I Have a New Website
from my email newsletter | issue no. 21 | July 8 2025
About seven months ago, I was sitting in my parents’ living room and pounded out the following statement on my laptop:
And then I dashed off a very rushed email that included this text because I knew if I didn't do it then, I'd keep procrastinating.
But anyway, a few months prior to that moment, I had met with Christine Dryden, a Charlotte-based artist and graphic/web designer because I knew that my website needed a major reboot. (Did you even know that I had a website? Probably not!) Christine designs websites for creatives, including my dear friend Ashley who was the one who recommended that we connect. Christine was the recipient of my slightly loopy email.
Spoiler alert: There is now a a new website. (And spoiler alert: You’re reading this newsletter on that new website.) In any case, take note of the text from the green box above that now lives at the top of this site!
The main catalyst for a website refresh was that I write a lot about books + reading culture + place on Instagram…but not everyone has Instagram. (God love ya.) In addition, Instagram is not particularly searchable nor findable. There’s not really a great way (or any way?) to search someone’s content there except for just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. (Helloooooo, brain rot.) And I’m not too shy nor too polite to admit that I’m pretty proud of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds (seriously, it’s a lot) of — what I call — micro-essays I’ve posted. On Instagram, I’m hemmed in by an approximate 400-word limit, which is not nothing when you think of how snappy and fleeting our written communication has become. Yet if you write or edit for a living, you know how tricky it is to pack a punch while remaining concise. (Talk about trial by fire: My first post-college job was at then-upstart Fast Company magazine. If you want a quick baptism into a world where line breaks are scrutinized and word choice may matter partly because you need things to fit a specified layout, look no further than a high-quality print publication.) So, I wanted all these words to live somewhere besides a Meta-owned social media platform because I believe they are good words. Who knows: Instagram may go away, but I’m pretty darn sure email and websites will be here for the foreseeable future.
Screenshot from my home page from about a month ago. Take note of: the search bar, the sampling of posts (thoughts on a hot novel, excerpt from my own working draft, musings on the role of a house), and the easily clickable tags such as "Translated Literature" or "Book Club." I don't mean to brag (which means that I do mean to brag), but this online space is incredibly resource-rich.
But in addition to these (really fun to write!) micro-essays, I’ve written longer pieces for publications such as the Dublin Review of Books, Books Ireland, and The Curator. During Covid, I penned a column for my town’s newspaper that was occasionally syndicated to other towns.
Oh, and yes…I’m writing a book. Given how fickle the publishing industry is, I thought I’d release some essays here and there partly as a way to keep myself motivated but also because maybe I'll just get my words out into the universe this way.
Professionally, I'm a bit of a “multi-hyphenate” (but not the way that celebrity book club hosts are), and I really wanted this online home to house all my work. The common denominator? It’s all about reading actual words — an activity that could stand a little more hype in 2025, don't you think?
So, back to me sending the above statement to Christine after dragging my feet about conveying what I really wanted this website to look and feel like: Those words essentially spilled from my mind. I’ve cleaned them up a bit since, but that’s it. I just want to encourage people to READ, whether that’s my own words or my thoughts about someone else’s words. Maybe once I start producing events again, someone might want to read some words aloud. Christine has done a phenomenal job creating a website that is incredibly saturated with words (yes, I get that we live in a scrolling/image-heavy culture, but if I can’t be a contrarian on my own website, then when?!) that also — in my not-so-humble opinion — looks really cool. (Oh, and Christine did, actually, read some words aloud. Check out the Parlor Read Matt and I hosted.)
I hope you’ll click over to this incredibly resource-rich website. There really is so much to explore. I'd also love it if you'd share my work — whether that be this newsletter, the website (ALifelyRead.com and amywilsonsheldon.com will both get you there), or my Instagram account — with people in your life who like to read and who care about the written word.
Latest Reads
If you're looking for an easy way to come up with ideas for your next read, you can screenshot or save the graphic below. For direct links to some thoughts on each — on my new website! — see below.
Benediction by Kent Haruf
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
The Nix by Nathan Hill (Matt — my #nonreadinghusband — and I read this at the same time; for more on this "project," you can click here)
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel
The Fell by Sarah Moss
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
All Fours by Miranda July
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
The Life of the Mind by Christine Smallwood
The Expert of Subtle Revisions by Kirsten Menger-Anderson
Read This! (i.e. some quick links)
< This is usually where I post links to different stories about reading or books. However, this time I'm just going to point you to the Book Culture tab on my own website, which will take you to all sorts of micro-essays about bookstores, libraries, the publishing industry, and whether or not you should pay your kids to read. (Other main categories for my writing include Thoughts on Books, Musings on People & Places, and Homesick. Even though I've got hundreds of posts up already, I still have years of posts to upload, so please check back often!)
< Intrigued by this idea of so-called micro-essays? Check out Native Places, the beautiful thoughts and sketches of North Carolina architect Frank Harmon. I learned of him because our own architect linked to his site. He doesn't send missives as frequently as he used to, but I am thrilled whenever one of his musings on design/space/place pops in my inbox. (His whole archive is available online.)
Am Reading
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