Book Recommendations for Gift-Giving
Plus, Treat Yourself to a January Retreat!
Dearest writers and readers,
My daughter is home for the holidays. My daughter balances out the testosterone so nicely. When she is at college, I am the only estrogenated testosterone-challenged member of the family, the others being Tom, Johnny and Hudson. Plus she laughs at all my jokes.
I did not think I could survive her departure from our day-to-day lives. I cried for two weeks. I did not think I could survive Trump winning the election of 2024. I was depressed for…well, I’m still pretty depressed. I’ll let you know.
But there is solace for those of us who love to read, who learned at an early age how to lose oneself in a book. I’m not saying there aren’t healthier ways to cope with loss and pain. But what’s always worked for me is to tilt my inner ear towards the words and wisdom of others, to not so much escape to another time and place, but to visit and hold other times and realities alongside of whatever it is I might be going through.
I always love book recommendations. December is one of my favorite times of year because I have an excuse to visit lots of independent bookshops and spend my savings on books to give my family members. I love people who work in bookshops. I love asking them what they are reading. In Bath, England, at Mr. B’s Emporium, the staff was so knowledgeable, giving me two fantastic “beach reads” for our weekend on the Welsh coast (where it was about 50 degrees at high noon. I read in my flat!)
Below is a fairly complete list, though I am missing a couple. It was an unusually great year for reading, and I can recommend almost everything, but I am making videos for my favorites, with recommendations, which you can view on my Instagram. Links below to Bookshop or Audible.
Happy Holidays, happy reading!
Love, Nerissa
The List of Books I Read 2024
The Road from Coorain, Jill Ker Conway
The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese
Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder
The Whalebone Theatre, Joanna Quinn
North Woods, Daniel Mason
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age, Steve Knopper
Rememberings, Sinead O’Connor
The Bee Sting: A Novel, Paul Murray
Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc., Jeff Tweedy
The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition, Seth Lerer
Broken Horses: A Memoir, Brandi Carlile
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austin
Big Swiss: A Novel, Jen Beagan
Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, Maria Bamford
James: A Novel, Percival Everett
The Singer Sisters: A Novel, Sarah Seltzer
Body & Soul, Frank Conroy
Swift River, Essie Chambers
The Lost Women of Azalea Court, Ellen Meeropol
The Square of Sevens, Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Stop-Time, Frank Conroy
Empire Falls, Richard Russo
Tell Me Everything: A Novel, Elizabeth Strout
Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik
The Light Years: Cazalet Chronicle, Volume 1, Elizabeth Jane Howard
New Year’s Retreat!
January 10-12, 2025
Winter retreat is a great opportunity to assess the old year and plan for the new. Take a week to exercise your muse, deepen your writing practice, and make some new friends. If you can’t come for the full five days, you can choose the pro-rated option here. Zoom option available as well.
Stuck on a last minute present? For the writer in your life, get them a Gift Certificate!
Morning Seeding & Tending
Morning Seeding & Tending is a low-stress, no-share writing and accountability group. We meet Monday-Friday, 10-11am Eastern Time. We begin each morning with a quick greeting, teeny prompt (quotation/poem fragment which I then email to all members), then set our intentions in the chat. We write with sound muted, and usually people turn their cameras off. If you arrive late, no problem. At 11, we’ll say a quick goodbye. You can choose to leave early. Or you can keep writing long after the group officially ends. Some people come daily, some weekly, some whenever they can.
On Tuesday evenings, we gather again for an hour of writing and a half hour open mic/reading, 6-7:30pm.
After signing up, you’ll get a welcome email and thereafter a Zoom link which changes every month. You’ll also receive the daily prompt whether you attend or not. Pay by the month, via subscription, or try it first via my website. The month begins whenever you start payments.
By website, it's $25 per month. This is a great way to try it out.
By Ko-Fi subscription, it's $20 per month, with automatic payment (like Patreon).
Finally, This Video. You’re Welcome:
