Ashley Reese

Jan 15, 2025 | ashleyreese.substack.com | Ashley Reese

Isabel and I became friends in seventh grade, and of all of my friends, her family’s ranch house in the Palisades might have been my favorite. It wasn’t some sprawling behemoth. It didn’t have a pool or any fancy, modern touches. It was a standard one-story house. The living room had a massive wall of books, comfy seats, and patio doors that led to the backyard.

Nov 19, 2024 | cruelsummerbookclub.substack.com | Rusty Foster |Daniel Hunter |Jillian Anthony |Ashley Reese

Last week, I wrote about the art of return. I’m dead tired, and I’m still working on returning. I’ll get there. This weekend was one that made me feel so grateful to live in Austin. On Saturday, I moderated a panel at Texas Book Festival in the underground of the Texas Capitol building. Outside, tens of thousands of people roamed tents to talk about books and ideas and progress in the state that bans the most books.

Sep 17, 2024 | cruelsummerbookclub.substack.com | Jillian Anthony |Ashley Reese |Maggie Smith |Dana Francisco Miranda

For those who love to listen and learn, I talked about Get Shit Done September and all of these resources on the CSBC podcast. Be sure to click ā€œView entire messageā€ at the end of this email so you can read the whole post in your browser. On to the links!Hiking Montana to spread her husbandā€™s ashes in a place he loved. ā€œYouā€™ve got you.ā€I can see money isnā€™t the thing I crave. I crave choice, freedom, spaciousness.

Sep 6, 2024 | ashleyreese.substack.com | Ashley Reese

I spent the summer waiting. I was waiting to sign my book deal. I was waiting to receive a deluge of legal paperwork from my lawyer. I was waiting until the weather was hot enough to justify a beach day or shit enough to justify being a hermit in my apartment, scrolling Pinterest, accidentally starting Twitter drama, and reading enough fic on Ao3 to make me feel adequately head empty. Mostly, I was waiting to go to Montana.

Jul 24, 2024 | ashleyreese.substack.com | Ashley Reese

I’ve been a news junkie since I was a kid, especially when it came to politics. Maybe this started in the mid-90s when I was barely sentient and remember my parents watching coverage of the OJ Simpson trial (my godmother was on the jury, so they were extra invested). I was pretty plugged into the Iraq War, and at 13, I was absolutely convinced that “Megalomanic” by Incubus alone could dismantle the Bush Administration.