Favorite Substacks from 2024
Seven newsletters to brighten your feed and spark creativity
As I shared at the end of last year, Substack has become one of my favorite spaces on the internet — a delightful alternative to the mindless scroll of Instagram. I find it so uplifting to be here, surrounded by beauty, thoughtfulness, and creativity!
Before diving into this year’s newsletters, I want to re-highlight my 2023 favorites because I still read and adore every single one of them, including:
À La Carte from Ali LaBelle
Feeling My Shelf from Alexis Reliford
Brass Ring Daily from Kara Cutruzzula
A Day Well Spent with Leyla Kazim from Leyla Kazim
Austin Kleon from Austin Kleon
So Relatable from Chrissy Hennessey
It'll Be Fun, They Said from Jess Pan
Favorite Substacks from 2024
Whether we’ve connected through Substack or another channel, I’m so glad our paths have crossed. I hope this roundup introduces you to a newsletter or two that will brighten your 2025!
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About: Hannah writes about positive and creative career change, interior design, slower living, multi-hyphenate life in London, and more.
❤️ What I love most: Hannah’s creativity is boundless, and I deeply admire how she embraces a multi-passionate life. Her willingness to take risks in pursuit of fulfillment is inspiring, as is her gentle approach to building community. I recently joined her paid tier and can’t wait to attend my first “Create Ensemble,” her version of virtual creative co-working.
📰 Posts worth exploring: I particularly enjoy Hannah’s posts around career change and it’s effects. This is a recent piece about what a shift can mean for travel: Does a career change mean I have to say goodbye to travel adventures?
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About: A mix of book recs, personal essays, life updates, and roundups of things that interest Becca.
❤️ What I love most: Becca’s podcast Bad on Paper (co-hosted with Olivia Mentuer, featured below!) is one of my go-to listens, and her newsletter is a treasure trove of extra content. She not only shares fantastic book recommendations but also gives candid insights into the writing process — a true gift for aspiring authors like me.
📰 Posts worth exploring: This post celebrating her debut novel's first anniversary is a gem: My Book Turns 1 Today.
📚 Check out Becca’s novel, The Christmas Orphans Club
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About: A newsletter about life, feelings, writing, reading, and living intentionally (with some other stuff, too).
❤️ What I love most: Olivia’s heartfelt essays always resonate with me. She writes with honesty and grace, often offering reflections that make me feel less alone. I’m also extremely invested in all the ways she’s restoring her historic home.
📰 Posts worth exploring: I especially love Olivia’s Desk Tour series, where she interviews other writers via the spaces where they create.
📚 Check out Olivia’s novel, Such a Bad Influence
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About: Thoughts on life’s simple joys and intentional living, weekly meal plans and recipes, and the dish on everything Brittany is reading.
❤️ What I love most: Brittany’s newsletter is a feast for the senses — it’s beautifully designed and thoughtfully written. While I initially connected with her through her book content, I’ve come to appreciate her posts on mindfulness and intentional living. She always inspires me to live abundantly with less!
📰 Posts worth exploring: I adore Brittany’s monthly Lovin’ Lately wrap-ups, where she shares her favorite discoveries.
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About: A writer who loves to read, shares thoughts on the books she’s reading and the things she’s noticing.
❤️ What I love most: Tembe’s voice is sharp, witty, and effortlessly cool. Her posts are packed with thoughtful observations that feel fresh yet approachable.
📰 Posts worth exploring: Her Final File series, monthly wrap-ups that include books, movies, shows, travel highlights, and personal reflections read like a curated magazine.
📚 Check out Tembe’s novel, Homebodies
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About: Finding writing in your 40s, embracing a creative life, writing a first novel, and the everyday moments that inspire Maria while juggling family life.
❤️ What I love most: Maria’s posts resonate deeply with me as a fellow writer working on my first novel. She writes with so much honesty and heart, always encouraging me to persevere.
📰 Posts worth exploring: Maria’s posts are all can’t-misses for me, but I especially enjoyed her recap of her book research trip to London!
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About: A weekly newsletter about books and life in Maine.
❤️ What I love most: Michelle’s newsletter pairs excellent book recommendations with snapshots of New England life. Her writing is engaging, and her photography adds an extra layer of charm to every post.
📰 Posts worth exploring: I became a paid subscriber after falling in love with her Monthly Wrap series. Each post features three books, three new releases, and three good things.
Whose Substacks have you loved reading this year? Share your favorites in the comments — I’d love to discover more!
✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts
Subscribe to a new Substack.
Recommend a Substack to a friend — or treat them to a paid subscription!
If you’re a Substack writer: jot dawn some ideas for posts you’d like to create in 2025. If you’re not a Substack writer (yet?) what would your newsletter look like? What kind of topics would you write about?
☀️ Five good things
When we can recognize the things that bring us the most joy, we invite more of them into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!
Five good things that happened this week:
I finally replaced my broken AirPods with a new pair and found a case in the same color as Mary Poppins’ carousel horse.
When my aesthetician suggested that I come in for a hydrafacial before the holidays, I thought that I really didn’t need it…but I was wrong. It ended up being part facial, part therapy session (my aesthetician is also a cat mom and was so sympathetic about Rory’s recent diagnosis), and I took them up on a glass of bubbly before my treatment, which is an indicator of growth (see here).
Christmas in Connecticut is sneakily becoming a favorite holiday film for me. Watching it while baking an apple pie felt perfectly on-theme.
I’ve been theorizing that my library gives me special treatment because they have approved every one of my purchase suggestions and it seems like I’m always getting bumped up the waiting list. This week when I went to return an overdue book, the librarian (who has a fabulous Russian accent) assured me: “For you, no fine.” 🧐😂
I just re-upped my Masterclass subscription and took Mindy Kaling’s newly released Scripting your own Success.
💬 Share your intention
Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.
Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.
Michelle
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What a delightful roundup, Michelle! I spot some fellow favs and a few new to me publications to check out. Thank you for including me!
Loved reading through this post, and I'm so flattered to have been included! Thank you <3