dear reader may 2026 Currently, I’m reading Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen. I have such little knowledge of the U.S. empire's machinations in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, and it seemed high time to correct that. I’ve learned a lot in the past six years, yet I still have so much more to learn. Image courtesy of Unsplash by Chloe Forder This notion of learning, uncovering, and baring truths…that feeling of discomfort and...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
dear reader April 2026 I've been reading voraciously, and editing a bit more slowly (but making progress!). This past month, Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust trilogy kept me busy for hundreds of pages, and, honestly, hit a little too close to reality to be the escapist retreat I needed. I did find distraction in Alison Espach's The Wedding People and Da Ngan's An Insignificant Family. But I want to talk some books I'm going to read next, because I'm that shameful author friend who is just...
3 months ago • 2 min read
dear reader March 2026 Last month, I found myself traveling. The grass across four states was still yellow and crumbly. I drove through the aftermath of the large winter storm and saw the carnage of tree limbs snapped by the cold. I can remember the sound of the cracking from a different storm in 2022 and still hear the booms in the gloom. Yet there were early spring blossoms even though another front bringing freezing temperatures was on the way. I read all three books that make up Phillip...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Doing Just Fine February 2026 Dear Reader, To start off this year, I read two big books: The Politics of Heroin by Alfred W. McCoy and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (thanks to JM for the assignment!). I would suggest not reading these two back to back, as they're heavy and you might hurt your neck like I did. (No pun intended! Vampires are not real!) I followed these two with The Crop Cycle by Shane Mitchell. It was published by the wonderful Bitter Southerner who I recommend checking...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Doing Just Fine January 2026 Dear Reader, When I wrote you two months ago, I had tall reading goals and read I did! This Bridge Called My Back edited by Cherrîe Moraga & Gloria Anzaldúa Bitch by Lucy Cooke How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi In addition to these pictured, I read The Brothers by Stephen Kinzer, Gliff by Ali Smith, Palestine by Nur Masalha, Illegality, Inc. by Ruben Andersson, Race and Reunion by David W. Blight, and Euphoria by Lily King — to name a few. Outside of...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Doing Just Fine November 2025 Dear Reader, I’ve been thinking about the next year as I flip through my 2026 planner to decide on page formats and add quotes to boost me through the weeks. I've been feeling burnt out and while there is plenty of reason for that, I thought I had built up more reserves. Where did my ‘reserves’ go? I wondered if I have been playing at being an extrovert (haha) for the last few years while all along everything about me screams introvert. So I’m planning to see how...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Doing Just Fine October 2025 Dear Reader, It’s the last three months of the year, and I’m ready to tuck away for winter. I’m ready to tuck away for the entire next year. I’ve sent my latest manuscript off to my agent, and by the time she sends notes back it will likely be too late in the year to submit to publishers even if I could turn revisions around fast. Although I had hoped to sign a book contract this year, I’ve accepted the slower timeline. Maybe it will happen next year. Maybe this...
9 months ago • 2 min read
Doing Just Fine September 2025 Dear Reader, I hope you had a good August. That month has always seemed to run me down. It wasn't historically hot, if anything it was cooler than years past. But my body only knows the press of humidity and heat, and it is weary of it. We decided against taking any big trips this year, and that too casts its own pallor over me. Everything becomes same-sy on top of the daily dissonance of living and working in the states. I've noticed the stories I'm pulled...
10 months ago • 1 min read
Doing Just Fine July 23, 2025 Dear Reader, I'm writing to you out of my normal schedule to celebrate LINH LY IS DOING JUST FINE's one year anniversary! I'll be enjoying sweets, and I certainly think you deserve a treat too! If not dessert for your tastebuds, how about 70% off the audiobook? My spoonful of warmed pie and melting ice cream toast will be to Linh Ly, my dear readers, and the future. I'm taking August off from the newsletter and will catch you back in September when I've hopefully...
11 months ago • 1 min read