Bookmarked with Leslie Stephens

One of our favorite bookish people shares her recommendations and rituals for reading.

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Welcome to a new installment of Bookmarked, a series where our favorite writers, readers, and other bookish people share their reading recommendations and rituals. This one features so many wonderful recommendations from writer

Leslie Stephens

on making time for writing, page-turning reads, and more. We hope you enjoy! Have thoughts on one of her recs, or one of your own to share? Let us know in the comments. –Aliza

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1. Leslie, please tell us about yourself! 

   I’m a writer based in Portland, Oregon. I write the weekly newsletter Morning Person and my debut novel You’re Safe Here comes out June 2024! I’m also currently earning my Master’s in mental health counseling, with a specialization in addictions. 

2. You write the popular newsletter Morning Person. How do you balance recs with personal details about your life? 

   In all honesty, they blur together! I always want my readers to be able to walk away with a tangible tip or genuine recommendation, but I write broadly about the things that spark my curiosity. Sometimes that’s an issue packed with fall recipes, other times it’s an honest essay about my experience with divorce.

3. What advice has been most helpful to you in your writing process? 

   Anne Lamott and Liz Gilbert both write about how all artists long for swaths of uninterrupted, creative time, but rarely find it. If you want to write, you have to find the time: Though far less sexy than Walden Pond or a bee-loud glade, writing takes commitment and the (sometimes torturous) consistency of showing up, day after day, even when your life is packed. 

   Q&A - ON READING

4. What’s your reading routine or ritual? 

   Whenever possible, I prefer to bookend my days with reading, ideally for an hour, but at least ten minutes in the morning and evening. I also do a lot of my reading on my Kindle at 3 a.m. when I can’t sleep! 

5. What's your ideal reading setup? 

   Curled up on my couch with multiple heat sources: My space heater, electric blanket, my dog Toast, and a ridiculously large mug of piping hot coffee or, in the evening, tea. 

6. What’s your favorite indie bookstore? 

   There are so many to choose from in Portland! Powell’s, of course, but also Wallace Books, Third Eye Books, Up Up, and Broadway Books are all favorites.

7. How and where do you discover new books to read?

   Booksellers are wonderful resources (in person, but also Emma Straub’s newsletter and Ann Patchett’s Parnassus Books deserve shoutouts), as is word of mouth. I’m fairly old-fashioned in that I read the New York Times “Book Review” section every week.I love Tertulia and Substacks like Alexis Reliford’s Feeling My Shelf and Stephanie Danler’s Write What, as resources for new releases. I’m also currently reading Land of Milk and Honey from Downtime’s recommendation! 

8. Do you have any advice for those who want to read more? 

   Here comes my counseling bias… we have so many things competing for our attention (and triggering dopamine release), that it’s vital to remember that our attention span is a muscle that needs to be exercised. Start small: Put your phone in a different room and begin with a page, then set a timer for ten minutes, then fifteen minutes, then finally an hour. Set reasonable goals and be kind to yourself if you aren’t reading as much as you’d like to. Just try again tomorrow with self-compassion.

QUICK ROUND: BOOK RECS!