I’ll admit it’s been challenge moving forward into this season of thanks and joy. I’m still wrestling with discouragement about humanity, which makes it tough to be grateful and happy. Paradoxically, though, I know that gratitude and joy are also the cure for what ails me. Gratitude grows hope, so I’ll give it a try.

I’m going to start with pop culture gratitude. I saw Wicked this weekend, and that brought a good deal of happiness, a spectacular adaptation of one of my favorite musicals (third favorite, to be precise…yes, I do keep a list of these things!). The performances are fabulous, the sets and scenes are colorful and captivating, the story is as good as ever. A good time for a movie about strong women, resilience, overcoming adversity and discrimination, fighting for what’s right.

Speaking of favorite musicals, and coincidentally about Oz, I also appreciate that I got to see The Wiz twice this year. I saw The Wiz for the first time in 1977, and it is my fourth favorite musical, in case you were interested. Seeing it again with both my sister and brother and families was so special. Also special to see my niece Eliza on stage twice this year. She was terrific as Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web in January, and she was astonishing as Jo in Little Women last month. Lots of great theatre for me!

I went to a Banter Bookshop event this past week, the staff sharing their favorite books of the year, which gave me some good recommendations and also made me think about my favorites of 2024. Always grateful for a good book! My top pick for the year is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It was simultaneously an entirely new and unique story and also a classic story of love and friendship and the things that come between people; most often ourselves, and the stories we make up in our own heads. I couldn’t put it down!

I read a lot of other great books this year, so want to give a shout-out to some other recommended reads. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley had time travel and love and twists and turns, all of which I love. Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven was an eerily prophetic, lovely post-apocalyptic tale. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey was a magical fable, beautifully written. The Wedding People by Alison Espach is a funny story about a suicidal woman who makes friends with a bridezilla. A great variety of reading for me this year, including many more books I loved. (Check out Goodreads for all the scoop on the books I’ve read recently.)

Must be said at Thanksgiving time, that I am always grateful for my family and friends. Yet this year especially, I am very aware of how lucky I am that the people I love are healthy and thriving. I hear so many stories in my work of struggle and suffering, and I know how random life can be. My family has had some rough years, but this wasn’t one of them, and I am very grateful for that.

Most of all this year, I am grateful for all the love and support I’ve received in publishing All I Know. From the huge turnout at my launch event, to the invitations to participate in book clubs, to those of you who have simply recommended my book to your friends and family to read. It’s been so fun to hear from people I know and people I don’t, who have read and enjoyed it. Thank you to all of you for spreading the word on my book. I’m extremely grateful to be a published author!