Friday Reads 12.6.24

And Just Like That, The Year is Almost Over

Well, hello, and happy Friday. I sit here surrounded by tea cups and notebooks, multiple pens, two pairs of reading glasses, my phone, a few holiday presents, and the knowledge that I’ve just sorted and properly shelved all of my green-spined books. I was on a call earlier this week—an actual phone call, not a Zoom— and realized that somewhere along the way, the teal, light blue, and green books had become intermingled. This is not an issue, obviously, but it felt discordant, so today I rearranged a bit. I’ve broken down and started shelving stacks vertically and horizontally (horizontal creates more space in the shelf) and have realized that with the stacked books, the color alignment is more pleasing to the eye in actual color blocks.

I wish all this meant I had a lot of free time this week, but it’s more discordant time. I’m back in PT for my knee after a fall (boo hiss); my ortho retired so I’m interviewing doctors; it’s the time of year for all the annual tests; I taped an AWOW episode and did an in-conversation with my friend Signe Pike, and I’m having coffee with a fellow writer as we speak. Because of all of this, I’ve been out of the house every day this week, sometimes multiple times a day, which, if you’re an introvert who would rather be cozied up with a book, can be quite disruptive.

Happily, I have a couple of books that have been keeping me company. In addition to Signe’s amazing THE SHADOWED LAND, which I highly recommend, Rachel Howzell Hall’s THE LAST ONE came out this week! A new romantasy is just what the doctor ordered.

I’ve also been reading Anna Lembke’s DOPAMINE NATION: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, which is an absolutely fascinating look into how dopamine works, and how we might be able to break some very bad habits that are dopamine-heavy, and resistant. A really great book if you, like me, are looking for ways to unplug from the Matrix.

I have an advance copy of Adam Ross’s PLAYWORLD on the docket for the weekend. This book came so highly recommended by a friend that I’ve been saving it, and I am super excited to read. It’s the story of a child actor in New York in the 1980, and looks to be a tour de force novel from Ross. I get to talk to him Monday for the show, too. Very fun!

I also picked up a copy of Jason Rekulak’s THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING. I’ve seen this book all over the internet, but I was in the bookstore looking through the shelves and the cover stood out. I mean, it is stunningly gorgeous. I couldn’t help myself, I grabbed it and brought it home to live among the dark green spines. With luck, I will even get a chance to read it soon!

One last thing — the special I ran last week was a bit of a mess, and I apologize to anyone who tried to take advantage but found that they weren’t able to. I will run another special in the future and do it more intentionally instead of as a fun, last-second thing. But the mistakes I made led me to a very cool substack by

Amanda B. Hinton

of The Editing Spectrum. I subscribed, we chatted, and Amanda gave me some great advice, which I’ve already started implementing. The whole communications system should be running smoother; plus, I’ve updated my bio and all the descriptions, welcomes, and footers so everyone knows what they’re getting, free and paid. It’s like The Creative Edge grew up!

That’s it from me. How about you? Reading anything fabulous this holiday weekend? Are your holiday parties starting? I’d love to hear how things are going!

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