The Sunday Shelf: From The Galley Shelf
A monthly roundup of books from my galley shelf that you get for free!
I’ve always found it hard to accept kindness shown to me in the form of gifts. Right now, I am thinking about how last week it was my neighbor’s birthday. We don’t know much about each other. I’ve never been in their house, and they’ve never been in my house. But we do exchange bids of kindness. And on their birthday, they were talking to another neighbor when both shouted out to get my attention. The birthday neighbor said, “It’s my birthday, and I put some coconut water on your porch.”
The thing is, last year, I was cutting my lawn in the heat of summer, and that same neighbor walked over cold coconut water. I told them it was the best coconut water I’ve ever had. I’m not sure what moved them to think of me on their birthday. But they did. What they don’t know, because we rarely interact outside of occasionally “the weather has been great,” is that these past few weeks have been incredibly tough.
The reason I’m thinking about my neighbor and accepting kindness right now is because I’m thinking about how to pay them back that kindness. I’m thinking of what I can do to show it back. I don’t think this is just a me thing, but whenever I receive a gift or some bid of kindness, I’m moved to find a way to give it back. I’ve always been like this. I know that it’s probably something I should explore more in therapy (I have in the past lol) and I also really value that part of myself that wants the kindness I’ve received to be put back into the universe.
I share this all to say that when I launched this Substack, I wasn’t sure if anyone would subscribe. I set up the subscription plan with the “paid subscriber” tier only because, in the past, folks had asked how they could support me. But it’s snowballed so beautifully into so much more, and one thing always on my mind is how I can pay back the kindness that is your financial support of this space. A support I see as infinite kindness.
Obviously, The Sunday Shelf is a start, but I’m always thinking — what more could I do to say THANK YOU for your support. And so the idea of From The Galley Shelf entered the chat AKA my inner dialogue lol. Once a month (or perhaps more frequently if this goes well), I’ll pop in to share five books that sit on a special shelf in my writing room/guest room. This shelf houses a lot of books. Primarily galleys/ARCs. If you are new to the words galleys/ARCs, Writer’s Digest has a wonderful article that can tell you all about them, but here is a quick snapshot of what they are in: