It’s Friday! This week went by so slowly and so quickly, all at the same time. It was busy, busy, busy, so I treasured my early morning reading and writing routines even more than usual. How do you make time to nourish your reading and writing life? Whether it’s in the early morning like me or later on in your day, I hope you make the time for you and what matters most. See what topped my morning routine this week!

What I’m Reading:

Jenny Colgan is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She whisks (yes, pun in intended….hold on) me away to another country, another life, another secret desire to tap into my creative side and does so with such compelling, loveable and relatable characters. I adored The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris and fell in love with Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe in just a few chapters. The story follows Issy and her path to starting over with a dream to bake as her grandfather so lovingly taught her. Colgan captures her dreams, her fears, her inner monologues and the connections she has with others and even better, she also gives us a glimpse into the lives of all of them, too. Start to finish, this was a sweet delight and now, I’m off to tackle the cupcake recipes that were included. You better believe I’ll be reading Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’s Sweetshop of Dreams right after that. I. AM. HOOKED.

I also read Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. It was on my TBR stack for a while and I finally made the time to read it after yet another recommendation from a fellow reader online. Honestly, it was unlike anything I was expecting. It was emotional. It was raw. It was powerful. It was deep. And admittedly, some parts were hard for me to read and get through. Kaur uses her words and her images to paint such a powerful picture for readers that you cannot help but viscerally react to. But I came out on the other side better for having read it. Here are two quotes I lifted for my collection:

  • Loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself. 
  • How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.

All in all, this was a beautiful book of transformation, but I had to read it in a single sitting so I could move from the hurting to the loving to the breaking and finally, to the healing. Next, I’m reading Kaur’s Home Body.

As for next week? I’ll be heading back to my happy reading place: children’s literature. A few middle grade novels will be coming your way!

What I’m Writing:

Last week, I invited you to join Kate Messner’s Teachers Write summer experience and this is why: she is giving me such motivation to fill the pages of my notebook! First, she walks through her own process as a writer and then, she invites us to do the same in our own notebooks. This week, she invited us to interview ourselves as if we were writing our own picture book biography, mimicking her research practices for her newest picture book, Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor. You won’t regret taking 15 minutes to do the same. 

What I’m Learning:

Well, I finally did it. I finally upgraded my blog from an old Blogger blog to a new WordPress blog. I’ve got some new plans for A Lit Life and hope to share more often. Think book lists, notebook prompts, printables to boost your literate life and more. But first, I needed to up my website game. So I did. And let me tell you, THAT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE. Thank goodness for Google, Skillshare’s classes on learning WordPress and the WATDesignExpress team on Etsy. Stay tuned for more coming your way!

What I’m Loving:

Here are the links that brought a bit of literate love my way this week:

There you have it! I hope this inspires you to make space for more reading and writing in your own life. What are the highlights from your literate life this week?