The book I’m reading this Shabbos and the articles I enjoyed this week.
The Secrets We Keep: An Anthology of Extraordinary Women, from Dandelion Revolution Press
This hot-off-the-presses anthology contains my short story, Shakshuka! It’s my little secret introverted Jewish girl story, which is a similar perspective to the one in my first novel, but since it’s going nowhere I borrowed it for this.
The Lightness, by Emily Temple
For the first time in a year, I was able to browse the Skokie Public Library. Instead of driving up and making out with my preordered books like a bandit, I got to look around and take in the new digs and relax into book-browsing mode. And, since I got to see a bunch of books laid out, my eye caught on this one because the print by Beth Hoeckel has been sitting in my Society6 promoted tab for years. (“Seethe” is no longer in her shop, FYI.)
And isn’t that what libraries and bookstores are for? Discovering things you would never have noticed otherwise?
Confessions of a 32-Year-Old Drama Queen, by Rebecca Jennings for New York Magazine
I feel like I unwillingly know who Trisha Paytas is. She’s crossed my radar so many times, mostly thanks to her prolific YouTube channel. She’s a messy plus-sized glamour queen with no shame and it’s intoxicating. At the same time, the content she puts out is HIGH GLOSS. It’s pretty (or intentionally not), but it swirls around actually saying or doing something, never giving you somewhere to hang your hat.
I always wondered how she’d be contextualized, and this profile does a decent job. My theory is that Trisha wants to be someone’s muse, Andy Warhol-style. My prediction is that in the next twenty years, she’ll actually do something that will make her memorable, and then all this background will come into play. She’s laid the tracks without promise of a train, but I believe it will come!