Well, we are officially in back-to-school season and New York must have known it because we’ve shifted into early Fall weather with cooler temperatures and rainy days.

It feels good to be back in a rhythm and dig out the fleece-lined slippers and blankets!

This week, I’ve got two books to share, one writing request and an unexpected topic for learning. 

What I'm Reading:

I have two 5-star reads to share with you this week: one new middle grade novel that has my heart and one new adult novel that opened my mind to an entirely new world of gaming.

I’m pretty proud of myself for pushing my reading boundaries. A few weeks ago, I read about entertainment wrestling and now, adult gaming. Who knew I’d find both of these worlds so interesting in the pages of a book?!

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

I love notebooks, so I absolutely positively loved that this entire book was written as a long series of notebook entries written in verse. It was moving, heartful, lyrical and emotional. In it, we get to know Iveliz through her heartfelt writing as her journal is the only place she can seem to make sense of all the pain in her world. She’s a seventh grade girl dealing with a lot: her father’s death, her mother’s frustration, her grandmother’s dementia, her troubles at school and more. Her notebook is how she copes with it until she slowly opens up to those that care and uses her voice, rather than her uncontrolled actions, to slowly put the pieces back together. 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Ganrielle Zevin

Admittedly, it took me a few pages to really get into this book and the world of gaming it invites you into. But once I became connected to the characters, which Zevin’s writing makes it incredibly easy to do, I could not put it down. In it, we meet Sadie, Sam and Marx: three friends that form a gaming company and ultimately, a life together. There are twists and turns, love and loss, pain and success and everything in between. Their tangled lives will inevitably become tangled in your own. And while this was set in the gaming world, I couldn’t help but bring the same spirit of possibility so prominent in the book to my own life and what I might create next. This is a must read.

What I'm Writing:

This week, I’ve done more thinking about writing than actually writing. 

My mother brought over the most unexpected gift: folders of my late grandmother’s writing. These folders were filled to the brim with poetry, letters and to and from her grandchildren, notes about life and more. All are written on the yellow legal pads she always had close by and some were even typed. Here’s a poem she wrote just for me on the day I was born:

I’ve been sifting through the pages, reading and rereading and reading some more  and feeling more connected to my grandmother than ever. What a gift writing brings.

I want to do something special with this writing, but I’m not sure what. Do I pull all of the writing pieces together in a writing scrapbook? Do I post them online in a family blog? Do I preserve them in some other way? I’m not sure what to do yet, but I know I MUST do something to preserve them forever.

Do you have any ideas for me?

What I'm Learning:

My daughter has developed a new obsession: piercing her ears.

She originally got her ears pierced when she was 3 years old and loves wearing earrings. She has wanted to get her second piercing for a while but I’ve made her wait to make sure she really, really wants to.

She did. =)

We researched the best places to get her ears pierced, we purchased the best piercing studs to ward off infection and pain and we made an appointment to get her second AND her third holes pierced a few weeks ago.

Then what happened? She wanted more.

Since then, she has pierced her helix and her conch piercings, too. These are piercings up higher on her earlobe that honestly make me a bit nauseous to think about piercing.

But they are her ears, and her decision. And they look beautiful.

I learned a lot about the piercing process and was thankful she had a wonderful person to do this work.  I have a new appreciation for the field and learned that there is always more to a story, and to a career, then we might know.

What I'm Loving:

The 1Canoe2 September wallpaper is here and I love the emotion it evokes. I bet you will, too. 

Look at this Book Lovers collection of Traveler Notebooks from Pipsticks. I want them!

I love bookmarks and these are so inspiring. Which should I get first? Let me know your favorite and you might just get one, too!

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?