kyra maya phillips

Tore through this in a few hours. So, so good. A few essays are absolutely laugh out loud hilarious (particularly one involving a wild and demented goose), and others are profound in that way only Allie Brosh can be (her two pieces on depression represent one of the most human views on the topic I've ever encountered). Honestly, this book is perfect.

Written in the only way Didion really knows how: hauntingly. This is a difficult book to get through, not because of the way in which it is written (it is a joy to travel through her sentences), but rather because of its topic. Written after her husband’s sudden death, The Year of Magical Thinking is Didion’s memoir recounting how she handled the loss of her partner. It is an exceptional...

This is the best book. I fell in love with it.

This book is tremendous. A weighty tome (nearly 800 pages), it’s the truest inside look into the heart and mind of an artist. In his letters to his younger brother Theo (who supported Vincent throughout his entire life as a painter), Van Gogh reveals his views on love, art, creativity and what it means to be not only a good artist, but a good human being. What I found most astounding was just...

Loved this book!

Thank you so much! Am so pleased you both enjoyed the book. Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Finished this delightful, slim yet meaningful book in one sitting. Pico Iyer, the celebrated travel writer, extolls on the benefits of stillness, presence and finding the time to reflect on our human experience. I have yet to find a better description of stillness and it’s role in creating a rich and meaningful life: “To me, the point of sitting still is that it helps you to see through the...

A stunningly written collection of meditations on a rich and wide array of topics, from John Wayne, to growing up in California, Joan Baez, Hollywood and the hippies of Haight-Ashbury. I enjoyed every essay more than I thought I would, due probably to Didion’s uncanny ability to make any topic interesting. Two particular pieces though stood out for me, and have been struggling to get them out...

This is a mesmerising, stunning collection of letters from Rainer Maria Rilke to a young poet who asked for his guidance on navigating life as a struggling writer. It is a treasure trove of powerful insight, with meditations on the importance of solitude and the sadness, anxiety and depression that it often brings. Essentially, this is a book on the virtues of looking inwards for answers to...

@daverad, thank you so much for saying such awesome things about snail mail! so excited you love it. @halbluchs has actually recommended quite a few books via Snail Mail, I never have, but I might start now. How likely to do you think people will actually seek the books and read them? The reason I ask is because we're thinking of building a Snail Mail book club.

Hey @blendahtom, of course. Nico and I have been sharing and then discussing the things we read with each other for a few years. We noticed that even though we have very similar tastes, we were finding and consuming radically different things. On this basis, we decided to create a newsletter together. Snail Mail's angle (only sharing pieces we've consumed 3 or more months ago) only came later,...