They’re here: two new books from Modern Heirloom Books

Both books—Questions, and: Questions to Ask Yourself and the People You Love and Listening, and: Reflections on Story, Memory, and Meaning—are available for purchase as a set now.

For more than a decade, I have spent my days listening to people tell the stories of their lives.

I’ve heard stories across kitchen tables and living room sofas, on long walks and Zoom calls. Stories told a hundred times. Stories spoken aloud for the first time. Stories about love and loss, family and identity, ordinary days and the moments that quietly changed everything.

Over the years, all that listening has taught me something: The stories themselves matter enormously. But so does the experience of being asked. Of being given time. Of having someone listen generously to the answer.

Two new books grew from that work.

Listening, and: Reflections on Story, Memory, and Meaning is a collection of vignettes about memory, creativity, grief, curiosity, writing, legacy—and what it means to pay attention to a life.

Its companion, Questions, and: Questions to Ask Yourself and the People You Love, is filled with questions meant to open doors: to memory, reflection, storytelling, and deeper conversation.

They can be read alone. Written alongside. Given as gifts. Left on a bedside table and opened at random.

But I especially hope they will be shared.

Ask your parent a question you’ve never thought to ask. Bring one to dinner with an old friend. Sit with your teenager, your sibling, your spouse, your grandparent.

Or turn the questions inward and see what stories surface for you.

These little books contain so much of what I have come to believe through my work at Modern Heirloom Books: that every life is worthy of attention; that curiosity is an act of care; and that one of the greatest gifts we can offer another person is simply to listen.

And there’s more to come

I’m also especially happy that these books will help support something else I’ve been working quietly to create.

A portion of proceeds from every copy sold will go to The Legacy Fund, a new Modern Heirloom Books initiative rooted in my belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to have their stories heard and preserved.

I’ll be sharing much more about that soon.

And there is more ahead for the books themselves, too.

I’ve created Questions & Conversations, a guided experience built around a wonderfully simple idea: Bring someone whose stories you don’t want to lose, sit across from one another, ask thoughtful questions—and listen.

In the coming weeks, I’ll share more about those gatherings, along with a complimentary guide for creating your own Questions & Conversations experience at home.

But for today, I simply want to say: They’re here.

After carrying these ideas with me for so long, I cannot wait to put these books into your hands—and, even more, to see where the questions and conversations lead.