issue #27 - the one with all the feelings

There are sad and scared feelings about the 9/11 anniversary and the general state of the world.

There are proud feelings about the most successful Sundara fundraiser to date! (We’re so close to reaching our goal - if you’d like to support, we’d would appreciate it!). I’m equally proud of two sponsored projects that went live this week - the motherhood mantra that keeps me going, and how I evaluate a potential investment.

There are really good feelings about doing more public speaking (I’ll be joining Bad On Paper at their Philly live show, and speaking at FearlessCon, The Riveter Summit and the Slashie Summit). Tickets are available for everything - but not for long!

There are aches from carrying my poor teething baby all morning (in the best baby carrier ever).

And there’s the blissful tiredness I feel every night as I climb into bed. I feel lucky to be able to live my life on my own terms, and I’m going to work my tail off to make sure every woman has this opportunity as well.

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If this is your first e-mail from me, welcome! In addition to writing the book How To Pack, I'm an entrepreneur and angel investor, an avid reader, and a mom of two boys (a 4 year old and a 4 month old).

Every Saturday, I share the 20 best reads from the Internet (culled from the daily shares on my Instagram), the books I've read that week, and things I'm generally loving at the moment. You can join the conversation on all these articles - and more! - in my Facebook group.

Looking for my packing list template? Here you go!

#ThingsILove This Week

• I wore this stunning Kynah gown for the Sundara fundraiser, and am pulling an Arianna Huffington and wearing it to all my formal events this year.

• I got hit with a terrible cold this week. The cures? Mucinex, TheraFlu, and my favorite pajamas.

• Books I bought but haven’t read yet (and very excited to) - She Said, For The Love Of Men, and Great Goddesses.

• My friend Susan’s newsletter is fantastic - more newsy than mine, but very smart and she shares a lot of links I hadn’t caught during the week. Sign up here!

• A teething update (for the few of you in the same boat as me!):

  • He’s been wearing these bib bandanas every day to mop up the drool.

  • When my arms need a break, I’ve been putting Rhaki in this seat and it buys me a solid 15-20 minutes.

  • This teether is the only one he likes so far.

  • One tip from my IG friend Faye was to dip the bristles of a kids electric toothbrush in ice water and brush their gums with it. He LOVES it and it calms him down immediately.

• Pods I loved this week - Bad On Paper’s productivity episode (Becca and I are eeriely similar in our calendar habits), Be There In Five’s episode with Grace, Philly Who? with my amazing friend Rakia.

What I read this week:

• Where’d You Go, Bernadette? - I thought I had finished this book, but I didn’t and I finally did and it was just perfect. I empathized with Bernadette’s views on Seattle wholeheartedly, and it’s one of the most cleverly written books I’ve ever read. This was a light read, but a smart and thoughtful one too. I loved it.

• The Only Plane In The Sky - 9/11 is not the easiest subject to write about, but this book just flows spectacularly and is impossible to put down. Despite the dark subject matter, it feels like you’re in an episode of The West Wing - except you have a front row seat to history on one of the darkest days of our nation. Easily one of the best books I’ve read this year.

• Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors - This is an ambitious retelling of Pride And Prejudice that flips the script a bit (the woman is proud, the man prejudiced, interracial relationships abound). The writing falls flat (with the exception of the food - the food descriptions are delicious and the reason I ordered paneer makhani yesterday), but the story is engaging enough that I’m going to see it all the way through. It’s a decent brain candy book, but not a must-read.

Current book reviews here, every book I’ve read this year, and all my Amazon favorites.

Hitha’s Favorite Things

• Libro.fm is my favorite audiobook app (it credits your favorite independent bookstore with the sale). Use code HITHA to get 3 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you create a monthly membership. You can find my favorite audiobooks here.

• my Amazon shop

• my favorite vitamins (both their pre-natal and their essential one for women)

• my favorite produce delivery company

• the app to save #5SmartReads to read later

• the notebook that has changed my life (see how I use it here and here). Get 15% off with code HITHA15.

• the marriage check-in my husband and I do every single week

• Small Packages (one of my portfolio companies) is the curated gift box company I’m always talking about - get 15% off your order with the code HITHA

The Top 5

1. Shithole Country Clubs (Asian American Writers’ Workshop)

2. 10 Lessons I Learned from My Friend’s 9/11 Death (Modern Loss)

3. What It’s Like to Work at an Abortion Call Center (Elemental | Medium)

4. This Routine Gyno Procedure Could Mean You Never Orgasm Again (Cosmopolitan)

5. ‘We’re the Only Plane in the Sky’ (Politico)

The Catch Up

Monday

• The Systems That Protected Epstein and Weinstein (Fortune | The Broadsheet)

• How to Raise the First $1 Million for Your Startup (The Cru)

• Scott Gottlieb: E-cigarettes are not off the hook (Washington Post)

• Former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power Has a Lot of Stories to Tell—and No Problem Talking (Time)

Tuesday

• We Desperately Need a Merger between Education and Work (Scientific American)

• For Health Workers Struggling With Addiction, Why Are Treatment Options Limited? (NPR)

• This isn’t another horror story about black motherhood (Washington Post)

• What Goes Into Running A Blog! (The Stripe)

Wednesday

• What the North Carolina special election means for 2020 (Axios)

• The debate over swing voters versus mobilizing the base, explained (Vox)

• What’s the Difference Between Anxiety and Ambition? (The Cut)

• Why We Need To Talk About Men (HuffPost)

Thursday

• The ‘Mental Load’ of Single Working Parenthood (The Riveter)

• America's sweeping tide of diversity (Axios)

• The Quest for New Friendships in the Dregs of Adulthood (Shondaland)

• #MeToo Killed the Myth of Male Genius (GEN | Medium)

Friday

• Lisa Bloom, a feminist attorney, became just another complicit Aunt Lydia. Here’s how. (The Lily)

• Carcinogens Have Infiltrated the Generic Drug Supply in the U.S. (Bloomberg Businessweek)

• We Don’t Need Marianne Williamson’s Help (Teen Vogue)

• Why Isn't Cory Booker's Campaign Taking Off? (BuzzFeed News)