Dear Reader,

Thank you for the TV recs. I’ve plowed through a lot of TV, currently obsessed with Landscape Artist of the Year. Wanna lower your blood pressure? Watch it! (On Prime) I’m determined to make this week my big return to books week. I’ll let you know how it goes. Welcome to September, a favorite month for literary darlings releases.

Poll:

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The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

*new giveaway* I’m giving away one copy of Emma Straub’s AMERICAN FANTASY.

In this novel, a middle-aged woman reluctantly joins her sister on a nostalgia cruise featuring the ’90s boy band they once worshipped, only to find herself unexpectedly reconnecting with the person she used to be. When she befriends one of the band members, the fantasy of revisiting her youth becomes something more complicated: a chance to reconsider her marriage, her desires, and what she still wants from the rest of her life.

To Enter: Click and follow these instructions. This giveaway will close on Wednesday, September 22nd and I will contact a winner on September 23rd. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

Yellow Pine by Claire Vaye Watkins

To Enter: Click and follow these instructions. This giveaway closes on September 15th. U.S. Mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

CLOSES TODAY!

Sunlight Finds You by Laura Moriarty

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

CLOSES TODAY!

UNDER STORY by Chloe Benjamin

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

September: ON PAUSE. I’m hoping the newsletter will still continue in September, but I’m pausing paid subscriptions, so you won’t be charged for the month.

October: Read With Me Month: We will be reading Small Boat by Robert Delecroix.

November: Book To Film: TBD. Members have voted.

Subscribe now

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

I’ve starred the ones I read.

1980’s Jamaica: The Disappearers - Marlon James - In 1988 Jamaica, eight gay men find community while rehearsing a play, until a vicious attack leaves one of them dead.

*time travel: Under Story by Chloe Benjamin  - From the author of The Immortalists comes this beautiful novel about a brilliant scientist hiding out as a dishwasher in Antarctica who discovers a mysterious phenomenon that may allow her to turn back time and undo the tragedy that shattered her family.

a novel about the power of memories: The Birthing Tree - Amanda Peters - I loved her previous novel, The Berry Pickers. In this new novel, a Mi’kmaq nurse returns to the Nova Scotia community she left behind and begins restoring the crumbling home where she was raised.

alienated men lose their grip on reality: The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men - Jon Ronson - When his child is mysteriously lured to a castle in the New England woods, journalist Jon Ronson begins investigating the strange world behind it and finds himself descending into communities of men searching desperately for purpose, power, and control. (nonfiction)

memoir: Home - Amy Smyth Miller - After nearly losing her husband triggers debilitating panic, Miller is diagnosed with Complex PTSD and begins investigating the childhood she thought she had left behind.

guilt and second chances: The World Beneath Her Feet - Holly Ringland - Maggie has spent nearly twenty years building a new life in London and avoiding the Australian valley where she came of age and betrayed the people she loved. When she unexpectedly inherits that very land, she’s forced to return.

Sisters: In The Time Of The Butterflies: The Graphic Novel by Julia Alvarez - I loved this novel so much when I read it in college. And now that I am a fan of graphic novels, I bet this would make a great one! It’s a story about three sisters who become unlikely revolutionaries against one of Latin America’s most brutal dictatorships.

Paperback Releases:

*Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy - On a remote island near Antarctica, a father and his three children are the last caretakers of the world’s largest seed bank when a mysterious woman washes ashore during a violent storm.

*The Whistler - Nick Medina - After an accident leaves him quadriplegic, a rising ghost hunter returns to the reservation where he grew up and begins seeing a terrifying figure that no one else believes is real.

Listen to me interview Nick Medina on my Books Are My People podcast.

Art:

I’ve been doing my best to keep busy in bed when I have the energy. Here’s some bed art. The photo reference comes from the website Line of Action, which allows you to draw or paint models, nude or not, still lives and more. You set the time limit. It’s such a great resource! For this painting below, I used watercolor, gouache and graphite pencil.

I’d love to hear what you’re reading and loving this summer!

Leave a comment

Local, in-Person Happenings:

Upcoming In-Person Art Classes in Santa Monica, California

Please pass along to anyone you know living in LA who may be interested!

I am teaching a new 6-week gelli printing class in Santa Monica at The Brentwood Art Center - Layers of Possibility: A Six-Week Gelli Printing Journey. Wednesday, September 23, 2026 - Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Click here to sign up if you’re in the Los Angeles area!

Inspired by the vibrant, pop-inspired art of Rex Ray, this 3-hour workshop invites participants to explore playful shapes and bold colors through gel printing. Through a variety of instructor-led activities, students experiment with layered monoprints, drawing from our observations of Ray’s work and learning new techniques on the gel plate. Join me Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. 6:30 - 9:30 PM.

I’m thrilled to share that my mixed media piece Monstera has been selected for the group show Reclaiming the Ordinary at the Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery in San Diego. Each piece in this show was selected by one of my favorite artists, Peggi Kroll Roberts, so this is a real honor for me. The show will run from August 22nd to September 12th. If you happen to be in the San Diego area, check it out!

Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery: 3935 Harney Street, San Diego, CA 92110

Leave a comment

This truly is the very last note for paying members until October 1st, but since I’m taking September off, I thought you may want to get ahead on some reading, so I figured, why not vote now f…

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I’m posting this extra post before I head off to break tomorrow because I want to remind you, that as paying subscribers, you have access to all of our past book club picks / videos / meetups, etc. S…

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I’m releasing this schedule now since I’m taking September off. This way, you can plan your October reading accordingly.

Below, please find the reading schedule for Small Boat. I’ve included line bre…

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Hi Bookies!

Here are my August updates. I turned 50! My mom began radiation and is doing great. She continues to be …

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Dear Reader,

This is a uterus plushie that a friend delivered last week because I had mine removed on Friday. All went well and I am taking time to myself to recuperate. I’m now down two organs! (I had my gallbladder removed about ten years ago. Isn’t it odd and miraculous how we can survive without certain organs?) I’ve set up a little art cart next to my bed, but I haven’t really been able to motivate to do anything except embroider. I’ve done a little bit of reading, but the meds make it difficult to concentrate. If anyone has any good TV / movie recommendations, please send them my way!

Leave a comment

p.s. The plushie comes from the company I Heart Guts, started by a woman we went to high school with. It’s so adorable; plushies for every body part! Check it out!

Poll Results:

I concur with these poll results. I’m usually a 2-3 book vacationer. I like to bring one or two with me and then visit a local bookstore. The kindle makes a lot of sense for travel, but I don’t love reading on a device.

Leave a comment

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

Yellow Pine by Claire Vaye Watkins - Deep in the Mojave, single mother Rose has built an unconventional life among a community of misfits fighting to protect the desert from a green-energy land rush. When an old flame reappears, their volatile romance awakens an even bigger desire: to have another child and build a life rooted in connection rather than consumption and isolation. With her lover, neighbors, and fellow activists in tow, Rose embarks on a radical experiment in how to live, love, and belong in a world she believes is destroying itself.

To Enter: Click and follow these instructions. This giveaway closes on September 15th. U.S. Mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

Sunlight Finds You by Laura Moriarty

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

UNDER STORY by Chloe Benjamin

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sponsoring this giveaway.

Share

Leave a comment

Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

September: ON PAUSE (Sorry!!) I’m hoping the newsletter will still continue in September, but I’m pausing paid subscriptions, so you won’t be charged for the month.

October: Read With Me Month: We will be reading Small Boat by Robert Delecroix. Click here to enter a free month membership and join us!

November: Book To Film: TBD. Members, we will vote soon!

Subscribe now

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

Is this book really about Natalie Portman? That’s the rumor: Life of M - Rachel Cusk - A writer becomes fascinated by M, one of the world’s most famous movie stars, and sets out to discover who exists beneath the image everyone recognizes.

family estrangement: The Anniversary - Andrea Bajani - Ten years after walking away from his parents for good, a son finally confronts the violent, suffocating family life he escaped. Looking back at his father’s brutality, his mother’s silence, and his own desperate hunger for freedom, he asks whether we can ever truly leave behind the people who made us.

migration, trauma and grief: Dey - Edwidge Danticat - After surviving a shooting at a Miami shopping mall, a successful Haitian American woman tells no one what happened, but the experience quietly fractures the life she thought she understood.

a sequel: Big Little Truths - Liane Moriarty - Ten years after Big Little Lies, Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie are back, and their children are now teenagers facing problems far more dangerous than playground politics.

cozy romance: The Art of Charming A Changling - Sylvie Cathrall - On her first day at the royal galleries, an art conservator discovers that a priceless portrait is a forgery, and that a charming fairy is trapped inside it. To save her career and set him free, the unlikely pair must track down the missing original, only for their art investigation to turn into an unexpected romance.

creepy mystery: They Say A Girl Died Here - Sarah Pinborough - Stuck in a drought-stricken town haunted by a string of grisly murders, a college dropout discovers evidence that the infamous Farmhandman case may never have been solved.

biography: Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith Jamie Fisher - Drawing on never-before-seen archives and extensive interviews with the people closest to him, this book offers an intimate portrait of Elliott Smith beyond the mythology of the doomed, tortured artist. I listened to A LOT of Elliot Smith in my early 20’s and every time I hear his voice, it makes me sad.

Paperback Releases:

A New New Me - Helen Oyeyemi - Kinga has found an unusual way to survive modern life: she’s split herself into seven different women, one for each day of the week. The arrangement mostly works, despite the grudges, secrets, and logistical headaches, until Monday’s Kinga discovers a man tied up in their apartment and realizes one of her other selves may be plotting against them. Now the Kingas must figure out which version of themselves they can trust before one of them destroys the rest.

Katabasis - RF Kuang - When their brilliant but tyrannical professor dies in a magical accident, two rival Cambridge graduate students descend into Hell to retrieve his soul, because they still need his recommendation letters.

Upcoming In-Person Art Classes in Santa Monica, California

Please pass along to anyone you know living in LA who may be interested!

I am teaching a new 6-week gelli printing class in Santa Monica at The Brentwood Art Center - Layers of Possibility: A Six-Week Gelli Printing Journey. Wednesday, September 23, 2026 - Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Click here to sign up if you’re in the Los Angeles area!

Inspired by the vibrant, pop-inspired art of Rex Ray, this 3-hour workshop invites participants to explore playful shapes and bold colors through gel printing. Through a variety of instructor-led activities, students experiment with layered monoprints, drawing from our observations of Ray’s work and learning new techniques on the gel plate. Join me Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. 6:30 - 9:30 PM.

I’m thrilled to share that my mixed media piece Monstera has been selected for the group show Reclaiming the Ordinary at the Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery in San Diego. Each piece in this show was selected by one of my favorite artists, Peggi Kroll Roberts, so this is a real honor for me. The show will run from August 22nd to September 12th. If you happen to be in the San Diego area, check it out!

Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery: 3935 Harney Street, San Diego, CA 92110

I’d love to hear what you’re reading and loving this summer!

Leave a comment

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Dear Reader,

I’m thrilled to share that my mixed media piece Monstera has been selected for the group show Reclaiming the Ordinary at the Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery in San Diego. Each piece in this show was selected by one of my favorite artists, Peggi Kroll Roberts, so this is a real honor for me. The show will run from August 22nd to September 12th. If you happen to be in the San Diego area, check it out!

Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery: 3935 Harney Street, San Diego, CA 92110

We had our online Books Are My People book club meetup yesterday. As I was preparing for it, I thought to myself, “I think this was my weakest reading month in years.” There’s a lot going on in my life that has me distracted and makes it really hard to concentrate on anything, let alone reading. But, as I began prepping for our meeting, I was surprised I was able to share over 7 books I recently read, plus two quite popular books I didn’t finish. It’s okay that every book isn’t for me.

Did anyone watch Season Two of The Fours Seasons? I wasn’t a huge fan of season one, but I enjoyed season two. I wish I could articulate why that is! I did enjoy seeing Never Whistle at Night featured in a scene.

Shane Hawk, the editor of Never Whistle at Night once recommended a book for my podcast! You can listen to it below:

I moved my in-person art classes to the bottom this newsletter, but I wanted you to be aware of this online art class happening this Wednesday.

Online Art Class: Wednesday, August 19th:

Click here to register (Can’t make the day / time? A recording will be sent out to you within 48 hours.)

Textures & Markmaking

Ready to unlock more creative possibilities with your Gelli plate?

After a quick refresher on applying paint, we’ll explore the surprising variety of everyday materials you can use to create rich textures and expressive marks. Bring along textured items from home that you don’t mind getting paint on and follow a series of hands-on exercises designed to help you capture exciting patterns, build visual interest, and develop your own unique markmaking style.

Join me live for 90-minutes, experiment freely, and get answers to your questions in the chat as we create together.

New Poll:

Leave a comment

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

Sunlight Finds You by Laura Moriarty

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

UNDER STORY by Chloe Benjamin

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sponsoring this giveaway.

Share

Leave a comment

Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will be pausing my Substack for September, so I had to switch things around a little.

August: Independent Reading Month. I loved seeing you all! I’ll send out the recording on Thursday along with a list of all of the books we discussed.

September: ON PAUSE (Sorry!!) I’m hoping the newsletter will still continue in September, but I’m pausing paid subscriptions, so you won’t be charged for the month.

October: Read With Me Month: We will be reading Small Boat by Robert Delecroix. Click here to enter a free month membership and join us!

November: Book To Film: TBD

Subscribe now

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

A real mix of books out today. This is the calm before the September deluge of books. I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.

coming of age friendship: First Summer - Ekin Oklap - This one looks lovely. Over one dreamy summer, two lonely teenage girls find first love in each other and escape into the imagined adventures of their favorite childhood space explorers. As adulthood approaches, their tender connection becomes a defining memory that will echo throughout their lives.

coming-of-age: Unprecedented Times - Malavika Kannan - Burned out from trying to save the world, an Indian American climate activist arrives at Stanford determined to reinvent herself through sex, love, and writing, only for the pandemic to blow up her carefully scripted coming-of-age.

satire: A Very Special Episode - Camille Acker - Determined to modernize the prestigious Black society her family has led for generations, an ambitious young woman accepts funding from a mysterious white benefactor, only to discover the money is tied to a scheme exploiting the very community she hopes to serve.

memoir: Mud on the Moon - Nita Noveno - A Filipino American daughter pieces together her immigrant father’s largely untold past, blending memoir and imagination to fill the silences he left behind.

questions about the boundless universe: Range - Dorthe Nors - An astrophysicist retreats to the countryside to study the origins of the universe, only to find solitude complicated by neighbors, memories, and hostile human boundaries.

family, legacy, inherited curse: The Book of Chuck - LaToya Watkins - Across four generations of a Texas family, the inherited ability to foresee death shapes and shatters each descendant’s search for love and belonging.

psychological drama: The Minimalist - Kailee Pederson - A rising classical composer inherits her legendary mentor’s unfinished final work and retreats to his home to complete it, only to find herself consumed by grief, guilt and ambition.

Paperback Releases:

*Wreck - Catherine Newman - A sequel to Sandwich, with her grown children coming and going and her widowed father moving in, Rocky is navigating the messy rhythms of family life when a local accident and a frightening medical possibility send her anxieties into overdrive.

Click here to listen to me interview Catherine Newman about her amazing novel, Sandwich, on my Books Are My People podcast.

*Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz - Abandoned robots open a noodle shop in postwar San Francisco and discover that making perfect noodles is easier than convincing humans they belong. This one is adorable!

*Awake in the Floating City - Susanna Kwan - As rising waters swallow her city, a grieving artist finds unexpected purpose caring for an elderly neighbor whose memories awaken her own desire to create. Together, they confront what it means to preserve a life and a place that cannot be saved.

Upcoming In-Person Art Classes in Santa Monica, California

Please pass along to anyone you know living in LA who may be interested!

I am teaching a new 6-week gelli printing class in Santa Monica at The Brentwood Art Center - Layers of Possibility: A Six-Week Gelli Printing Journey. Wednesday, September 23, 2026 - Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Click here to sign up if you’re in the Los Angeles area!

Inspired by the vibrant, pop-inspired art of Rex Ray, this 3-hour workshop invites participants to explore playful shapes and bold colors through gel printing. Through a variety of instructor-led activities, students experiment with layered monoprints, drawing from our observations of Ray’s work and learning new techniques on the gel plate. Join me Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. 6:30 - 9:30 PM.

I’d love to hear what you’re reading and loving this summer!

Leave a comment

I am having surgery and just wanted to give myself ample time to recover instead of putting pressure on myself to run book club that month, so I’ve pushed our Read With Me Month to October.

In October, we will read Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.

When a migrant boat sinks in the English Channel, killing 27 people who had called desperately for help, the naval officer who answered must defend her failure to act. Inspired by a real 2021 tragedy, Small Boat is a haunting examination of complicity and the stories we tell ourselves when responsibility becomes unbearable.

Through weekly videos, we will explore the real-life details that inspired this book, the politics of borders, the ethics of bureaucracy, a bit about the author’s background as well as other interesting and engaging ideas. In addition to weekly videos, you’ll also receive a ton of supplemental content related to the book, and we will gather at the end of October to discuss.

⭐I’m giving away a free month in October to one reader who can join in the fun as well as receive all of the other benefits of being a paid subscriber including Subscriber-only Thursday posts. ⭐

To be considered for the free month, simply leave a comment below! You can earn an extra entry by sharing this post in your notes.

The winner will have access to all paid subscriber-only posts for the month of October, beginning October 1st, including an invitation to our end-of-October meetup to discuss Small Boat.

I hope to see you in October!

Paying members: You may also enter the giveaway! If you win, you’ll be comped a free month!

Leave a comment

Members: We will meetup on Monday, August 17th at 10 a.m. PT to discuss everything we have been reading and loving. Be sure and register for the meetup using the link here. Can’t wait to see you all …

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Dear Reader,

Never a dull moment here. My sweet two and a half-year-old pup Goose had surgery. We noticed a little limp a few months ago, but she plays hard, so I didn’t think much of it. But when I took her to the vet and she got scanned, they noticed that a small bone fragment broke off at her elbow. She had surgery last week to remove it. They even sent the bone fragment home submerged in a jar of water?! What am I supposed to do with it? Turn it into a ring? A pendent? Anyhow, Goose is recovering nicely. They’re keeping her sufficiently drugged - it’s the only way to keep a 65-pound active dog from running around. And we’re taking turns camping out on the floor with her each night because she’s not allowed to go up and down stairs for the next 6-8 weeks. OMG. Below is a photo from when she got home from the hospital and collapsed in my arms. Needless to say, not much reading happening here lately.

Upcoming Art Classes:

Online:

Click here to register (Can’t make the day / time? A recording will be sent out to you within 48 hours.)

Textures & Markmaking

Ready to unlock more creative possibilities with your Gelli plate?

After a quick refresher on applying paint, we’ll explore the surprising variety of everyday materials you can use to create rich textures and expressive marks. Bring along textured items from home that you don’t mind getting paint on and follow a series of hands-on exercises designed to help you capture exciting patterns, build visual interest, and develop your own unique markmaking style.

Join me live for 90-minutes, experiment freely, and get answers to your questions in the chat as we create together.

In-Person:

I am teaching a new 6-week gelli printing class in Santa Monica at The Brentwood Art Center - Layers of Possibility: A Six-Week Gelli Printing Journey. Wednesday, September 23, 2026 - Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Click here to sign up if you’re in the Los Angeles area!

Inspired by the vibrant, pop-inspired art of Rex Ray, this 3-hour workshop invites participants to explore playful shapes and bold colors through gel printing. Through a variety of instructor-led activities, students experiment with layered monoprints, drawing from our observations of Ray’s work and learning new techniques on the gel plate. Join me Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. 6:30 - 9:30 PM.

Poll Results:

Like me, the majority of you will seek out some of the Booker nominees. Some of them haven’t even published in the U.S. yet. And a few of you will even try and read them all! Very ambitious indeed! As you complete them, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Leave a comment

Today, we have a guest author recommendation from Laura Moriarty, author of Sunlight Finds You, out now!

When her first love is torn away in postwar Florida, a seventeen-year-old girl makes a desperate choice that unleashes decades of secrets, betrayal, and regret. Looking back on the life that followed, she must finally reckon with the past, forgive those who shaped it, and learn to trust herself enough to choose the future she wants.

Let’s hear what Laura has to recommend!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below for Sunlight Finds You!

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

See above for a description of Sunlight Finds You.

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

This one doesn’t come out until September 1st, but I’m so excited to be able to give away a copy of UNDER STORY by Chloe Benjamin. She is the author of one of my all-time favorite novels, THE IMMORTALISTS.

This story unfolds in Antarctica, where a brilliant biologist hiding from her past is drawn into a mysterious scientific discovery that reunites her with her former husband. It’s a story about love and time and consciousness and I cannot wait to read it!

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes September 1st. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sponsoring this giveaway.

Share

Leave a comment

Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will be pausing my Substack for September, so I had to switch things around a little.

July: Read With Me: We met, we discussed Vigdis Hjorth’s Repetition. Here is the recording.

August: Independent Reading Month. Read whatever you’d like and we will meetup and discuss. We will meet in the middle of the month instead of at the end because of some scheduling conflicts. We will meetup on Monday, August 17th at 10 a.m. PT to discuss everything we have been reading and loving. Be sure and register for the meetup using the link here.

September: ON PAUSE (Sorry!!) I’m hoping the newsletter will still continue in September, but I’m pausing paid subscriptions, so you won’t be charged for the month.

October: Read With Me Month

November: Book To Film

Subscribe now

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.

Being billed as for fans of Geek Love: The Responsible Party - Claire Carusillo - When a decades-old murder investigation forces a woman to confront her family's past, she uncovers the outrageous legacy of the "Unsinkable Mounsey Women," a dynasty of disaster-defying survivors.

Wyoming Wilderness: Sunrise - Tea Obreht - After surviving a plane crash, a woman stumbles upon an abandoned Old West town whose century-old secrets bind three lives across time.

A Grown Up The Breakfast Club: You’ll Love it Here - Natalie Sue - After losing her dream job, a burned-out marketer becomes the reluctant superintendent of her chaotic apartment building, only to discover the neighbors she's been avoiding may be exactly who she needs.

From A Pulitzer Prize Finalist: *A Tender Age by Chang-Rae Lee - When an eleven-year-old Korean American boy becomes entangled in a shocking event one summer, his fragile understanding of guilt, innocence, family and masculinity is shattered.

1950’s Cambridge, MA: The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman - Two Radcliffe students are recruited into a secret society of witches, only to discover that the witch hunts of the past are far from over.

nonfiction for music lovers: Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland - Ashley Kahn - At the lowest point of his career, Paul Simon found inspiration in South African music and created Graceland, an album that changed music while igniting a global debate.

Paperback Releases:

*Fonesca - Jessica Francis Kane - Pregnant, broke, and desperate, a young Penelope Fitzgerald travels to Mexico chasing a rumor of fortune in this richly imagined tale of love, ambition, and reinvention.

*Girl Dinner - Olivia Blake - An ambitious college student and a struggling professor are drawn into an elite sorority whose promise of female power comes with a horrifying price.

I Am You - Victoria Redel - Disguised as a boy, a gifted servant helps a young painter break into Amsterdam's male-dominated art world, only to become her fiercest rival. I missed this one when it first came out, but now I’m intrigued!

Seascraper - Benjamin Wood - A shy shrimp fisherman with dreams of becoming a musician sees his quiet life transformed when a mysterious American offers him a glimpse of a different future.

The Island of Last Things - Emma Sloley - The last zoo on Earth is meant to protect its animals, until two keepers decide their only hope is escape.

ART:

I’m thrilled to share that my mixed media piece Monstera has been selected for the group show Reclaiming the Ordinary at the Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery in San Diego. Each piece in this show was selected by one of my favorite artists, Peggi Kroll Roberts! So this is a real honor for me. The show will run from August 22nd to September 12th. If you happen to be in the San Diego area, check it out!

Woodward Contemporary Art Gallery: 3935 Harney Street, San Diego, CA 92110

Leave a comment

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Dear Reader,

Well, it happened. In the blink of an eye this little reader turned 50 under the stars and twinkle lights, surrounded by a close-knit group of friends and family.

The highlight of the evening was my 93-year-old dad bum rushing the dance floor with such exuberance, his cane waving in the air, dancing with everyone. I think we’ll all carry that joyful moment with us for the rest of our lives. Life, with its many challenges (and my family has definitely faced many in 2026) can be just so staggeringly beautiful. I’m moving forward choosing optimism and seeking out the joy in each and every day I get to be alive.

Poll:

The longlist for The Booker Prize was just announced, so I’m curious…

Have you read any of this year’s Booker Prize longlist nominees? Let me know below!

Leave a comment

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

I’m giving away one copy of Chang-Rae’s Lee’s A TENDER AGE.

When an eleven-year-old Korean American boy becomes entangled in a shocking event one summer, his fragile understanding of guilt, innocence, family and masculinity is shattered. A TENDER AGE is a haunting coming-of-age novel that explores family and identity.

If you like meaty literary novels that pack an emotional punch, then this is the book for you. This is truly a beautifully written novel.

To Enter: Click here and follow the instructions. This giveaway closes Monday, August 10th. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

Closing today! I am currently giving away one copy of Sigrid Nunez’s It Will Come Back To You, out today!

This is Nunez’s first collection, a compendium of thirteen dazzling stories showcasing her signature blend of brilliance and emotional depth. These stories have appeared in various literary magazines from 1992 – 2025 and are gathered for the first time.

To Enter: Simply leave a comment on my Instagram giveaway post and follow the other instructions for extra entries.This giveaway will close on Tuesday, August 4th and I will contact a winner on August 5th. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

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Member Corner:

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will be pausing my Substack for September, so I had to switch things around a little.

July: Read With Me: We met, we discussed Vigdis Hjorth’s Repetition. Here is the recording.

August: Independent Reading Month. Read whatever you’d like and we will meetup and discuss. We will meet in the middle of the month instead of at the end because of some scheduling conflicts.

September: ON PAUSE (Sorry!!)

October: Read With Me Month

November: Book To Film

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Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.

weird and wonderful: *Kitten - Stacey Yu - A lost twenty-something becomes obsessed with her boyfriend's cat.

a novel about friendship: Take What You Can - Naima Coster - Two lifelong best friends reunite to raise their daughters together, only to discover that motherhood, class, and the secrets of their shared past may pull them apart for good.

1949 Florida: Sunlight Finds You - Laura Moriarty - When a forbidden first love is torn away, a teenage girl's desperate choice sets off decades of secrets, betrayal, and hard-won self-discovery.

a novel about memory: Awake Awake - Fiona Mozley - A struggling writer begins remembering vivid events that never happened, forcing her to unravel the truth about her past before she loses her grip on who she is.

From the POV of a military dog: Etna - Paul Yoon -After surviving a devastating war, an ex-military dog embarks on a perilous journey across a broken country in search of the home he barely remembers.

Costa Rica: Crocodilopolis - John Manual Arias - Exiled by his own brother, a disgraced politician returns to Costa Rica determined to feed him to the crocodiles that haunted their childhood.

set in the near future: Moderation - Elaine Castillo - The world's best content moderator lands her dream job policing virtual reality, only to fall for the tech executive whose secrets could shatter both her career and her vision of the future.

Paperback Releases:

*The Hounding - Xenobe Purvis - When rumors spread that three young sisters can transform into dogs, a superstitious village turns fear into persecution. Loved how atmospheric and unusual this read is!

*Flesh - David Szalay - After a traumatic adolescence leaves him forever unmoored, one man spends decades searching for a place to belong while trying to outrun the past that shaped him. I was surprisingly haunted by this Booker Prize recipient novel.

*Hot Desk - Laura Dickerman - Forced to share a desk but never a workday, two competing editors wage a passive-aggressive publishing war until a literary icon's death reveals a hidden story that changes everything.

Click here to listen to my interview with Laura Dickerman about Hot Desk.

The Librarians - Sherry Thomas - When two patrons are murdered after a library game night, four librarians must solve the case before the sanctuary they've built becomes the next crime scene.

ART:

I’m still slowly working through painting books covers in my sketchbook. I LOVED Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel and I so enjoyed painting the book cover.

You can listen to my interview with Laurie Frankel here.

Have you read anything you’ve loved lately? Which new release do you want to read first? I believe the publishers are sending me a copy of Awake Awake, so I’m excited for that one!

Leave a comment

Please be sure and scroll down to our August Meetup vote! We’re meeting a little earlier in the month, so I wanted to make sure I got a date / time on the calendar early!

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Dear Reader,

It’s been an exciting and action-packed week.

My dad celebrated his 93rd birthday! He is just as adorable as ever. Here he is with his 94-year-old buddy, also from Montreal!

I had a great time teaching my Matisse-inspired gelli printing class at the Brentwood Art Center in Santa Monica! Looking forward to my 6-week class starting in September.

I spent Saturday morning doing my favorite thing in the world, recommending books at Los Angeles’s inaugural Independent Bookstore Book Crawl. I was stationed at my favorite indie bookstore, Diesel Books. I signed my young adult novel, Strays, I gave away Books Are My People coffee mugs and I loved chatting with everyone who came in!

I went and saw The Odyssey a second time and dare I say, appreciated it even more! If you haven’t yet, you can click here to read my post on The Odyssey resources if you too would like to do a deep dive.

My good friend Maria has begun something called The Lucky Letter Club and you should join! Each month, members will receive a personal letter, a book recommendation, a recipe, art made by Maria, plus a few little extras.

Opinionologist

The Lucky Letter Club is Open!

The Lucky Letter Club is open…

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a month ago · 9 likes · 4 comments · H Maria Armijo

Poll Results:

I’m unsurprised by the results of last week’s poll. Maybe I will count all of the unread books in my home as a good reality check and keep that number in my wallet.

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

I am currently giving away one copy of Sigrid Nunez’s It Will Come Back To You, out today!

This is Nunez’s first collection, a compendium of thirteen dazzling stories showcasing her signature blend of brilliance and emotional depth. These stories have appeared in various literary magazines from 1992 – 2025 and are gathered for the first time.

To Enter: Simply leave a comment on my Instagram giveaway post and follow the other instructions for extra entries.This giveaway will close on Monday, August 3rd and I will contact a winner on August 4th. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will be pausing my Substack for September, so I had to switch things around a little.

July: Read With Me: We met, we discussed Vigdis Hjorth’s Repetition. Recording will go out Thursday.

August: Independent Reading Month. Read whatever you’d like and we will meetup and discuss. We will meet in the middle of the month instead of at the end because of some scheduling conflicts.

September: ON PAUSE (Sorry!!)

October: Read With Me Month

November: Book To Film

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

a novel about storytelling: *I Made You Up Inside My Head - Marta Perez-Carbonell - When a translator shares a train compartment with a novelist whose bestselling book was drawn from someone else's trauma, their conversations awaken buried memories and unresolved betrayals, forcing her to reconsider the stories she's lived and the ones she's helped shape.

a mother daughter story about family and memory: Beginning, Middle, End by Valeria Luiselli - After the collapse of her marriage, a mother travels through Sicily with her young daughter in search of a new beginning.

*Members, we previously read Luiselli’s Faces in the Crowd if you’d like to go into the archives and read it and watch the lectures and read the notes and watch the virtual meetup. Click here and scroll to the bottom where you will see the reading schedule as well as all four posts for the month.

a thriller about motherhood: Furious Violet by Sarai Walker - A burned-out crime journalist returns to her Colorado hometown to finish a book on a notorious serial killer, only to become the target of a stalker who insists she is their mother.

coming-of-age tale of obsession: The Obsessed - Lizzie Buehler - A devoted graduate student becomes consumed by the work of her favorite novelist, only to find her own relationships mirroring the fiction she reveres.

ensemble novel: Town & Country - Brian Schaefer - One small-town election. Two visions of America. As a heated congressional race exposes deep divides between locals and affluent transplants, the lives of neighbors, families, and friends become irrevocably entwined.

blending alternative history with folklore: Few and Far Between - Jan Carson - What if Northern Ireland's largest lake had been drained to create a new county? Decades later, the last caretakers of the strange island community that emerged must decide whether to preserve its myths or expose the truths buried beneath them.

spanning four generations: When Mikan Road Was Ours - D.K. Furutani - This novel traces one man's search for identity through a long-buried family memoir, illuminating the enduring impact of Japanese American incarceration and the fragile inheritance of memory.

Paperback Releases:

Tall is Her Body by Robert De La Chevotiere - Spanning Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Canada, this sweeping multigenerational novel follows a young boy whose gift for seeing the spirit world guides him through grief, family secrets, and the lasting legacies of colonialism in a profound search for identity and belonging.

*The Wedding People - Allison Espach - Do yourself a favor and read this novel if you haven’t yet. It was my auto-recommend last year. A woman arrives alone at a luxury hotel intending to spend one final weekend indulging herself, only to be mistaken for a wedding guest and unexpectedly drawn into the lives of the bride and her family.

ART:

I made these two prints during my Matisse-inspired Gelli Printing Course. I love how they came out and plan on cropping them down and using them for cards or a collage.

What are you reading these days? Anything you’re doing over the summer that’s making you happy??

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We will meetup over Zoom to discuss Repetition on Monday, July 27th at 10 am PT. Please sign up using the Luma link here to attend.

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While I typically paywall my Thursday posts, I thought everyone might enjoy this Odyssey Resource Roundup! If you’re following me here or on IG, you know that my family ran out to see a late-night showing of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. I obviously enjoy literary interpretations and the rest of my crew likes big, loud epic tales. So it was a win-win for us as a family.

I don’t read reviews of book or films before reading or seeing them. Do you?

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I like to watch or read something, form my own opinion and think about it before being influenced by anyone else’s ideas. I never understood people who read reviews to see if they should go read or see something. But I know many people do that! It’s just not for me. Like, who says that reviewer knows you or your tastes at all? But I get leaning in to a reviewer whose taste you admire. But I’ve also learned from past experience that just because someone declares something is AMAZING or TERRIBLE, it doesn’t mean that’s an absolute. Art is purely subjective. Once I’ve seen a thing, that’s when I like to get into the nitty gritty of other people’s opinions.

Anyhow, of course now I’m down The Odyssey rabbit hole or shall I say an Odyssean charybdis. So I thought I’d compile interesting think pieces and other tidbits from around the interwebs in case you too want to learn more about the epic poem or the film before or after reading or seeing it.

Nolan’s film is 173 minutes long and it was shot in Imax, so that is how we saw it. Our chairs rumbled. It was awesome. If you don’t like loud films, then this is not the movie for you.

Here are some reviews of the film:

Sex Beds and Grisly Executions: What Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Changed, Invented and Left Out (The Guardian)

Our Critics Review The Odyssey (The New Yorker)

Review from Variety

Review from RogerEibert.com

Other Pieces:

The Odyssey (The Guardian)

Nolan’s 10 Biggest Changes in the Odyssey (Vanity Fair)

Discussion with Spoilers (The Guardian)

Will Women Also Love Nolan’s Odyssey? (The Guardian)

A Voyage of Discovery: An Idiot’s Guide to Reading The Odyssey (The Guardian)

My biggest takeaway, which isn’t anything revelatory, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how Homer’s Odyssey is all about the power of storytelling.

Odyssey Controversy:

Why The Odyssey Has Caused So Much Controversy (The BBC)

Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey Used Occupied Land As A Set. This Feels Like A Betrayal (The Guardian)

Best Translations of Homer’s Epic:

Emily Wilson’s translation

Richmond Lattimore’s translation

Robert Fagles’s translation

Robert Fitzgerald’s tranlation

Daniel Medelsohn’s translation (I have this one and it’s very well done.)

And, my favorite graphic novel interpretation which I read over the weekend before seeing the film.

Gareth Hinds’s translation / graphic novel

Need more help finding the right edition to read? Watch the video below: Which Version of Homer’s Odyssey is Best (For You)?

Podcasts:

In Our Time: The Odyssey (BBC)

Mary Beard on Homer’s Masterpiece (Secret Life of Books) There are multiple episodes on The Odyssey, but you can start with this one.

Literature and History (The Odyssey) episode 12-14 focus on The Odyssey

Instant Classics: There are a TON of episodes that focus on various aspects of The Odyssey.

Works of Fiction Inspired by The Odyssey:

(I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)

*Ulysses by James Joyce - It’s the structure of The Odyssey compressed into one day in the life of a man living in Dublin.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood: Margaret Atwood reimagines The Odyssey through the eyes of Penelope, giving voice to the woman history remembered only for her patience. From the underworld, she offers a sharp, subversive retelling of myth, marriage, and power.

*Circe by Madeline Miller (The Circe segment of the Nolan film was one of my favorites)

Other Odyssey Film Adaptations:

Ulysses (1954) Directed by Mario Camerini (not an official trailer)

The Odyssey (1997) Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky (this is not an official trailer)

The Return (2024) Directed by Uberto Pasolini

Films Inspired by The Odyssey:

Until I did research for this post, I was unaware that Cold Mountain was heavily based on The Odyssey.

I also missed the memo that Oh Brother, Where Art Thou is a satirical adaptation of The Odyssey.

Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey:

Art:

Countless artistic renderings have been created or inspired by tales in The Odyssey, but I’d be remiss not to include this piece by J. M. W. Turner Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, 1829.

Behind-The-Scene Fun Factoids:

Nolan turned the production into a real-world voyage.
Principal photography lasted 91 days and took place across Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, Greece, Italy and the United States. Together, the locations supplied the coastlines, islands, ruins and volcanic terrain used to construct the film’s mythic Mediterranean.

The production largely built its mythical world at full scale.
Director Christopher Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong favored physical locations and practical constructions over green-screen environments. Icelandic black-sand terrain became part of the Underworld, Scottish cliffs supplied remote island landscapes, and the Sicilian island of Favignana stood in for Ithaca.

Odysseus’s ship was not a digital illusion.
The filmmakers adapted a vessel sourced in Norway into an approximately 115-foot Greek warship. It was then taken onto open water for filming, giving the actors, camera crew and stunt performers the same movement, spray and instability their characters would experience at sea.

Troy occupied several acres of Moroccan desert.
The production constructed a roughly two-and-a-half-acre version of the ancient city in Morocco, complete with large exterior environments and a Temple of Athena. The scale allowed Nolan to stage crowds and military action within a physical space rather than relying primarily on digital extensions.

The Trojan Horse was a functioning movie set, not merely a prop.
The enormous wooden horse was built in Los Angeles, transported to Morocco and installed on the beach for filming. Nolan’s version stood roughly 35 feet tall, while an 8,000-pound, 40-foot promotional replica was later displayed outside New York’s AMC Lincoln Square.

The Trojan Horse sequence was designed to feel claustrophobic.
Instead of treating the warriors’ concealment as a triumphant adventure, the filmmakers emphasized the physical discomfort and tension of soldiers trapped inside a wooden structure while waiting to attack. Nolan described the scene as an opportunity to find intimate suspense inside one of mythology’s largest visual icons.

The film made IMAX history.
The Odyssey became the first feature-length movie photographed entirely with IMAX film cameras. New IMAX technology helped make it possible to use the bulky, high-resolution format not only for landscapes and battle scenes, but across an entire narrative production.

The cameras consumed an appropriately epic quantity of film.
Nolan reported that the production exposed more than two million feet of IMAX film. Laid end to end, that amount would stretch for hundreds of miles, a fittingly excessive footprint for a story built around distance, delay and wandering.

The crew sometimes had to reach locations like an expedition party.
Filming involved remote coastlines, difficult hikes, harsh weather and caves reportedly filled with bees. Matt Damon described the physical demands of the shoot as an experience that echoed Odysseus’s own exhausting journey.

The Underworld was found in Iceland rather than manufactured on a soundstage.
Locations including Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula and the Markarfljót river region supplied the stark terrain used for the film’s journey into Hades. The volcanic landscape allowed the sequence to appear supernatural without abandoning the film’s preference for tangible environments.

Ithaca was divided between Sicily and Hollywood.
Exterior material for Odysseus’s homeland was filmed around the Castle of Santa Caterina on Favignana, an island off Sicily. The palace interiors were then constructed on a large Los Angeles soundstage, allowing the filmmakers to combine authentic architecture with tightly controlled interior staging.

The movie’s geography is deliberately poetic rather than archaeological.
Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, Greece, Italy and California collectively become Homer’s Mediterranean. The approach reflects the nature of the poem itself: Odysseus’s world is less a reproducible map than a chain of increasingly strange encounters recalled through memory and storytelling. The geographical interpretation is an inference based on the documented filming locations.

The official behind-the-scenes feature brings the scale into focus.
Universal’s production feature includes comments from Nolan, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and other members of the cast. It covers the international shoot, the new IMAX technology and the film’s practical approach to locations and staging.

Other Interesting Videos:

Behind the Scenes of the making of The Odyssey

Ancient Greek Expert reacts to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

Why the Ancient Story of The Odyssey Still resonates Today (PBS)

Nolan’s Odyssey and the Myth of Historical Accuracy

Hopefully, you’ll find something here that you find interesting to read or watch! I’d love to hear your thoughts about the film if you’ve seen it.

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I have included some affiliate links to books in my bookshop.org online bookstore, Books Are My People.

Members: I’ll announce our meetup for next week’s Repetition Book Club Meetup in a separate post today.

Dear Reader,

I am back from a whirlwind family road trip to Las Vegas where my seventeen-year-old played in a hockey tournament. I’m delighted to share that their team won the tournament! So that was fun. My twenty-year-old’s girlfriend also joined us for the trip and I have to say, having another female around was delightful! We hit a crazy desert storm on the way over: the sky suddenly became dark and ominous and there was a ton of rain and lightening and flooding. A stormy desert is absolutely breathtaking! Gets me in the mood for the new Watkins novel.

Aside from all of the fun hockey shenanigans, the highlight was seeing The Odyssey at our hotel’s Imax theater at 10:30 pm on our last night there.

I don’t know what it is about Vegas, but I just don’t get tired there. Did you do anything book-related over the past week? Have you seen The Odyssey yet? I brushed up on my Odyssey by revisiting this fantastic graphic novel. It was fun seeing the movie through my kids’ eyes as they both studied Latin in high school and read excerpts of the epic poem as well as lots of mythology.

Locals Come Say Hi!

I am delighted to be acting as a guest bookseller at Los Angeles’s very first book crawl sponsored by amazing indie bookstores including my favorite, Diesel Books in Santa Monica. I will be at Diesel doling out personal recommendations, signing copies of my summer young adult novel Strays and giving away Books Are My People coffee mugs.

If you are local, please come say hi!

Saturday, July 25th from 10am - 11 am

225 26th Street, Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402

New Poll:

The Summer of Book Giveaways Continues:

I am currently giving away one copy of Sigrid Nunez’s It Will Come Back To You, out today!

This is Nunez’s first collection, a compendium of thirteen dazzling stories showcasing her signature blend of brilliance and emotional depth. These stories have appeared in various literary magazines from 1992 – 2025 and are gathered for the first time.

To Enter: Simply leave a comment on my Instagram giveaway post and follow the other instructions for extra entries.This giveaway will close on Monday, August 3rd and I will contact a winner on August 4th. This giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

The Mash Up by Laura Marie Meyers: In this romance novel, after a birthday breakup shatters her carefully planned life, Ruby Wynne wakes up inside the colorful fantasy future her thirteen-year-old self imagined in a game of M.A.S.H. The only way home? Convince her lifelong nemesis, her brother’s best friend, to become the soulmate the game insists he’s always been.

To Enter: Simply leave a comment on my Instagram giveaway post. Earn extra entries by sharing this newsletter on Substack. This giveaway will close on July 27th and I will contact the winner on July 28^th. Open to US Mailing addresses only. Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sponsoring this giveaway.

CLOSES TOMORROW! Sisters of a Halved Heart by Nayantara Roy: In this literary family drama, Mira Guhathakurta, a poetry editor living in New York, believes she’s finally found her soulmate. But when a shocking betrayal by her sister shatters both their family and her future, buried secrets come to light forcing her to examine her entire relationship with her once beloved sister.

To Enter: Simply leave a comment on my Instagram giveaway post. Earn extra entries by sharing this newsletter on Substack. This giveaway will close on July 22nd and I will contact the winner on July 23rd. Open to US Mailing addresses only. Thank you to Algonquin Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast - And, if you haven’t yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen.

Subscribe now

Member Corner:

July: Read With Me: Repetition You can vote for the best meetup time for you here. I’ll announce the winning time slot on Thursday.

August: Independent Reading Month. Read whatever you’d like and we will meetup and discuss.

September: Read With Me Month (I’m switching the order around so we have a little more time to catch some fall film releases)

October: Book To Film

November: Independent Reading Month

Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.

Subscribe now

If you buy your books online, please consider using the links to my Bookshop.org affiliate store. *please make sure you’re in my Books Are My People store! A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)

Out Today:

Not a ton of books made my I’m-excited-to-read-them list today. But here’s what did!

The final volume of the Harlem Trilogy: Cool Machine Colson Whitehead. I’m a huge fan of his. Set against the dazzling and unequal reinvention of 1980s New York, Cool Machine intertwines crime, family, and survival through the lives of Ray Carney and Pepper, revealing the hidden forces shaping both a city and the people fighting to endure it.

Desert Lit: Yellow Pine - Claire Vaye Watkins. I feel like we haven’t had a novel from her in quite some time. As industrial expansion threatens the Mojave Desert she calls home, Rose fights to protect both the landscape and the life she’s built.

thriller: Give Me Everything You’ve Got - Imogen Crimp - An aspiring filmmaker accepts an invitation to spend the summer writing under the mentorship of her celebrated artistic idol, only to become ensnared in the unsettling relationship between the director and her enigmatic daughter.

a puzzling whodunnit: The Killer Question - Janice Hallett - A fresh, edge-of-your-seat mystery that takes place at a pub’s weekly trivia night, revealed through quiz categories, phone messages, and email correspondence. If you like puzzles, you’ll love Hallett.

Click here to listen to my interview with Janice Hallett.

Paperback Releases:

*Loved One - Aisha Muharrar - After the sudden death of her first love, Julia embarks on a journey across continents to recover his belongings, only to find herself unraveling the secrets he left behind alongside the last woman he loved.

*Maggie; or, A Man and A Woman Walk into A Bar - Katie Yee - A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer the same day that she discovers her husband is having an affair. She names her tumor after her husband’s lover. This was such a unique and fascinating read with sharp observations about little moments that make up a life.

*My Friends - Frederik Backman - When a young artist inherits a mysterious painting, she sets out to uncover the story behind three nearly invisible figures hidden within it. Her search reveals a decades-old friendship that transformed ordinary lives into extraordinary art. Readers loved this novel. I did not. I’m trying to remember exactly why it was a miss for me and I think the voice just didn’t work for me.

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ART:

I had a great time in this brief, online workshop from Still Flower Drawing: Indian ink drawing with Jay Harper. The price is right and I always learn so much. Even though these are ink paintings, I can already see so many ways to add these techniques to my printmaking practice.

Want to learn how to use a gelli plate? You can purchase my intro to gelli printing workshop here. I will be adding more workshops soon.

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The Ethics of Storytelling in Repetition

Let’s vote on when we should meet up to discuss Repetition:

As always, you can leave me more detailed notes in the comments, ranking your vote or send me a DM.

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Hi Bookies!

Here are my July updates. My mom’s surgery went great although my dad fell three days before her surgery…

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