10 Things I Read and Loved in January
Starting the year out right with books and more.
New year, new reads! Here are 10 of my favorites.
1. Getting to Center: Pathways to Finding Yourself in the Great Unknown by Marlee Grace
This was the perfect book for me to read at the start of a new year. I recommend Getting to Center to anyone who is eager to enter into a more emotionally honest relationship with themselves.
2. national anthem by Greta Schledorn
I can’t get enough of this short essay by my good friend Greta (via The Blood Pudding). All my Lana girlies are guaranteed to love this one:
this is lana del rey’s america and we raise ourselves here. we get by and then we get out, move to big cities and put on mascara and party dresses to celebrate what we don’t believe in.
3. a deep dive into Barnes & Noble’s bounceback
The secret? Giving booksellers more selling power.
4. a 100% true tweet from Chelsea Hodson
5. how google maps treats women by Anna Dempsey
This poem (via Rejection Letters) knocked me on my tiny ass. My favorite lines:
cross over the bridge
no, not that bridge
the one with a streetlight erratically blinking
Hate it here! But at least there are good poems about why I hate it here!
6. Kara Cutruzzula’s advice on lowering the barrier to entry
I always forget that I can do something for five minutes instead of 50 minutes. (And usually, doing something for five minutes tricks me into doing it for 50.) Thanks for that reminder, Kara.
7. Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom
What if a procedure existed that could reverse all cosmetic work a person has had done? That’s the question Allie Rowbottom is asking with her new novel. I recommend Aesthetica to anyone who’s worried about what Instagram is doing to our brains.
I also enjoyed Rowbottom’s recent interview with The Creative Independent, where she discusses believing in herself as a writer.
8. My Kwik Trip Gas Station Has Always Been There For Me by Lindsey Wente
As someone who bawled when her favorite convenience store closed (RIP, Terry’s Country Store), this new essay by Lindsey Wente hit me right in the feels.
9. Sleepovers by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
I’m not the world’s biggest short story reader, but every now and then, a collection comes along that gets me excited about short fiction again. This one did it for me, capturing the South with the more authenticity than I think I’ve ever seen on the page. I recommend Sleepovers to anyone who appreciates real Southern writing.
10. the first two pages of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon (RIP)
In memory of the writer Fay Weldon, who died earlier this month, I re-read the opening of her severely underrated 1985 novel. May her memory be a blessing.
Things I Wrote This Month
I recently started contributing music writing to Jacksonville Music Experience (part of WJCT, Northeast’s Florida’s NPR affiliate). As a lifelong diehard music nut, this is kind of a dream job.
For the first installment of my Gearheads column, I spoke with St. Augustine rocker Dust Fuss about the gear she used to record her new album.
I also reviewed the new boygenius singles. And in true Hurley form, I turned the whole review into a writing lesson:
The lyrics of these three singles give a sensation I often feel when I read a novel or short story, mediums in which a technique that writers call in medias res (Latin for “into the middle of things”) is often utilized. When a scene begins in medias res, the reader (or, in this case, the listener) is dropped into the middle of the action, forced to get their bearings by piecing together the most minute details.
If you’re here in #DUUUVAL, follow Jacksonville Music Experience for tons of music goodness.
Book Club for Writers meets this Sunday!
I’m beyond excited to host the first Book Club for Writers meeting on Sunday, January 29 at 1PM EST.
If you’re part of the club, you’ll receive a Zoom link tomorrow via email. If you’re not part of the club and would like to join, find more info here.
That google maps poem is brilliant.