Hello, my friends, and welcome to another issue of Amanda Reads! Now that we’re more or less settled in the new house, I’m working to get back into a regular routine. That includes morning walks with Azula and, of course, writing this newsletter once a week.
I’ve gotten a lot of reading done recently and am trending ahead on my Goodreads challenge. Usually by now, I’d be at least a few books behind! However, I’ve definitely fallen off my practice of pulling a Tarot card every morning. I’m determined to get back into it. After all, my Tarot journal won’t fill itself!
Let’s get into the reading recs and Tarot for the week, shall we?
Book Rec of the Week
I recently finished Clare Pooley’s The Authenticity Project on audio, and I absolutely loved it! While I do think I prefer Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, Pooley’s prior work has a lot of the same magic of interpersonal and intergenerational connection, plus a handful of surprises along the way.
The titular Authenticity Project is a little notebook that one character, Julian, fills with his authentic life story. He invites others to do the same, leaving the book where someone else will find it. This sparks a chain of events that connects our main characters and inspires them to make changes in their lives. Some of those changes come with unexpected consequences, of course.
Tarot Reading of the Week
Card of the Week: Druid (VII)
Deck Used: Adventurer’s Tarot by WeirdWorks
This Dungeons & Dragons inspired Tarot is relatively nontraditional in its structure, using the D&D classes rather than the traditional Major Arcana. This morning, I felt drawn to pull this week’s card from the deck, which is just visually stunning as all get out.
The Druid card is about balance and harmony, seeking out the natural order of things. It invites us to consider how our daily habits and interactions with the world serve us and how they serve the natural world. What habits or routines might need a bit of an adjustment to better serve your higher good and that of the world around you?
Words from the Web
I’ve actually gotten a good bit of writing done lately, though I haven’t made as much progress on the memoir as I would like.
A trip to the mall inspired me to reflect on mall walking and my relationship to the mall. This was chosen for Medium’s new “boost” feature, which is exciting, though I have to say it didn’t do too much for the story’s performance.
Continuing on my trend of writing about Sailor Moon as I rewatch the show, I wrote about Sailor Jupiter and how she was quite possibly my first role model.
Now that we’ve lived in our new house for an entire week, I’m reflecting on what it means to live in a space I intentionally chose for the first time in my life.
That’s all for today, though you’ll be hearing from me again on the first of the month with our next Monthly Overview! I can’t wait to usher in Birthday Month with all of you and go over some exciting new book releases.
That is a cool card!
Congrats on the boost. I had one in January and it did ok. Better than usual anyway. I know one writer who made over $1k on his boosted story. Must be nice! (He wrote about personal development though, which is Medium's bread and butter.)