too deep in my proofreads to write much of a newsletter
please help me spell "shh." PLEASE.
A question, you guys: How do you spell “shh”? As in, “shh, I’m talking”? I’m working on the proofread for Both Things Are True (it’s one step closer to becoming a real book! *scream*) and the proofreader has suggested a different spelling of “shh.” The copyeditor previously suggested a different spelling as well, and now I’ve been looking at these letters for so long that they no longer resemble a word with any meaning whatsoever. I asked my friends and this is the kind of help they gave:
So brb, going to revise my manuscript to reflect that advice. What do you think?
“Isn’t that the great gamble of life? You do what you think might make you happy, but you don’t really know how things will work out. And—” She cuts herself off, straightening her spine and tightening her grip on my arm. “STFU. Here comes Henry.”
I’m certain my copyeditor will have no further notes, lol.
Anyway, merry season of having too much to do and not enough time to do it! (Might I suggest procrastinating with a newsletter?) I took the weekend off for our annual holiday pilgrimage to New York. We took our selfie with the tree, admired the holiday windows (the elder monster was particularly enamored of the bejeweled pigeons—as was I!), and met Santa in the breakfast room of the Times Square Residence Inn. We went to a cookie party, visited my college roommate (❤️ you, Liz), and had dinner at Saigon Shack, an old favorite from another lifetime ago when Marc and I lived in the Village. Our visit coincided with SantaCon, so I got to explain that yes, that Santa is drunk, but no, that is not the Santa. (The elder monster astutely observed the ~*~ real ~*~ Santa was probably finishing up last-minute gifts in the North Pole rather than wasting time carousing in Midtown.) It was cold and my feet were exhausted by the time we boarded the train Sunday night, but, man, was it fun. There’s no place like New York, especially at the holidays.
Speaking of Santa and last-minute gifts! I was texting with some friends about books this morning and thinking about last-minute bookish gifts I want to buy, so here, for your shopping convenience, is a quick list of some of my favorite books I’ve read this year:
🎁 The God of the Woods by Liz Moore — A teenager disappears from summer camp in the Adirondacks in the ‘70s and sets off a chain of events. A literary thriller I could not put down (and should not have started reading while on vacation in the woods with my children)!
🎁 Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors — Three sisters tangled up with grief after the death of the fourth sister. It’s sharp and engrossing, and you really want to scream at the characters for their poor choices but cheer them on all the same.
🎁 How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang — There’s a tragedy at the center of the book and I wasn’t sure how the characters (or I!) would move past it and into the titular love story, but I ended up falling hard for this book.
🎁 A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian — Breakfast Club meets It. This book was terrifying and addicting and I am completely OBSESSED with it. I’m constantly recommending it.
🎁 It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier — Grosse Pointe Blank is one of my all-time favorite movies, so color me unsurprised that I absolutely loved this darkly funny, sexy, totally deranged book. I mean, the swords! The sparring! The train sex! Really just loved this book so much.
🎁 One Last Word by Suzanne Park — Possibly my favorite Suzanne Park book, which is saying something because I'm a big fan of hers. Our protagonist creates an app that will send messages out in the event of your death … but when the app sends out her messages while she is very much NOT dead, chaos ensues.
🎁 Funny Story by Emily Henry — It’s an Emily Henry book. Need I say more?
🎁 One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin — As maid of honor at her BFF’s wedding, a writer is forced to walk down the aisle alongside the groom’s BFF—a man who trashed her book online. Their mutual friends keep dragging them into the same orbit over the years in this slow-burn of a romance.
🎁 All Fours by Miranda July — Miranda July might be an acquired taste, but I am always and forever preordering her work. This one—about a woman who leaves her husband and children behind to ostensibly drive across the country but instead rents a hotel room less than an hour from home—is an exploration of identity and freedom and conformity.
And while you’re at it, grab a gift for yourself!
❤️ One Night, Two Holidays by Ali Brady — A fun holiday novella about an overworked guy who misses Christmas with his family because of a snowstorm in Chicago and ends up spending the holiday (both holidays!) with the lonely Jewish girl who lives upstairs. Inspired by Nobody Wants This, this is cute, cozy, and sexy.
And now I should stop procrastinating because those proofreads are not going to do themselves! Let me know which books you’re hoping to find under the tree this year! And please, please, PLEASE help me spell “shh.”