I spent the last few weeks in the world of Ruta Sepetys, a Carnegie-winning historical fiction marvel I always had in my TBR but only managed to read now.

You’ll see reviews of I Must Betray You, Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray on my grid this week, and I wanted to make sure I ended my reads with this: Ruta’s latest book (nonfiction) You, The Story.

In this, she builds a systematic arc for telling a tale based on our own experiences, but teaches the reader how to tease out the remarkable from the seemingly mundane.

“So I raise guffaws to the gods, acknowledging that our ridiculousness can be riotous.”

Having read her fiction titles, I became invested now in her as a writer. So I also enjoyed reading this as her story: growing up as a child of Lithuanian and German American parents and vignettes of her “poop cocoon” 🫣 as well as interning with a music band.

I am most entranced by her words, and I call out unrestrainedly to all writers to read just one of her titles, to see what I mean 📚

“Regardless of genre, I do strive for a stylistic voice with my novels: an economy of phrasing. I try to pack a punch with simplicity and the fewest words possible.”