29 books for linguistics lovers

Also, I'm in New York this week!!!

Weekly Q&A:

Q: What are your recommendations for books about linguistics?

A: Below are a few little graphics with some recommendations! I made these back in 2020, so some newer books I’d recommend include The Greatest Invention by Silvia Ferrara, Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter, Other-Wordly by Yee-Lum Mak, Like, Literally, Dude by Valerie Fridland, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, and Bitch: The Journey of a Word by Karen Stollznow (coming May of this year).

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A book tour date was added in Atlanta on May 1st!!

Any ATL residents here?? I’m coming for ya and simply can’t wait 🍑 It’ll be my first time in your resplendent city. Lmk your restaurant recommendations, because I’ll be arriving HUNGRY.

I’m in NYC this week for some booky events 🍎

Taking a quick trip for a handful of pre-book launch press engagements entirely too fancy for me… the Poets & Writers gala, a bookfluencer press junket, a preview soirée in conversation with my pal and fellow author Iman Hariri-Kia, and an in-person interview with a VERY special guest for my new pod. The important question: this literary “gala” says the dress code is “business attire,” but I want to wear a bright pink floral dress and sparkly shoes. Is that too much??? Help.

My hero blurbed The Age of Magical Overthinking 🥹

More than anyone else, Mary Roach (author of hilarious, brain-tingling science books like Stiff and Gulp) has had the most profound impact on my writing style. Even her emails sparkle with voicey-ness! I know this because I have been lucky enough to share a few exchanges with Mary, who, to my utter elation, agreed to blurb The Age of Magical Overthinking. I made my humble request earlier this year, and Mary responded by saying she was actually fully prepared to turn me down due to her long list of prior commitments (which I would’ve entirely understood!!!); then, she said she read the first page, and she liked it so much she decided to blurb anyway. Can you believe??? This will forever be one of the highlights of my writerly life. Now her blurb will appear on the back of the book jacket right on top :)

Goodreads is doing one last giveaway!

It’s the last chance to snag a free copy before the book comes out in two short weeks (cue anxiety-vomit sound). Anyway, enter between now and March 31 to win!

I’m in the full swing of production on the Magical Overthinkers podcast.

And there will be a YouTube component!!! I’ve recorded three episodes in full thus far, and the whole process has been both refreshing and illimunating. For MAGICAL OVERTHINKERS, I’m getting to interview a slew of brilliant, charismatic experts, from philosophers to astrophysicists, on the subjects we can’t stop overthinking about (e.g. narcissism, nostalgia, monogamy, UFOs, etc.). The show will premiere later this spring. Follow the Instagram for updates! If you have a topic you’re constantly spiraling about that you’d like to hear me cover on the show, leave it in a comment below.

This week on Sounds Like A Cult…

Get ready to live, laugh, love, and possibly get into an “aisle fight” over this longgggg overdue episode, featuring the iconic Griff Stark Ennis from Petty Crimes Podcast! In what may just be our *pettiest* episode ever, Griff joins me to discuss the cultish fanaticism surrounding the pottery brand, Rae Dunn. You know those farmhouse-style mugs and platters found at TJ Maxx and Home Goods, featuring cutesy “handwritten” sayings, like “Squeeze the day” and “Bah humbug?” As Mary Frances Knapp put it for Vice, when you think of Rae Dunn, “Think of #JustGirlyThings, the Hallmark Channel, and Christian Girl Autumn. It’s one of the many Pinterest-ready elements under the cis-core-meets-wine-mom umbrella.” To a certain breed of consumer, Rae Dunn has animorphed into not just a quaint kitchenware brand but a full-blown lifestyle worth making major sacrifices for. In other words, a cult!!! Unsure how the hell that’s possible? Tune in after tomorrow at 2am PST to find out… and don’t miss your chance to see me, Griff, and his fellow host Ceara live on tour together this April!

A weekly roundup of books, podcasts, TV shows, tchotchkes, and anything else I’m currently “cult following.”

YOUTUBE: ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST SPACE SAVERS

This is one of my favoriteeeeee online video series—Architectural Digest invites three interior designers at a time to transform the same boring space (a garage, a dorm room, a basement, etc.), and both the journey and results are always both unexpected and mesmerizing. I love the way interior designers talk about their work—the specialized language is definitely culty in its own way!

BOOK: ALL FOURS

This is Miranda July’s new novel, and I can’t possibly summarize my feelings about it in three sentences. I am in awe of this woman’s mind, which seems to exist in a reality just 10 or 11 degrees off from our own. The novel deals with themes of aging and desire—it comes out in May (I got my hands on a precious galley), and you can preorder here!

FOOD: FISHWIFE

I know, I know, it’s the buzziest tinned fish on the market, and I’m sure there are cheaper options that taste equally good, but I just can’t resist that colorful branding!!! If you’re one of those “hot girls eat tinned fish” people, gimme your other brand recs, because I was a strict vegetarian for 17 years before introducing a little seafood into my life, so I’m new to this.

UNNECESSARY PURCHASE: HOURGLASS SCATTERED LIGHT GLITTER EYESHADOW

I guess I’m really back on my beauty editor bullshit with these makeup recs. My friend Coco Mellors, author of the forthcoming Blue Sisters, used to wear these little potted sparkles on her eyelids all the time, and I complimented them so much, she eventually bought me some of my own! Now I wear them all the time! You can layer them for hardcore shimmer or just do a light dusting.