For Good

Currently reading:

Never Say You Can’t Survive by Charlie Jane Anders
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver [ongoing]
Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962–1972 by Alejandra Pizarnik [ongoing]

Books finished this week: 0

Library updates:

A new writing friend asked earlier this week about craft book recommendations. I have a truly obscene stack of books about writing——some purchased for school, some found on my own, some read and most not (yet)——and it was lovely to have a conversation about the works that have inspired and helped us along the way.

Since I didn’t finish reading a book this week, here are a few quick write-ups of some of my favorite books on writing:

1000 Words by Jami Attenberg, a previous Library book. So many wonderful ruminations on creativity and writing from amazing authors!
On Writing by Stephen King, which I first read in . . . high school? Definitely time for a reread.
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury, which I also wrote up in a past Sunday Missive. This one is mostly a lovely cheerleader to keep nearby, rather than a writing manual.
And Never Say You Can’t Survive, which I’m still reading but which has made me feel much better every time I open the book.

The end of the week was taken up by two major things: Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Wicked franchise. Britt, Kate, (hi, Britt and Kate!) and I saw Wicked on Broadway Thursday evening, and then saw the movie up in Massachusetts Friday night. The point of the trip wasn’t to see the movie——not the entire point, anyway——but, wow. No spoilers. All you need to know is the show is always a good time, the movie was phenomenal, and, yes, I cried during both. The power of friendship!!

But, Amherst! It was a literary weekend, built mostly around going to the Emily Dickinson Museum. I have to admit that I’ve never sat down and read any of Dickinson’s poetry and I still haven’t watched Dickinson the show, but I’m hoping to change both of those things very soon. When we first got into town, we also went to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. The exhibits were so wonderful, but the best part for me was definitely catching sight of old favorites on the shelves of their children’s book library.