Good Stuff, Mid-Week Edition
A summer syllabus
Good Stuff is coming to you mid-week with a special edition. Rather than share the usual links, books, and news, I thought I’d share some details on SHORT SUMMER, a reading project I’ve been hinting at in the last few weeks.
But first, some wisdom on habits.
“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy.”
― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
If you’ve been here a minute, you know I love a creative project.
This summer, I’m tackling a reading project I’m calling Short Summer, where I read a short story or essay every day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I took a chance and reached out to Anne Bogle, the queen of book recommendations, for guidance, and last week, I was a guest on her podcast, What Should I Read Next.
Listen to a few episodes of What Should I Read Next and your TBR will grow exponentially. Each guest shares three books they love and one book they don’t and Anne’s talents lie in digging into the particulars of why a particular book worked, or didn’t for a specific reader.
At the start of our conversation, I was in a hurry to tell the whole story of my reading life that when Anne asked me to slow down and talk about what makes me, me1, I stumbled.
In the episode, I describe myself as a mom of four, but when I list my children individually, I mention the 15-year-old, the 13-year-old, and the three-year-old. I don’t like to lie about the number of children I have, but depending on the situation, revealing that one of my children died tends to take over a conversation.
The other person wants to show compassion, and I understand the impulse, but sometimes it’s hard to get past it and I wasn’t prepared to be that vulnerable. Anne was completely professional and breezed right over the discrepancy2. I wonder if the audience will notice?
Anne Bogel and her team were so gracious, expertly guiding me through our conversation and helping me tease out the why, what, and how behind this reading project. Thanks to editing, I sound much more interesting than I actually am.
The goal of the project is to build stamina for daily reading on the page. It might mean reading less but reading deeper in stolen moments throughout the day.
I’ve put together a loose summer syllabus for reading short fiction and essays that mashes together recommendations from Anne, contemporary collections, and a few of my college-era anthologies I found while cleaning out the garage last week3.
Brawler by Lauren Groff (reading now and LOVING it!)
The Best American Short Stories, 2024 Editied by Lauren Groff
The Longman Pocket Anthology R.S. Gwynn
Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman (WSIRN Recommendation)
10th of December by George Saunders
The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury (WSIRN Recommendation)
The Red Convertible Louise Erdrich
Essays
Small Town Girls by Jayne Anne Phillips (WSIRN Recommendation)
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
On Morrison by Namwali Serpell
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
In case you missed it
Here are a few past Bittersweet Weekly projects.
During the pandmeic some people baked sourdough, I ran every street in Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Independent)
The two years I was an MLM Hon for Beachbody. One of these days I’ll share that story here.
In 2023, we embarked on a full demolition and remodel of our home.
My first syllabus from 2023 and Last year’s summer syllabus.
The Bittersweet Weekly is in itself a project.
Until next time, Emily
In an era where you have access to every word ever written, I’m so grateful you’ve chosen to read mine.
undoubtedly, so she could make better recommendations
I shared a truncated version of Aiden’s story in my submission
I’ve been carting around two boxes full of novels, plays, and anthologies, both classic and modern, since graduating from college in 2002. As I thumbed through the yellowing pages, I saw all my notes scribbled in the margins in a sparkly gel pen. I wish I had the full syllabus of each course, or at least my notes on WTF Faulkner was talking about in THE SOUND AND THE FURY.