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I listened to this audiobook and highly recommend immersing yourself in Michelle Obama's voice as she shares calm, wise, funny, or poignant reflections, personal practices, and gems of advice regarding retaining hope and being your best self. Many of us, I think, puzzle out our identities only over time, figuring out who we are and what we need in order to get by. We approximate our way into maturity, often following some loose idea of what we believe grown-up life is supposed to look like.... We make mistakes and then start over again.... We sample and discard different attitudes, approaches, influences, and tools for living until, piece by piece, we begin to better understand what suits us best, what helps us most. I read Michelle Obama's wonderful book Becoming, but after my wise friend Katherine mentioned having listened to it, I immediately wished I had heard Michelle's calming voice read it to me too. So I decided to listen to The Light We Carry and was instantly sure audiobook was the right format for me. Rather than pretending there are quick fixes for life's challenges and difficulties, Obama opens up her "toolbox" of emotional, meditative, and optimistic methods of coping, reminding herself of what's what, and ways in which she carries on in the face of adversity. While her White House circumstances are unusual and some of her related recollections are unique, her methods translate to the rest of us and daily life. She builds her book around pivotal encounters with others or aims to answer questions that have been frequently posed to her, along the way sharing more of the story of her family, marriage, political life, friendships, frustrations, hopes, goals, and joys. It sounds unfairly simplistic to summarize her practices with the short, catchy phrases she builds upon: "starting kind," "when they go low, we go high," and forming a "kitchen table" of friendships. While the ideas aren't complicated--which is the point of this book, after all: offering meaningful ways to be and to keep hope and be a light in the world--there are emotionally revealing stories and shining gems to dig into here. I didn't necessarily come away with new approaches (aside from entertaining the idea of incorporating a version of her friend's "Hey, Buddy!" morning self-greeting), but I thoroughly enjoyed and felt calmed by listening to this wise, kind, savvy woman read her gorgeously written thoughts and well-crafted reflections. Her writing--deep self-reflection with sometimes poetic phrasing--is just beautiful. I loved reading this and spending time with Michelle Obama. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Michelle Obama is also the author of Becoming and American Grown.

Parton shares the background and context for 175 of her songs, frankly discussing her inspiration, life, and the formerly untouchable topics she dove into headfirst through songs. What's better than listening to Dolly talk about her inspirations, her artistic journey, her joys and her silliness, those who have influenced her, and her motivations--along with short musical snippets? Nothing. This is a fast-paced book, as Dolly talks about various thoughts as related to 175 of her songs, while country music author Robert K. Oermann intersperses short intros to add structure and background. The interjections from Oermann are necessary, but they sometimes feel abrupt, and while Dolly's stories are as intriguing and delightful as I'd hoped, she seems to feel the need to provide summations, which begin to feel repetitive. But none of that really mattered to me. I adored listening to Dolly laugh and ponder and reminisce and reflect. Through decades of straight-talking song lyrics, she has instinctively and repeatedly offered sympathetic points of view of the persecuted, disrespected, and dismissed: prostitutes, the poor, unwed teenage mothers, and more. The characters in her songs are often driven to the edge of what they can cope with. Sometimes Dolly lets them fall, but other times her songs about freedom (with her metaphors of butterflies and eagles) set those in her songs soaring. Meanwhile, Dolly's offhanded mentions of endless projects, ideas, collaborations, and plans make clear she's one of the hardest working women in show business. I mentioned Dolly Parton, Songteller in the Greedy Reading List of book ideas Shhh! More Book Gift Ideas for the Holidays. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Another Dolly-focused book I'd like to read is She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh. The author examines the social progressiveness that progressive female singers like Dolly have championed through song.

That said, I have a tough time reading memoirs in which someone is fighting cancer, and I understand #memoir, #nonfiction, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

I listened to Dave Grohl's memoir, in which he tracks his youth in Springfield, Virginia; through his

A book I loved, in case you missed it: Wood's memoir is captivating and lovely, poignant, sweet without Wood's memoir is heartwarming and funny and tragic and vivid. This memoir is fantastic. here that in the notes I made with my five-star rating just after reading this in 2012, I said "This memoir

characters that spans centuries, Cloud Cuckoo Land; I'm listening to Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner's memoir Ford's memoir about growing up while her father was incarcerated and the complicated childhood that shaped 28, courtesy of NetGalley and Scribner. 02 Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner I'm listening to this memoir In her memoir Somebody's Daughter, Ford explores her complicated relationship with her mother, her endless

ICYMI: Smith evokes a vivid sense of the regional South in her fiction, and in this memoir she traces In her memoir Dimestore, Lee Smith traces her beginnings in the Appalachian coal-mining town of Grundy What could have been simply a charming memoir about growing up in Appalachia and an account the incredible I mentioned this book in my Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore.

Because it's also a doctor's memoir, I can't help comparing this to The Beauty in Breaking. #memoir, #faith, #fourstarbookreview

The author shares his love of food, cooking, and sharing meals in this irresistible memoir that's also I've been on an audiobook memoir kick, and Stanley Tucci's Taste is the latest love of mine on that list But Taste is also a memoir. For more memoirs you might like, check out the Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore It also links to five more memoir lists, including a foodie memoir roundup!

I recently mentioned my memoir love (again) and how I've been drawn to memoirs by funny people lately For more more MORE memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite, and Six Powerful Memoirs about Or simply search "Memoir" in the Bossy search bar on each page of this site.

ICYMI: This five-star read--part memoir/part essay--is one of my favorite books of Ann Patchett's, and In This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a book that's part memoir, part essay, Ann Patchett shares

Jaouad offers a powerful, introspective memoir about coping with leukemia and its accompanying emotions Some shared wisdom, some showed caring through food, and one memorable acquaintance spoke to her about The journey around the country, in comparison, takes up far less space in Jaouad's memoir although it

I listened to Broken Horses: A Memoir by Brandi Carlile, and I highly recommend the audiobook. Broken Horses feels like a memoir for which I might actually need to experience the audiobook and the I often feel torn when I read celebrity memoirs, because while I understand that people must keep some If you like memoirs, you might try the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, and Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself

#nonfiction, #memoir, #appalachian, #politicssocialjustice, #threestarbookreview

In her newest memoir Bomb Shelter, Mary Laura Philpott explores her worries about and views of the world Mary Laura Philpott is also the author of the memoir I Miss You When I Blink.

I wasn't familiar with McCurdy when I began listening to her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, although I

I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's memoir of pivotal near-death experiences that shaped her life

I listened to Katie Couric's memoir Going There, in which she traces her media career from its modest This isn't the crux of Couric's memoir, and I imagine it was difficult to manage how to address this : Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality

McCracken straddles the line between novel and memoir in a work whose heart is a love letter to her extraordinary The Hero of This Book straddles the line between fiction and memoir, as the book feels like a deeply The narrator/McCracken states how much her mother detested memoirs, and The Hero of This Book even includes Perhaps you fear writing a memoir, reasonably. Invent a single man and call your book a novel. shares recollections and imagined current encounters with her mom, refusing to allow her many vivid memories

I loved listening to her fantastically raspy voice as she read her memoir in audiobook form, and I'd

Haig is vulnerable and specific in his short memoir about his own experiences with mental illness and Matt Haig explores his experiences with depression and mental illness in his short memoir Reasons to If you like to read memoirs, you might try the titles on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality , and Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite.

I prefer listening to my memoirs read by the author, and I loved hearing U2's songwriter and lead singer If you enjoy musicians' memoirs about the making of their music and their lives, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Musicians' Memoirs that Sing.

Penn's thoughtful memoir explores serious issues yet also made me laugh out loud. I'm generally in for memoirs, and lately I've been drawn to memoirs by funny people. Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite, and Six Powerful Memoirs about Or simply search "Memoir" in the Bossy search bar on each page of this site.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading a memoir about coping with chronic illness; a twisty mystery in 01 What Doesn't Kill You by Tessa Miller The subtitle of Miller's memoir What Doesn't Kill You is A Life

Whether Sedaris is reliving specific, offbeat memories and mining them for poignancy and also laughs,

I listened to this memoir, written and read by Michelle Zauner (of the band Japanese Breakfast).

Reading memoirs centered around cancer is not always a go for me, but this book was special. Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) in the Greedy Reading List Six Powerful Memoirs

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher's memoir focused on the I love listening to her fantastically raspy voice as she reads her memoir in audiobook form, and I'd

The Book of Delights is a sunshiny set of thoughts and examinations, yet it's not overly earnest, and it's never corny. I just loved it. “I suppose I could spend time theorizing how it is that people are not bad to each other, but that's really not the point. The point is that in almost every instance of our lives, our social lives, we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking. Holding open doors. Offering elbows at crosswalks. Letting someone else go first. Helping with the heavy bags. Reaching what's too high, or what's been dropped. Pulling someone back to their feet. Stopping at the car wreck, at the struck dog. That alternating merge, also known as the zipper. This caretaking is our default mode and it's always a lie that convinces us to act or believe otherwise. Always.” Ross Gay resolved to write about a joy or delight, large or small, every day for a year, beginning on his birthday, and he pulls together the highlights of these experiences as The Book of Delights. It's a sunshiny set of thoughts and examinations, yet it's not overly earnest, and it's never corny. I just loved it. He considers his process (he's not allowed to hoard or save delights for days that might light on the good stuff; he has to find or notice something new each day), reflects on human nature, recognizes the intense delights of food and love and friendship, shines a light on small moments, and considers everything in between. Some passages are just a few paragraphs, while others are pages long. I listened to this as an audiobook (which I highly recommend), and Gay's voice (both his writing style and his speaking voice) are immensely appealing. He's wonderfully joyful and mischievous. I found myself smiling repeatedly while going about daily tasks and it felt fitting that I listened to the author's many delights for hours while happily planting my spring garden. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? My BFF Neha mentioned that her book club read this book, and it wasn't on my radar before that. This was my first Ross Gay book, and I really like how his mind works, so I'm in for all of his books now.

Brown shares moments of reckoning, everyday evidence of yawning racial divides, and her insistent joy in embracing her black identity and self-worth. Austin Channing Brown's book is slim (185 pages), but I wore out my highlighter as I marked lines and passages to discuss with the group I read it with. In I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Brown details growing up female, Christian, and black within mainly white educational, religious, and societal frameworks--with a name her parents gave her to intentionally create assumptions that it was the name of a white man. She shows the reader what it's like to navigate organizations that purport to value racial diversity and inclusion, then unapologetically points out where good intentions often go awry, identifying pitfalls (and also some promise) gleaned through everyday life and also in her work as an expert in helping organizations attain increased diversity. She shares shocking, frustrating, heartbreaking moments of reckoning, evidence of yawning racial divides, and her insistent joy in embracing her black identity and her self-worth. Through asking for deeper thought, engagement, and action from all of us, Brown pushes the reader to listen with care and then to do thoughtful, better, specific work toward achieving racial diversity and shifting racial value systems. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/14/20. You might want to check out So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo or Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey if you haven't yet read them.

McConaughey mines his decades of diaries, lived experiences, memories, and other frequently unexpected

ICYMI: Forty Autumns offers fascinating, wonderfully detailed perspectives in a rich, layered family memoir Forty Autumns is A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall, and her memoir Forty Autumns offers fascinating, wonderfully detailed perspectives in this rich, layered family memoir

#nonfiction, #memoir, #spy, #politicssocialjustice, #fourstarbookreview

Miller is a beautiful, powerful writer with clear and sophisticated arguments and a compelling identity separate from the attack that led to her being in the spotlight. Miller is a beautiful, powerful writer with clear and sophisticated arguments and a compelling identity separate from the pivotal attack that led to her being in the spotlight. She also has a strong, passionate grasp of widely experienced inequalities—and ideas of how to chip away at some of the injustices and societal norms that should be excised from existence. I began reading this because I thought I should, not because I wanted to. Miller surprised me with the delicately balanced tone she was able to strike, of passionate belief in right and wrong, emotional reactions to her situation, and measured arguments and calm determination. I was fascinated by her. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Miller really took me by surprise with how thoughtfully and powerfully she handled this difficult and emotional topic. Now I'd like Miller to please write more books about varied topics, because I like spending time in her head.

#memoir, #faith, #dysfunctionalfamily, #fourstarbookreview

and to overcome personal tragedy; The Wreckage of My Presence, comedian and actress Casey Wilson's memoir-ish Casey Wilson, actress (Happy Endings), comedian (Saturday Night Live), and writer, shares essays and memories

I listened to this as an audiobook—I like to listen to people read their own memoirs—and I loved hearing

But Roberts's memoir doesn't merely explore her culture shock, as interesting as that is. This memoir was more than I'd hoped for. I first mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Memoirs I'm Reading Now, 10/7/20 Edition

She had never recognized any curiosity or attraction to women before, but in this memoir, Wizenberg recounts This book was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Three Memoirs I'm Reading Now, 10/7/20 Edition. If you like memoirs, you might also like Six Illuminating Memoirs I Read This Year.

caring for his young niece and nephew after their mother's death; Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig's memoir The Midnight Library and How to Stop Time explores his own depression and mental illness in his short memoir

I'm reading (actually listening to, which I recommend in this case) an offbeat, captivating celebrity memoir McConaughey uses his decades of diaries, his lived experiences, his memories, and the avenues that led

Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it. Jessica Pan was an introvert out of a job. Her closest friends had moved away, and she found herself lonely, living in another country, and feeling too reliant on her husband for her entire social life. Although she wasn't trying to change her status from introvert to extrovert, she did want to open up to new experiences, broaden her horizons and meet new people, a few of whom she could hopefully in time call true friends. Pan decided to deliberately put herself into extremely uncomfortable social situations for a year, and she fully commits. She does improv, approaches strangers on the Tube, goes on friend dates, attends networking events, takes a vacation alone (to a destination she doesn't learn until she's at the airport), and more. She regrets her one-year plan almost instantly but feels compelled to continue her terrifying exercises. My book club is reading this book, and we were recently saying in anticipation of our upcoming discussion that Pan's concept reminded us somewhat of a book we read years ago, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend (although that book had a premise that didn't really make sense, since the author seemed surrounded by family, friends, work friends, and didn't seem particularly lonely). Pan is earnest about and determined to see through her gutsy path, which is often horrifyingly frightening for her, frequently not at all what she bargained for, and which gradually pays off in fits and starts of personal growth that are meaningful for her. Her interviews and experiences with others who mentor her journey in different ways could have felt disruptive or jarring but didn't; they added a layer to her story that I found interesting and often revelatory. Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it and I'd read another book by her in a second. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? It was the right book at the right time for me. I'd happened to read multiple books in a row in which grim circumstances drove the plots, and this book felt like a breath of fresh air. I first mentioned this book along with The Exiles and The Comeback in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/22/20 Edition.

youngadult, #mysterysuspense 02 A Very Punchable Face ​ Has Colin Jost lived long enough to fill out a memoir #memoir, #nonfiction 03 Simon the Fiddler ​ Simon the Fiddler is set at the end of the Civil War. Concurrently reading a young adult LGBTQ mystery, a comedian's memoir, and a historical fiction story

I love Glennon's heart and her honesty, but many of these essays ended too soon for me. Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, writes about her life's ups and downs again in her newest book. In Untamed, she shares lessons she's learned through being true to herself, loving herself and caring for others, bringing up her children, examining her religious faith, and finding love. In often very short essays, she explores living genuinely despite others' criticisms; giving herself permission to take up space in the world and speak up; feeling and expressing a full gamut of emotions rather than keeping the peace; rejecting the myth of ideal mothers being martyrs; and generally relying on her inner voice to guide her through an honest, genuine, and fulfilling life. I found that I missed a more narrative arc here--I would have loved spending more page time in her daily family and work life and seeing time pass in both respects. This might have served as a unifying framework for her thoughts and her exhortations to the reader. Many essays ended too soon for me; I often wanted her to take things a step further to share implications or conclusions, or to explore topics more deeply. I love Glennon's heart and her honesty about her limitations and what she's working on in herself. She's often funny, especially when she's letting us into the small moments of her life. I enjoyed hearing more about her unexpected love story with Abby Wambach, and I admire how she strives to make the world a better place, both generally and also through her wide-reaching nonprofit Together Rising. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? What about her earlier books? I admit to wanting Doyle to dig further in some of these essays, but I do love how much heart she has. I mentioned this book (along with With or Without You and City of Girls) in Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/6/21 Edition.

In her memoir, Pan explores whether life really is better for the extroverts, or whether she was on the , celebrity-focused fiction, and a memoir with a quirky hook.

Light fiction, historical fiction mystery, and celebrity memoir.

Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas. In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart daily column "Eric Reads the News," shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently made me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I adored hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. His voice and delivery are fabulous. Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas as he recounts how he's navigated situations large and small in his life. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Thomas is also a host of The Moth storytelling podcast in D.C. and Philadelphia--and he certainly knows how to craft a compelling and full story out of a momentous moment. I mentioned this book (along with the new mystery The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and the young adult book I'm reading with my book club for January, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon) in my first Greedy Reading List of the year, Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and despite how long it took me to get to it, I'm so glad she did!

01 With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt In Leavitt's novel, published by Algonquin Books late last summer, Simon and Stella have been together for twenty years, living through the ups and down and joys and stresses of a decades-long marriage. Simon has been hoping all along that his struggling music career would someday take off, but it didn't look as though his dreams would ever come true. But right before Simon gets a chance to go on tour, and just as he's letting his hopes soar that this might finally be his big break, Stella falls into a coma. He should stay, but will he go? And what happens to their long-held dynamic when Stella wakes up with new and artistic gifts of her own? In With or Without You, Leavitt explores what happens to a marriage when the people in it change, and their dreams along with them. 02 Untamed by Glennon Doyle Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, writes again about her life's ups and downs in Untamed, here sharing lessons she's learned about being true to herself, loving herself and caring for others, bringing up her children, finding love, and not listening to outside critics. In Untamed, Doyle focuses largely on how women can "take up space in the world;" feel and express a full gamut of emotions rather than keeping the peace; reject the myth of the ideal martyrdom of motherhood and sacrificing everything for family; and generally rely on their inner voices to guide them into living honest, genuine, and fulfilling lives. I feel as though readers may be in or out on this author; I enjoy glimpses into Glennon's love story with Abby Wambach and how she strives to make the world a better place. 03 City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert In City of Girls, Gilbert writes about a young woman's coming of age in 1940s New York City. Vivian, now an older woman, is writing letters to a younger woman about her own youthful indiscretions and adventures in her aunt Peg's rowdy theatre with its many colorful characters, creative opportunities, and unending potential for mischief. So far Gilbert's old New York detail is wonderful, and young Vivian's carousing is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting take on feminism for the time. I'm listening to this as an audiobook. I generally find Gilbert (who is good friends with Glennon Doyle, mentioned above) to be a really lovely writer, as in the case of the nonfiction Last American Man and the novel The Signature of All Things. She also wrote the polarizing Eat, Pray, Love, which like many other readers, I had mixed feelings about, and which probably warrants inclusion on a Titles That Might Break Your Book Club list--hmmm, stay tuned for that blog post. What are you reading early in this new year? I have a stack of books from the holidays and the library (With or Without You, I see you staring me down) to read, yet I started reading the e-book of Untamed and listening to the audiobook of City of Girls because they were available as I was crafting my household's recent library hold lists, and most importantly because I have a serious problem of hoarding books in all formats. As we are likely all aware by now. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days?

01 Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford Crawford thought the trauma of her assault at St. Notes on a Silencing is a memoir in which Crawford, now a wife and mother, faces the challenges of asserting

01 Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon It's the last day of high school, and nemeses Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have battled bitterly for every title, position, honor, and moment of recognition during their high school career. They wake up today texting their usual taunts and challenges. But today will be different: this is the day they'll find out which of them has earned the desired title of class valedictorian. For the unfortunate one, the only hope of regaining glory would be to win the elaborate seniors' game of Howl, a challenging competition that spans the city of Seattle. And if Neil and Rowan look like they're teamed up for the game, it's only because they each intend to use their teammate to get into a winning position--and then take them down. But spending time working together for once allows Rowan and Neil to see sides of the other person that aren't so infuriating and off-putting after all. It sounds crazy, but in a way, they almost seem like the perfect match. Rachel Lynn Solomon's young adult novel Today Tonight Tomorrow feels like a smart, sweet read to start the new year. (For my review, see Today Tonight Tomorrow.) 02 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins In Rachel Hawkins's mystery The Wife Upstairs, set for January 5, 2021 publication, the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is a young woman who is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets, to sell for cash or just because she can, no one is likely to ever be the wiser. But Jane--who's taken on this new name and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her--has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even she could have manipulated into reality. But is Jane doing the scheming, or is something more sinister going on? I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. (For my review, see The Wife Upstairs.) 03 Here For It by R. Eric Thomas In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart "Eric Reads the News" column, shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently make me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and I'm finally getting around to reading it--I'm actually listening to it as an audiobook, and I adore hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. This is refreshing and so playful yet thoughtful, I love it so far. (I finished! For my full review, see Here For It.) What are you reading to start the new year? I've just started Today Tonight Tomorrow, my book club's first title of the year, and I do like the idea easing into 2021 with a young adult nemeses-fall-in-love premise. The Wife Upstairs has been aging nicely in my Kindle for months, until my realization that its publication date was fast approaching. It's a fast and engaging read so far, which also feels just right for these gray days of winter. And I'm listening to R. Eric Thomas read his audiobook, which I highly recommend. His voice and delivery are fabulous. What are you reading at the start of this new year? I just picked up an armful of library holds, and along with the stack of books I received as holiday gifts, I am now in possession of all the books. I hope this weekend holds some cozy reading time with books you love.