Hello friends and welcome to the mini edit from Edit Your Life. In these snack-sized mini

episodes, I answer your questions about everything from self-care to parenting, to relationships,

to home, and more. Think of me like that friend you text or call when you need a quick piece

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Hello, friends.

I am very happy to share my first book mini edit of 2026.

And ironically, these are all books I finished at some point last year, but they were in my

notes holding pen, as it were, as I waited to group

books together thematically. I shared more about my 2025 reading journey last month over on

substack, plus the 10 books that I couldn't stop thinking and yapping about. I will link that

post in the show notes if you're looking for more recommendations.

Meanwhile, today I wanted to share about three feats of historical storytelling, books that

effectively transported me back in time. My first recommendation is Kindred by Octavia Butler,

which also has a graphic novel adaptation. I'll link both of those

options in the notes. And I'm not usually a sci-fi person, but one of my closest friends who also

loves reading recommended this book, and so I decided to give it a go. After reading the vast

acclaim for this book, it was selected by the Atlantic as one of the

great American novels. I was wondering why I hadn't heard of this. And then I realized it was

published in 2004, the year Laurel was born. Not many books were read that year. Anyway,

this is an incredible story of a woman named Dana who finds herself transported back and forth between 1976 California and a Maryland slave plantation in 1815.

Her trips back in time trigger whenever a white boy's life is on the line.

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