Settled...!...?

Jan 26

Snow-covered landscape with icy formations over a stream. Sparse twigs emerge from the snow. The scene is calm and monochromatic.

The New Year 2025—what will it bring?

At a New Year's event, I was asked for one word that would represent for me my life in 2024. I ran through a few options in my head before responding with: Settled. We'd moved to Portland (Maine) three and a half years ago and as I look back on the last full year we finally feel fully settled, as if we've sunk into a warm and stable couch that we have no interest in leaving. Michael agreed with my word.

Two weeks later, fires started raging through Los Angeles. Our daughter, two nephews, and friends, live in and around the city, and suddenly "settled" seemed like luxury. It's beyond awful what has happened to LA and while, gratefully, all we love are "okay" they are hardly out of harm's way or feeling "settled." It's tough to think of the wonderful times we've had there, hiking Griffith Park, eating at incredible restaurants, enjoying the nearly never-ending sun juxtaposed with the horrible images of devastation.

But unsettled is what we'll get—whether by fire, tornado, deluging rain, mudslides, or hurricanes—and only the "privileged" will escape them. These are truly national emergencies, not for political score-keeping. Our climate is unstable, our new leaders are hell bent on making it worse, not better, and we all share this land together.

Michael and I endured a house fire in New Hampshire that did over $50,000 (today's dollars) of damage. We were lucky to get out; lucky to have a great volunteer fire department; lucky that ten neighboring towns weren't battling other blazes; lucky that our insurance covered every penny. How is it possible that thousands of people are suffering far worse.

Feeling "settled" is temporary, a moving target, something you gain and lose, ephemeral, and nuanced. Please give what you can to the American Red Cross which is running all evacuation sties or, for animal support, to the Pasadena Humane Society. And thank you. I hope with all my being that all those you know and love in Los Angeles are okay too.

Snowy field with tracks leading to a forest and a snow-capped mountain under a cloudy sky. Trees line the horizon, creating a serene scene.

Hasty Book List

Books Set in the 1920s

I'm thrilled that The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy is included in Ashley Hasty’s must-read books set in the 1920s! Great gift idea for anyone who enjoys a true crime investigative memoir!

See the list!

From My Stack

Last month I shared that I was reading multiple books at once, six in total. I did make it through three of them and can recommend How to Read a Book by Monica Wood (this will make you feel better about the world; wonderful characters; great setting; terrific plot); Knife by Salmon Rushdie (a truly fine memoir) and Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (a fun first of two books about environmental terrorism at the highest levels; but if you know Penny, you know it's also got a lot of heart). Latest here:

Susan Conley

The Foremost Good Fortune: A Memoir

Susan is an acclaimed writer of both fiction (read her novel Landslide) and memoir. I loved her story of living in Beijing for six years with her husband and two young sons. The joys and challenges of being an ex pat, of raising kids in a foreign country, of exploring the beauty and treasures of China, are met by a diagnosis of breast cancer. It's a story of grit and resilience, told with wonderful humor. I loved it.

Han Kang

The Vegetarian

Winner of the Booker International Prize, The Vegetarian is a strange and ferocious tale of obsession, abuse, and the estrangement of a young married woman in South Korea who determines she no longer wishes to eat meat. It's a harrowing, yet prophetic, telling of how little agency women have over their bodies, when family and men get in the way. A short, toughly brilliant book.

Yellow pencil on blue background with text: Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow. Includes quotes by Cheryl Strayed and Richard Russo.

Steve Almond

Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories

I heard Steve talk about this book at PRINT, here in Portland, in conversation with Richard Russo, who blurbed the book as "one of the best books on writing" he'd ever read. It's really good. It finds space somewhere between simple craft teaching and over-the-top intellectualism. I did a lot of underlining and enjoyed my conversation with Steve after his talk.

May we each find our way to doing the work needed to ensure our homes, communities, and nations are just, democratic, and full of peace. And that our leaders protect our climate. May we look back on 2025 and know we've done our part.

Into the new year with each of you,

Snow-covered forest with tall trees casting long shadows in bright sunlight. Clear blue sky enhances the serene, chilly atmosphere.