just finished: Maybe This Will Help, a lovely gift book by a women with chronic pain and a gift for expressing herself through art. While much of the book is her talking about her own experiences with her pain and with those who would “try to help,” she also includes many diagrams like the ones below, showing feelings or hope or reality in clever ways. I was going to write about this one on Friday, but then I found out that the publication date has gotten bumped about 6 weeks, so it won’t be in stores until late November. But it will be available in time for Christmas, and it will be a lovely gift for anyone you know who struggles with chronic pain, mental illness, or grief (she addresses all those in the book). Highly recommended!

currently reading: I’m reading a sweet children’s book where a young artist named Zora and her younger sister get pulled into Zora’s drawings in the wake of her mother’s death. It’s sad and sweet, and I am looking forward to seeing where this story goes. I’m listening to First Love, Take Two, about a young doctor trying to deal with her feelings for her first real boyfriend and (maybe) the love of her life. I’m also reading The Last Guest, a domestic thriller about a dinner party at an actor’s house that turns into murder. I’m not too far in yet, but it has lots of atmosphere and underlying resentment. It should be loads of fun!

up next: I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to listen to this one, but I got the audio book for Stanley Tucci’s new book Taste, about his love for food, his family, and his career. The subtitle is My Life Through Food, and he reads it himself, so what is there not to like about it? Also looking forward to Down the Hatch, the newest Agatha Raisin book from M.C. Beaton & Co. The Agatha Raisin books are such a lovely escape for me. I can’t wait to get back to the Cotswolds for a while!