You know those days, right?

The kind where you wake up with a knot of anxiety in your chest, a little stormcloud following you around, a general sense of foreboding even though most people would be like really? Your life looks pretty good to me!

And even though I know what helps me (a routine that I stick to, saying out loud that I'm feeling uneasy or worried or another specific feeling, calling someone who loves me to force them to remind me that I'm not a piece of shit) sometimes I'm still going to have a panic attack at the Costco.

I asked everyone over on Instagram what they do to manage the dreads, and spent some time over the past two weeks trying out their recommendations to see what helped, and so far my favorites are:

-Being nice to myself. Whoa, whoa. What? Nice? To ME? You mean this lazy piece of shit who has made more than one mistake in life? Yeah, her. Someone suggested "cutting myself a break" and just accepting the day for what it is and, uh, wow. When I stopped trying to force myself to have another kind of day or be another version of myself, I felt so much better. Capitalism really has us feeling like an off day is going to be the end of the world and unless your job is a matter of life or death...it isn't! I'm my own bossWill I be able to do this regularly? Likely not, but that is a conversation for my therapist.

-Writing it all out. Part of my weekly routine is to write out all my to-dos and goals and meetings and make sure I know what's going on. But this specific suggestion was to write out all things swirling in my head and making me spiral. So yeah, I wrote out "all the plastic in the world!" and "the bee with the broken wing!" and a bunch of other stuff that I'm too embarrassed to tell you about. Seeing it all on a page was so...cute? Like oh, you sweet little brain! You had too much in ya!

​-The Anatomy of Anxiety. I met the author of this book at a fancy event this summer, when I was lucky enough to be seated next to her while I was on the brink of a panic attack. Dr. Ellen Vora has literally written the book about the ways anxiety manifests physically and mentally...and what to do about it. She distinguishes two types of anxiety: false anxiety triggered by a physiological stress response...and true anxiety. I'm managing my false anxiety by taking magnesium and really sticking to my one small cup of coffee a day and re-reading and highlighting her book.

Okay how about some fun stuff now?

I love reading.

I read all the time (listening counts!) as my primary way to relax. When I wake up? I read. Before I fall asleep? I scroll TikTok and then I read. These are my favorite reads of the summer.

The Quiet American, Graham Greene I hadn't read any Graham Greene before this, but I'd seen his books on my father's bookshelf for decades. I went into this one how I go into most books: knowing literally nothing about the story. It takes place in 1955, when a young American in a love triangle with an oldere English journalist and a young Vietnamese girl goes missing. Reading about the story -- and Greene's life -- afterward gave me a lot to think about, especially as the daughter of a Vietnam veteran.

​Nothing to See Here, Kevin Wilson This is a few years old, and again, I knew nothing about the plot so if you want to enjoy it blindly like I did, just read it! If you want more...it's delightfully weird and touching, not what you'd expect from an earnest story about a 20-something woman who has failed to launch being called in to nanny for her successful high school frenemy's stepchildren...who are known to spontaneously combust.

​The Club, Ellery Lloyd My friend suggested this and it was the perfect thriller. It's set at an exclusive club on a fancy island...and obviously someone has to die.

​When No One Is Watching, Alyssa Cole It's weird that I love a good thriller because I do not love thrills! This is set in a rapidly genrifying Brooklyn neighborhood, and feels...a little too real?

​Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead , Emily Austin This novel was like reading my own anxious thoughts. Why would I want to do that? Because it's not just depressing, it's truly hilarious. I read passages out loud to my husband who was like, please, stop.

I also watch a lot of TV, and I've been texting my friends nonstop to get them to watch this brilliant show on Showtime

Molly Shannon and Vanessa Bayer are brilliant, and a comedy set in the cutthroat and wonderful world of direct sales aka shopping on TV? It's perfection.

Other stuff

​Tickets for our tour are live! There are a few bookstore events sprinkled in, and more to be added as we get closer to October. I read all your city suggestions and I will get to go to more cities in the future as long as people still wanna come see me! I love our live shows and I love book stores and I'm very excited about my next book.​

I see a lot of authors doing a "launch team" and tbh I have no idea what that would even mean but maybe I'll figure it out in the next few months? And if not...no big deal. I'm gonna be nice to myself. You do the same, okay?

xo,

Nora

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