Julie recommends The Word Pretty by Elisa Gabbert:

Seasoned poet Elisa Gabbert flexes her sentence-making strength in her debut essay collection. Fun, witty, and filled with clear-eyed observations, her work approaches life and literature with as much poignancy as humor and aplomb. “Personal Data: Notes on Keeping a Notebook” tracks how notebooks, unlike journals or diaries, are home to inspired jottings that may, or may not serve a future purpose. She captures the eerie sensation of discovering old notebooks—abandoned after a few pages—and describes the odd process of decoding cryptic messages from selves past. Quite movingly, she includes a short list—from one of her more recent notebooks—of medical terminology related to her husband’s sudden and mysterious hearing-loss condition. “Variations on Crying” is an essay partly inspired by her attempt to remain unmoved by YouTube videos designed to be cathartic tearjerkers. By minute four of one video she openly sobs, and later admits to crying while watching the season finale of Top Chef. “I don’t believe in not believing in guilty pleasures,” she writes, “Guilt is good…” From an essay on digressions to a meditation on the word pretty, few subjects escape her rigorous intelligence and skillful craft. Readers will be impressed with how easily she toggles between a scholarly and conversational tone—these essays are smart, engaging, and deeply refreshing.

Fun fact: Gabbert gives some excellent book recommendations. She mentioned the work of Javier Marías, so I immediately went to the shelves and pulled out the copies we carry: All Souls; Heart So White; When I Was Mortal; Bad Nature, or With Elvis in Mexico; and While the Women Are Sleeping. (A few of these are currently out of stock.)