I’ve been sitting on this newsletter for a few days now. Between the murder of US citizens, the invasion of US cities by ICE, the kidnapping and imprisonment of innocent people and children, and the assault of citizens exercising their right to protest, I am at a loss for what to say.
Most days I alternate between rage and despair. I can’t look at an image of Liam without bursting into tears. A five year old boy, the same age as my daughter, kidnapped, sent to a prison camp in Texas. When I tuck my daughter into bed at night and she is safe and warm, I do so with the knowledge that ICE has placed over 3,800 minors in detention centers, including children as young as one or two years old, since last January. Our government is putting babies in prisons.
In a shared document, created to share resources and ways to help people in Minnesota, the author Natalie wrote, “At the very least, our ask is to not move about life as normal.” I can’t stop thinking about that, because this is NOT normal. Now more than ever it’s time for preparation, communication, organizing, protesting, speaking out, and showing up. Nobody is coming to save us. We are all we’ve got, and if we can learn anything from the people of Minnesota, it’s that we are all we need. Stay strong, stay safe, stay vigilant, and stay united.
If you are in Maine where ICE is surging, here is what you can do.
Here is how to help the resistance in Minnesota and beyond.
And a list of places that need monetary donations in Minnesota.
Welcome to my new monthly series, The Book Thread. Every month I’ll share the books I’ve read and my TBR list for the month ahead. In the comments, we’ll have a discussion thread about any of the books I’ve shared along with any of your favorite books from the month.
One of the greatest gifts of spending less time online, is the amount of time I have for reading. A year ago, the thought of reading 5 books in a month and listening to 3 audiobooks would have seemed insane. And listen, we’re all in different phases, I don’t think I picked up a single book for the first 3 years of my daughter’s life. This is not a guilt trip about how much you’re reading. It’s a place to celebrate the joy of diving into a good book, and sharing that with others.
I’m not going to wax poetic about all the statistics that no one reads books anymore, but there are real benefits to it. Reading books can help you build critical thinking skills, something AI is currently destroying. It can also improve sleep, reduce stress, and increase empathy. I don’t know if that’s enough to motivate anyone to read more books, but I know that the joy of discussing great books with friends is enough for me. I hope The Book Thread can be a place for all of us to do more of that.
The Book Thread is a subscriber only series, but I’ve put the paywall only on the comments, so free subscribers can get a preview this month. I’ve also created an easier way to take advantage of sliding scale subscriptions. See below!
Sliding Scale Subscriptions
As most of you know I offer sliding scale subscriptions. Unfortunately there’s no easy way to do this, so I’ve created 2 additional pricing tiers as an option for subscribers.
The books I read in the month of January.
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali: A novel about the friendship of two young girls growing up in Iran, this book had me in tears. The book follows their lives in Iran and eventually the US from the 1950s through the 2020s. A story of friendship, secrets, betrayal, feminism, and political activism. I couldn’t get over the depth of the main characters Ellie and Homa.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell: I started Hamnet while Marin was home sick with the flu and a raging temperature, and it made for an anxious read. That said, I loved this historical novel that was both beautiful and heartbreaking. The story is set in England in the late 1500s, and follows the life of Shakespeare and his family, and the death of his son Hamnet, which led to the production of his play Hamlet years later.
What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama: Craig gave me this book as a Christmas gift (admittedly mainly because he liked the cover, honestly me too). It’s written by a Japanese author and translated into English, and I love how I felt immersed in Japanese culture as I was reading it. I’d categorize this as a light, feel good read, with five stories exploring different characters at various life stages, and their experiences when they turn to their local community library for help. I really enjoyed how each story showed the magic of reading, and how we all gain something different from the books that come into our lives.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: This book was a loaner from a friend and I went in with zero expectations. To be honest when I read the description I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. I couldn’t put this book down, a story about a group of astronauts preparing for their first flights into space. Without giving any spoilers, all I can say is the book kept me hooked until the last page, and I was shocked by the ending.
Euphoria by Lily King: For anyone who has read this book, it will probably make you laugh to know that when I borrowed it from a friend, I was surprised to find it was about a group of 3 anthropologists in the 1930s, and not a bunch of teenagers doing drugs (I haven’t seen the show but this is what I gather it’s about). I really enjoyed this historical fiction based on the events in the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead. I probably should have given myself a little more time after reading Heart the Lover to read this, because it feels a little unfair to compare the two.
I use Libro.fm for audiobooks because I’m usually too impatient for Libby, and you can support your local bookstore through your purchase.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: I absolutely loved this book. It was one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, but the story was so good, and the main character was so complicated, it left me wanting to read the book. The Correspondent will change how you think about life, and the way we communicate.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters: This story of an Indigenous child that goes missing from a berry farm in Maine felt timely and haunting.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman: The fact that a Vermont independent bookstore produced and published this book for the first time since 1997 immediately drew me to it. While it was a powerful book, it is disturbing (think Handmaid’s Tale vibes). You need to be in the right frame of mind for this one.
The books I’m currently reading or on my TBR list for February.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: I’m listening to this one, narrated by Meryl Streep. The novel is set during Covid, while three daughters are back at their family orchard in Michigan. Their mother shares the story of her romance with a man years before they were born, who is now a famous actor. The beginning started out a little slow for me, but I’m more invested in the story now. To be continued…
The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank: This is one of the selections for my book club this month (along with The Correspondent). The book is over 20 years old so I’m interested to see how it holds up in 2026.
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson: Read the description and ordered immediately:
As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives--even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout: The book Queen herself, has been talking about her love for Elizabeth Strout novels, so I figured I’d start at the beginning of the series.
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim: A story of the immigration experience and the reality of the “American dream” felt like a timely read.
Have you read any of these books? What is on your TBR list? Let’s discuss!