Atmosphere: 5 Little Things I Love About It
I’ll cut straight to the point this morning — there’s a brand-new novel out this week, and I’m head over heels for it.
I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to the novels getting loads of hype in the media. I’m not typically a follower of fads. It’s not that I don’t think we can find good books that way. It’s just that I know what I like, and life’s too short to read, buy, or do something just because it’s wildly popular. Plus, I think mainstream is boring. Hidden treasures are more my jam.
But I’ve been waiting for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new novel, Atmosphere, since I fell in love with her writing last summer and fell down a rabbit hole reading her novels on audio, which I then wrote an extremely gushy blog about. So when Atmosphere hit the shelves this week, I had my Libro credit ready and waiting, downloaded it on audio, and I’ve been devouring it ever since. Let me tell you. . .
IT. IS. SO. GOOD.
It’s so good, in fact, that I had to scrap my original plan for today’s message to you and tell you five little things I’m loving about Atmosphere so far ⤵
Something beautiful. . .
Atmosphere is a story about a woman who grew up with a dream so big it seemed unrealistic and then, through loads of hard work and courageous steps, a few coincidences, plenty of adversity, and a bit of good luck, got a chance to pursue that big dream, gave it all she had, and it changed her life forever. It’s about following your heart, your gut, your intuition, your inner knowing to find a life you love. And the deeper I get into the story, the more I find myself thinking about the strong, beautiful, resilient humans in the philanthropy world (mostly women) I get to work with for my day job.
During the past five years since leaving my good, stable, well-paying dream job to start my own philanthropy software advisory business, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to meet, work with, and get to know so many people from so many different walks of life. We’ve shared our lives with each other week after week for years now, and although there are still so many of them I haven’t yet met in person, I feel such a deep connection to every single one. I draw from their strength. I grow from their growth. Their stories have changed my own story in all kinds of outstanding ways. I’m better because of them, and I’m incredibly grateful to know them. Atmosphere, in some strangely magical way, is amplifying this gratitude.
Something fun. . .
I love the way Atmosphere is causing me to look up at the sky a little bit more. (It’s about astronauts in training, space stations, and the early days of NASA’s glory period.) It’s making me look forward to that time just after sunset every evening when the stars start popping out one by one. It’s changing the way I see those bright spots in the sky. And since I’m a person who LOVES stargazing but often forgets to actually do it (because 10 out of 10 nights, I get sleepy as soon as the sun goes down), this extra reminder that the sky is doing something beautiful out there all night long is proving to be life-changing. I find myself stepping out onto the back porch every night right before bed, just for a little peek. Sometimes it’s cloudy and I come right back inside, but sometimes it’s glorious and I stay.
Something delicious. . .
Truth be told, I’ll be buying a physical copy of Atmosphere as soon as I can get to a bookshop. But one of the biggest reasons why I’m reading it on audio first is because it’s narrated by my very favorite narrator on the planet, Julia Whelan, and the story is absolutely delicious in her voice.
Something good to read. . .
Speaking of reading books on audio, June is Audiobook Appreciation Month — a great time to try one if you ask me. I suggest starting with any book that tickles your fancy, read by an extremely talented narrator (here’s a link to the 600+ books read by my favorite). Want more? Here are two links to blogs I’ve written about the magic of audiobooks: “In Praise of Audiobooks” and “26 Audiobooks I Read This Year.” Enjoy!
Something exciting. . .
It makes my heart skip a beat to think about all of the beautifully inspiring books out there to read, so many on the shelves of every library and bookshop on the planet, and exponentially more than that currently yet-to-be-written, buzzing around in the hearts, minds, pens, pencils, and keyboards of aspiring and wanna-be writers and authors everywhere. We will always have something good to look forward to, talk about, and write about, my friend, as long as we keep reading.
⊹⊹⊹
One last thing. . .
A little promise that came to me from one of my favorite writers on the interwebs last week that I absolutely love:
“This newsletter will never direct you to Amazon, use AI, or post filtered photos.” ~Elise Blaha Cripe
Same, I promise you the same thing, except minus the filtered photo part because I have extremely creative friends who make beautiful Lightroom photo filters I love, so I do sometimes add those filters to my photos. But only sometimes.
All my love,
Celeste
Back porch sunset love for you this week (no filter)