Mattie, Milo, and Me by Anne Abel

I am obsessed by this 71-year-old on Tik Tok named Anne Abel. She has something like 288,000 followers, and her mundane content is downright riveting. At first glance, people call her the "rich Manhattan grandma," but she has so much more going for her. She has anxiety, health issues, a good-as-gold-loyal husband named Andy, and a complicate relationship with her three sons and their wives. She is currently in France with Andy making content, including views of her gigantic room at the Peninsula Paris Hotel. The other day she posted a video from the infamous Cafe De Flore along the Boulevard Saint-Germain. She was drinking a hot chocolate, and Andy was eating a salmon club sandwich, and I hung on their every movement and word. She is not only an influencer but also an author. Her first book "Mattie, Milo and Me" is about how one day a UPS driver killed her beloved dog Mattie. Bereft, she did what everyone tells you not to do: She got another rescue dog right away. Milo, the new dog, proved to be nothing like Mattie. Milo was difficult, erratic and downright scary for Anne to manage. Despite toying with the idea of giving Milo back to the shelter, she sticks with him, and he sticks with her. You feel their growth on every page. Anne is an excellent storyteller but also a quirky person with enough anxiety for everyone who has it to identify with. One of the ways she keeps herself calm is through exercising daily, and another is through writing. I found this book charming, and a true insight in the way Anne's mind works. Her next book promises to be just as exciting. "High Hopes" will be released in September 2025 and chronicles the year she followed Bruce Springsteen's tour to Australia to battle depression, in lieu of entering a psychiatric hospital. Follow Anne on Instagram @annesimaabel  To buy this book on Amazon click here.