Two Important Things
a class + amazing BTT book lists
First important thing:
If you are a writer-type, I’d love for you to join me September 4 at 3pm for the online class I’m teaching called “Writing the Everyday.” It’s about using the regular stuff of your regular-person life to write powerful personal essays that transcend their subject matter. Think Virginia’s Woolf’s essay “The Death of the Moth” (about a moth that landed on Woolf’s window ledge) or, for a more modern example, Will Baker’s essay “My Children Explain the Big Issues” (about conversations a dad has with his toddlers).
Three quick points about this class:
It’s only FIFTEEN BUCKS.
You can remain anonymous the whole time (I won’t see you, you don’t have to wash your hair, etc etc).
If you can’t watch it live, you’ll get a recording to watch whenever you want.
Here’s the link to sign up!
Second important thing:
When I left Instagram, this Substack became the place where I share book recs. (If you’re new, I call the recommendations portion of Between Two Things “Worth It.” It’s mostly good books but also sometimes chocolate things.)
I love writing about a book right after I finish it… But within a week, I forget everything—except whether I liked it. This is highly problematic because someone asks me what they should read at least once a week, and I’m all, “Books? What are books? Have I ever read any of those??”
ALL TO SAY. I had a genius idea! I made custom book lists on Bookshop.org. They are grouped by topic, and they are books I LOVE. (Which means I left off a lot of books I only LIKE.) If your book tastes are anything like mine, you can trust these lists to steer you straight.
The “Books about Thinking” list has informed a lot of what I say here at BTT, so if you’re into this Substack, I think you’ll love them!
I could only make these lists as an official Bookshop affiliate, which **I think** means I’ll get a nickel (?) if you buy one through the link. BUT 100% of all nickels will be donated to literary causes (probably this one).
Here are the lists!! Feel free to share them! 🎉
And finally, lots of you are new here. Hi! Introduce yourself in the comments, and tell all the BTT folks about your Substack if you have one!
So you can get caught up, here are some favorite essays from the BTT archives.
Rearranging Reality
Every week my first grader brings home a list of spelling words. On Mondays, his job is to cut the words apart and sort them, then write them in columns. Usually, the mechanism for sorting the words is obvious: the words with long As go with the other words with long As, the long Us go with the long Us. When he is done sorting, I do a quick scan and app…
The Escape Chair
On the tiny front porch of our house is a single chair that overlooks our front yard. Most school mornings, still in my robe, I tip-toe outside and sit in it for five minutes while the kids holler at each other about missing socks. I inhale just a bit of outside air before they notice I have disappeared, then I open the door and dive back in to sign rea…
What does that word even mean?
On the Fourth of July, I sat with some of my adult family members on the back porch of a rented house in the boonies of south Georgia. The air was practically dripping, and so many warty, brown toads hopped between our flip-flopped feet that we were compelled to prop our heels high on the table, out of reach. Snakes were an ever-present threat, too, but…
Love the look of your webinar but I’m in Australia. Will there be a replay available?
I am addicted to Bookshop lists. I especially am in the mood for more thinking books. Thank you for sharing!