Journal
My 2026 Reading List: 100 Books, 24 Intentional Reads
2026 is my year to bring more reading back into my life. After years of feeling disconnected from books, I’m choosing a gentle and intentional approach. Below is a list of 100 fiction and nonfiction books. I plan to read 12 fiction and 12 non-fiction titles over the year, about two per month. And if it was any question, yes—listening to audiobooks counts! Because comprehension and meaning matter more than format. Read this NPR article about why: https://www.npr.org/2025/07/07/nx-s1-5454723/does-listening-to-an-audiobook-count-as-reading Why Reading Became Hard (and How I’m Reframing It) Reading became difficult for me when I started treating it like a task. Graduate school required 200–300 pages a week of dense art theory and history on top of my own research. Important, foundational, all the things—but didn't quite hit with my dopamine receptors. After grad school, I was finished with all books for a long time. Years later, I found my way back to books. But I was shy to share, as it was a lot of comfort, fluffy reads: vampire novels, Emily Henry books, the occasional best seller. Those books did exactly what I needed—they reminded me of the joys of sinking into a story. I became more engaged with nonfiction again during my business class with Holly Howard. Maybe it was reading The E-Myth alongside Braiding Sweetgrass. I found the best gift of reading in these pages: curiosity. I'm so excited to read right now. And even better, I get to cuddle up with my 8-year old and read together. Does it get any better?? The Goal for 2026 100 books on (or off!) the list 24 books read 12 fiction 12 nonfiction No other pressures. No expectations on how I choose to read these books or in what order. Just reading to feel curious and engaged. My Nonfiction Reading List Creative Practice & Thinking The Work of Art — Adam Moss Ways of Seeing — John Berger The Shape of Content — Ben Shahn The Shape of a Pocket — John Berger The Craftsman — Richard Sennett The Nature of Order — Christopher Alexander On Looking — Alexandra Horowitz Silence — John Cage The Forest Unseen — David George Haskell Pilgrim at Tinker Creek — Annie Dillard Biz and $$$ Profit First — Mike Michalowicz Company of One — Paul Jarvis The Psychology of Money — Morgan Housel Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! — Greg Crabtree Small Giants — Bo Burlingham Managing Oneself — Peter Drucker The Long View — Brian Fetherstonhaugh Good Strategy / Bad Strategy — Richard Rumelt Founder/Leader Thinking in Bets — Annie Duke High Output Management — Andrew Grove Leadership and Self-Deception — The Arbinger Institute Turn the Ship Around! — L. David Marquet The Fifth Discipline — Peter Senge The Art of Action — Stephen Bungay Ops How to Do Nothing — Jenny Odell Timefulness — Marcia Bjornerud The Checklist Manifesto — Atul Gawande Atomic Habits — James Clear Work Clean — Dan Charnas Slow Productivity — Cal Newport Design Heavy In Praise of Shadows — Jun’ichirō Tanizaki The Eyes of the Skin — Juhani Pallasmaa Objects of Desire — Adrian Forty Material Matters — László Moholy-Nagy The Poetics of Space — Gaston Bachelard Everything Else Co-Intelligence — Ethan Mollick The Age of Surveillance Capitalism — Shoshana Zuboff Tools for Thought — Howard Rheingold The Art of Gathering — Priya Parker Antifragile — Nassim Nicholas Taleb Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott The Timeless Way of Building — Christopher Alexander Being Mortal — Atul Gawande Range — David Epstein Finite and Infinite Games — James P. Carse Thinking in Systems — Donella H. Meadows A Pattern Language — Christopher Alexander et al. My Fiction Reading List In My Ann Patchett Era Bel Canto — Ann Patchett Commonwealth — Ann Patchett The Dutch House — Ann Patchett Still Life — Sarah Winman A Place for Us — Fatima Farheen Mirza The Lincoln Highway — Amor Towles Rules of Civility — Amor Towles The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry — Gabrielle Zevin The Interestings — Meg Wolitzer Evvie Drake Starts Over — Linda Holmes Post-Apocalyptic Station Eleven — Emily St. John Mandel Sea of Tranquility — Emily St. John Mandel Good Omens — Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman The Measure — Nikki Erlick Oona Out of Order — Margarita Montimore The Power — Naomi Alderman The Midnight Library — Matt Haig The Golem and the Jinni — Helene Wecker Kinda Dreamy The Night Circus — Erin Morgenstern The Starless Sea — Erin Morgenstern Life of Pi — Yann Martel Neverwhere — Neil Gaiman The Snow Child — Eowyn Ivey The Housekeeper and the Professor — Yoko Ogawa Dark Humor The Humans — Matt Haig Slaughterhouse-Five — Kurt Vonnegut Less — Andrew Sean Greer The Maid — Nita Prose Sourdough — Robin Sloan Where’d You Go, Bernadette — Maria Semple Anxious People — Fredrik Backman Convenience Store Woman — Sayaka Murata New-ish Exit West — Mohsin Hamid Hamnet — Maggie O’Farrell A Gentleman in Moscow — Amor Towles The Shadow of the Wind — Carlos Ruiz Zafón The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay — Michael Chabon The Sentence — Louise Erdrich Let’s Talk Books This list is not for optimization, it's for research and reentry into my book era. I realized that while I have a sense of what kind of fiction pulls me, I often get overwhelmed when looking for that next read, a common problem for my ADHD brain. My hope is that these lists help me gently seek for my next set of pages and enjoy the journey of discovering books again. If you have recommendations or strong opinions, I’d love to hear about it. Share in the comments or send me an email—I'd love to hear about it. Here’s to curiosity, ease, and cozy corners fillled with books!
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2025 In Review
Most Monday meetings start with me saying the same thing: “This week is going to be crazy.” Steph always laughs because she knows what’s coming. The whirlwind. The improvising. The way a studio can shift under your feet even as you’re trying to ground yourself. But next Monday, I’m retiring that line.This year didn’t feel like a string of chaotic weeks. It felt like one long turning. Each shift unfolding into the next. A pivot that reshaped everything. Not only did I completely pivot my business model, but I dropped and added shows, developed an entirely new body of work, stopped doing in-person shows in my building, and bought a camper. That last part can wait for another story. The pivotal moment of the year was exactly that: a pivot. Letting go of the pottery business felt like a fail. It’s what sustained me when I moved back to Cleveland twelve years ago without a job. It’s the business I built from scratch, piece by piece. What I didn’t expect was that it would somehow hold me back. Once I saw that clearly, everything else fell into place. I’ve learned that in terms of my business, I tend to think in absolutes. The only thing that is an absolute is that everything will change. I’m now practicing saying on the daily 'this is how things are, for now'. One thing has stayed constant: my core vision to honor beauty and presence through art. The thing that has changed is the form that vision needed to take. Lessons Learned This Year (or old lessons returning, as they tend to do) The work gets done because you’re doing the work. Simple. Grounding. Always true. Art is a practice. A muscle you build. This year, I practiced getting right back into wet clay work as soon as I returned from a trade show, or our annual creative sabbatical to Maine. It’s okay for things to end. An ending isn’t only an ending. It’s space for something else to grow. Make what you want to make. Everything else will follow. The Boulders came out of a dark stretch early in the year. I was angry, grieving a country I didn’t quite recognize, and trying to make sense of it. Those emotions turned into something monumental and steady. Objects filled with strength, peace, and stillness. It’s amazing what can emerge when we allow ourselves to feel fully and keep making anyway. If there’s anything this year reinforced for me, it’s that change doesn’t have to come from crisis. Sometimes it comes from paying close attention and choosing to respond. Looking Ahead This year was transformative, magical, hard, good, and real. I wouldn’t change it. This was also the first year I seriously thought about longevity. About the next ten years, and the ones after that. Not stopping making work, but loosening the grip of running everything forever. These are my thoughts for now. I didn’t master rest, but I did build it in. One work-from-home day each week. Small pauses inside each day. Time off that lives on the calendar, not just in theory. Moving forward, my accountabilities are tangible and visible: fewer releases, longer timelines, clear financial tracking, calendar boundaries, and living documents instead of rigid plans. I’m excited to see what a full calendar year looks like in this new direction. I’m eager to explore different facets of the work, push ideas further, and make with a little more abandon and a little less concern for what things should be. And I can’t wait to share it with you. As we move through these dark weeks toward the solstice and all a new year holds, I want to thank you for walking with me. To see each other clearly and love what we see is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Thank you for seeing me, supporting me, and cheering me on. I can’t wait to do the same for you.
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Strategic Pivot Part 3: Building Toward the Future & Looking Forward
I'm writing about a strategic pivot within my business! Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Building Toward the Future: What’s Next As I look ahead, I’m excited to fully embrace this new direction for my business. Going forward, I will focus on creating one-of-a-kind sculptures, installations, and custom commissions. While I will maintain a curated collection of vessels that will still be available for retail and wholesale, the majority of the website and studio production will focus on sculpture. Starting later this month, I’ll debut my new work, including four vases, two nested bowl sets, one serving bowl, one serving tray, and 8-10 sculptures. These pieces will be available for purchase, and I’ll also introduce an inquiry form for custom commissions. I’ve partnered with the lovely photography team at Lady Luck Studio and web designer Studio Seagraves to showcase this new collection, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter if you want all the updates as they happen. New installs and they feel so good! The Pivot Feels: Growing Personally and Professionally This process has been eye-opening. As I went through my inventory and decided which pieces to keep and which to let go, I found myself constantly reminding myself of my true goal: to share the most resonant work I can create with my audience. Professionally, I feel more aligned than ever, and personally, I feel at peace with the direction we’re taking. As we step into this new creative space, I feel more aligned than ever with my vision. This pivot isn’t just a change in direction—it’s an opportunity to focus on the work that truly brings me joy, and to share that with all of you.
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Strategic Pivot Part 2: Navigating External Forces & Letting Go
I'm in the midst of a strategic pivot! If this is your first time reading, I recommend catching up with the first part of this here Navigating External Forces: The Business Environment The decision to pivot wasn’t just about personal needs—it was shaped by the changing landscape of the ceramic industry and the challenges that came with it. During the pandemic, supply chains shifted, shipping costs skyrocketed, and material shortages became common. The pottery business, which relied on consistent production, was suddenly much more difficult to maintain. When materials were discontinued after a season’s worth of work had already been made, it was frustrating, to say the least. The external realities of the business world made me realize that I needed to be more agile—not just in my vision, but in the way I worked. Pottery requires repetition and precision, but that rigidity was becoming harder to maintain in a market that was constantly shifting. The flexibility that sculpture and one-of-a-kind art offered me was exactly what I needed to move forward, without the constant hurdles that the pottery side of the business presented. A small collection of all the different collections we've sent out over the years. Plus a fun example of unexpected material changes. Letting Go: Embracing the Shift Letting go of the pottery line wasn’t an easy decision. When I first made the choice, I felt some guilt—like I was letting go of something that had brought me success. But as I took the time to sit with this decision, I realized that I wasn’t failing—I was simply evolving. There were many lessons to be learned from the pottery side of my business, but holding on to it for the sake of familiarity wasn’t going to serve me in the long run. Embracing this change with grace came from understanding that I was aligning myself with my truest desires. As I began to make the pivot, I felt lighter. The fear and guilt began to fade, replaced by excitement and a deep sense of relief. I’ve shared this decision with my community—both my business partners and my friends—and have received nothing but support. It’s clear that this shift aligns with the energy I’m putting out into the world, and the people who are drawn to that energy are the ones who will find my work most resonant. The process of letting go isn’t just about business—it’s about embracing the future, both in my work and in the world around me. As we move toward the new chapter, I’ll share more about how I’ve found peace in this shift and how I’m ready to move forward with intention. All the bisque work over the years. Next time, I’ll be revealing what’s next—how the focus on sculpture and one-of-a-kind art will take shape, and how I’m aligning my creative vision with the future of the studio. But before we get there, if you’ve been thinking about adding something to your collection, don’t miss your chance to shop pieces at 60% off with code GOODBYE60. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Shop the goodbye sale here: [link]
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Strategic Pivot Part 1: Recognizing the Need for Change & Answering the Call
In 2013, I returned to Cleveland with no job but a belief that I would find a way to create in my hometown. I had been making sculpture, applying for public art commissions, and seeking the kind of work that would give me the most studio time and flexibility. Upon returning, I found myself drawn back to pottery, a medium that had always held a special place in my heart. I decided to teach myself slip casting—something I hadn’t learned formally in school—and quickly began making a few cups and bowls. When I showcased that first set of work at my first Open Studio at The Screw Factory, the response was incredible. People were excited, they bought the work, and it felt deeply affirming. These pics are all from my first year back in Cleveland! Hot studio, lots of pots, lots of sculptures. From that moment, everything took off. I started learning about line sheets, trade shows, and the wholesale business. Soon, I was traveling to New York, meeting businesses of all sizes, and selling my pottery across the country. At first, it was a success. But when the pandemic hit, I saw a significant shift. My wholesale pottery business dropped off, but my online sales soared. 2020 turned out to be my best year, and for the next two years, things continued to flourish. Yet, as 2023 began, the pottery sales started to slow down again. And alongside that, something unexpected began to grow: my sculpture and commission work. By the end of 2022, I was doing both—dividing my time between pottery production and sculpture commissions—but by 2024, the pottery side of things was slowing down. It became clear that something had to change. An Internal Shift Choosing to pivot a business is never an easy decision, but when the year began, I knew it was time for change. I could feel the imbalance in how money was flowing into the business, but I didn’t have all the data to back it up. It wasn’t until I separated out the profit and loss from my pottery sales and my sculpture sales that I saw the truth: the pottery business was operating at a loss, while the sculpture side of things was thriving, though it was held back by the financial burden of pottery production. I couldn’t ignore the numbers, and once I saw the truth clearly, the decision became unavoidable. In May, I made the announcement to my staff that I would be winding down the pottery business in order to fully dedicate myself to sculpture and commissions. This wasn’t a decision made lightly, but it felt like the right step to take. As I reflect on the changes and shifts in my business, I’m excited for what’s to come. But change takes time, and I’m not done sharing my journey with you yet. Next month, I’ll dive deeper into the forces outside my control that pushed me to make this shift—and the personal challenges of letting go of what was familiar. It’s not an easy process, but it’s one that feels necessary for my growth. In the meantime, I'm parting ways with work that's leaving the collection. If you’ve had your eye on something, now’s your chance to grab it at 60% off with code GOODBYE60. This is your last opportunity to own one of these special pieces before they’re gone. Shop the goodbye sale here: [link]
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Concept, Creation, Completion: Anatta at Enso Verde
Experience a captivating ceramic stone art installation by Lauren HB Studio at Enso Verde in Simi Valley, California. This nature-inspired artwork fosters a sense of tranquility and connection to the environment.
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Shoppe Object at High Point Fall 2024
Shoppe Object at High Point is a wrap! This show is such an infusion of energy and creativity. I truly value each conversation with both vendors and buyers and cannot wait to get back to the studio and get making.
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A Pause for Pausing
A few weeks ago, I celebrated my friend's birthday by hosting her friends and sister for a painting party. We made paintings about things/places/memories/dreams we love. I ended up painting a picture of building blocks I played with as a child. It was a time of pure creativity, a core memory that still sits with me today, is a big part of my "why," and is an internal space I try to return to often. While watching an episode about creativity on Brain Child, I was reminded of why we often lose our creativity as we get older. We make less space for it, as our lives become filled with other things that require a lot of attention. As I was sitting there with my son and thinking about all the responsibility and awareness we are creating for him, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for doing anything that takes him away from creative time. As a mom and a full-time artist, my capacity to do much of anything diminishes with more responsibility, lack of sleep, and busy schedules. No wonder I enjoyed this painting session so much - a quick pause in the hurry, a quick moment for creativity not attached to anything but finding space. Finding pause. It's easy to forget the simple joys that bring us peace and connection. Even I take for granted items in my home that offer just this. But there are moments to connect, to take a pause everywhere. It’s the mindset I need to work on. This brings me to my mug cabinet. I have a very hefty collection of handmade mugs (and a few that aren’t, but are so sentimental I just can’t part with them), and I choose a mug each morning from which to drink my coffee. I generally rotate between 3-5 mugs, depending on the season, the color, the handfeel, and the amount of sleep from the night before. Every morning, I have a chance to pause, to touch the handles, to feel the rim on my lips, to see the steam rising, to feel the heat on my throat, to taste the light roasted beans we are obsessed with. And maybe this isn’t a moment for creativity, but it is a moment for observation - what do I love? Why do I keep choosing it? What does this object evoke that I revisit every day? From here, from being present in my pause, from this reflection, I can take a breath. A breath that can fuel the rest of it. A chance to be in the moment with these beautiful objects every single day. Handmade pottery is more than just beautiful objects; it's an embodiment of care, craftsmanship, and the quiet moments that create those pauses. I invite you to enjoy a peaceful morning with a handmade pot coupled with food or drink, be it a mug, a plate, or a cup. I wrote out an exercise that might bring you into a pause to fuel your own creativity and connection to an object. Give it a chance for two weeks (they say two weeks creates a habit, right?) Write about it. See what comes up for you. I will do the same. I’ll share on my stories. And remember! There's no right or wrong here. Meditation on Pottery Connection: Pick out a handmade pot from your collection and find spot to sit. Set a timer for five minutes. Start with a few deep breaths to clear out your mind. Notice what’s there, but don’t judge. Allow your energy to settle on this one task. When you are ready, pick up the pot you chose. Observe the sensations from this object. Try not to judge. When you timer goes off, take notes of your observations on your phone. Did you notice something new? Did anything surprise you? Did you find your thoughts running away? Judging what you were holding?
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While in Castine, Volume 4, Part 1
I’m wrapping up my monthlong creative sabbatical here in Castine. As with all things, life speeds up and slows down when I spend a month away from home base. Every happening becomes expansive, and I find my days completely filled with moments I never want to forget.
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Cooking my way through a new cookbook!
Ever since I got my hands on Erin French’s new cookbook, Big Heart, Little Stove, I knew I wanted to cook my way through it, one recipe at a time. I love cooking, I love cookbooks, so it’s a good fit! But as much as a Iove collecting cookbooks, I often let them sit on my shelf, finding one or two recipes and then forgetting the rest. So I’m breaking a habit, doing something I love, supporting someone who has supported me.
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