I don’t really get a lot of “fun emails.” Besides the obvious and important work stuff, the rest of the emails I receive fall into three categories: erroneous pitches that leave me wondering how and why I’m being pitched dog food, a new stroller, or diet pills; junk mail (I am in a constant battle here, hitting unsubscribe only to somehow wind up resubscribed the following week); or social media “gurus” telling me how I can grow my Instagram audience with their latest loop giveaway or e-course. My inbox just isn’t very fun these days. But there are (just over) a handful of newsletters I really, really enjoy reading. I will add that I read plenty of other newsletters but these are the ones I never miss.
My Favorite Email Newsletters
5 things you should buy
When it comes to shopping, Becky Malinsky’s newsletter has become an instant favorite. I get so many good shopping recommendations from her! Becky is a seasoned professional stylist who has spent years styling and dressing celebrities, CEOs, colleagues, friends and family. Her shopping recommendations are incredibly on point.
A Cup of Ambition
Someone linked to this newsletter from Jessica Wilen (It was for this piece about saying yes when you really mean no – it stuck with me!) and I instantly signed up because I liked what I read. Now, as I recommend it to you, I see that it is “a weekly newsletter for working moms (and enlightened dads!) who care about building a meaningful career and being an involved parent.” So I may not be the target, but I enjoy the content all the same.
The Love List
This is my number one. I find myself rushing to open it the minute it hits my inbox. It probably helps that I was an OG reader back when The Love List was just a blog (during those early blog years). Atlanta-based Jess Nell Graves is a journalist turned creative director (her main gig is her creative agency, Graves Creative). She has her pulse on all things cool (be it a Totême sweater that I suddenly just need or teaching me what “oystering” is) and it’s just a joy to read. Smart, clever, teaches me something I didn’t know about before.
A Small and Simple Thing
This is Brooks Reitz’s email newsletter. Brooks owns several restaurants here in Charleston (Leon’s, Melfi’s, Little Jacks!) and also has his own line of bar goods and mixers: Jack Rudy Cocktail Company. Each edition of his newsletter contains musings on cooking, cocktails, product discoveries, and travel… oftentimes, with a recipe. I’m not much of a cook so tend to favor his recommendations for easy things to make (and off the beaten path condiments, etc). I also just really enjoy the story telling.. I find his writing to be oddly calming?
The Ann Friedman Weekly
I wish I could write even half as well as Ann Friedman; I’d die happy. Her Friday newsletter is one that I look forward to every week and open immediately (often leaving it in my primary inbox to peruse over the weekend). I don’t know how she manages to find/read so many great links, but she does it… keeping us all informed, entertained, and better-read. Her year end thoughts are always my personal favorite… here is Our Collective 2021. Sidebar – I really loved her podcast co-host Aminatou’s newsletter but that hasn’t published content in a while. I hope she’ll resurrect it.
Girl’s Night In
I know this is another mainstay in everyone’s inboxes, but I couldn’t not include it… Alisha and her team write about the things I love most: staying in, getting cozy, reading, puzzles, etc. LOVE. I love everything they send. Whether it is musings from Alisha, a shopping roundup, or a great reading recommendation; I gobble it right up. I also very much enjoy their instagram account.
James Clear 3-2-1
We’ve been talking about Atomic Habits a lot this month but before I bought the book, I was a newsletter subscriber. I think I’ve been a subscriber for maybe two or three years now? I didn’t realize it was so popular… nearly a million people subscribe! And I always get something good out of his newsletters – be it a quip that made me really think, a productivity habit, or a new way of thinking of things. Also, it’s very short, which I appreciate. Each edition includes 3 short ideas from him 2 quotes from others, and 1 question to ponder.
Gloria
Gloria was a pandemic discovery (I cannot even remember how I found it but I’m so happy I did) and I’m glad I subscribed as it is one of the most relevant newsletters I receive each week. With every essay I read, I nearly always find myself nodding my head in agreement and thinking YES, or feeling relieved that I wasn’t the only one feeling a certain way. They describe themselves as “a weekly newsletter and media company for women who aren’t yet old, but aren’t still young.” For women embarking on midlife and wondering what aging looks like when you still feel 25!
Letters from an American
This is my newsy newsletter. There are so many others that I subscribe to (Betches, NextDraft, I could go on – a lot of them can feel so doom and gloom!) but this is the one I actually enjoy opening up as I always learn something new, while staying informed. It’s written by Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian and professor of history at Boston College. Each edition of her newsletter contains the history behind the day’s politics. So you get a little bit of history and current events combined.
PS – I’d be remiss to point out that I have my own weekly newsletter, which you can sign up for here!
Photo by Laura Saur.
Ohhh I love adding more happy mail to my inbox. Thanks for the round-up!
You’re so welcome!
Good round-up! My favorite is The Daily Good by The Good Trade 🙂
I love that one too!!!
Ooooo I’m always looking for more newsletters.
I have to plug Hunter Harris’s celebrity gossip/cultural commentary newsletter Hung Up. It is laugh out loud funny every week.
Oh thank you! I’m going to check it out.
So excited for these! Also love the Probably This newsletter
I will check that out!
I’m totally going to subscribe to Letters from An American. I love that it is a combo of current events and history.
It’s excellent – I hope you enjoy!
this is great content, grace! Thank you – feels like a way to stay connected to the world when I’ve been hiding (35 days and counting!) from social media.
So glad to do it and congrats on the social media break 🙂
love this! i’ve only signed up for the yoga with adriene weekly letters and alison roman’s newsletter (i know she’s had some controversy, but as far as cooking goes her recipes are very simple and i can usually modify to be vegetarian without any real effort). i look forward to receiving both in my inbox, but also have over 800 unread emails in my personal box all my efforts to organize go into the work email, and the rest is a pit of spam and promotions.
Email is a battle!!!!!
Thanks for sharing, these were all new to me! I’m trying to find a new morning wake-up habit that’s not immediately diving into social media or the doom and gloom news, so I can’t wait to add these to my inbox!
Oh good I am so glad!!!
I, too, am looking to brighten up my inbox – thank you so much for these suggestions!
Yay! I hope you enjoy these!
Such a great list!!!
Thank you!
Great roundup, I’ve added a few! I started subscribing to Gloria per your recommendation a while back and look forward to it every Friday.
I love Gloria so much!!
I have to plug R. Eric Thomas’s newsletter “Here for It” (also the name of his book). It’s just so, so funny. I will read anything he writes.
Thank you for these suggestions – I’m adding several to my email now!
Oh thank you!!!! I am going to sign up.
thanks so much for putting this together! I love getting fresh content and signed up for all of them.
Yay!
I would love if your weekend reading blog post were a newsletter!
Thanks for that feedback, I appreciate it. I am probably not going to do that as I want people to come to my blog and read here, engage in the discussion, etc!
Ruth Reichl has a newsletter on Substack! She did one email per day for the month of Dec and now does like once a week or so. It’s like getting a chapter of one of her books in my inbox and I loooove it.
https://ruthreichl.substack.com/
AH I need to sign up – I adore her!!!
Hi! Motivated to post after listing to the pod this week. I was wondering if all of these are free subscriptions or if any are paid?
Have a great weekend 🙂
Hi! I link to each of the newsletters… they all have a free option but several of them have a paid option (which I always do as I believe in paying people if I am really enjoying their work!!!!)
Thank you for sharing! I subscribed to Gloria last year and it brings me so much joy! I was getting burned out on instagram and I’ve found that reading newsletters and blog articles brings me much more joy than endless scrolling. Love getting your newsletter too!
You’re so welcome – and agree, I enjoy Gloria so so much!
Thanks for sharing these. So many great reads collected here!
Tara
https://thefashionhousemom.com/
You’re welcome!
thank you, I love a newsletter lately! my newest favorite subscription is “Between a Rock and Card Place” from Caroline Donofrio. she covers the most relatable topics and ends each one with a fun tarot card pull.
Oh I’ve loved Caroline’s work for Cup of Jo! Thanks for the rec.
I love this. I deactivated all my social media accounts on New Years Day- I feel so FREE! I realize I spent half my life being online every day and would love 2022 to be a year of no social media. These newsletters seem like a great way to learn, stay connected and have something exciting in my inbox instead of just work emails.
I love that, good for you!!!!
Thanks for this great post, Grace – super useful! I meant to comment yesterday…and then got sucked into reading some of the links above! Looking forward to trying some of these out. If you’re looking for another newsletter idea, I really like Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter. Thanks again!
Love her! We actually had her on our podcast a while back, it was a great episode! I need to be better about reading her emails.
Ha! My name is Hannah, too, and I was also going to recommend Anne Helen Petersen’s newsletter. I LOVE her newsletter content, but her Tuesday Thread’s are truly a delight.
She is amazing!
I found Gloria and the Love List through you and aside from your own newsletter, they are my favorites! I also find myself relating to a lot of the articles in Gloria as I approach middle age (just hit the big 40) . Thanks for the recs on the others – I trust your taste!
Yay they are both so great!!!! I feel like Gloria, I relate to… and then Jess/The Love List keeps me young and hip!
I LOVE this! I’m getting into a great weekend morning groove of reading newsletters from the week. Thank you for sharing.
Oh good, I’m so glad!
You should definitely look at the Newsette!
I subscribe! I enjoy it but it’s been a little more hit or miss for me lately.
Love this post, as everyone else you write but this was espec. interesting.
I’m so glad! Thanks Nancy.
Thank you Grace for all of these- I’ve been wanting to expand my newsletter repertoire and these are great – I am especially excited about checking out The Love List (as I am in ATL), Gloria and some of the ones noted by the other readers in the comments (like the Ruth Reichl one-woohoo!)! As noted by Nikki – the Good Trade is my #1 – I love the format, the daily under-the-radar songs, the social justice/sustainability articles, & the great product recos! This is probably a “duh,” but for managing my inbox, I am a HUGE believer in Unroll.me- I can go through and unsubscribe in bulk and add my favorite subscriptions to one roll-up email -it’s awesome…and also so satisfying once you go through and get all that nonsense deleted in one full swoop!
I love The Good Trade too!
I subscribe to quite a few of these. I LOVE Gloria, being early 40’s in such a social world feels confusing at times but that newsletter helps remind me that it’s ok to be where I am.
As far as lovely food writing, I love Dinner, A Love Story. I adore Jenny Rosentrach’s writing and many of her recipes are super simple yet delicious. But if you are looking for a weekend cooking project, she has those too!!
Thank you! I’m looking that up now!!!!
You should try Nat Note! I love it.
Thanks for the rec!
Loved your suggestions for the newsletters. I signed up for quite a few.
Thanks for including Heather Cox Richardson’s daily American letter. I am an avid fan. I also love her FB talks on Tuesday and Thursday.
Oh good, I’m so happy you signed up and enjoy!!!!
One of my favorite newsletters is deepculture. I enjoy it every time, I always find something interesting in it.
https://deepculture.substack.com