The Dig List: February, 2024
This one is all about the grift, it seems. Plus, The Bee Sting, Family Meal, and Lauren Hough absolutely nailing it.
Happy Friday, and congratulations: we made it through the year of January! On Monday, I’ll be featuring my first guest essay ever, the first of many this year, by my friend and absolutely exquisite writer,
. For paid subscribers.I’ve read a lot this month, so most of the recs are book recs. I’ve also spent an extraordinary amount of time in bed and on the couch doing absolutely nothing (playing all the NY Times games—Spelling Bee is my current favorite—while half-watching a show). Last night, I was in bed by 6:30. Winter breaks me.
What’s The Dig List?
Sharing stuff I love is my favorite, so instead of trying to squeeze recommendations into the other newsletters, I started a series called The Dig List. It’s a monthly roundup of things I’m digging: books, podcasts, music, cultural moments, art, products. Nothing I share is sponsored. Read past ones here.
February 2024 Dig List
Books
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. I’m still figuring out how I feel about the ending, but goddamn, this was some great writing and storytelling. I have a thing for Irish authors anyway (The Searcher by Tana French is excellent). It’s 600+ pages, so a long one, but I got lost in it. As usual, I did both Kindle and Audiobook.
Family Meal by Bryan Washington. My first Bryan Washington novel and I’ll be reading the others immediately. I couldn’t have less in common with the characters (male, queer, Black, Korean, Texan) and it made me FEEL THINGS. Different and sharp and cutting and observant and very, very good.
What’s Wrong: Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine by Erin Williams. Erin is a friend, and this book—published last month—is a work of art, literally; she illustrated the whole thing, conducted painstaking research, and just generally went so far above and beyond to create something meaningful and true.
Podcasts
Believe in Magic - You know I love a good grifting mindfuck story, and this one is Scamanda-esque, dealing with charity, illness, and control. Many twists. Thanks, Emily.
Links and Other Stuff
absolutely nailing it about writing and comparison and grifting and social media circle jerks and everything else I didn’t know I needed right now. Printing this one.Speaking of grift, I will never, ever understand this world or the appeal of this type of announcement.
An in-depth piece by
on the history of “selling out” and the decisions artists have to make now.There seems to be a small wave of Millennial and Gen-X writers leaving Instagram. Seems like Substack has made that far more possible. To this Gen-X-er, it makes total sense. We’re tired.
Being a Full-Time Writer is The Worst Job by Kate McKean.
Can Taylor Swift Make the Super Bowl from her Tokyo Concert? A West Wing episode from 2001 already answered this.
A lengthy but worthwhile interview with
on about how divorce allowed her to write more, not being taken seriously as a writer or a person in her marriage, the extra burden women/mothers take on, even after divorce, and how she began to let things go, and much more.xo,
Laura
You are reading Love Story, a weekly newsletter about relationships, recovery, and writing from Laura McKowen. Laura is the founder of The Luckiest Club, an international sobriety support community, and the bestselling author of two books, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life and Push Off from Here: 9 Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else).
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If you’ll be at AWP next weekend, me too! I’ll be on a panel with Christie Tate, Laura Cathcart Robbins, Jonathan Winston Jones, and Eilene Zimmerman on writing about addiction on Saturday, February 10, from 12:10 - 1:25 pm.
I love my eberjey pjs! There’s also pants that you can wear outside the house that are so flattering and comfortable- pricy but worth it to me. Thanks for your recommendation.
Thank you, thank you, Laura! Your dig lists are one of the highlights of my life! I just requested all the books from my wonderful public library:). I finished "Yellowface" yesterday, btw:). Loved it!
Hang in there...spring is around the corner:)