LIZ'S PICKZ 2024!

The most important literary prize of our time!!!

Another great year in reading, and here are the illustrious recipients of a prize judged by a panel of one:

(Me can read!!!)

Big in Sweden by Sally Franson: Did you know my BFF is a reality star in Scandinavia?! Oh wait, it’s FICTION.

The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger: When I described the thesis of this book to Nelly, as psychic who is in touch with the deep architecture of the universe, she was like no shit plants have intelligence!!!

The Book of George by Kate Greathead: Every sentence is delectable, so much so that Greathead makes the Georges in your life almost sympathetic!

North Woods by Daniel Mason: Dude is an author AND a medical doctor?! That almost disqualified him for Liz’s Pickz because c’mon.

The Winner by Teddy Wayne: My only regret is that I was not wearing my Oura ring for the last ten pages of this book, as my heart rate woulda been off the charts.

House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul: RPC is one of the great spiritual teachers of our time and this memoir is canon, and my favorite genre of celebrity memoir—the moment before fame, a la Just Kids.

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: I interviewed Voss for Everyday Intuition and my god what a gentle genius. Here’s a hot tip from a FBI negotiator to those of us who worked in the accursed media industry—when you want a response to your email make the subject line “Have you given up on this project?” Proof positive that a ‘no’ is not always bad in a negotiation!

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: A platonic ideal of a thriller, crestfallen I am not reading it for the first time this very moment.

Prescription for Pain by Phil Eil: Ohio noir, the very best of true crime reporting and victim-centered narrative.

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman: That’s how many weeks you’ve got, if you’re lucky. Use them to watch celebrity plastic surgery before and after reels on Instagram.

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: Heaven is a place in Montclair where Taffy does her writing.

Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin: I love Gretchen’s books so much because they make your life demonstrably better. Get your philistine ass to the Met, she went every day for a year!!!

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates: A meditation on the power of writing to create change and its Janus-faced cousin, language’s power to cloak and obscure injustice. Our generation’s Orwell.

Congratulations to all of Liz’s Pickz!!!!

This ‘n’ that:

I love this poem.

Reading this essay by my queen Rachel Yoder on MY ancestral healing practice was a revelatory healing experience. Did I wind my children around the leg of a table to make them grow? No but would have if needed, still might!

Inside the Mind of a Dog documentary on Netflix. Save your disturbing murder shows, only the gentlest viewing will get us to the right side of the solstice.

This profile on Zoe Kestan is buckwild, and serves as a CliffsNotes explainer on “Hunter Biden’s laptop” for those of us who opted out of that discourse.

Elijah sent me this song, a Beatles song you’ve never heard, and it’s really pretty.

TILDA!!!

Have you heeded your intuition’s call and pre-ordered a very important book (VIB)?

(And as you may have guessed, I’m working toward scorched earth world domination in 2025, so if you like this little newsletter, and know somebody else who might like it, would you please forward it to them so they might subscribe?! Pls and thank you.)

I’m going to stick with book learning for the time being. This is me being not-a-regular-mom-a-cool-mom at Theo’s 6^th birthday party. May you swing into 2025 more, er, elegantly?

Catch you on the flip, big love to you and yours!