable bedtimes is one way to get us all talking.

And the recommendations were so good.

There were books read cover to cover on transatlantic flights. Books that kept people awake until their eyes couldn’t focus. Someone read more than 600 pages in less than 24 hours. One reader’s partner eventually asked her to leave the bedroom because she was still reading at 1 a.m. and her book light was keeping him awake.

Someone else stayed up through the entire night to finish a book.

And one person read an entire novel on a train.

This was precisely the level of commitment I was looking for!!

So I went through the comments, looked for the books that came up again and again, pulled out the recommendations that made me immediately add something to my own TBR, and turned your answers into one giant could not put it down reading list.

Consider this your emergency reading list for the next time you want a book that makes the rest of your life temporarily inconvenient.

The Books You Mentioned Again and Again

This was the fun part.

Once I started going through all 300 comments, a handful of titles kept resurfacing. Different readers. Different tastes. Same books.

At a certain point, a recommendation starts to feel less like a suggestion and more like peer pressure.

Heart the Lover by Lily King - This might have been one of the loudest consensuses of the entire thread. Heart the Lover came up again and again, including from readers who finished it in a single sitting or less than 48 hours.

And this is what I love about this entire experiment: I expected thrillers to dominate. I didn’t necessarily expect a literary novel about love, memory, friendship and the people who leave permanent marks on our lives to be one of the books everyone was inhaling.

But apparently Lily King has a hold on you people.

Read this when: You want beautiful writing without sacrificing the just one more chapter feeling.

Whistler by Ann Patchett - Another repeat offender. People weren’t casually recommending this one either. One reader said she read it in a day, while others simply dropped the title into the comments as if no further explanation was necessary.

Honestly, sometimes that’s the most convincing recommendation of all.

Whistler.

That’s it. That’s the pitch.

Read this when: You want literary fiction that still has you reaching for the next chapter.

Strangers by Belle Burden - I was especially happy to see this one keep popping up because I devoured Strangers, too. One reader finished it in less than 24 hours. Another read the entire book on a train.

And honestly, I get it.

This is exactly the kind of book I had in mind when I asked the question: immersive, compulsive and very easy to accidentally lose an afternoon to.

Read this when: You want to disappear into someone else’s life for a day.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - Okay, you all convinced me that this one belongs near the top. The Correspondent continued popping up as the comments rolled in, including from one reader who had just finished Strangers during a train ride and said The Correspondent was the other recent book she’d read in less than 24 hours.

I already loved this book, and the audio is lovely, too, so seeing it appear over and over made me very happy. It’s also an epistolary novel, which isn’t necessarily what you’d expect to find on an I forgot to eat lunch because I was reading list.

Read this when: You want a quieter book that somehow still makes you forget what time it is.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - This one surprised me by how often it appeared. Readers described it as devastating, strange and thought-provoking. One said she started and finished it on the same day. It’s also proof that “unputdownable” doesn’t necessarily have to mean twisty thriller.

Sometimes you keep reading because a book has created a question in your brain and you absolutely cannot walk away until you understand it.

Read this when: You want something strange, unsettling and impossible to stop thinking about.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett - The impressive part here isn’t simply that readers flew through it. It’s that this book is more than 600 pages. One reader finished it in under a week while caring for three kids, including a newborn, and calculated that under normal reading conditions this basically translates to one or two days. I accept this math.

Read this when: You want a big book that doesn’t feel like a big book.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - One reader finished it cover to cover on a transatlantic flight. Another called it the best book they’d read this year and immediately followed it with The Martian.

Apparently Andy Weir knows how to use a hook. And I love recommendations like this because they make me want to reach outside my normal reading habits.

Read this when: You don’t normally think of yourself as a science-fiction reader but are willing to be converted.

The Thrillers That Apparently Require You to Cancel Your Plans

Unsurprisingly, thrillers showed up all over this conversation.

Which makes sense!

A thriller has one job when I’m reading it: make me need to know what happens next.

I don’t want to casually wonder about the ending while folding laundry. I want to be irritated that someone is talking to me because I have 87 pages left and SOMEONE IS LYING.

These were some of your strongest endorsements.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden - One reader said this book had her “in a chokehold” and that she read the entire thing in one night. This is exactly the kind of endorsement I’m looking for when I need a reading-slump book.

I don’t necessarily need you to tell me it’s going to change my life. Tell me you looked up and somehow it was 2 a.m.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The endorsement for this one could not have been more on-theme:

“I stayed up through the night to finish it!”

No sleep. Only vampires.

But this isn’t just a vampire novel, it’s also a darkly funny story about friendship, marriage, motherhood, class and the horrors hiding inside an ordinary Southern suburb. When a women’s book club suspects their charming new neighbor is dangerous, they must protect their families while the men around them dismiss their fears.

Read this when: You want horror with a strong sense of place, a memorable group of women at the center and enough momentum to justify staying up until morning.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - A modern twisty-thriller staple made its way into the recommendations, and I’m not surprised.

Alicia Berenson is a successful painter who appears to have a happy marriage, until she shoots her husband five times in the face and then stops speaking. Years later, a psychotherapist becomes determined to uncover why, moving between therapy sessions, diary entries and an investigation into Alicia’s life before the murder. The promise of an answer, combined with short chapters and constant new revelations, makes this the kind of thriller that’s nearly impossible to put down.

Read this when: You want a psychological thriller built around a central mystery, an unreliable silence and a twist you’ll be thinking about after you close the book.

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino - This was one of the newer recommendations, and the description immediately got me:

“The most manipulative main character I’ve ever read. With snappy prose that draws you in.” — Blair Bryan

Well. Consider me influenced!

The Enigma Challenge by S.C. Godfrey - One reader described this as Romancing the Stone meets The Amazing Race and then supplied the most important piece of information:

She stayed up “wayyyy too late.”

Adventure thriller + puzzle + sleep deprivation? Noted.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe - This one came up multiple times, and one reader said it was so gripping and intense that she was having trouble starting another book afterward because she needed time to digest it.

Now that is a book hangover.

The Ones I Didn’t Expect

This was probably my favorite part of reading through the comments.

Because yes, there were plenty of mysteries and thrillers.

But there were also romances. Literary fiction. Fantasy. Memoir. Books I wouldn’t automatically put into the clear your schedule immediately category.

Books that weren’t necessarily driven by WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! so much as I don’t want to leave these people yet.

And sometimes, that’s the kind of book I want most!!

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood - Possibly my favorite story from the entire comment section came from Kamilė, who said she normally reads for about an hour before bed.

Then she started The Love Hypothesis around 9 p.m.

“My partner asked me to leave the bedroom at 1a.m. as I couldn’t stop reading and my nightlight was bothering him.”

Four stars for romance. Five stars for choosing the book over the bedroom.

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian - 18 hours. That’s it. That’s the recommendation.

One reader finished the entire thing in 18 hours. I don’t need further evidence.

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page - This one started appearing alongside some of the thread’s repeat favorites, including a reader who named it together with Strangers. And this is exactly why I love asking readers these questions. Sometimes a book I’ve seen floating around suddenly hits differently when real people start saying, No, seriously. Read this.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - This one delighted me.

One reader said he went in expecting it to be a gimmick and finished it in two days. He called Dinniman hilarious, and mentioned that he plays D&D, which immediately made me pay attention. As a fellow D&D player: noted.

Heartwood by Amity Gaige - This recommendation came with one extremely important qualifier:

“Could not put it down, on vacation, with a 4 and 1 year old.”

Parents understand that this is basically the literary equivalent of an Olympic medal.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Another reminder that a page-turner doesn’t need a murder, unreliable narrator or giant twist.

Sometimes the thing pulling you forward is simply wanting to stay inside the world a little longer.

A Few Recommendations I’m Still Thinking About

This is where the entire experiment backfired.

I asked for recommendations ostensibly in the name of helping all of us find good books, and instead I now have approximately 87 books I would like to begin immediately.

A few have especially stuck with me:

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson - Someone read more than 600 pages in less than 24 hours.

The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell - A murder mystery set inside the Vatican already had my attention. But the reader who recommended it said she finished it in two days and then immediately started reading it again. She’d never done that with another book before or since. Sold!!

Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands - This recommendation wasn’t the loudest or most dramatic, but I kept thinking about the description afterward.

One reader called it an absolutely beautiful book with a main character you alternately root for and weep for, and said it upends a few tropes along the way.

Sometimes that’s all I need to hear.

Okay, But What Should I Read First?

If 300 comments and this entire list somehow made your decision harder, let’s narrow it down.

If you want something twisty:
Never Lie by Freida McFadden

If you want to stay up irresponsibly late:
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

If you want romance:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

If you want something emotional:
Heart the Lover by Lily King

If you want a quieter page-turner:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

If you want to disappear into another world:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

If you want something a little weird:
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

If you want something completely outside your usual genre:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

If you haven’t been able to finish a book lately:
Strangers by Belle Burden

And if you’re wondering which one I’m picking up first?

I think Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino just jumped to the front of the line.

Apparently “most manipulative main character I’ve ever read” is all it takes to get my attention.

There was one comment, though, that offered a completely different answer to my question.

Someone said she could have finished Niall Williams’s This Is Happiness in 48 hours.

Instead:

“I didn’t want it to end so I purposefully slowed down to two pages a day to make it last longer.”

And I love that, too.

Because there are plenty of books I love that took me weeks to read. Books I wanted to savor. Books I put down and came back to. Books that weren’t compulsively readable but stayed with me long after I finished them.

Finishing a book in 48 hours isn’t necessarily my measure of whether it’s good.

But sometimes I don’t want to savor a book. Sometimes I want to devour it.

I want to look at the clock and realize an hour disappeared. I want to carry my book from the couch to bed because stopping at the end of the chapter isn’t actually an option. I want to text someone, YOU HAVE TO READ THIS, before I’ve even finished it.

And judging by 300 comments, I don’t think I’m alone.

If your TBR was already unreasonable before this, I apologize. Slightly.

As for me, I now have approximately 87 books I want to read immediately, which feels like a problem for Future Danielle.

So I’m turning the question over to you one more time:

Which book will you be reading (or adding to your TBR) from this list first?! Leave it below.

Leave a comment

Because apparently 249 recommendations weren’t enough for me.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

This week felt full in the best, most ordinary way!!

I got in a five-mile hike up near China Peak, with bonus points awarded when your hiking date thinks to bring a hammock. There are few things better than realizing halfway through a hike that you get to lie down beside a lake for a while.

I also got a home-cooked meal, which might be one of my favorite forms of being cared for. I love making food for people I love, but there is something especially nice about someone else making you dinner. Even better? There was enough left over for another meal, which meant one less dinner I had to figure out this week. A true luxury!

I worked on a crossword until I finished it, as I always do, occasionally asking whoever happened to be nearby if they knew an answer I was stuck on. At this point, I think crosswords have become part hobby, part social experiment. You learn a surprising amount about people by asking, “Seven letters, starts with T…”

I finally tried Strada, the new sandwich shop, and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. There were absolutely no leftovers involved in this particular meal because every one of us demolished our sandwiches. Will be back. Pronto.

And somewhere between all of that, I found myself back at my writing table whenever I could sneak in the time.

Maybe that’s what I liked most about this week. Nothing particularly monumental happened. It was just full of small things that made me happy while they were happening.

Which feels especially worth noticing during a time of year when I’m very tempted to start looking ahead.

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

Worth Reaching For: The Late-Summer Uniform

here is a very specific fashion problem that happens in August when your heart says fall but the weather app says absolutely not.

I want suede, loafers and jackets right now. I do not want heatstroke.

So I’ve been thinking about the late-summer uniform: pieces that hint at fall without requiring actual fall weather.

Dark Brown Suede Loafers — Suede and chocolate brown immediately say fall, but loafers still work with bare ankles, dresses and denim shorts while it’s 95 degrees outside.

Red & White Striped Cardigan — Red stripes feel very back-to-school-in-the-best-way, and a short-sleeve cardigan gives you the fall look without actually dressing for fall weather.

Light Wash Denim Crop Jacket — The layer I’d keep in the car for cooler mornings and evenings, then immediately take off the second the afternoon remembers it’s still August.

Basically, fall dressing for people who still need the air conditioning running.

Books for the In-Between

There’s something about late August reading that makes me want a very specific kind of book. I’m not quite ready for full haunted-house, locked-door, everyone-is-probably-a-murderer October reading. But the breezy beach reads are starting to feel slightly out of season too. I want something atmospheric, a little moody, compulsively readable, maybe slightly unsettling.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - a dark, atmospheric campus novel that feels perfect for the in-between season.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors - a messy, modern love story about two strangers in New York whose impulsive marriage slowly unravels into something tender, complicated, and painfully real.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah - a sweeping, emotional survival story set in the Alaskan wilderness that captures both the beauty and brutality of starting over.

Consider this the literary equivalent of wearing a sweater with shorts!

Meanwhile, in Prythian...

Obviously, we need to talk about this. Two new ACOTAR books, Eleven weeks apart and one enormous story.

After waiting since A Court of Silver Flames, suddenly we’re getting two books practically back-to-back, and I have theories, questions, and a tiny bit of Crescent City-induced anxiety about just how big this story is about to become.

Mostly, though? I’m ridiculously excited. This is the fun kind of anticipation, the theories, the rereads, the group chats, and all of us collectively losing our minds over whatever tiny clues Sarah J. Maas decides to give us next.

And if this news has you considering a reread, may I also direct you to:

Apparently I know exactly what I’m doing this fall!

What to Make: Use the Good Tomatoes

Before we collectively abandon summer produce for soup season, I would like to make a case for using every tomato we can get our hands on. Tomato toast, bruschetta, caprese, pasta with burst cherry tomatoes, and tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and flaky salt eaten directly over the kitchen sink. This is their moment!

Caprese Salad with a Twist - Layer sliced heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil. Add a drizzle of good olive oil, flaky salt, cracked pepper, and a spoonful of pesto or hot honey for a little extra something.

There will be plenty of time for butternut squash.

One More Small Ritual I’m Not Ready to Let Go Of

Before summer fully slips away, I keep thinking about the little rituals that quietly make it feel like summer in the first place. Just the small, ordinary ones that only really exist in this season.

It’s like sitting outside a little longer than you meant to, even when the air is still warm, or eating something cold for dinner because it’s too hot to turn on the stove. It’s taking the long way home just because the sky looks too pretty to miss, and staying up later than you should because the evenings feel softer right now.

I don’t think I want a grand “end of summer” moment. I think I just want to notice these small things while they’re still here. And maybe do them a few more times on purpose before they quietly disappear into fall.

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I think I’m very good at looking forward to things.

Trips, seasons, plans, books that haven’t come out yet, the weekend!

Give me something three weeks away and I can build an entire tiny fantasy life around it. And I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Anticipation is one of life’s underrated pleasures. Sometimes knowing there’s something good coming is enough to make an ordinary Tuesday feel a little better.

But anticipation has a sneaky downside.

You can get so good at looking forward that you forget to look around.

I’ve been thinking about that lately because August is practically built for anticipation. We’re close enough to fall that we can see it coming, but not close enough to actually have it yet.

And it would be very easy to wish these last few weeks away. I catch myself doing this in bigger ways, too.

Once this week is over.

Once the weather cools down.

Once I finish this project.

Once life isn’t quite so busy.

Then I’ll cook more, then I’ll read, then I’ll invite people over, then I’ll slow down.

The problem is that life has an incredible ability to replace one busy thing with another, and there isn’t always a clean transition where one season ends, the next begins, and suddenly we have all the time and energy we were waiting for. Most of life happens somewhere in between, between where we were and where we’re going, between the thing we just finished and the thing we’re excited to start, between summer and fall. And maybe the in-between doesn’t need to be something we hurry through. Maybe anticipation and appreciation can exist at the same time. I can be excited about sweaters while still eating watermelon, look forward to cooler mornings while still appreciating a late summer night, and want what’s coming without treating what’s here like a waiting room. Because eventually the thing we’re looking forward to arrives, and before long, we’ll start looking forward to whatever comes after that.

In My LOFT Cart. I’m trying to be a little more intentional about building a fall capsule wardrobe this year, and I’ve found that sticking to a loose color palette makes getting dressed so much easier. I’m gravitating toward navy, cream, denim, plaid, and a few romantic prints, pieces I can mix, layer, and wear while the weather figures itself out.

• Wide Leg Pants in Pinstripe in Navy/White — The kind of pants I’d wear with a simple white tee and loafers now, then add a cardigan or blazer once it actually cools down.

• Leopard Print Hair Calf Belt — Leopard is also a neutral as far as I’m concerned. I’d use this to break up all the navy, cream, denim, and plaid without taking the capsule completely off course.

• Garden Lace Trim Midi Dress — Feminine without feeling overly dressy; I’d wear it with sandals now and eventually add a cardigan and boots for fall.

• Side Buckle Pleated Mini Skirt — Very prep-school fall in the best way. I’m picturing it with a fitted tee or button-down, loafers, and eventually a sweater.

• Pants in Plaid — An easy way to bring plaid into the capsule without committing to a full fall outfit; I’d keep everything else simple with a cream sweater and loafers.

• Tie Neck Bias Midi Dress — I love having a few prints that still work within my capsule colors; this one just needs simple shoes and a cardigan when it gets cooler.

• Floral Lace Trim Bias Mini Dress — Perfect for seasonal transitions: strappy sandals while it’s still hot, then loafers or boots with a cardigan once fall finally shows up.

• Scarf Car Coat — Made for those chilly mornings/warm afternoons when you need a layer you can easily take off, and the built-in scarf makes it feel much more interesting.

• Denim V-Neck Mini Pocket Dress — I immediately pictured this layered over a white lace blouse with loafers. Denim also goes with basically everything else in my fall color palette.

• Studded Shoulder Bag — A little texture and edge to break up all the romantic dresses, plaid, and preppy pieces while still working with the whole capsule.

• Rugby Stripe Mini Dress — This with loafers is exactly the preppy, slightly collegiate fall look I keep gravitating toward.

• Eyelet Striped Blouse — Stripes are basically a neutral in my fall capsule; I’d wear this tucked into wide-leg trousers or with denim and loafers for an easy polished outfit.

• Heart Charm Statement Necklace — I love one slightly playful accessory with otherwise classic pieces, and this would be so cute layered over a simple tee, button-down, or sweater.

• Textured Leopard Ballet Flats — Exactly the kind of shoe I want to wear with everything this fall, mini dresses, plaid pants, skirts, and denim, especially while it’s still too warm for boots.

I’m still going to save the sweater! I’m still going to get ridiculously excited the first morning the temperature drops enough to open the windows.

I’m still going to romanticize fall before it gets here!

But I also don’t want to spend the last few weeks of summer wishing they were something else.

There are still tomatoes to eat and late sunsets to enjoy and summer books to finish and probably at least one more iced coffee that melts faster than I can drink it!

We can look forward to what’s next. We just don’t have to leave early to get there.

Tell me in the comments: what are you looking forward to right now, and what’s one thing you still want to enjoy before this season ends?

Leave a comment

Happy weekend, friends. ❤️

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

There comes a point every August when my reading taste starts to shift.

I still have summer left. It is still very much iced-coffee weather. And where I live, pulling out a sweater anytime soon would be genuinely unhinged.

But suddenly the breezy beach reads aren’t hitting quite the same.

I want secrets, suspicious husbands, missing women, an unsolved mystery from 20 years ago, families that are clearly hiding something, and a house no reasonable person should ever spend the night in. (I’ll bring this up in therapy this week, don’t worry haha)

Basically, my brain has decided it’s spooky season even if the weather has not.

And if you’re feeling the same way, I’ve been looking at the thrillers, mysteries and horror books I want on my TBR as we head into the final stretch of summer.

But instead of giving you a giant list of books and leaving you to figure out which ones are actually for you, I thought we’d do this differently.

Tell me what kind of unsettling you’re in the mood for, and I’ll tell you what to read next.

If you want something psychological...

My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney - An artist comes home to discover another woman living in her house, and her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.

Excuse me???

There’s also an inherited house, a mysterious clinic that can supposedly predict the date of your death, and two women’s stories that begin colliding.

This sounds exactly like the kind of book where I would spend 300 pages confidently developing a theory only to discover I was wrong about absolutely everything.

Read this if you like: unreliable narrators, marriage secrets, complicated timelines and stories where you don’t know who to believe.

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston - Camille suspects her husband has been hiding something from her, but there’s a problem: he monitors her every move.

So she teams up with Aubrey, a woman who has her own reasons for wanting answers about Camille’s husband.

Their solution? Aubrey takes Camille’s place for the night while Camille secretly follows him.

By morning, he’s dead.

Honestly, this premise alone feels capable of pulling me out of a reading slump.

Read this if you like: domestic thrillers, murder investigations, women with secrets and extremely bad ideas that make excellent book plots.

If you want “something is VERY wrong with this family”...

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden - Debbie has spent years writing an advice column for women dealing with husbands who ignore, belittle and mistreat them. Then she loses her job, discovers her husband has secrets, and things with her teenage daughters start getting strange.

Eventually, Debbie decides she’s done giving everyone else advice.

She’s going to start taking some of her own.

Which, because this is a Freida McFadden book, I assume goes extremely well and absolutely nothing alarming happens afterward.

Read this if you like: domestic drama, revenge, short chapters and books you accidentally finish at 1 a.m.

Little One by Olivia Muenter - Catharine grew up on what sounds, at first, like an idyllic Florida farm. Except it wasn’t.

She left ten years ago and built an entirely new life for herself, until a journalist contacts her asking questions about a mysterious cult in Central Florida, and whether Catharine might have been part of it.

More importantly, the journalist may know something about the sister Catharine left behind.

Family secrets + cult + estranged sisters? You have my attention!!

Read this if you like: complicated families, cult stories, buried memories and slowly unraveling what actually happened.

If you want “WHAT DID I JUST READ?”

Molka by Monika Kim - This is from the author of The Eyes Are the Best Part, so that should probably tell us immediately that we’re not entering particularly cozy territory.

Set in Seoul, Molka follows an IT technician secretly spying on women in his workplace and a woman named Dahye whose seemingly perfect romantic life begins collapsing around her. A hidden-camera scandal eventually connects their lives, and things get darker, and apparently much more violent, from there.

This is one I’d go into knowing that it deals with voyeurism, sexual exploitation and violence, so definitely check the content warnings first.

But if you’re looking for something dark, strange and full of female rage, put it on your radar.

Read this if you like: revenge stories, social horror, female rage and books that make you slightly uncomfortable in the best way.

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer - Camille has built an online following around her picture-perfect tradwife life: cooking, cleaning, homesteading and living with her husband in their beautiful country farmhouse.

There’s just one thing missing from the picture.

A baby.

Then Camille discovers an old well behind the house and makes a wish.

And it works!

Unfortunately, her pregnancy begins progressing at a completely unnatural rate and she develops a craving for raw meat.

So. That’s where we are.

Read this if you like: feminist horror, social-media commentary, body horror and premises that make you say “I’m sorry, WHAT?” out loud.

If you want creepy but would also like to sleep tonight...

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell - A teenage girl disappears, leaving behind a little white terrier.

Jane Trevally offers to return the dog to its registered owner, but when she arrives at the man’s London home, she realizes she’s been there before.

Twenty-five years ago.

And something terrible happened there.

This feels like a good bridge between a traditional mystery and something slightly darker and more atmospheric, which is generally my preferred level of spooky.

Read this if you like: missing-person mysteries, past-and-present timelines, old houses with secrets and Lisa Jewell’s particular brand of “something here is definitely not right.”

A Killer Plot by E. C. Nevin - A book launch. A London bookshop. A room full of publishing people with secrets.

And, naturally, a body in the cellar.

Mystery writer Jane Hepburn heads to London for her friend’s book launch expecting bookstores, writers, free wine and, ideally, a murder-free weekend. Instead, she discovers a body and gets pulled into another very bookish mystery.

The publisher sent me a copy of this one, and as someone who spends an unreasonable amount of time thinking about books, writers and publishing, this premise feels particularly made for me.

Also: sometimes I want murder without being afraid to walk down my own hallway afterward.

Read this if you like: cozy mysteries, amateur sleuths, publishing-world drama, bookish settings and murder without the nightmares.

If you want to actually be creeped out...

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones - A century-old diary is discovered hidden inside a wall. Inside are a series of interviews between a Lutheran pastor and a Blackfeet man named Good Stab, whose story stretches back to a massacre, and reveals that he may not be entirely human.

Yes, we’re talking vampires.

But this is much more than a vampire story. It’s historical horror, revenge story and an exploration of violence, identity and the horrors embedded in American history.

This one is heavier and darker than most of the books on this list, but if you want horror that gives you something to think about long after the creepy part is over, I’d put it on your radar.

Read this if you like: historical horror, vampires, revenge stories, Indigenous horror and books that are genuinely unsettling.

If you want literary + atmospheric...

Nerve Damage by Annakeara Stinson - Years ago, Clarice fled New York after her ex-boyfriend began stalking and harassing her. She rebuilt her life in Los Angeles, but as his restraining order is about to expire, she spots someone who looks suspiciously like him.

So Clarice decides to find out whether he’s back.

By stalking him.

It’s darkly funny and unsettling, playing with the idea of who gets to be considered rational when someone has already given you every reason to be afraid.

At around 250 pages, it’s also one of the shorter books on this list.

Read this if you like: messy female characters, dark humor, obsession, literary fiction with a thriller engine and stories that play with your perception of what’s actually happening.

A Good Person by Kirsten King - Lillian has a plan for getting her situationship to commit: become the most agreeable, accommodating version of herself until he realizes she’s perfect.

Instead, he dumps her.

Naturally, she puts a hex on him.

Then he turns up dead.

And suddenly Lillian has to clear her name while also attempting to control the narrative around his death and establish herself as his appropriately grieving girlfriend.

The phrase “unlikable female character” gets thrown around constantly, but give me a woman behaving badly and I am at least going to hear her out.

Read this if you like: dark comedy, messy women, toxic relationships and murder mysteries that don’t take themselves entirely seriously.

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker - In 2026, Lee Turner flees New York for his father’s home in Japan after killing his college roommate, a murder he can’t remember committing.

At his father’s house, a woman carrying a sword begins appearing outside at night.

Then we jump back to 1877, where Sen, a young samurai in exile, sees a strange foreign man outside her window.

One of them is a ghost.

And one of their stories is a lie.

I don’t think I need to sell you any further.

Read this if you like: gothic fiction, ghosts, dual timelines, historical settings and stories where you’re never completely sure what’s real.

If you need someone to discuss the ending with immediately...

They Say a Girl Died Here by Sarah Pinborough (This one comes out August 25th) - Anna moves with her family to Harper’s Creek, a drought-stricken farming town where two local girls have been murdered.

The man believed responsible is dead.

Case closed.

Except Anna discovers something that suggests everyone may have gotten it wrong.

As she becomes increasingly obsessed with the murders, her grandmother’s dementia and strange episodes begin raising even more questions about the town, and what might actually be happening inside their house.

And because this is Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes, I am immediately suspicious of everything.

Read this if you like: small-town secrets, psychological thrillers, cold cases, potentially supernatural elements and an ending that will probably send you straight to Google.

Before You Buy Another Book...

Because I know I’m not the only person with a small library of books I’ve been “meaning to read,” let’s shop our own shelves for a minute.

Here are five backlist thrillers/horror books you might already have sitting on your TBR:

The Only One Left by Riley Sager — An old mansion, an infamous family massacre and a woman who may or may not have killed everyone. Start here if you want gothic mystery without going full horror.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak — A nanny notices increasingly disturbing images appearing in the drawings of the little boy she’s caring for. Creepy, compulsive and very “just one more chapter.”

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead — Dark, twisty and centered around a woman investigating the death of a former friend and the disturbing group they were once involved with. Check the content warnings on this one.

The September House by Carissa Orlando — A woman refuses to leave her dream home despite the fact that every September the walls start bleeding and ghosts appear. Honestly, I respect the commitment to the mortgage.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell — A true-crime podcaster meets a woman who shares her birthday, agrees to tell her story, and slowly realizes she may have invited someone deeply unsettling into her life.

So...what kind of creepy are you?

No, I’m not ready for pumpkins on the porch and I’m not ordering a hot latte. And I’m certainly not pretending it’s sweater weather.

But will I spend the rest of August reading about suspicious husbands, missing women, haunted houses and families keeping deeply concerning secrets?

Apparently, yes!!

Tell me your current thriller mood in the comments: psychological, family secrets, completely unhinged, creepy-but-I-still-want-to-sleep, or please ruin my night.

Leave a comment

And if you’ve already read one of these, tell me which one I need to move to the top of my list.

My TBR is already beyond saving. We might as well make it worse.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

I have a slightly embarrassing habit of turning things I enjoy into things I should get better at.

I can’t just paint. I start wondering whether I should take a class.

I can’t start running again without immediately thinking about pace and distance and whether I should sign up for something.

I can’t write something silly without wondering if I should post it somewhere.

Apparently, somewhere along the way, I became incapable of simply having a hobby.

Everything needs a trajectory, and I was talking to a friend recently, a musician, who’s been sitting with this same tension. He’s thought about all the ways he could monetize his craft. Composing for others, teaching piano, playing gigs, but the conversation, almost every time, circles back to the same place: but I just want to have fun. And it made me think about how easily the idea of monetizing or optimizing what we love can quietly complicate it.

More recently, I’ve been wondering when that happened.

Because when you’re a kid, you’re allowed to be terrible at things.

You draw a horse that looks vaguely like a dog and hand it to someone like you’ve just completed a commissioned portrait.

You make up a dance in the living room without wondering whether you’re technically any good at dancing.

You sing loudly, build things badly, and write stories that make absolutely no sense.

Nobody asks about your five-year plan. You just like doing it.

And then somewhere in adulthood, we start believing that liking something isn’t quite enough, so if we run, we track it, if we bake, we photograph it, if we write, we think about publishing, and if we make something beautiful, we wonder whether we could sell it, until even rest becomes something we feel we’re supposed to optimize.

I understand the impulse. I love getting better at things. There is something incredibly satisfying about practicing a skill long enough to notice that your hands know how to do something they couldn’t do six months ago.

But I think there’s a difference between wanting to grow and requiring everything we love to become productive.

I've been trying to remember that lately, (becauseI tend to forget) that there should be things in our lives that don't need to go anywhere, like a watercolor that ends up in a drawer, a loaf of bread nobody photographs, a playlist made for exactly one afternoon, a few pages written in a notebook that will never become a book, or something you're objectively mediocre at and continue doing anyway simply because the hour you spend doing it makes you happy.

Maybe that’s enough. Actually, maybe that’s the entire point!!

Read on for...

• Why adulthood makes us want to turn hobbies into achievements

• What I’m learning about making things nobody else needs to see

• What’s happening with my novel this week

• What I’m reading right now

• An Artist Date with absolutely no productive purpose

• A creative practice for doing something badly on purpose

I think the internet has made this harder.

We’re constantly seeing the finished version of everyone else’s interests.

Someone starts pottery and six months later we’re watching a perfectly edited video of them pulling a beautiful mug from a kiln.

Read more

📚 With Friends Like You by Amy Chozick — This one is messy, darkly funny, and a little unhinged in the best way. It follows Emily, a new mother in Manhattan who becomes obsessed with finding Daisy, the college roommate she once considered her soulmate, only for their eventual reunion to become far more complicated than she imagined. It’s part psychological thriller, part sharp look at motherhood and female friendship, with plenty to say about identity and the versions of ourselves we miss after life changes us. Go in knowing as little as possible, the less you know, the better!!

🎥 The Drama - A happily engaged couple’s wedding week spirals off course when an unexpected twist forces them to confront the cracks in their relationship. Equal parts funny, heartfelt, and emotionally messy, The Drama explores love, commitment, and the difference between the life we plan and the one that unfolds. If you enjoy relationship-driven stories with sharp dialogue and plenty of heart, this one’s worth adding to your watchlist.

🍽️ Bruschetta Chicken with Summer Greens - This one’s fresh, filling, and ridiculously easy. Think, juicy chicken, a marinated tomato-basil mixture, finished with balsamic glaze and a sprinkle of cheese. Served with a bright, crunchy salad on the side. It’s one of those meals that looks a little fancy but takes almost no time.

August has always felt a little more like a new year to me than January does.

Maybe it’s because school is starting again. New backpacks are hanging by the door and social calendars are filling up. The long, loose days of summer are beginning to tighten around the edges.

Even if you don’t have kids heading back to school, I think you can feel it. There’s an energy shift this time of year. September is coming, fall is somewhere in the distance, and suddenly I want to get my life together in a way I absolutely did not care about three weeks ago.

But this year, I’m less interested in an August reset that asks me to become a newer, better, more organized version of myself.

I want one that brings me back to the things that already matter. I’ve been thinking about the word embrace. To embrace something is, quite literally, to reach for it. And maybe that’s what I want this next season to look like.

Reaching again for familiar rhythms. Making dinner at home. Picking up the book on my nightstand instead of my phone. Returning to creative projects. Inviting people over even when the house isn’t perfect. Making ordinary spaces feel good to come home to. Not reinventing my life, just reaching for it again.

So this week’s Catch-Up is a little August reset. Things for coming home, settling in, feeding people, getting dressed for whatever late summer is doing, and looking forward to the season ahead.

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

Worth Reaching For: Aprons That Have You Covered

I know aprons are technically practical, but I would argue that the right one makes cooking approximately 37% more romantic.

I’m talking linen, stripes, oversized pockets, maybe something you’d happily keep wearing while you sit down for dinner.

• Anthropologie gingham cotton apron — a super cute option with soft vintage-style gingham pattern and a flattering ruffled waist, perfect if you want something aesthetic but still practical for baking or hosting.

• H&M ruffle trim apron — simple, affordable, and very “cozy kitchen” vibes, comes in beige that feel effortlessly cute.

• Etsy linen floral apron — vintage, handmade-feeling aprons with sweet floral details and customizable colors, great if you want something a little more unique and cottagecore.

Fall Books I’m Already Looking Forward To

I’m not trying to rush summer, but publishing schedules are making that very difficult. There are so many fall releases already on my radar, and I’ve started building the stack I want beside me when the afternoons start feeling like they’re meant for blankets and early sunsets.

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel | Out September 15
A man disappears from a glamorous Los Angeles party, unraveling a literary mystery of fractured timelines, shadow worlds, art, and identity.

American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee | Out September 29
A sweeping family story spanning Seoul, Sydney, and Southern California, exploring ambition, sacrifice, and the complicated bonds that hold families together.

The Seventh Ribbon by Gus Krieger | Out October 27
A grieving widow discovers magical typewriter ribbons that let her rewrite the past, and possibly save her husband. A heartbreaking “what if you could change one thing?” story.

And if you want an even bigger fall TBR, Lizze put together a great list of upcoming releases here.

What to Make: Better Butter

Brown the butter. That’s basically the advice.

There are very few foods that aren’t improved by butter becoming slightly toastier, nuttier and more delicious. Heres how to brown butter!

Make a batch of brown butter this weekend and use it on pasta, vegetables, toast, pancakes, cookies, or whatever else is happening in your kitchen.

One Pan Fits All

Back-to-school season has reminded me how quickly an afternoon can turn into wait, everyone needs to eat again?

Enter: the sheet pan dinner.

Minimal prep. Minimal dishes. Very little hovering over the stove. Exactly the kind of meal I want in my rotation when schedules get full again. Here is a bunch of sheet pan ideas!

Leave a comment

I wonder how many things we love we slowly stop doing without ever deciding to stop.

There’s rarely a moment when we announce that we’re no longer going to invite people over, read before bed, take long walks, paint, bake something just because, or call the friend we used to talk to every week. We just get busy.

Something else takes the spot on the calendar. We tell ourselves we’ll get back to it when things calm down, which is a very convincing promise considering things almost never calm down.

And eventually, something that once belonged naturally to our lives starts to feel like something we have to make time for.

I think we tend to assume that if something really matters to us, we’ll naturally keep doing it. If we love writing, we’ll write. If a friendship matters, we’ll stay close. If family dinners are important, we’ll have them. But I’m not sure life works that way.

The things that matter most aren’t always the things demanding our attention. An email will remind you it’s waiting. The laundry eventually announces itself. An appointment has a time attached to it.

The things we love are often much less demanding, which is why they so easily get postponed. A book stays on the nightstand waiting patiently, a friend assumes you’ll reach out when you can, a half-finished project doesn’t insist on being finished today, and dinner can always be moved to another night. Nothing about them pushes forward on its own. Maybe that’s why reaching matters. Because sometimes the things we want closest to us are the very things we have to choose deliberately.

And I don’t mean turning every meaningful part of our lives into another habit to track or box to check. I don’t want friendship on a productivity spreadsheet or a morning routine that requires seventeen steps before I’m allowed to drink my coffee.

I mean noticing when something has slipped farther away than we intended, and deciding it deserves a place in our lives again.

There’s something reassuring about realizing we can do that. Distance doesn’t always mean we’ve outgrown something or that it no longer matters. Sometimes we simply stopped making room for it.

And making room again doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be less about changing our lives and more about recognizing what we’ve been missing from them.

There are probably things we’ll reach for and discover don’t fit anymore. That’s okay, too. We aren’t obligated to keep loving something simply because we once did.

But there are other things that feel familiar the second we return to them.

Oh. I missed this.

Maybe that’s one of the nicest things about coming back to something you love.

You don’t always have to start over.

Sometimes you just have to reach.

• Faux Berry Stems — I have a big vintage vase that has been begging for something fall-ish, and I love these faux berry stems. An easy way to make the house feel a little more seasonal while it’s still 100 degrees outside.

• Women’s Knee High Riding Boots — FRYE vibes without the FRYE price tag! I love the classic riding-boot shape for fall, and I rounded up even more FRYE lookalikes here if you’re equally obsessed with the look but not quite ready for the investment.

• Jasmine Scented Candle — Apparently my fall reset also includes making the house smell cozy before the weather actually is. Warm amber is exactly the kind of scent I want burning this time of year.

• Faux Suede Tote Bag — This chocolate brown faux suede tote looks so much more expensive than it is. The color and shape are perfect for that late-summer-to-fall transition.

• Portable Charger for iPhone — School is back in session, and my iPhone battery cannot keep up with the daily shuffle of school, sports practices, band, and everything in between. Keeping one of these in my bag is officially non-negotiable.

• Tried, true, and somehow useful for everyone in the house. I use them for writing and planning; the kids inevitably steal them for school.

• 16oz Clear Cold Cups — Romanticizing my iced lattes at home, one cute disposable cup at a time. Suddenly my kitchen coffee feels approximately 40% more like a coffee shop.

• I’m growing my hair out, and it has been loving this leave-in conditioner. It makes everything feel softer and more manageable without weighing my hair down.

• Luxury on a budget. A hydrating serum-meets-body-wash situation that makes an everyday shower feel considerably more expensive.

• Portable Handheld Rechargable Fan — California is still very much committed to 100+ degree weather, so these have been a game changer. Tiny enough to throw in my bag and powerful enough to make me wonder why I didn’t buy one sooner.

• Tennis Bracelet Stack — The easiest little bit of sparkle. I love jewelry I can put on with basically anything and immediately feel more put together.

• LE BOP Riley Blouse — The handkerchief hem is what got me. It’s one of those interesting tops that does all the work, so you can throw it on with jeans and call it an outfit.

• Game Day Clear Purse + Football Bag Charm — College football is almost back! I’m headed to the first Fresno State game in a few weeks, and I already have my clear game-day bag ready. And obviously it needed the tiny football charm.

• Gola Viper Sneakers in Red — Speaking of game day... RED GOLAS. I fully plan on building my Fresno State home-game outfits around these.

• Fringe Cardigan Sweater — This looks ridiculously cozy, and I love the fringe detail. Saving this one for the second California decides to give us actual sweater weather.

• Celeste Cuff — I love this bracelet and have every intention of putting it on and basically never taking it off. Simple enough for every day but still feels special.

• Madewell x Minnetonka Double-Fringe Kilty Moc — My friend Bekah and I have been talking about Minnetonkas, and then goes and does this collaboration. The double fringe! I’m ordering them. No further questions.

Maybe a reset doesn’t have to mean starting over. I think that’s what I’m taking into the rest of August. There are seasons when we need to change things. There are habits we’ve outgrown and routines that don’t fit anymore.

But sometimes the thing we’re looking for isn’t something new. Sometimes we already know what makes us feel good. We know which rhythms make our days easier and which people make our lives fuller. We know what we miss when we’ve gone too long without it.

Maybe the reset is simply noticing that we’ve drifted away from those things. And reaching for them again.

What’s part of your August reset? Tell me one thing you’re bringing back into your days. Tell me in the comments!

Leave a comment

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

I read a lot of books.

Which means I also forget a lot of books.

Not entirely, of course. I can usually remember whether I liked something. I can tell you if I gave it four stars or five, whether I stayed up too late finishing it, whether I immediately texted a friend and told her she needed to read it.

But then there are the other books. The ones I can remember where I was when I read them.

I remember silently crying on an airplane while reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, trying desperately not to make eye contact with the stranger sitting beside me.

I remember needing a break from Demon Copperhead because I cared so much about a fictional kid that continuing to read about his life felt almost unbearable.

I remember finishing The Idea of You and just sitting there.

Those are the books I’m interested in here. Not necessarily the best books I’ve ever read. Not the books I’d argue belong on some definitive literary canon. Not even necessarily the books I’d recommend to absolutely everyone. These are simply the books that left something behind.

The ones that changed the way I thought about marriage or motherhood or grief. The ones that made me notice my ordinary life differently. The ones that made me want to call someone I love. The ones that made me want to sit down at my desk and write something that might make another person feel the way I had just felt.

Months later, sometimes years later, I’m still carrying them around.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The book that made me silently cry next to a stranger on an airplane. I think about this book whenever someone tries to convince me that the greatest love stories have to be romantic ones.

At its heart, this is a book about friendship. But it’s also about creativity and ambition and resentment and forgiveness and all the complicated ways we can belong to another person without ever quite knowing what to call that belonging.

Sam and Sadie frustrated me. I loved them. I wanted to shake them. Mostly, I believed them. And maybe that’s why this one hurt so much.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The book I had to put down because I cared too much about what happened next. I actually took a long break in the middle of this one. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it. Because I was. Too much.

There was something about Demon that stopped feeling like reading about a character and started feeling like worrying about a person I knew.

What has stayed with me isn’t only the hardship in this book. It’s the stubbornness of hope. The fact that a person can be failed again and again by the people and systems around them and still somehow remain capable of imagining another life.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The book that made me wonder if knowing something will end makes it more worth loving. There is a particular kind of sadness I love in fiction. Not devastation for devastation’s sake. Something softer. The sadness of knowing that something is temporary and choosing to love it anyway.

This book wrecked me in exactly that way. It asks questions about mortality and memory and what makes a human life valuable without ever standing on a chair and announcing that it’s asking them. And long after I finished it, I kept returning to the same thought: Maybe impermanence isn’t the thing that makes life tragic. Maybe it’s the thing that makes it matter.

Heart the Lover by Lily King

The book that made me think about the people we love in one life and remember in another. There are people who belong to a particular version of us. People who knew us before the marriage, before the children, before the career, before we became whoever we eventually became.

And yet those relationships don’t disappear simply because our lives continue without them. I love books that understand this. The past doesn’t have to be somewhere we’d rather live to remain part of who we are.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

The book that made me want to hold onto the ordinary days while I’m still living them. There are no dragons here. No enormous mystery to solve. No world-ending stakes. There is a family on vacation. There are aging parents and growing children and a woman standing somewhere in the middle, realizing that the people she loves are moving in opposite directions.

And somehow that feels enormous. This is exactly the kind of book that makes me look around my own life differently afterward. Because sometimes the ordinary days aren’t what happen between the important parts. They are the important parts.

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

The book that made me think about what it means to love someone when you can’t keep them. This book has one of those premises that sounds completely absurd until you’re reading it and suddenly wondering why you’re crying about a man turning into a great white shark. But the transformation isn’t really what the story is about.

It’s about loving someone through change. About marriage and caregiving and grief. About the terrifying realization that we don’t get to keep the people we love exactly as they are. People change. Bodies change. Relationships change. Sometimes the future you imagined together disappears completely.

And still, somehow, the love was real. I think that’s why this book has stayed with me. Underneath its strange premise is one of the most ordinary and devastating questions there is: How do you love something you know you cannot keep?

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

The book that made me think about the strange, beautiful ways stories outlive us. This book is enormous in scope, spanning centuries and lives that initially seem to have almost nothing to do with one another. And then, slowly, you begin to see the threads.

What stayed with me most was the idea that stories themselves are a kind of inheritance. Someone writes something. Someone protects it. Someone finds it. Someone tells it again.

And somehow a person who lived hundreds of years before you can reach across time and place something directly into your hands. As someone who writes, I don’t know how I could not keep thinking about that.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The book that made me believe loving someone is worth it even when you know you could lose them. If you’ve read Alice Hoffman, you already know she understands something about love and grief that the rest of us are still trying to figure out.

This book is full of magic, but the thing that feels most magical isn’t supernatural at all. It’s loving people despite knowing exactly what love eventually asks of us.

We lose people. Relationships change. Children grow up. Lives move in directions we didn’t plan. And still we love.

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

The book that made me think about the difference between the person you love and the life you choose. Some relationships change you even when they aren’t the relationships you build your life around. That’s what has always stayed with me about this one.

It asks what happens when love and timing don’t cooperate. When two people can matter enormously to each other and still want lives that don’t quite fit together. And maybe the hardest part is that neither choice has to be wrong for something to still feel like a loss.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The book that made me think about how little we really know about someone else’s life. Everyone knows Evelyn Hugo. Or at least, everyone thinks they do. They know the husbands. The movies. The scandals. The photographs. The version of her life that became public property.But the real story is about everything that existed underneath it.

Who she loved. What she sacrificed. The choices she made to survive. The parts of herself she protected because the world wasn’t ready to let her have them.

I think that’s what has stayed with me most. We can look at someone’s life from the outside and think we understand the shape of it, when the most important parts may be completely invisible to us. And maybe a life isn’t defined by the story everyone remembers. Maybe it’s defined by the story only you know was true.

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

The ending I still haven’t emotionally recovered from!! This is one of those books where I remember the feeling of finishing it almost as clearly as I remember the story itself.

What stayed with me wasn’t simply the romance. It was the impossible question underneath it: What happens when something can be completely real and still not be sustainable? Sometimes love isn’t enough to make the rest of your life disappear. Sometimes choosing yourself, your child, or the life you need means walking away from something you still desperately want. I hated it. I understood it. I still think about it.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

The book that made death feel a little less like an ending.

I didn’t expect this book to stay with me the way it did.

It’s whimsical and strange and funny, but underneath all of that is a surprisingly tender story about what it means to have actually lived. Not simply existed. Lived.

It made me think about the difference between accumulating years and inhabiting them. And about whether it’s ever really too late to become someone different.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The book that made me understand why people have been writing about love and grief for thousands of years.

You know where the story is going. That’s part of what makes it unbearable. There is no twist that will rescue you. No alternate ending waiting if you just keep turning pages. And still, you hope.

I think that’s what I remember most about this book. The strange human instinct to hope for another ending even when we’ve already been told exactly how the story ends. Maybe that’s love, too.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The book that reminded me how much of a life exists in the things we say to other people.

I love when a novel makes me reconsider the seemingly insignificant pieces of a life. A letter. An email. A note sent to someone we haven’t spoken to in years. The correspondence we leave behind becomes its own kind of record: who mattered to us, what we couldn’t say face-to-face, what we were trying to understand about ourselves.

There is something incredibly intimate about getting to know a person through the words she chooses to send other people. And something even more intimate about noticing what she leaves out.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The book that made me think about everything our mothers carry that we never get to see.

There comes a point when you begin to realize your parents had entire lives before you arrived. Dreams. Mistakes. Great loves. Private griefs. Versions of themselves you will never know. I think that’s part of what makes this book so enduring.

It’s about mothers and daughters, yes. But it’s also about how difficult it is to completely know another person, even someone whose life is intimately tangled with your own. Sometimes especially then.

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén

The book that made me think about what it means to leave a life you aren’t quite ready to leave.

Some books about death are really books about dying. This one made me think about living. About dignity and memory and the ordinary attachments that make up a person’s world. The routines and relationships and tiny pieces of independence that might look insignificant from the outside but feel enormous when they’re yours.

It’s tender without pretending any of this is easy. And those are often the books that stay with me longest.

Looking for your next book? If nothing here is calling your name, I also rounded up

I don’t think the books we remember most are always the ones with the cleverest plots or the biggest twists.

Sometimes they’re simply the books that find us at exactly the right moment.

They give language to something we’ve been feeling but haven’t known how to name. They make us understand someone differently. They remind us to pay attention to a life we’ve accidentally started taking for granted.

And sometimes they don’t teach us anything at all.

They just make us feel something so completely that we remember what it felt like months later.

Those are the books I’m always searching for.

Not necessarily the perfect book.

The one that leaves something behind.

Now I want to know yours: What is one book you finished months, or even years, ago that you still find yourself thinking about?

Leave a comment

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

For the longest time, I have had a very specific idea of what a creative life is supposed to look like.

There would be quiet mornings with a clean desk and a fresh cup of coffee, and long stretches of uninterrupted time with nowhere else I needed to be.

Naturally, in this imaginary version of my life, I would also know exactly what I wanted to write.

I would sit down and the words would simply...come.

Which is funny, because I’m not sure this season has ever actually existed.

There are always emails to answer and groceries to buy. There are kids who need things and work deadlines and laundry and appointments and weeks where the calendar somehow fills itself before Monday morning even arrives.

And yet, I still catch myself thinking:

Maybe when things calm down.

Maybe when the kids are older.

Maybe when I feel inspired again.

Maybe when I have more time.

II’ve been thinking about that a lot lately because I sat down at my desk one morning last week, fully intending to write, and within about three minutes I was called away to help with breakfast, answer a work email, and find a missing shoe that somehow turned into a full-scale household investigation.

And somewhere in the middle of standing in the kitchen holding a half-finished cup of coffee while trying to remember what I had even opened my laptop for, I realized something slightly inconvenient:

I may be waiting for a season that doesn’t exist.

Read on for...

• Why we keep waiting for the “right” time to create

• What I’m learning about making things in the middle of a full life

• A novel about finding beauty alongside the hard things.

• An Artist Date about seeing somewhere familiar differently

• A creative practice for finally beginning the thing you keep postponing

• Creative Journal Prompt

There is a version of creativity that photographs beautifully.

The candle is lit, the notebook is open, the coffee is still hot, and for once no one is asking where their shoes are.

But most creativity, at least in my experience, looks nothing like that.

It happens before work. It happens in the Notes app while waiting in the school pickup line. It happens in the twenty minutes between dinner and homework. It happens when you scribble something down because you know if you don’t, the thought will disappear before you get home.

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I’ve noticed how often I say the words I’ve noticed lately.

I’ve noticed when someone’s energy changes halfway through a conversation. I’ve noticed which songs make me want to write. I’ve noticed the little details people tell me and the things they leave unsaid. I’ve noticed what makes me feel more like myself and what leaves me feeling depleted. I suppose I’ve always been observant. I read rooms quickly, remember small details, and probably spend more time than necessary wondering why something caught my attention in the first place. But lately, noticing feels less like something I happen to do and more like something I want to practice.

I spent part of this week in Southern California visiting my college roommate, a long way from the Central Valley town where we first became friends. Life moves differently here. There are people everywhere, traffic moving in every direction, cafés spilling onto sidewalks, galleries tucked between shops, surfers crossing the street barefoot, and the ocean appearing unexpectedly between buildings. You would think all that movement would make me move faster too. Instead, it made me want to slow down.

So I did.

I gave myself a day without much of an itinerary and wandered through Newport and Laguna Beach. I drank coffee from a bright yellow cup because I liked the cup. I stopped to photograph words painted on walls. I wandered into bookstores and flipped through books wrapped in paper so you had to choose them by their first line instead of their cover. I found a Billy Joel record and then a Rush album in an old record shop. I ate a lobster roll overlooking the Pacific. I walked through the Laguna Art Museum and stared at paintings of the same coastline I’d been driving beside all morning. I photographed storefronts, striped umbrellas, handwritten notes and things that probably wouldn’t have warranted a second glance if I’d been trying to get somewhere.

One card in a shop told me, “Do more things that make you forget to check your phone.”

Maybe that’s what I’ve been trying to do without realizing it.

There is an art to noticing your own life while you’re still living it. Noticing what delights you. What makes you curious. What you keep photographing. What makes you stop walking and turn around for another look. We tend to think an interesting life requires interesting things to happen to us, but I’m beginning to think it has much more to do with how closely we’re paying attention to what’s already happening.

So this week’s Catch-Up is an invitation to look a little closer.

Here are a few things I noticed along the way…

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

• 📖 What to Read - In honor of August, pick up something that feels like Taylor Swift’s august: almost-love, growing up, nostalgia, and the people who change us even when they don’t stay. I put together a whole list for exactly that kind of reading mood.

• 🎧 What to Watch / Listen - Take a walk with a podcast instead of music. Lately I’ve been craving conversations more than background noise. Pick an episode about creativity, books, or a topic you’ve been curious about and let yourself learn something new while getting outside. May I recommend:

  • Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert

  • The Creative Pep Talk Podcast with Andy J. Pizza

  • Happier with Gretchen Rubin — Not strictly a creativity podcast, but full of thoughtful conversations and habits that can help you build a more creative, intentional life.

• 🍽️ What to Make: Perfect Egg Muffins — These are one of those small things that make the week feel more manageable. You can keep them in the fridge for a few days or freeze them for up to three months, which feels like a gift to your future self when mornings get busy.

• ⏲ What to Try: A 20-minute “reset window” before your evening actually starts.
  Set a timer, put your phone somewhere else, and do one small thing that shifts the tone, step outside, change your clothes, prep something for dinner, or just sit with a drink and no input. It doesn’t need to be productive, just intentional enough to separate your day from what comes next.

• 🌅 What to Do: A quick Golden Hour loop (even if it’s just your block). Shoes on, out the door, no destination. Notice what’s blooming, what’s changed, who’s out. If a full walk feels like too much, sit outside for 10 minutes with a drink or your coffee and let yourself be there without reaching for your phone. It counts.

Weekend Question: What’s somewhere you love to wander without an agenda? A bookstore? Your neighborhood? A farmers market? A whole new city? Tell me where you’re happiest getting a little lost.

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I’ve been thinking about noticing as a practice. Not in the stop and smell the roses kind of way, although I suppose there’s some of that too. I mean actually paying attention to what catches your attention.

I’m an observant person by nature. I read the room. I pick up on changes in people’s energy. I remember small details from conversations. I notice the song playing quietly in the background of a restaurant and the book someone is carrying. I notice when something feels slightly different, even if I can’t immediately tell you why.

For a long time, I thought that was simply part of my personality.

Lately, I’ve started to wonder if it’s also something I’ve been practicing.

The more I write, the more I read, the more I intentionally make room for creativity in my life, the more closely I seem to pay attention to everything else.

And the funny thing is, once you start noticing, you realize how much there is to notice.

Most days aren’t made up of particularly remarkable moments. We make coffee. We drive to work. We answer emails. We pick up groceries. We make dinner. We ask someone how their day was. We fold the laundry and start all over again tomorrow.

It’s easy to believe we need to escape those routines in order to feel inspired. A new city. A beautiful hotel. A museum. A vacation along the coast. Somewhere that gives us something worth looking at.

Of course those places wake us up a little. Everything is unfamiliar, so we’re naturally paying attention.

But I don’t think the location is really the magic. I think the attention is!

Think about the way you move through a place you’ve never been before. You look at the buildings. You read the signs. You notice what people are wearing. You wander into stores simply because the window caught your eye. You photograph things you would never think to photograph at home.

You’re curious. And curiosity makes the world feel bigger. What would happen if we brought even a little of that curiosity back into our regular lives?

Maybe we’d notice the flowers blooming outside the place we’ve driven past hundreds of times. Maybe we’d finally go inside that little shop we always say looks cute. Maybe we’d hear something funny at the table beside us and write it down. Maybe we’d realize we always feel better after sitting outside for twenty minutes or that we’ve been reaching for the same color over and over again.

Those things sound insignificant until you start collecting them.

As a writer, that’s often where ideas begin for me. Not with some enormous bolt of inspiration, but with something small that I can’t quite stop thinking about. A sentence. A question. A strange interaction. Something someone said that didn’t match the look on their face. A tiny detail that makes me wonder what else could be underneath it.

But I don’t think you have to consider yourself creative for noticing to matter.

Because paying attention also teaches us something about ourselves.

What we notice is information.

What makes you linger?

What do you photograph?

What do you keep bringing up in conversation?

What makes you lose track of time?

What makes you think, I want more of that?

I’ve started to think those little moments are breadcrumbs. They tell us what we’re curious about, what delights us, what we’re hungry for, and sometimes what we haven’t been giving ourselves enough of.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been saying I’ve noticed so much lately.

I’ve been paying attention.

Not because I’m trying to turn every moment into something meaningful or beautiful. Some things are allowed to simply be funny or pretty or strange. But I do want to be awake for my own life. I want to notice the things that would be incredibly easy to miss.

Because I’m starting to think an interesting life isn’t necessarily one where interesting things are constantly happening. Maybe it’s simply a life someone is paying attention to.

A few things that caught my eye, made life a little prettier, or earned a screenshot this week. Basically, the things I noticed and haven't stopped thinking about since.

Canvas Utility Tote Bag - My new work bag! So many pockets inside and out, which means I might actually know where my keys are for once.

Lace Terry Track Shorts — Sporty with the sweetest little lace detail. Basically what happens when comfy lounge shorts decide they want to be cute enough to leave the house.

Stargazer Mini Star Tendril Light Strand - Twinkle lights EVERYWHERE. I’m entering my make-every-corner-cozier era.

SANTAL 33 Eau de Parfum - I finally gave in, and now I can’t stop wearing it. Woody, warm, a little spicy, and easily the bougiest thing in my bathroom.

Tiger Eye Earrings Dangle Earrings - Such an easy way to make jeans and a simple top feel a little more put together. I love the warm tones for late summer into fall.

Houndstooth Print Tie Front Skorts - Fully planning to wear this into fall with loafers, a sweater, and maybe tights when it finally cools down.

Colorescience FLEX Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF - OBSESSED. Mineral SPF with buildable coverage that evens everything out without feeling like heavy makeup. There are a ton of shades; I wear Medium.

Oversized Vintage Barn Jacket - Apparently I'm already mentally dressing for fall. Throw this over a white tee with jeans and suddenly you have an outfit.

Adjustable Sports Bra - A sports bra that actually keeps everything…up. Supportive, adjustable, and officially workout-approved.

Round Handle Bead Bag — The cutest little statement bag. I love the texture, the vintage-y feel, and how it makes even a simple outfit feel more interesting.

Calling it now: this is my fall nail color. Rich, moody, and exactly what I want the second the weather starts pretending it's autumn.

Asymmetric Lace Skirt - Feminine without feeling overly precious. I love this with something really simple on top so the lace gets to be the whole moment.

My T-zone has been VERY happy about this mud mask. Perfect for those days when my skin is feeling a little extra congested and needs a reset.

Boho Off Shoulder Flowy Top - The amount of compliments I got wearing this was honestly ridiculous. Breezy, flattering, and one of those tops that makes it look like you tried much harder than you did.

Maybe noticing is really just another form of being present.

Not every weekend needs an adventure. You don’t need to drive the PCH, wander through an art museum or eat a lobster roll overlooking the Pacific to find something worth paying attention to. Most of our lives happen in much more ordinary places: kitchens, school pickup lines, grocery stores, neighborhood sidewalks, the few minutes before everyone else wakes up.

There is a whole life happening there, too.

So this weekend, I hope you look up a little more. Take the long way home. Wander into the shop you’ve passed a hundred times. Notice what makes you reach for your camera and what makes you forget about it entirely. Pay attention to what makes you curious, what makes you laugh, what makes you linger.

And when something catches your attention, don’t be so quick to move on.

Maybe that’s the whole art of noticing: letting something ordinary matter simply because you were there to see it.

Before you go, tell me in the comments: what’s one small thing you noticed this week that you might have otherwise missed? I’d love to collect a little list of ordinary things that caught our attention.

See you Sunday. 🤍

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The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

Nobody Tells You That You Have to Learn How to Make Friends Again

A few months ago, I walked into my writing workshop knowing absolutely no one.

The classroom was already half full. People were chatting before class started. Someone laughed at a joke I’d walked in too late to understand. Across the room, two women hugged before taking their seats.

I found an empty chair, set down my notebook, and immediately wondered if I’d made a mistake signing up.

It’s funny how quickly your brain convinces you that everyone else belongs.

By the end of the evening, we’d spent three hours talking about stories. As I walked back to my car, I realized something I hadn’t expected.

No one ever teaches us how to make friends as adults.

We spend years learning how to write essays, solve equations, and prepare for careers. We learn how to interview for jobs, buy homes, and raise children.

But somewhere along the way, the way we make friends completely changes, and no one tells us.

When we’re kids, friendship is built into everyday life. We see the same classmates every morning. We sit beside the same people in math class. We spend recess together. Familiar faces slowly become familiar people.

Then adulthood arrives.

People move away.

Work gets busy.

Children, marriages, divorces, caregiving, and full calendars quietly rearrange our lives. The places that once handed us community without us even noticing slowly disappear.

One day you wake up and realize that if you want new friendships, you’re going to have to build them yourself.

For a long time, I thought that meant I simply needed to put myself out there more.

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For a long time, I thought I’d use these Sunday letters to document the process of writing my next novel. I still hope they do that. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized this space is really about something bigger. It’s about creativity in all its messy, beautiful forms. It’s about the books that shape us, the questions we can’t stop asking, the ordinary moments that become inspiration, and the quiet work of making something from nothing.

Think of this as a seat at the table. I’m so glad you’re here!

Read on for...

• What happened after the writing stopped

• Why uncertainty might be the most creative season of all

• A poetry book that has been keeping me company

• This week’s Artist Date

• A creative practice to carry into your week (journal prompt!)

  

When I originally sat down to write this letter a few weeks ago, it looked entirely different.

I was positively giddy.

There was a Google Doc on my computer called Spider Book. I’d just crossed 4,300 words, the characters were beginning to feel like real people, and for the first time in a long while I had settled into that wonderful rhythm every writer longs for. I was waking up thinking about scenes. Sneaking in paragraphs during lunch breaks. Ending my evenings with the satisfying feeling that the story had moved forward, even if only by a page.

This post was going to be about writing first drafts and trusting the process. About finally learning to stop chasing perfect sentences and simply getting words onto the page.

And then...

Everything stopped.

Not because anything went wrong, and certainly not because I'd stopped wanting to write. In fact, I’m nearing the end of an eight-week writing course and couldn't wait to put everything I'd been learning to good use. But somewhere along the way, the momentum simply slipped away, almost without me noticing.

The studio simply grew quiet.

That Google Doc is still there. It’s still called Spider Book. I still open it most mornings. But instead of adding pages, I’ve been filling notebooks with questions.

I’m beginning to wonder if this is the part of writing we don’t talk about enough.

We celebrate beginnings. We celebrate book deals and finished manuscripts and the beautiful photos of marked-up pages shared on Instagram. But there is this strange middle place that rarely gets mentioned, the place where the excitement of a new idea has worn off, yet the story hasn’t revealed what it wants to become.

That’s where I’ve been living lately.

For the past few weeks, I’ve gone down more research rabbit holes than I can count. I’ve filled pages with story ideas that felt brilliant for an afternoon and impossible by evening. I’ve read novels simply to understand why one premise lingers in my mind for weeks while another disappears before I’ve even closed the book. I’ve become fascinated by the kinds of stories that quietly ask readers, Are you sure that’s true? The ones that don’t simply surprise us, but gently rearrange the way we understand love, grief, family, or identity.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn’t just looking for my next plot.

I was looking for the story only I could write.

That turns out to be a much harder question.

The funny thing is, from the outside, it probably looks like I’m not making any progress at all.

There are no impressive word counts to report, no chapters crossed off, and no satisfying updates about being ten thousand words closer to the finish line.

But I don’t think that’s actually true.

I‘m beginning to wonder if writing happens long before we ever type the first sentence.

Maybe creativity begins in paying closer attention. In asking better questions. In following an idea just a little farther than is comfortable. In having the courage to admit that the story you’ve been writing isn’t quite the story that’s asking to be told.I’ve missed writing more than I can explain. I miss those long stretches where the world falls away and it’s just me and the story. Every writer knows that feeling. You look up expecting an hour to have passed, only to discover the afternoon is gone. It’s one of my favorite places to be.

I've been chasing that feeling these last few weeks, convinced that if I just found the right idea, asked the right question, or sat at my desk long enough, I'd somehow find my way back. But the harder I've reached for it, the more elusive it's become. Maybe that's because creativity isn't something we can force into existence. Maybe it arrives when we've made enough room for it to find us.

I’ve always imagined writing a novel as building a house, one brick, one chapter, one scene at a time. Lately it has felt much more like wandering through the woods. I know roughly the direction I’m headed, but the path keeps disappearing beneath my feet. Every so often I think I’ve found it, only to realize I’m standing in another clearing full of new questions.

Years ago, I would have interpreted that as failure. Today, I’m trying to see it differently. I’m trying to believe that wandering is part of the work.

I’m beginning to believe that the days spent reading, researching, crossing out ideas, and beginning again aren’t interruptions to the creative process at all. They are the creative process. They’re the invisible part of writing, the part no one sees, but the part every finished novel is built upon.

Maybe every story has a quiet season. A season where the writer learns to listen more than she speaks, where certainty gives way to curiosity, and where the story itself is still searching for its shape. We tend to think a book is written one page at a time, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s really written one question at a time.

I don’t know whether Spider Book will remain Spider Book. I don’t know if it’s the novel I’ll finish this year or simply the one that leads me to the story I’m actually meant to write. And while every part of me wishes I had a clearer answer, I’m learning that uncertainty isn’t always a sign you’re lost. Sometimes it’s a sign you’re paying close enough attention to let the story become what it wants to be, instead of what you expected it to be.

And for someone who loves plans, spreadsheets, and color-coded timelines, that’s an uncomfortable place to be. I like knowing where I’m headed. I like crossing things off lists. I like believing that if I work hard enough, I can map my way to the finish.

Writing, however, has a way of humbling all of that.

Maybe every good story begins with a season of uncertainty. Maybe before we can write the story we’re meant to tell, we have to become the person capable of telling it.

So this Sunday, the studio is quiet.

Not because I’ve run out of ideas, but because I’m learning to listen for the right one.

Spider Book may become the novel I finish this year. It may become the first stepping stone toward an entirely different story. Right now, I honestly don’t know, and for the first time in a long time, I’m trying to make peace with not knowing.

Because I’ve started to believe that some of the most important writing happens long before the words ever reach the page.

Around the Studio

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🎙️ Books, Beach, & Beyond Podcast with Carley Fortune — If you’ve ever wondered how Carley Fortune crafts the emotional depth, nostalgia, and chemistry in her novels, this conversation is a delight. Hosted by Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg, the episode dives into Carley’s transition from journalism to fiction, why she loves writing in first person, creating believable romance, and the Canadian settings that have become synonymous with her books. She also shares behind-the-scenes details about Our Perfect Storm and the upcoming Every Year After adaptation. It feels less like an interview and more like listening in on three book lovers chatting about storytelling.

📺 Cape Fear (Apple TV+) — A slow-burning psychological thriller about revenge, obsession, and the legal system. If you love tense cat-and-mouse stories where the suspense comes as much from the characters as the plot, this one’s for you.

📚 The Good Parts: A Novel by Evann Normandin — Nothing prepares you for the awkwardness of trying to quietly ugly cry on an airplane. The Good Parts completely wrecked me! Imagine Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets The Seven Year Slip, with just a touch of Severance woven into its DNA. It’s magical realism at its absolute best, not because it’s flashy, but because it asks impossible questions that somehow feel deeply human. What if you could erase your memories? Would losing your grief also mean losing your love? And if the person you loved forgot you completely... would you try to make them fall in love with you all over again? Landon and Rose are two characters I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I fell in love with them separately, together, and across every version of their story. This isn’t just a romance. It’s a novel about marriage, memory, grief, identity, and the quiet ways love asks us to keep choosing each other. The alternating timelines were beautifully done, the Edinburgh setting made me want to book a flight immediately, and every side character felt like they belonged exactly where they were. This is the kind of book that keeps unfolding after you’ve closed it. The conversations about ethics, identity, and what makes us who we are would make this an incredible book club pick.

This week felt like one of those chapters where you blink and suddenly it's Friday. I spent the first part of the week at a work conference that left me feeling energized, inspired, and genuinely excited about what's ahead. Somewhere in between all the sessions and networking, I flew home, welcomed my kids home, I squeezed in a very cute bookstore/coffee date, and have been slowly settling back into the rhythm of everyday life. It's been a full week in all the best ways, but I'm also very ready for a slower pace. This weekend I'm looking forward to sleeping in a little, catching up on laundry and life, and savoring the quiet moments that always seem to feel sweeter after a whirlwind week. So before we head into the weekend, here's everything I've been loving lately.

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom?
I promise it helps!

• Make - A big breakfast that takes longer than it needs to. Think blueberry pancakes, crispy bacon, fresh fruit, and coffee that you actually drink while it’s still hot. Invite someone over, or make it just for yourself and linger at the table.

• Doing - Visit an independent bookstore and leave with one book you weren’t planning to buy. Wander every section, read the staff recommendation cards, and give yourself permission to choose something simply because it looks interesting. If you have kids, let them choose a stop afterward, a playground, an ice cream shop, or the library. Sometimes the best afternoons don’t need an itinerary beyond “what sounds fun next?”

• Notice - Find one thing you would normally walk past, a mural, a neighborhood garden, an old house, a bookstore display. Let yourself be curious!!

• Watching - Find an outdoor concert, a movie in the park, or simply sit outside for sunset with a drink in hand. Summer weekends are running out, and there’s something about warm evenings that always feels worth remembering.

Weekend Question - What’s one little tradition, or spontaneous adventure, that has made your weekends feel more alive lately?

I’m always looking for new ideas, and I have a feeling everyone reading this could use a few more excuses to get out into the world.

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One of my favorite things about writing this newsletter each week is that it has changed the way I pay attention.

When I first started The Second Act, I thought my job was simply to collect interesting thing. A great book, a recipe worth making, a podcast episode, a local adventure. And those things are still here. ButI’ve also realized the recommendations I remembered most weren’t the ones that stood alone. They were the ones that seemed to be having a conversation with each other.

That’s true of my favorite magazines, too. You can feel it when you read them. There’s usually one quiet thread running through the entire issue. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s community. Maybe it’s the feeling of starting over or slowing down. The essays, recipes, playlists, photographs, and interviews all orbit that same idea without ever feeling repetitive.

I’ve started looking for that same thread in my own weeks.

Instead of asking, What should I share this Friday? I’ve been asking, What has this week been trying to teach me?

Sometimes the answer is creativity. Sometimes it’s rest. Sometimes it’s curiosity. Once I know that, everything else seems to fall into place. The book recommendation makes more sense. The recipe somehow belongs. Even the little weekend itinerary starts to feel like an extension of the same conversation.

I think that’s true of our lives, too.

It’s easy to spend our days collecting more, more articles, more recommendations, more things to save for later. But the moments that stay with us are usually connected by a feeling, not by a category. A Saturday morning spent wandering a bookstore somehow pairs perfectly with the novel on your nightstand. A simple dinner shared outside makes the evening feel slower. A walk through a neighborhood you’ve never explored suddenly gives you a fresh idea you’ve been chasing for weeks.

None of those moments are remarkable on their own. Together, they become a story.

I’ve been trying to curate my life the same way I curate this newsletter, not by filling every empty space, but by choosing things that belong together. Less consumption. More intention. Less asking, “What else can I add?” and more asking, “What feeling do I want to carry into this weekend?” Maybe that’s my invitation for you, too.

As you head into the next couple of days, don’t worry about creating the perfect weekend. Instead, choose one small idea, a little more rest, a little more wonder, a little more connection, and let the rest of your plans revolve around that. You might be surprised how much more meaningful the ordinary moments become.

• Denim Bow Jacket in Authentic Dark Wash - I wore this the entire conference! Is lightweight and the tie detail is sooo cute! A classic denim jacket with the sweetest bow detail. It feels timeless enough to wear for years but adds just enough personality to make a simple outfit feel special. (Currently 30% off)

• Floral Lace Trim Satin Mini Skirt - Equal parts feminine and effortless. I love it paired with an oversized sweater now or a simple white tee and sandals while it’s still warm. I got so many comliments when I wore this Monday.

• Wooden Bead Tote Bag - The kind of bag that instantly makes an outfit feel like you’re on vacation, even if you’re just heading to the farmers market or your favorite coffee shop.

• Studded Ballet Flats - I’ve fully embraced the return of ballet flats, and this pair strikes the perfect balance between polished and cool. Comfortable enough for all-day wear, but the studded details make them feel anything but basic.

• Suede Kitten Heel Sandals - Chic, versatile, and surprisingly comfortable. These are the heels I’d reach for when I want to look a little more put together without sacrificing my feet.

• Chain Necklace with Baroque Pearl - A statement piece that somehow still goes with everything. I love how the organic pearl softens the chunky chain, it instantly elevates even the simplest white T-shirt.

• Ruched Flounce Mini Shirtdress - One of those easy throw-on dresses that makes getting dressed feel effortless. Just add sneakers for daytime or sandals and jewelry for dinner.

• Satin Silk Lace Shorts - These have become my favorite little luxury for slow mornings and cozy evenings at home. Pretty enough to feel special, comfortable enough that you’ll never want to take them off.

I hope this week's collection gives you an idea or two to carry into the weekend. If you end up making one of the recipes, visiting a new place, reading one of the books, or trying anything from today's list, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!! Wishing you a weekend full of good books, good conversations, and a little extra rest. Before you head off into the weekend, tell me: what's one small thing you're looking forward to over the next couple of days? I always love reading your replies, and your ideas often inspire future Catch-Ups. Have a wonderful weekend, friends.

Leave a comment

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

I imagined that stories arrived the moment I opened my laptop, lit a candle, and finally found the right playlist. Those rituals still matter to me, they help signal to my brain that it’s time to begin, but I’ve realized they aren’t actually where the work starts.

The work starts long before that!

It begins in the accumulation of ordinary days. A sentence that makes me pause halfway through a novel. A conversation I overhear in a coffee shop. The way afternoon light falls across the kitchen table while I’m making lunch. A museum exhibit that stays with me for reasons I can’t quite explain. Even the questions that seem to return over and over again, refusing to be answered too quickly.

I’ve started thinking of these moments as creative breadcrumbs. On their own, they don’t seem particularly important. But over time they become the threads that connect everything I’m writing.

And lately, I’ve been paying closer attention to what I’m collecting.

Not because I’m trying to force inspiration, but because I’ve learned that inspiration is usually just attention in disguise.

One of the books sitting on my nightstand has become less something I’m reading and more something I’m living with. I keep finding myself rereading passages, underlining sentences, then closing the book just to sit with whatever it stirred up. Those are always my favorite kinds of books, the ones that don’t simply entertain me, but quietly rearrange the furniture in my mind. I suspect every writer has a handful of those books scattered throughout their life, books they return to not because they’ve forgotten the story, but because they’re hoping to remember the person they were when they first read it.

I’ve also been trying to spend more time away from my phone and closer to places that naturally invite curiosity. Bookstores are an obvious choice, but so are museums, botanical gardens, neighborhood walks, even wandering through a grocery store without headphones. It’s remarkable how many ideas appear the moment we stop asking our brains to constantly consume something new.

That has probably been my biggest creative lesson this year.

For a long time, I thought creativity came from finding the next great idea. The next book to read. The next podcast to listen to. The next workshop or writing routine that would finally unlock something. But lately, I’ve been wondering if I’ve had it backwards. I don’t think creativity grows from constantly searching for inspiration. I think it grows from paying closer attention to the life you’re already living.

But I’ve started wondering if creativity is less about consuming and more about noticing.

Noticing what makes you linger.

Noticing what makes you curious.

Noticing what you can’t stop thinking about three days later.

Those are the things I trust now!

As I’ve been working on my next novel, I’ve realized that almost nothing I gather ends up in the story exactly as I found it. A conversation becomes a character. A photograph becomes a setting. A feeling I couldn’t quite name eventually becomes an entire chapter. Life has a funny way of disguising itself before it becomes fiction.

Maybe that’s why I’ve stopped worrying so much about whether I’m “writing enough.”

Some days are for writing.

Other days are for gathering.

Both are equally important!

So lately, I’ve been giving myself permission to collect without immediately asking what it’s all for. To buy fresh flowers because they make the room feel different. To spend an extra ten minutes browsing a bookstore. To write down an interesting sentence without knowing why. To sit outside with my coffee before opening my laptop.

None of those things look particularly productive. But I have a feeling they’re exactly where my stories begin.

I’d love to know: What’s been feeding your creativity lately? It doesn’t have to be a book. Maybe it’s a place, a conversation, a recipe, a walk, or simply a moment you haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Tell me in the comments, I have a feeling we’ll all leave with a few new ideas to notice.

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From My Notebook

📖 A book that’s staying with me

Bluets by Maggie Nelson — I’m reading it slowly, a few pages at a time, because it isn’t a book I want to rush through. It feels less like reading and more like sitting with someone’s thoughts. Every page reminds me that beautiful writing doesn’t always have to tell a story, it can simply pay closer attention.

📝 A sentence I’m carrying with me

“Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color.”

I love openings that make you lean in before you fully understand them. This one reminds me that sometimes the most compelling stories begin with curiosity instead of explanation. It trusts the reader to follow.

🌿 Something beautiful I noticed

The way the evening light lingered on the trees a little longer than I expected. It turned an ordinary walk into something that felt almost cinematic, and it reminded me how often beauty asks us to slow down before it reveals itself.

💭 A question I’m turning over

What would change if I treated curiosity as something to practice instead of something to wait for?

🎨 An artist date

This week, I’m finally taking a pottery class at Good Dirt. I’ve been wanting to work with clay for a while now, and there’s something about learning a new skill with my hands that feels like the perfect antidote to spending so much time at a keyboard. I’m looking forward to making something imperfect, getting a little messy, and remembering that creativity doesn’t always have to end in something polished.

If you’d like, join me. What’s one creative thing you’ve been wanting to try but haven’t made time for yet? I hope this is the week you do.

A Closing Thought

As I head into a new week, I’m trying to remember that a creative life isn’t built in grand, life-changing moments. It’s built in small acts of attention—in the books we linger over, the places we choose to wander, the conversations we carry with us long after they’ve ended. My hope is that this week you find something that sparks your curiosity, even if you don’t yet know why. Those quiet moments have a way of becoming something much bigger.

I’ll be back on Friday with another Catch-Up. Until then, I hope you have a beautiful week.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

📚 We Don’t Talk About Carol by - Follows Sydney, a former investigative reporter who discovers that the aunt her family refused to discuss was one of six Black teenage girls who disappeared from the same North Carolina neighborhood decades earlier. What begins as a family mystery becomes a moving exploration of generational trauma, motherhood, and the devastating ways missing Black girls have historically been overlooked by authorities and the media. It is suspenseful, emotionally layered, and the kind of story that stays with you long after the final revelation. Incredibly powerful. This is one of those books I can't stop recommending, I keep pressing it into people's hands and saying, "Trust me. Just read it."

📚 Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner — Both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, in the most beautiful way. Michelle shares her story of growing up in between two cultures, family dynamics, bonding over food, and trying to find your place and way in this world, making it relatable to many. Beautifully written through grief and laced with tenderness, reminding us all what it’s like to loose.

📺 Imperfect Women (streaming on Apple TV+) — A layered, character-driven drama centered on a group of women navigating friendship, identity, and the quiet tensions that exist beneath the surface of everyday life. It leans into perspective and perception, slowly revealing how much is left unsaid between people who think they know each other. Polished but emotionally grounded, it’s the kind of show that pulls you in without needing to rush.

Lately I’ve been thinking about inspiration. Not the lightning-bolt kind that suddenly changes everything, but the quieter kind that sneaks into ordinary days. It shows up while you’re halfway through a novel you can’t stop thinking about. During an evening walk when the air finally cools down. In a recipe you decide to make on a whim or a conversation that lingers longer than you expected. The older I get, the more I think inspiration isn’t something we find, it’s something we make space for.

Maybe that’s why I love these Friday Catch-Ups so much. They’re never about having the best recommendations or convincing you to buy one more thing. They’re about collecting the little moments, stories, books, recipes, and discoveries that make life feel a little fuller. If even one thing in today’s list inspires you to try something new, revisit an old favorite, or simply slow down enough to notice your own life, then I’d say that’s a pretty good way to head into the weekend.

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

• Make something that asks you to slow down. Maybe it’s a blackberry galette, a tomato sandwich on good sourdough, or a cocktail you drink outside while the sun disappears.

• Host a game night with a few friends, snacks from Trader Joe’s, and a game everyone can learn in under ten minutes. Bonus points if it turns into one of those nights where nobody checks their phone for hours. A few suggested games I love to play in groups: Codenames — Perfect if you love word games and a little friendly competition. Telestrations — Basically telephone meets Pictionary, and somehow it gets funnier every round. Wavelength — A surprisingly good conversation game where teams try to guess how someone thinks. Easy to learn and always sparks debate.

• Pick a town on a map and drive there. No elaborate itinerary required. Grab coffee, wander a bookstore, explore a neighborhood you’ve never seen before, and see where the day takes you.

• Go to a local baseball game or even a community event. I’ve been realizing that sometimes connection isn’t about having a deep conversation. Sometimes it’s just about sharing an experience and being in the same place at the same time.

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I've noticed how easy it is to drift away from the things that make me feel most like myself. Not all at once. Slowly.

One busy week turns into another. Work deadlines stack up. The laundry somehow multiplies overnight. My calendar fills with appointments, errands, and all the little things that keep life moving. Before I know it, I’ve gone days without writing anything that wasn’t for work. The novel stays closed on my nightstand. My camera stays in its bag. I tell myself I’ll go for a walk tomorrow.

Tomorrow has a funny way of becoming next week.

The older I get, the more I realize I don’t lose myself in dramatic ways. I lose myself in tiny ones. By saying “later” to the things that make me come alive until I can’t remember the last time I made space for them.

And then something small pulls me back.

A chapter that reminds me why I love stories. Fresh peaches at the farmer’s market. A morning when I wake up before everyone else and the house is still quiet. An afternoon spent writing with no agenda other than seeing where the words take me.

None of those moments change my life overnight. But they remind me who I am. Maybe that’s what weekends are really for.

Not catching up on everything we didn’t finish during the week. Not becoming a new version of ourselves by Monday morning. Just returning!

Returning to the hobbies we’ve neglected. The conversations we’ve been meaning to have. The recipes we’ve saved. The books we’ve promised ourselves we’d finally read. Returning to the parts of ourselves that have been patiently waiting for us to come back.

• Slingback Flats with Square Toe - Chic, timeless, and surprisingly comfortable. These instantly make jeans and a white tee feel put together.

• The New York Times Strictly Medium Crossword Puzzles, Volume 1 — My favorite way to swap screen time for brain time. Perfect with a cup of coffee on a slow morning.

• BIOSSANCE Squalane + Antioxidant Cleansing Oil — My evening skincare ritual in a bottle. It melts away makeup and leaves my skin feeling soft, hydrated, and just a little more luxurious.

• Madewell The Drawstring Shoulder Bag in Leather — The kind of everyday bag that somehow works with everything. Slouchy, elevated, and big enough for all the essentials.

• BERNY Quartz Watch — I’ve been loving smaller watches lately. The gold finish and feminine shape feel classic without trying too hard.

• Tatcha The Serum Stick — They call it the “Botox stick,” and I get the hype. I keep it in my bag for an instant refresh whenever my skin is looking a little tired or dry.

• Whitney Printed Berries Café Curtains — A tiny home update that makes a room feel softer and more charming. Sometimes it’s the little details that change the mood of a space.

• Godet Plaid Skort — Equal parts polished and playful. It looks like a skirt but has the comfort of shorts—my favorite kind of summer staple.

• The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett — I picked this up because it's our next book club read. We're stretching it across August and September because it's a thicc boi, and honestly, I'm looking forward to spending a little extra time with this one.

As always, thank you for spending a little part of your Friday with me. I hope this week’s Catch-Up gives you an idea to try, a book to love, or a quiet reminder to make space for the things that inspire you.

Before you go, I’d love to know: What’s one thing inspiring you right now? It could be a book, a recipe, a song, a place, or even a small moment from your week. Tell me in the comments, I always leave with something new to add to my own list.

Happy weekend, friends. ❤️

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The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

There are two kinds of people in this world:

People who are constantly looking for a new show to watch...

…and people who have watched New Girl from beginning to end so many times they can quote entire episodes.

I fall firmly into the second category.

Sitcoms are my comfort watch. They’re the shows I turn on while I’m cooking dinner, folding laundry, or winding down after a long day. The characters start to feel less like fictional people and more like old friends you know almost embarrassingly well.

So naturally, I started wondering...

If your favorite sitcom character picked your next book, what would they choose?

Or maybe a better question is: what book would I hand them?

Whether you’re a Jess Day, a Monica Geller, or an Alexis Rose, here’s what I think should be at the top of your TBR.

If Jessica Day is your favorite...

You’re the hopeless optimist! You believe people deserve second chances. You cry at weddings. You secretly think love can fix almost anything.

Read:

Funny Story by Emily Henry — This is for readers who love awkward chemistry, lovable characters, emotional honesty, and stories that remind you life rarely goes according to plan, but sometimes that’s exactly the point.

Also read:

• Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

• Practice Makes Perfect by by Sarah Adams

If Leslie Knope is your favorite...

You’re the overachiever with a giant heart! You have color-coded calendars, probably own at least one notebook you refuse to write in because it’s “too nice,” and care deeply about your people.

Read:

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt —It’s hopeful, funny, deeply human, and celebrates community in the same way Leslie celebrates Pawnee.

Also read:

• The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

• The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley

If Monica Geller is your favorite...

You like having a plan. Actually... You like having five backup plans. You appreciate books with emotional depth, but you also need the ending to leave you hopeful.

Read:

The Wedding People by Alison Espach — It’s equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, and beneath all the wedding chaos is a story about finding your footing after life doesn’t go according to plan.

If Chandler Bing is your favorite...

Humor is your coping mechanism! You’d rather make a joke than have a vulnerable conversation. Which is exactly why emotionally devastating books sneak up on you.

Read:

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin —Friendship. Love. Creativity. Growing older. You’ll say it wasn’t sad. Everyone knows you’re lying.

If Lorelai Gilmore is your favorite...

You romanticize absolutely everything! Coffee. Fall. Bookstores. Small towns. Conversations that somehow reference three movies, Shakespeare, and a candy bar in under thirty seconds.

Read:

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan — You can turn almost any conversation into a pop culture reference, survive on coffee, and somehow balance being fiercely independent with having an enormous heart.

People often mistake your humor for having it all together, but underneath the quick comebacks is someone who’s spent years building a life she can be proud of.

Also read:

• Sandwich by Catherine Newman

If Barney Stinson is your favorite...

You love charisma! You don’t necessarily need your fictional characters to make good decisions...You just need them to be entertaining. You appreciate confidence, clever dialogue, and stories where everyone is just a little messy.

Read:

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren —It’s witty, charming, and full of characters who are pretending to have everything figured out when they absolutely do not.

Also read:

• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

• One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

If Schmidt is your favorite...

You appreciate controlled chaos! You’re ambitious. Slightly dramatic. You care way more than you let on. And beneath all the confidence is someone who desperately wants to be loved.

Read:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell — Explores what separates exceptional people from everyone else, arguing that success isn't just about talent, it's also about opportunity, timing, culture, and thousands of hours of practice. It's the kind of book that makes you look at achievement through an entirely new lens.

If Alexis Rose is your favorite...

You’re here for the glow-up! You love stories about reinvention. Characters who begin completely differently than where they end. People figuring out who they are after the life they expected disappears.

Read:

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston — Like Alexis, this novel is charming, hopeful, and quietly asks what happens when we finally become the version of ourselves we’ve always wanted to be. It’s romantic, magical, and full of second chances, not just in love, but in life.

Also read:

• Writers & Lovers by Lily King

If Michael Scott is your favorite...

You have a soft spot for lovable disasters! Sure, Michael says the wrong thing. Often. Almost constantly. But underneath all the awkwardness is someone who desperately wants to be loved and accepted. You gravitate toward books that balance humor with enormous heart.

Read:

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman — Like Michael, this novel is funny, awkward, deeply compassionate, and full of characters who are trying their best, even when they’re spectacularly bad at showing it. It’s impossible not to fall in love with them.

Also read:

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

If Lucille Bluth is your favorite...

You love characters who are completely unapologetic! Dry humor. Sharp wit. Expensive taste. Questionable parenting. You appreciate characters who walk into every room convinced they’re the smartest person there.

Read:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid — Because Lucille respects ambition. She respects reinvention. And she’d absolutely admire someone willing to do whatever it takes to protect the life they’ve built. Would she approve of every decision? Probably not. Would she respect the commitment? Absolutely.

Also read:

• Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

If Dennis Reynolds is your favorite...

You love unreliable narrators! You don’t necessarily agree with the main character... You just can’t look away. You enjoy morally questionable people, psychological mind games, and books that make you wonder, “Am I... rooting for the villain?”

Read:

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith — No one manipulates a room quite like Dennis Reynolds. Except maybe Tom Ripley. Both are obsessed with image, control, and becoming whoever they need to be to get what they want. It’s unsettling, brilliant, and impossible to stop reading.

If Tony Soprano is your favorite...

You’re fascinated by contradictions! You love characters who are impossible to categorize. Strong but vulnerable. Loving but destructive. Capable of tenderness one minute and brutality the next.

Read:

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore — Like The Sopranos, it’s less interested in solving a mystery than it is in examining family, power, legacy, and the secrets people keep from the people they love. It’s literary, psychologically rich, and impossible to put down.

Also read:

• The North Woods by Daniel Mason

Sitcoms have a funny way of becoming part of us. We borrow their one-liners, rewatch our favorite episodes when we need comfort, and somehow end up seeing pieces of ourselves in fictional people who have been off the air for years.

Maybe that’s why pairing them with books feels so natural.

So tell me, who’s your favorite sitcom character? Leave them in the comments, and I’ll recommend the book I think belongs on their nightstand... and yours.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

🎬 The Invite (in theatres) — I can't stop thinking about this movie. It starts as a dinner party between two couples and somehow turns into one of the sharpest, funniest, most uncomfortable relationship movies I've seen in a long time. Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton are all phenomenal, and the ending is one of those that had me immediately wanting to text someone: "Okay... but what do you think happened?" If you like dialogue-driven movies where every conversation feels like emotional chess, this one's for you.

📚 Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash — This one came highly recommended by my friend Bekah, and I'm so glad she put it on my radar. As someone who grew up Catholic, I couldn't resist a title like Lost Lambs. This sharp, funny literary debut follows the wonderfully dysfunctional Flynn family as they're pulled into a strange conspiracy involving a billionaire, a mysterious shipping container, and more than a few questionable life choices. It's quirky, clever, and surprisingly tender beneath all the chaos. If you enjoy literary fiction with eccentric characters, biting humor, and a family at its messy, complicated center, this one is worth picking up.
Bookshop | Amazon

📺 I Will Find You (streaming on Netflix) — If you've been around here for a while, you already know I'll watch just about anything with Harlan Coben's name on it. I Will Find You might be one of my favorite adaptations yet. The premise is irresistible: a father serving a life sentence for murdering his son discovers his son may actually still be alive. What follows is eight episodes of twists, secrets, and the kind of "just one more episode" suspense that somehow keeps you up far later than planned. Plus, it features Britt Lower (yes, that Britt Lower from Severance) alongside Milo Ventimiglia, making an already stellar cast even better. If you love character-driven thrillers with plenty of unexpected turns, add this one to your weekend watchlist.

Happy Friday, friends!

There aren't many headline-worthy updates this week, just the kind of July that fills every square on the calendar. It feels like I'm washing beach and pool towels on a never-ending loop, the snack bag somehow always needs refilling, and I've started measuring summer by bottles of sunscreen instead of weeks. We're officially on bottle number three, which feels about right for the middle of July.

I'm almost over halfway through my eight-week writing workshop, which feels impossible. So many ideas have taken shape over the past few weeks, while others have been scribbled down, crumpled up, and tossed aside. I think that's the point, though. I'm learning to trust the process a little more, to let go of ideas that aren't working, and to make room for better ones. I'm leaving each class inspired, challenged, and incredibly grateful to be in a room full of people who care so deeply about telling good stories.

Can you do me a favor? If you like this post, will you hit the heart ❤️ on the bottom? I promise it helps!

• Make this Blackberry Balsamic & Brie Grilled Cheese. It has everything I love in a summer recipe, fresh blackberries, creamy brie, sourdough, and a homemade blackberry balsamic jam. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be eating it outside with an iced tea and pretending I’m at a little café somewhere. Blackberry Balsamic & Brie Grilled Cheese recipe

• Start a new book. You know the one. The book you've been excited about for months but keep telling yourself you'll "get to next." This is your sign to crack it open, even if you only read the first chapter.

• Take a morning walk or hike. Go before it gets too hot, leave your headphones at home, and let your mind wander for a while. Some of my best ideas seem to show up when I'm not actively looking for them. I have been frequenting Pincushion and i’m eager to take on more trails!

• Buy yourself flowers. They don't need to be expensive. A simple grocery store bouquet can make your kitchen, desk, or bedside table feel a little brighter all week long.

• Visit a local coffee shop. Skip the drive-thru, order something you've never tried before, and stay awhile. Bring a book, your journal, or simply sit and people-watch for an hour.

• Do something analog. Write a letter, finish a puzzle, color, scrapbook, bake, or spend twenty minutes making something with your hands instead of scrolling on your phone. It always feels like a reset.

• Pick up something seasonal. Fill your basket with peaches, blackberries, tomatoes, basil, or sweet corn and let the farmers market (or produce aisle) decide what's for dinner. Summer does the hard work for you.

What's one thing you're looking forward to this weekend? I'm always looking for ideas to add to next week's list.

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Goodreads Just Released Their Most Popular Romance & Romantasy Books of the Year (So Far)!

Goodreads shared its midyear roundup of the romances and romantasies readers have been loving, and naturally I spent far too long scrolling through it and adding books to my TBR.

A few that immediately caught my eye:

• The Night We Met by by Abby Jimenez

• How to Write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh

• This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

• The Wings That Bind by Briar Boleyn

• The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston

I love these kinds of lists because they’re a mix of books I somehow missed and titles that get bumped a little higher on the priority list. If you’re looking for your next romance (or romantasy), it’s worth browsing the full roundup!

Read the full Goodreads list here: The Most Popular Romance and Romantasy Reads of the Year (So Far).

K18 AirWash Dry Shampoo - This has completely changed my opinion of dry shampoo!! It absorbs oil without leaving my hair feeling gritty or weighed down, and somehow makes it feel clean instead of just covering things up until wash day.

CUPSHE High-Waisted Bikini Set - A surprisingly great find. It’s comfortable, supportive, and family-friendly enough that I’m not constantly adjusting it at the pool. It strikes that perfect balance of feeling cute while still being practical for swimming, chasing kids, or lounging with a good book.

Slouchy Canvas Tote Bag with Red Straps - The kind of bag that somehow fits everything. I've been using it for books, my laptop, hiking essentials, and all of the random extras that seem to come with summer. The red straps is such a fun little detail, it makes finding everything inside so much easier and gives an otherwise classic tote a little personality.

Ludlow Shell Jacket - Lightweight, easy to throw on, and effortlessly cool. It's the kind of layer that's perfect for early morning hikes, weekend coffee runs, or breezy evenings when you just need something light. Functional enough for the outdoors but polished enough to wear around town.

Cloudrock Low Waterproof - The hiking shoes I’ve been reaching for lately. Comfortable, supportive, and waterproof enough for early morning trails and creek crossings. I’ve been frequenting Pincushion and hope to explore more local trails!

Fruit Mancala - A beautiful twist on a classic game that’s as fun to play as it is to leave out on the coffee table.

Adidas Sneaker Red Leopard - The perfect pop of personality. They instantly make a simple jeans-and-tee outfit feel more fun.

High-Waisted Satin Track Pants - Equal parts polished and comfortable. They’re my favorite way to look put together without sacrificing comfort.

Mixed Metal Cuff Bracelet - An everyday piece that goes with everything. I love that I don’t have to choose between gold and silver.

OPI GelColor in Bubble Bath - The ultimate “your nails but better” shade. Clean, classic, and one I’ll never get tired of. I’ve been giving myself at home gel mani’s and I buy the OPI colors I love that i’d get at a salon. I have bubble bath and cajun shrimp. Next color I want to get is funny bunny. Honestly, I’m a neutrals gal and I love how quick it is to do my own at home.

Crochet Bandanas - My favorite accessory of the summer. They add a little vintage charm to messy buns, beach days, and weekend errands.

Base Outlet Charger for Electric Toothbrush - No cords!! A small upgrade that makes my bathroom sink area so much nicer. No more cords getting in the way.

Ballet Flats Slingbacks Square - Comfortable enough to wear all day but polished enough for the office, dinner, or everything in between.

Before you go, I'd love to hear from you. What's one thing you're reading, watching, listening to, or loving lately? Leave it in the comments. I always end up adding your recommendations to my ever-growing list.

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The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!

Reading slumps happen to every reader, even the ones who always seem to have a book in hand. Sometimes it’s not you, it’s simply that you’ve been choosing books that require more energy than you have to give. The cure? A story that grabs you from page one, makes you forget to check your phone, and has you saying, “Just one more chapter...” until suddenly it’s 1:00 a.m.

Whether you’re craving a twisty thriller, an emotional family drama, or a romance you’ll absolutely devour in a weekend, these are the books I’d hand to anyone trying to fall back in love with reading.

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke

Six struggling writers are invited to a bestselling author’s private island only to discover he’s dead, and one of them is expected to finish his final novel.

Why I recommend it: A locked-room mystery set in the publishing world? Say less. This is clever, twisty, and perfect if you love books about books. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Guest List by Lucy Foley, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

A moving story that follows one famous painting across generations, revealing the lives and friendships hidden within it.

Why I recommend it: Backman has a gift for creating unforgettable characters. You’ll laugh, cry, and think about this one long after you’ve finished. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: A Man Called Ove, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Tom Lake

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A brilliant physics professor joins NASA’s first class of female astronauts and discovers a future she never imagined.

Why I recommend it: Taylor Jenkins Reid knows how to tell an immersive story with characters you immediately invest in. If you’ve been intimidated by literary fiction lately, this is an incredibly accessible place to start. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Lessons in Chemistry, The Women

Pink Sand Summer by Chassity Evans

Lucy returns to Harbour Island after inheriting her grandmother’s home, hoping to rediscover her creativity. Instead, she finds herself caught between a first love, a new romance, and a secret that changes everything.

Why I recommend it: If you’re craving sunshine, romance, and a setting that feels like a vacation, this is the kind of book you’ll disappear into for an entire afternoon. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Every Summer After, Same Time Next Summer, One Italian Summer

June Baby by Shannon Garvey

Ten years after spending one unforgettable summer on Block Island, Ruth returns following another devastating loss and uncovers long-buried family secrets.

Why I recommend it: This is perfect if you want an emotional story that still moves quickly. It blends mystery, romance, and family drama beautifully. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Signal Fires, The Paper Palace

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

A fake dating romance about saving the family home, healing after heartbreak, and discovering that sometimes the backup plan is the best one.

Why I recommend it: Annabel Monaghan writes some of the most charming, funny romances around. If you’re in a slump, this one is pure serotonin. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Nora Goes Off Script, Funny Story

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Part memoir, part love letter to food, family, and grief, Michelle Zauner (lead singer of Japanese Breakfast) reflects on losing her mother to cancer while exploring identity, memory, and the meals that connected them.

Why I recommend it: If you’ve convinced yourself you’re “just not a memoir person,” this is the book that might change your mind. Zauner’s writing is intimate, vivid, and deeply moving without ever feeling overly sentimental. It’s the kind of book that makes you slow down, underline passages, and immediately recommend it to a friend. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

The MASH Up by Laura Marie Meyers

After an unexpected breakup, Ruby wakes up inside the M.A.S.H. game she played as a kid, where her predicted future suddenly becomes real.

Why I recommend it: It’s nostalgic, hilarious, and wonderfully original. Think comfort read with a magical twist. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: 13 Going on 30, The Seven Year Slip, The Dead Romantics

Tropesick by Lauren Okie

A romance ghostwriter reunites with her childhood crush while co-writing a novel, only to realize the romance tropes they’re writing keep happening in real life.

Why I recommend it: A romance about writing romance? If you’re a book lover, this is incredibly fun. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Book Lovers, The Rom-Commers

Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu

After being rejected from Harvard Law, Elizabeth becomes obsessed with understanding why another student got everything she wanted.

Why I recommend it: Sharp, compulsively readable, and psychologically fascinating. One of those books you’ll keep thinking about after you finish. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Yellowface, My Year of Rest and Relaxation

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

A missing girl, a mysterious house, and a woman whose past refuses to stay buried.

Why I recommend it: Lisa Jewell is practically the queen of “I’ll read one more chapter.” This is the perfect slump-breaking thriller. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: None of This Is True, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Katie pretends to be qualified for the assignment of a lifetime—until she has to profile a Coast Guard rescue swimmer... without actually knowing how to swim.

Why I recommend it: Funny, heartfelt, and impossible not to root for. Katherine Center always delivers a comforting, uplifting read. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Hello Stranger, Just for the Summer, Practice Makes Perfect

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Two writers reunite years after a life-changing teenage romance, only to discover their chemistry never disappeared.

Why I recommend it: Equal parts swoony romance and literary fiction, with unforgettable characters and beautiful writing. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Before I Let Go

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

Six women head to a luxurious Greek island for a bachelorette weekend where every guest is hiding a secret.

Why I recommend it: Vacation setting, multiple perspectives, shocking twists, this is exactly what I want from a summer thriller. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Villa, The Last Housewife

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett

A romantic getaway turns into a nightmare when a dead woman is found and the internet becomes obsessed with solving the case.

Why I recommend it: Fast-paced, clever, and packed with social commentary without ever slowing the story down. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Listen for the Lie, The Girl on the Train, The Perfect Marriage

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

A reluctant princess must cross dangerous lands beside a warrior she can’t stand while questioning the future that’s been chosen for her.

Why I recommend it: If you’re curious about romantasy but don’t know where to begin, this is a great gateway. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: Fourth Wing, One Dark Window

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

A songwriter with writer’s block returns home and discovers she’s mysteriously connected to another musician through the same melody.

Why I recommend it: Ashley Poston writes cozy, magical romances that are impossible not to smile through. This is exactly the kind of book that reminds you reading should be fun. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Dead Romantics, Funny Story

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager

A woman invites the six people responsible for destroying her family onto a luxury train... but someone starts murdering them before she can.

Why I recommend it: If you want a book that practically reads itself, this is it. Short chapters, nonstop suspense, and enough twists to keep you reading way past bedtime. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: And Then There Were None, The Paris Apartment

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

A fantasy about a diviner whose prophetic visions become intertwined with a mysterious knight after fellow seers begin disappearing.

Why I recommend it: Even readers who don’t normally gravitate toward fantasy have been flying through this one thanks to its atmospheric writing and addictive mystery. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: One Dark Window, Divine Rivals

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

A decade-long love story that asks what happens after you get everything you’ve ever wanted.

Why I recommend it: If you love emotionally layered relationship novels, this one explores marriage, identity, and growing older with incredible honesty. Bookshop | Amazon

Read if you liked: The Light We Lost, Same As It Ever Was

What are your go-to reading slump books?

What’s the last book that completely pulled you out of a reading slump? I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments. My favorite thing about these conversations is discovering the book I didn’t know I needed. 📚

P.S. Reading slumps aren’t a sign that you’re “not a reader anymore.” Sometimes they’re just your brain asking for a different kind of story. Keep trying. The right book is usually only one chapter away.

The Second Act is an entirely reader-supported publication written and created by Danielle Wraith. Click here to subscribe or gift a friend a subscription here (if a friend sent you this —tell them thanks!). Anything you want covered? Questions? Reply with a comment below! You can also find me on Instagram. Please come say hi!