Cruel Compendium #50 🧨

My favorite New Year reads

Jan 06, 2023

Happy new year! It’s been a blissfully chill first week of the year for me — I’m sending you the same vibes.

Now that we’re all back in the real world, last week I wrote about my favorite ways to welcome a new year (and close an old one). And you can listen to me talk about my New Year rituals (and my favorite books of 2022!) on this 18-minute episode of the podcast:

To close out my creative 2022:

I read 43 books!
I freelanced! Here are some pieces I’m proud of:
- Cosmopolitan: Why so many women are vaping in secret
- Contently: How to get freelance work when your pipeline runs dry
- XP Land: The best and worst of my first Fringe Festival
- XP Land: Q&A with artist and author Adam J. Kurtz about authentic brand alignment as a creator
I made season 2 of the Cruel Summer Book Club podcast! You can check out all ten episodes now.
I sent out 26 newsletters! Here are some of my favorites:

Year Progress @year_progress

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Reads I love for the New Year:

How to host a self-retreat and 9 simple rituals for the end of the year by Catherine Andrews

Suleika Jaouad’s New Year’s journaling challenge

100 things that made Austin Kleon’s 2022

Five books to change your life (illustrated!) by Tatiana Gallardo

My former coworker and friend Dmitry Shishkin lost his beloved daughter Masha to cancer in 2022. I loved the list of 24 books he read last year.

SwissMiss’s 2023 intentions and things to remember

Ten New Year’s resolutions for freelancers by Emma Wilkinson

A list of simple resolutions that resonates with me, including getting up immediately when you have to pee at night

For everyone doing Dry January, you’re doing amazing sweetie — and you may want to listen to me discuss taking a six-month break from alcohol on the Sunday Soother podcast.