Ten books, chosen for the book you're actually writing.
A reading map built for your book, your structural problem, and how much you can actually read this year.
Most writers start by reading the books that share their subject. If you are writing about grief, you read the great books of mourning. If you are writing about family secrets, you read the masters of the domestic reveal.
At first, this helps. It gives you a sense of the landscape. But quickly, subject-specific reading starts doing damage. You begin to accidentally mimic the voice of another writer, or you feel discouraged because 'someone has already said it this way.'
To finish your book, you need a different kind of reading map. You don't need more books about your subject; you need books that solve your structural problem. You need a map built for the three kinds of mentor: the Content that challenges you, the Form that holds you, and the Stance that emboldens you.
What you get
A precise map of ten books hand-picked for your specific manuscript. Each book serves a unique purpose in solving your structural challenges and refining your voice.
Ten days from your answers to your map.
Quick turnaround ensures you don't lose momentum. Provide your book's details and get your tailored reading plan within two working weeks.
What it isn't
This is not a generic bestseller list or an algorithmic recommendation. It is a curated literary intervention designed to help you solve specific craft problems through study.
Content Mentor
Books that handle similar subject matter with mastery, helping you identify what has been done and where your unique contribution lies.
Form Mentor
Structured blueprints to help you organize your narrative arc, manage time, and solve complex organizational problems in the draft.
Stance Mentor
The voice and psychic distance guides. These books show you how to inhabit the 'I' on the page with authority and depth.
Who I am
I am an essayist and mentor whose focus is helping writers find the specific occasion that makes their thinking visible. IÂ read for a memoir prize, where a stack of submissions teaches you how fast a draft announces what it is. I've coached writing for twenty-five years, most recently college essays, which is an education in hearing someone's real subject underneath the one they've announced. And I read constantly for my own two books, one about illness and institutional misreading, one about adoption and belonging, which means I'm making these decisions on my own pages every week.
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My essay "Molasses Brain" won the 2025 International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir; the judge, Sharon Butala, called it "an altogether mature piece of writing" with "an admirably delicate touch." I've held a Fulbright fellowship and studied with Esmé Weijun Wang, recipient of the Whiting Award.
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A graduate of Smith College and Harvard University, my critical and creative work has been recognized for its precision and depth. I live and teach at the intersection of literary craft and strategic storytelling.