All About Small Wonders: My Book Tour, an Early Reader Opportunity + More.

I wrote last month about the winding path that brought me to publish a book, and while drafting that post, I found myself writing into the wee hours of the night and far beyond that topic, trampling errantly into the weeds of Small Wonders itself — the heartbeat of it, the messy thicket of writing it and what I learned in its shed and shell drafts, and the little universe I found myself cocooned within while in its thrall. Some days it felt like I was wrestling with something wild (how to possibly discipline my galloping thoughts into a 6×8 parcel of 226 pages? How to burnish these small stones and pocket-talismans of observation into something gleaming and worthy of your readership?) and other days I wondered how I’d ever fill the empty document with enough meaning to matter. Most days, it was about surrendering. I think that’s how most of my decent writing begins: getting out of my own way, my own head. Almost absenting myself from the equation to let the words — really, the fluid connectivity between my mind’s eye and my pen’s tip, or what Seamus Heaney called “the mind’s centre and circumference” — flow without interruption or judgment. Dipping into the red ink later. I write about this in my book actually: Let the wild heart beat where and how it wants. So true in so many parts of life: love (let people be who they are!), parenthood (listen when your kids are telling you who they are!), art (the more specific the writing, the richer the text), the backyard (the earth was here first!)

I wrote and wrote, and realized I was continuously returning to the same chord: pay attention to the people and places who ultimately define our limited-edition, wild and precious lives. So in the end, Small Wonders is about the art of noticing, which is more or less the same ritual we practice every single day here on the blog when we talk about what we love in our children, the birds in our backyards, and what drew us to our homes. It’s about lavishing the everyday with due attention, about finding the miraculous in the mundane. Per Mary Oliver:

Instructions for Living a Life

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

Mary Oliver’s model is in this book, as is my father’s “you’re going to love it” energy, and so many other motifs we return to over and over again as a Magpie community. There is list poetry, there are words of encouragement and reassurance, there are musings about surviving grief and honoring the intimacies of sisterhood and tributes to the wide, weird world of language and all it has given me. And of course the handsome cardinal, that long-standing avatar of mine, that stalwart beacon who is most himself in the dead of winter, makes an appearance. There is gorgeous, evocative photography as well; we spent a lot of time pairing the writing with imagery that would feel like a soft landing. It is all the Magpie things together. The marvels in the mud and mess of everyday living.

The Biggest Thank You for Pre-Orders!

Thank you x 1000 for all of the pre-orders. You’ve already made this book such a success — I am bowled over. Pre-orders are a big deal for debut authors; they let the retailers know “oh, I guess we should stock this book” — ha! But mainly, I’m just so thrilled you’ll have a copy on launch day. I am so proud of it and hope you will love reading it as much as I loved creating it.

I am going to be sharing some behind the scenes of the book via my newsletter in the coming weeks — if you want to follow along, you can sign up HERE. When you sign up for emails, I’ll send you a digital broadside (PDF excerpt) from Small Wonders so you can get a feel for what’s to come!

An Early Reader Opportunity.

I am learning that early reviews are helpful to the success of a book and am tapping my Magpies for help. I’m looking for a handful of readers who have already pre-ordered the book who might be willing to serve as “Early Readers.” What this means: I would send you an advanced digital copy of Small Wonders and you would share a review on Amazon and Goodreads on launch day (April 14th). Would anyone be interested?! (I believe there are some budding BookTok/bookstagrammers/book bloggers in the Magpie flock that might be interested, but also — feel free to reach out no matter what! I’d love to give any of my Magpies first access!)

If you’re up for this (advanced THANK YOU), would you send me proof of pre-order purchase at hello@magpiebyjenshoop.com? I’ll follow up with a digital copy! I am only permitted to share the digital copy with a handful of readers, so it will be capped at 15. I’m also happy to send you a signed bookplate if you can’t come to any of my book events! Which brings me to —

Small Wonders Events: My Petite Book Tour!

We have three official events on the calendar, and a fourth in formation in NYC (exact details/date forthcoming) and I’ve shared all details here! Please, please join me! I need my Magpies around me. I would love to meet you, match a face to a name, maybe clink a glass of champagne! We did this together!

You need to get tickets for the Charleston one, FYI! Price covers the cost of the book (and supports a wonderful independent bookseller). I am really hoping to have my Magpies with me at these events.

All events here!

Small Wonders Playlist + Mood Board.

I think of Small Wonders as “a morning thing.” Something to visit with in the morning. Something to enjoy when the day feels limber and full of promise — to sip slowly, like coffee (per Mahmoud Darwish: “coffee is the sister of time”!).

I created a morning playlist for Small Wonders on Apple here and on Spotify here. It’s full of gentle feeling — good music for meditating, journaling, brewing tea, slowly stretching into your day, legato-style. Most of these songs were on my writing playlist while creating this book, only then I’d called it my “Jo March Energy” playlist. I’d put on my noise cancelling headphones and clip in. So many of these tracks plant me right back in the headspace of writing, roundly and daily, for the months of March through May 2025.

SMALL WONDERS ON SPOTIFY

SMALL WONDERS ON APPLE

By the way, Magpie readers are everywhere in this book, and in the playlist and imagery and drafts that preceded it. One of you turned me onto Jon McLaughlin’s “Mood” album series and they were a stalwart companion of mine for much of the past year of writing.

Lastly, because you know I love Pinterest — I also compiled a mood board featuring quotes and imagery that I find evocative of the themes I visit with in this book —

Inside Small Wonders.

A little look inside —

And even more of an insider view here!

Images above by Collab Collective.

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