Footnotes:: July
And what's coming this August
July has brought many joys during a tough year.
While there has been so much heaviness around the world, this month has brought some bright spots that were so very needed. I traveled to Paris to meet up with my friend Ginette (finally!) who has been helping me to run the Your Writing Year intensives this year for the second time. After nearly five years of online friendship, we got to wander the city, poking around in stationery stores, bookshops, and stuffing ourselves with many many pastries along the way.
One of the most delicious experiences was the David Hockney Retrospective at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Wandering those rooms and seeing over 400 of Hockey’s works felt like looking at the world through the lens of joy. Here’s a peek:
Finding joy…
Part of my summer of seeking joy has involved writing posts that range wider than usual. Rather than staying in my lane of writing support, I’ve spread out into our new Book (& Craft) Alchemy, writing about AI and reading, creating workshops on getting organized with analogue notebooks, and — perhaps most shockingly — packing like a German.
If you have joined us recently, welcome! The community here is a beautiful group, all creatives who love books, reading, and art, and most of all, are curious people who wish to engage actively with the world.
I resisted writing about packing for ages because it felt too far from the lane I’d chosen here, but I now see how much travel plays a role in my work and you’ll be seeing more travel and packing posts going forward, including the next in the series: Carry-On Like a German coming in August.
May we all give ourselves room to explore the things that inspire us. There’s a lot we need to be strong for now, and a lot of speaking up that’s necessary as I watch the country I grew up in disintegrate into a civil rights disaster that spirals by the day.
Reading, writing, and creating is what’s keeping me putting one foot in front of the other these days, and I’ll share as many sparks as I can to keep all our flames lit together.
Here are some I’ve found recently:
Favorite books from July:
Sandwich, Catherine Newman. Two friends were delighted by this one, so I picked it up and went all the way through it in less than two days. It’s a beach read with heart, with a 50s main character on a beach week that fully embodies the “sandwich” generation she’s living in: between elderly parents keeping secrets about their aging and learning to relate to her children like the adults they now are, Rocky feels like the friend who isn’t afraid of deep talk. Loved it.
Dust and Light: One the Art of Fact in Fiction, Andrea Barrett If I gobbled the previous book, this one I savored. It’s under 200 pages, but I read one essay a day, not even every day, because they were so beautiful I wanted to make them last. Barrett shares her process fully, even including a full draft of a story and taking us through her choices in crafting it the way she did. Anyone who loves fiction will love this, and the writing is divine.
Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty. Normally I prefer to share books from lesser-known authors, but this one hooked me and I can’t help including it. On an airplane, a woman stands up and predicts the age and manner of death for nearly every passenger and some of the flight attendants. After the plane lands, her predictions start coming true, kicking off a wave of panic. I picked it up looking for a fun thriller, and found something much more moving and complex.
The Language of the Night, Ursula K. Le Guin. This was my read in Paris, and it was wonderful to curl up each evening in my hotel with Ursula’s words. Many of these essays read as if they could be written today. The first half of the book was my favorite, as the actual essays provided incredible motivation to write. The second half included many introductions to her books without the books themselves, which was a bit of an odd way to read them. However, it has lit my fire to read her fiction next, which I’m certain I’ll be grateful for.
Sounds Like Love, Ashley Poston. For those who are in the mood for Emily Henry but don’t want her trademark storyline, any of Poston’s books are sure to delight, plus they each include a supernatural twist. If you loved the film Music and Lyrics, Sounds like Love might be your new favorite.
You may have missed:
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Other excellent reads for your attention:
- writing on Women in Trees was the most joyful balm I could imagine.
- joined Ginette and me for lunch one day in Paris and it was such a treat. Here are her adventures in the city of lights for you to enjoy.
- shared Lena Dunham’s idea system for her Notes App and I very much enjoyed it as a counterpoint to my analogue idea system.
- followed her gut, and her self-published embroidery book ended up in Forbes. Read this if you need a reminder that your intuition knows.
Coming up this August
We have a load of joyful events coming next month and I can’t wait to share them all.
Our members slow read of Possession by A.S. Byatt begins in September, so I’ll be sharing the process of creating a slow read series, plus I’ll be doing a live August 22 with
to chat about each of our experiences creating A.S. Byatt slow reads. (Open to all)Another live with an ACTUAL German on how she applies her packing system (Open to all)
Carry-on Like a German… how can you keep your creative juices flowing in transit without breaking your back? This post will show you how. (Members only)
I’ve got a few more ideas in store, too, but I’ll leave them as mysteries for the moment. Thank you for being here and being a part of Book (& Craft) Alchemy.
Keep creating, keep reading, and keep strong.
lots of love,
Caroline
Thank you for sharing my post, Caroline. I’m excited for the Possession slow read. One of my all-time favorites!!
I would love to visit the Hockney exhibition in Paris. His works look amazing 😍