I have been listening to Ani Difranco for 20 years now – if you don’t know who Ani Difranco is, you should.

A poet, a folk singer – not your everyday folk singer; she started her own label in her early 20s “Righteousbabe Records” which is based in Buffalo, NY. Righteousbabe resides in a renovated massive church that she and her team took on.

Of all her songs, 20 plus albums, one of my favorite is her remake of “Amazing Grace” – the live version on her two-disc compilation Living in the Clip.

She begins the song solo and then her band builds, like a heart beating – percussion, strings, and horns flow up and around. Paced like footsteps. Her audience and her feel the music – as an anthem should – as she carries us on through.

I have listened to this song thousands of times. I have no idea.

Then a jump a few tracks down “The Diner/The Slant” – where literally the song is about coffee, steam, toast, and friendship – with tons of percussion, keys, riffs, and the breakdown. Then it glides into 32 Flavors which is one of my all time favorite songs.

Ani just released her memoir – and I got it the other day. It’s a beautiful book, and it’s over 300 pages.  It is a signed copy, and one to be treasured. I am just 30 pages in and quite captivated.

I have been reading lots of memoirs lately because people have been writing so many. I have read some fiction as well. But, after this body of memoirs, I will definitely dive into more fiction.

Becoming – Michelle Obama

Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg. I read this one a while ago, but I return to it time-to-time.

Life Will Be The Death of Me – Chelsea Handler, in progress, but so far definitely worth the read.

All of Gary Vaynerchuk’s books. I reference them on and off consistently.

Stephen Hawking.

Just The Funny Parts – Nell Scovell. I heard about Nell Scovell on my writers’ podcast and I was like – “Why don’t I know of her?” She has written on more than a dozen shows from The Simpsons, Murphy Brown, to Sabrina. She is super funny and has been in the business since the 90s.

The obvious reason is that she is a woman. Did you know that only about 2-4% of the shows on television are written by women? I can’t believe the number is still so low. I would have thought maybe 10%? Nope.

And say if there are a total of ten writers for a show, eight are men and two are women – don’t even bother trying to contribute, they have their women writers already. On the Late Night/Late Show with Dave Lettermen, not that I am surprised to be honest – in the twenty-seven years on air, only seven female writers contributed versus over a hundred male writers.

Beyond all the stats, Nell is funny.  She writes, “In New York, there is an inverse relationship between a woman’s dress size and the size of her apartment. A size 2 gets a 14-room apartment. A size 14 gets a two-room apartment.”

And this is the reason why women must keep chugging, writing, and making our voices heard in any way we can.

Some other books, I listened to these on audio.

Braving the Wilderness – Brene’ Brown – this book floored me.

What Happened –  Hillary Clinton.

Have you ever heard of the biography The Peabody Sisters? It is a local biography. I love this book. Elizabeth Peabody has been my hero since I read it about ten years ago. She amazes me again, and again, and again.

One of my favorite things in the entire world is seeing what books are on peoples bookshelves. When I visit my professors, they often have like two-hundred books stretching from the length of their office to the next. I usually spend a little extra time in their offices trying to absorb titles. I always ask for book recommendations; the must-haves. I also pay attention to what books the professors carry around with them. They are the true nuggets.

So, here are a couple of shots of mine. These two shelves I keep messy for a reason. They are in flux and I pull from them time-to-time.

Enjoy the sun, the breeze, and the green trees. And for me, all the sneezing.