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kimberlysteeleHi everyone, I have decided to trim my writing schedule to essays every other week in order to make room for new books in the works. In more exciting news, I am in the process of writing my next book, Sacred Beauty. Like Sacred Homemaking (you can still pre-order it with the discount code SACRED20 until April 28, 2026) it is a non-fiction book about self-realization, but instead of being about the spirit of place, it is about the body as home for the soul.
I'm still coming up with ideas on what to do with my "off" weeks besides Open Post, and the first thing I would like to start is a book club. The book I'd like to discuss starting two weeks is a fiction book called The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 by Lionel Shriver. The Mandibles centers around an American family who lives through the crash and devaluation of the US dollar and falls upon hard times. Shriver says of her own book that she wanted to write a near-future dystopia that she felt almost happened in 2008, saying that she believes we "dodged a bullet" at that time.
I read The Mandibles a couple of years ago and though I do not scare easily, I found it far more plausible than books in the dystopian genre such as The Handmaid's Tale or Brave New World, and that's why it sent chills down my spine. In the novel, the Mandible family is your average bunch of urbanites who live in Brooklyn and expect that all of their upper-middle class problems will be solved upon the death of the elder patriarch of the Mandible clan. The US dollar crashes and instead of an even easier life, they are plunged into Weimar Germany/Argentina in the early millennium conditions and must battle for luxuries they took for granted. A new currency called the bancor deliberately excludes the US, and US Treasury bonds are reset to zero, gutting the entire salary class overnight. The main nuclear Mandible family's extended relations move into a crowded Brooklyn house into the basement, and the former world-traveling eccentric aunt moves into the attic. They strike an uneasy peace as things get harder and harder. The young son gives up his beloved, loyal dog to a well-off neighbor who is moving away because he knows that if he keeps him, the dog is likely to be kidnapped and eaten. The beautiful cousin Savannah, who was set to go to a prestigious college, ends up becoming a high class teenage escort.
There's a great deal to talk about in the Mandibles, and I feel like it is a novel that is pertinent to our time, though hopefully it is not too close to our specific timeline!
In other news, the cats are doing well. Shadow always gets his fill of the telluric current when I do the Sphere of Protection every morning. The three outers are still outside. They have a heated cat condo and a heated water bowl and 3 square a day of wet food, very much thanks in part to my generous donors at BuyMeaCoffee/KimberlySteele.
I'm still coming up with ideas on what to do with my "off" weeks besides Open Post, and the first thing I would like to start is a book club. The book I'd like to discuss starting two weeks is a fiction book called The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 by Lionel Shriver. The Mandibles centers around an American family who lives through the crash and devaluation of the US dollar and falls upon hard times. Shriver says of her own book that she wanted to write a near-future dystopia that she felt almost happened in 2008, saying that she believes we "dodged a bullet" at that time.
I read The Mandibles a couple of years ago and though I do not scare easily, I found it far more plausible than books in the dystopian genre such as The Handmaid's Tale or Brave New World, and that's why it sent chills down my spine. In the novel, the Mandible family is your average bunch of urbanites who live in Brooklyn and expect that all of their upper-middle class problems will be solved upon the death of the elder patriarch of the Mandible clan. The US dollar crashes and instead of an even easier life, they are plunged into Weimar Germany/Argentina in the early millennium conditions and must battle for luxuries they took for granted. A new currency called the bancor deliberately excludes the US, and US Treasury bonds are reset to zero, gutting the entire salary class overnight. The main nuclear Mandible family's extended relations move into a crowded Brooklyn house into the basement, and the former world-traveling eccentric aunt moves into the attic. They strike an uneasy peace as things get harder and harder. The young son gives up his beloved, loyal dog to a well-off neighbor who is moving away because he knows that if he keeps him, the dog is likely to be kidnapped and eaten. The beautiful cousin Savannah, who was set to go to a prestigious college, ends up becoming a high class teenage escort.
There's a great deal to talk about in the Mandibles, and I feel like it is a novel that is pertinent to our time, though hopefully it is not too close to our specific timeline!
In other news, the cats are doing well. Shadow always gets his fill of the telluric current when I do the Sphere of Protection every morning. The three outers are still outside. They have a heated cat condo and a heated water bowl and 3 square a day of wet food, very much thanks in part to my generous donors at BuyMeaCoffee/KimberlySteele.
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Date: 2026-04-16 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-16 04:27 am (UTC)Happy reading!
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Date: 2026-04-16 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-16 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-16 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-16 04:23 pm (UTC)In other news, your book Sacred Homemaking arrived a few days ago here in the UK. It looks fab and I can't wait to dive in. No doubt I will also do a writeup about it on my SubStack soon.
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Date: 2026-04-16 05:58 pm (UTC)