Things I Read and Loved in July

New books, old books, and thoughts on waiting.

Upcoming Classes and Offerings

📖 This Sunday, Book Club for Writers will discuss Daily Rituals: Women at Work. Paid subscribers are invited to attend book club meetings on Zoom.

🍎 I’m looking for input on my upcoming classes, which begin again in the fall. Fill out the survey here. Reminder: paid subscribers get 10% off all classes! Learn more.

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I promise this email contains zero articles about The Bear.

No, I haven’t watched it.

No, I don’t have Hulu, and no, I’m not going to make an account.

Yes, I’m aware that there’s a free trial available.

Here are some things I read while everyone else was watching season two of a show that apparently doesn’t even have any actual bears in it.

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Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

I am a huge, HUGE fan of Samantha Irby’s writing. My take on her latest collection of humor essays? It’s her best book yet. I haven’t laughed this hard in a while. I listened to the audiobook and had to keep pausing it so I wouldn’t miss anything while I was busy wheeze-laughing into my hands.

I was, however, getting the feeling that Irby had written this collection of essays just for me.

There’s an essay about Dave Matthews and why we shouldn’t be ashamed of loving him.

There’s one about the ridiculousness of product copywriting, a job I have had on and off for the past decade.

There’s another essay in which Irby, a writer for And Just Like That, describes what she would have changed about EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of Sex and the City.

A more Hurley book does not exist.

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Olivia Dunn and Marlee Grace’s thoughts on enduring and embracing a season of waiting

I’m noticing a pattern with some of my favorite writers. The summertime is filled with waiting.

⏳ Speaking of, there are some awfully good songs about waiting. Here’s one of them:

I appreciated the way Marlee Grace recently opened in their newsletter up about the pain of waiting for ideas to come:

My discomfort comes from resisting the waiting. Resisting this season of no ideas. I don’t feel free or happy but I also don’t feel depressed and void. I just don’t have any ideas.

⏳ Another great tune about waiting:

The unique beauty that comes with waiting was a theme that emerged this month in Olivia Dunn’s newsletter, Mom Blog. Here’s what she wrote about waiting:

All the best things in life require this kind of interminable waiting period. Falling in love, for example—waiting to see if things will work out. Wondering if you are pregnant, which leads, hopefully, to wondering when you will give birth. Waiting, even, for your dog to finish sniffing the neighbor’s pee-drenched hostas. Waiting for your toddler to descend from their car seat. All the best things in life, essentially.

By the way, if you’re a parent, you mussssst subscribe to Mom Blog. Every issue is smart and funny and intentionally does not offer any advice, because don’t moms get enough unsolicited advice from everyone all the time? Despite not being a mom myself, I’m a paid subscriber of Mom Blog because I love listening to Olivia read her writing, which she does exclusively for paid subs.

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Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love by Jessica Baum, LMHC

I am aware that it is extremely millennial of me to read a book about attachment styles, but this one really helped! Jessica Baum echoes a lot of the language I’ve learned in therapy and provides a healthy framework for those of us who identify as anxiously attached. In particular, I found this book helpful for navigating relationships with folks who display avoidant characteristics in their own attachment.

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Courtney Maum’s tips for titling a manuscript

I love Courtney Maum’s resources for writers and found this article on titling books very helpful. If you’re title-challenged like I am, this one’s for you.

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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This is one of the best cases of “better late than never” I’ve had in a while. Homegoing has been recommended to me dozens of times, and rightfully so: it’s an incredible look at generational trauma and the lasting effects of slavery. Structurally, it’s one of the most engaging novels I’ve ever read. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

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What have you been reading and loving this summer?

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Things I Wrote This Month

For my Songwriting School column at Jacksonville Music Experience, I interviewed Bobby Kid frontwoman Anna Lester about writing this gorgeous song:

Around the newsletter this month:

🪄 Accessing Our Writing Powers

🐚 Taking Time Off From Writing

📓 Finding a Writing Process That Works

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Upcoming Classes

After taking the summer off from teaching, my writing classes and workshops will return again this fall. I can’t wait to hop back in the Zoom room with you!

POV: you’re working on your writing with me and I’m thrilled to see you.

I’d love your input on the types of classes you’d be interested in taking with me. If you have three minutes to spare, please fill out my Class Survey.

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Book Club for Writers meets THIS SUNDAY!

Join me on Zoom this Sunday to discuss Daily Rituals: Women at Work. In addition to discussing Mason’s book during our meeting on July 30 at 1PM EST, we’ll do exercises designed to help you find your own writing rituals.

Didn’t get a chance to read the book? I’d still love to see you there! I promise you won’t be lost during our discussion.

Join the Book Club for Writers for the month of July for just $5, or subscribe for the whole year and save 27%. Upgrade your subscription by clicking below.

Paid subscribers will receive a Zoom link the day before our meeting.

Can’t make it live? Our recorded discussion will be available on Zoom afterward.

Can’t make it on Sunday? The Book Club for Writers will meet again in October to discuss Matt Bell’s Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts. (Pssst: it’s a great one to read if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo!)

View the full book club schedule here. 2024 books will be announced in the fall!

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Thanks for reading! Hope to see you Sunday.

💛 Hurley

PS: mentioning The Bear made me want to look at a bear so here you go 🐻