How & Where to Find Books for Self-Bibliotherapy, Teachers Who Read & Zucchini Pizza
Weekly Literate Love: August 22, 2025
Happy Friday!
If you are reading this, it mans I survived dropping off my daughter for her first year away at college yesterday. Cue the happy tears and send Kleenex.
I am full of conflicted emotions. I’m so incredibly happy for the fresh start she is about to embark on and so incredibly sad that I can’t just walk a few steps to see her in person (more like 5 hours in a car!). I am in awe of her plans and bravery for what’s ahead and equally terrified that I won’t be there to make sure she’s ok. I’m so darn proud of everything she has accomplished and so darn sentimental that it all went too fast.
Someone hand me a tissue. =)
But the good news? She’s happy and healthy and ready for her new adventure and that means, so am I. Here’s to new seasons, new opportunities and new chances to grow.
If you are in the same situation as I am, you might want to scroll down to the link I shared in the ‘What I’m Loving’ section of this newsletter. There’s great comfort there.
Keep reading for your weekly dose of literate love and click the button below to share with a bookish friend!
Happy reading & writing!
Stephanie
What I'm Reading:
Oh, my goodness. This book has my heart:
THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING by Kristin Harmel
I read a lot of books and I expect each one to change me in some way. But I did not see this book coming for me. =)
It begins with Hope, a woman in her late thirties who is rebuilding her life after divorce at her family bakery with a daughter who is struggling with the change…and with her. When Hope’s grandmother shares an unbelievable family secret, Hope and Annie ultimately team together to find her lost family and bring her peace before her mind slips away to Alzheimer’s.
Honestly, this book is life-changing…and a bit eerie because the very lessons I needed to learn in this complicated season of life were laid out on the page for me. From connecting with family and exploring the mother-daughter relationship to finding out who you really are and leaving the guilt and shame of the past behind, this book is an emotional roller-coaster that will remind you just how lucky we are to have woken up with the opportunity to experience the day. Plus, there’s the most beautiful conceptualization of religion inside the pages and last but not least, there are the most delicious recipes that I cannot wait to try.
This was the book I needed at the very time I needed it. Maybe you do, too.
What I'm Writing:
This week, Mel Robbins helped me get reflective in my thinking and in my notebook. On one of her recent episodes, she shared 5 powerful questions to ask yourself to help you reflect on where you are and where you’re going no matter what season of life you’re in. Here they are so you can head to your notebook, too:
How are you really doing right now?
Who do you want to spend more time with?
What’s been bringing you joy lately?
What’s secretly draining your energy?
What’s one new thing you’ll try this week?
Spend a minute or two on each and you might be surprised on how much you learn that can help you think forward in a positive way.
What I'm Learning:
This week, I spent some time in a very odd happy place: a bookish spreadsheet. =)
I’ve just launched a new program at my University that I am extremely excited about: the TEACHERS WHO READ program! Modeled after the 100 Books Before Kindergarten program, my program invites freshman education students to pledge to read over 150 books across their four years with out OUTSIDE of their education classes with more books being added each year until we reach 250 or 500 books (I think!).
I’ve spent the summer creating the book lists, making handouts, learning all sorts of things about University library acquisitions, making plans for read-in events and author visits and more. It was a learning curve, but I am proud to say that it is the FIRST program of its kind in the US (or maybe even the world!) according to my research. I cannot wait to launch it next week with students! I plan to document the entire progress and share my work on the conference circuit so other Universities and colleges might do the same.
Readers change the world. =)
What I'm Loving:
Are you sending a loved one onto a new adventure, too? This is the comfort I’ve been reading again and again and again. I see you. =)
I made this white zucchini pizza with a few modifications (and used GF basil dough) and it was DELICIOUS! You should try it before summer slips by.
Do you need a cute back-to-school gift idea for the teacher in your life? Head to the Dollar Store and then press play on this quick tutorial. It’s adorable!
Keep scrolling for my latest podcast posts and updates!
Podcast Highlights From the Last Week:
How & Where to Find Books for Self-Bibliotherapy
On this episode of the Get Lit(erate). podcast, I’m answering the most asked question that I receive: How and where do I find books for my own bibliotherapy?
Today, we are tackling that question and more. I’ll share a simple framework for choosing a book genre and title that is perfect for you and offer five different sources for finding the right book at the right time.
Want to see the reel that I mention in the episode? Click here to see it in the show notes for the episode!
From My Private Substack Community…
Every Sunday, I post additional content for my private Substack community to bring even more literate love to our lives. Here’s what I shared this week:
Savor the Current Microseason: Evening Cicadas Begin to Sing to Thick Fog Blankets the Land
Be sure to subscribe and add them to your TBR stack. Click the button below to subscribe. It’s just $5 per month!
Let’s Work Together!
I love to connect with others around our shared love of reading and writing.
Here are some ways we can work together to create a life you love where restorative reading and writing is at the center of it all:
🩷 Join my private Substack community for themed book calendars, bonus posts, book clubs and events each month! Click the yellow button above!
📚 Connect 1:1 for personalized coaching to unlock the transformative power of your reading life. Click here for restorative reading and bibliotherapy coaching!
✏️ Connect 1:1 for personalized coaching to explore the wellness benefits of journaling: write to heal, to grow and to create. Click here for restorative writing coaching!
Literate love is multiplied when it’s shared! 🩷
Here are some free ways to support this newsletter and spread my message of the magic of restorative reading and writing far and wide:
🩷 Like and comment on this post so we can connect!
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💌 Forward this email to a fellow bookish and notebookish friend so they can join the literate love too!
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I have found letting go the hardest part of parenting -- from the times I dropped them off at the YMCA daycare as toddlers so I could do some fitness, all the way through school & dropping them off at university. It is a type of grief -- that separation. I'm sending you good coping vibes! Great tips on the episode -- everything you've recommended to me has been spot on; you have a magical Intuition!
I hate to tell you this, Stephanie, but it doesn’t get any easier as your adult children grow older. I am the proud grandma of three and the mother of three and my heart breaks every time they come see me and then they say goodbye. Not that I don’t have a very full life as a writer and a painter, but there is just something about being a mom that breaks your heart and makes you as happy as you’ve ever been in your life and now you’ve got me crying! Have a great day and thank you for your column.