After a few requests from friends on the “what I’m reading” front, I am going to start the habit of posting book recommendations here. Be warned: I tend toward nonfiction (new and old), female writers, literary journalism, and dark humour. Also classic sci-fi. The Russians tend to pop up, too. Oh, who am I kidding? I read anything.

First up in 2016—and to celebrate this new habit of mine—I’m recommending Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit . Tharp is one of the past century’s most prolific and well-known choreographers, has worked with countless other (quite famous) artists and creators, and has a penchant for no-nonsense creative practice. She followed The Creative Habit up with The Collaborative Habit in 2009, and now at 74 years of age, continues to create dance today.

Best parts: The comfort of Ritual in daily work, the one-box-per-project approach, and the incredible crash-course on American dance history that she shares—somewhat incidentally—while detailing her own habits, projects, and collaborations. She talks about how her Billy Joel show, Movin’ Out, was challenged by early reviews of preview performances (the gall!), her work on Amadeus with Miloš Forman, and a life’s worth of tidbits from working with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor.  It’s a behind-the-process peek for the dance aficionado, and a worthy treatise on just how to keep the creative juices flowing for 50+ years.