Distraction and Self-Preservation
Plus what Italian aficionado and author, Alyssa Palombo, is reading
I’m one of millions of Americans who is currently terrified of what our future is going to look like in the coming years. Terrified on a level that if I start to really think about it, my heart hitches, my breath catches, and I feel sick to my stomach. If I feel this way, I can’t even imagine what it is like for someone who doesn’t have the privilege I know I have. Friend and fellow author Jane Roper touches upon this outrage and fear in her latest post.
In the part of my life that isn’t an author, I teach social media and, increasingly, AI. Both are fields fraught with change and equal measures of good and bad, although for the most part, I no longer find that social media heals my heart as it once did. It mostly fills me with sadness, frustration, anger, and fear.
This is where distraction and self-preservation come in. Focusing on what I can immediately control. Focusing on what is immediately important in my life. Of course there are books! I’m currently reading several, including Roman Year by Andre Aciman and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (out in Feb).
Next, friends. As I mentioned in my last post, I recently reconnected with a high school friend. Over the last month, Joe and I spent a lot of time with her and her husband. It was such a joy to share time with them and take them to some of our favorite places. In general, spending time with friends is going to be on my list in the coming months. Which means I should buy some new linens for dinner parties. Oh twist my arm!
I want EVERYTHING at Big Night. All their dinner party things.
Next, music. I’m revisiting playlists that make me happy. Like this one full of Twee tunes.
Lots of video games. I’m SO addicted to Balatro, which if you had told me months ago I would be obsessed with a poker game I would have told you that you were batshit cray-cray. You can play it on a variety of platforms including mobile. Don’t play it. Really. Because you won’t be able to stop playing it. One…more…run.
Travel planning! I love using Wanderlog to plan. It’s especially great if you are traveling with other people and want to share itineraries, tickets, maps, etc.
Studying Italiano. I mentioned last week that I snagged a lifetime subscription (if you are considering it, do this before the $200 offer disappears…it’s really a bargain in comparison to subscriptions to other tools) to Lingopie, which I’m really enjoying. They have a variety of languages, not just Italian. But what I love is that you can connect Netflix or Disney+ to it and watch shows. I’m currently enjoying The Law According to Lidia Poët, which is based on the true story of the first female lawyer in Italy. There are three seasons, so I’ve got a lot of distraction and learning ahead! Even if you don’t speak Italian, look this one up and close caption it.
I’m also baking. I received King Arthur Flour’s The Big Book of Bread for Christmas and I’m looking forward to making so many things! I started with Everyday Bread and it came out really well!
What do you do to distract yourself when the world is imploding? 💥
What We’re Reading
Alyssa Palombo is the author of six novels, most recently The Assassin of Venice (I especially loved The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence: A Story of Botticelli). She and I share a deep love of il bel paese…Italia. Find her at alyssapalombo.com or on Instagram @AlyssInWnderlnd.
What I Just Finished Reading
A Spell for Change by Nicole Jarvis. This will be out in May of this year, and it is FAB: a perfect blend of historical, fantasy, and horror. Get this on your TBR now!
What I Am Currently Reading
Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier. I love medieval historical fiction, and this one is excellent, about a young midwife and healer who gets taken on as an apprentice by the pope's surgeon - just as the bubonic plague arrives in town. It's beautifully written, harrowing, and fascinating.
What I Am Looking Forward to Reading
Other than Onyx Storm, like the rest of the world? 😆 My copy of Mother of Rome by Lauren J.A. Bear keeps staring me down from my TBR pile. Hoping to get to that one soon!
Where I’ll Be
Join me at Wellesley Books for a fun Galentine’s event on Feb. 13th! Tickets here (the cost can be put toward the purchase of a book).
What’s Bringing Me Joy
This incredible find of a private bathhouse in Pompeii (read the BBC article as well as watching the below video). I wish they had discovered this years ago when I was working on Feast of Sorrow!
This image of Dalà reading his autobiography. Even he can’t believe it!
Thanks for Joining Me
If you love food and love Italy, and haven’t read THE CHEF’S SECRET or FEAST OF SORROW, click the links to learn where to buy your copy! And now you can order my latest, IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS!
You can also follow me here: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | Bluesky
I've just stopped looking at the news, and I hold my breath and scroll furiously past things on social media. Then I put on Call the Midwife, lol. That's my main distraction these days.