As I was in the homestretch of releasing Craving London, I lamented that I had not done much reading this year. Then, on the day of the launch (which was my 46th birthday), I got an email from The Enneagram Institute (I’m a total 4) recommending the book An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum. Etty lived in Holland during the Holocaust years and started keeping her journal at the age of 27, two years before she died in Auschwitz. I was immediately overcome by a tremendous urge to drop everything and search for this book.

I started watching youtube videos about the war, to orient myself to Etty’s time. Immediately, I felt ashamed about my own writing. How trivial of me to think I had gone through pain, and to write about frivolous things like dating and recipes. How pointless to wax on about journeys and overcoming, when others have gone through so much.

Then I got into Etty’s writings. Yes, she mentions the division and oppression of her era. But guess what she devotes much of her journal to? That’s right: her love life. Or the lack of a love life, and her frustration about it. She talks openly and intimately about her womanhood. Here is an excerpt from the book:​

Yes, I want him to say, ‘Darling, you are the only one and I shall love you for ever more.’ I know, of course, that there is no such thing as eternal love, but unless he declares it for me nothing has any meaning. And the stupid thing is that I don’t really want him, don’t want him for ever or as the only one in my life and yet I demand it of him. Do I demand absolute love from others because I’m unable to give it myself? And then I always expect the same level of intensity, when I know from my own experience that it cannot last.

An extremely important book, especially now. I highly recommend it and would love to discuss it with anyone who has read it.

Recent book news

Here’s a roundup of different book-related things since my last message:

​High Vibe Tribe podcast with coach Marcy Neumann, where I talk about how I learned to “fall in love on command”.

Bites by the Page is a fun blog/Instagram account where two sisters rave about books and food. Perfect. Here’s the (short and sweet) interview.

Finally, my laugh-filled chat with London author K.A. Masson is here.

Signed copy = stocking stuffer!

If you happen to live in Miami, you can pick up a signed copy at the Barnes & Noble in N Kendall Drive—a few blocks away from my mother.