My new book — Our Diaries, Ourselves: How Diarists Chronicle Their Lives and Document Our World — was published in February 2026 by Beacon Press. I am also the author of Fun with the Family in Iowa and a contributor to The New York Times 36 Hours in the USA.
Our Diaries, Ourselves Book Info
Exciting news! Our Diaries, Ourselves: How Diarists Chronicle Their Lives and Document Our World, my book about why people write diaries and why other people read them (or want to) has been published by Beacon Press, of Boston. My 16-event book tour has taken me to book stores and libraries across the country where I’ve had fascinating conversations with people who write, read, or otherwise enjoy diaries/journals. Next stops this summer: Woodstock, Illinois and Empire, Michigan. Hope to see you there!
Our Diaries, Ourselves can be purchased at independent bookstores including Women and Children First and City Lit in Chicago, The Book Loft in Oak Park, Illinois, Read Between the Lynes in Woodstock, Illinois, Politics and Prose in Washington D.C., P&T Knitwear in NYC, RJ Julia and Possible Futures in Connecticut, Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Literati in Ann Arbor, Next Chapter Books in Detroit, Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Michigan, Village Well Books in Culver City, California, Books on the Bosque in Albuquerque, Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City and Beaverdale Books in Des Moines. Find other indies at: Bookshop.org for hardcover, e-book, and audiobook. It is also available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Blending history, cultural commentary and memoir, Our Diaries, Ourselves challenges common assumptions about the diary (especially in the digital age); explores the evolving nature and value of diaries and diary-writing, especially for women; reports on why people read stranger’s diaries and how they use them; visits archives that preserve diaries (including European diary archives and U.S. women’s archives); investigates the potential health/creative/memory benefits of diary-keeping; and sheds light on diarists both famous and not.
The book was inspired by my decision to donate my diary, which I have written in daily for more than 50 years, to a women’s archive.
Based in Chicago, I am represented by WME, William Morris Endeavor.
I have decades of experience as an journalist based in the Midwest and on the East Coast, writing for newspapers and magazines, from The New York Times to The Guardian to The Des Moines Register; and writing for foundations and nonprofits including The Annie E. Casey Foundation (Baltimore) and The Aspen Institute (Washington D.C.).
My travel blog is: TakeBetsyWithYou. I am the author of the travel book Fun with the Family in Iowa (Globe Pequot Press) and three of my many travel articles were included in The New York Times 36 Hours USA & Canada (Taschen, 2014).
My freelance articles on current events, travel and culture have been featured in many publications including: The New York Times, TIME, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, WebMD and Delta Sky Magazine. I worked as a reporter, primarily for newspapers, including nine years at the Des Moines Register, and, before Iowa, in Boston, Stamford, CT, Wichita, KS, and Kansas City. A native of suburban Detroit, I graduated from Cornell University, with a history degree.
As a reporter, I have focused on issues affecting at-risk children, families and women including child care, workplace concerns, juvenile justice and child welfare. As a freelance writer, I continued this work as a writer sharing the on-the-ground impact of anti-poverty work supported by foundations, nonprofits and the public sector. For the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, I wrote about promising work across the country to increase the number of children from low-income families who read well by the end of third grade.
I moved in spring 2022 to Chicago after working and raising a family in Des Moines, with my husband, a veteran agriculture writer and editor. Contact info: brubiner@gmail.com
Sicily, 2014
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana 2012
Prague, 2013
Berlin, 2013
Bergen, Norway 2018
Lisbon 2015
Tokyo, 2016
Cornwall, 2017
Hawaii’s Big Island, 2012
TakeBetsywithyou 
Hi Betsy,
My name is Alison and I’ve read your blog for a year or more (I don’t think I’ve ever commented, though, so sorry!), and I will be driving through Iowa to Nebraska this coming Saturday. I currently live in Findlay, Ohio, and am moving to Salt Lake City. I am anticipating my boyfriend and I will want dinner somewhere between Iowa City and Des Moines and I was wondering if you could suggest somewhere in either of those cities or somewhere along the way. We’d like it to be casual, not expensive and to have something vegetarian on the menu other than a veggie burger if possible. Thank you for your help and if you want to email me directly, here’s my email: alison.kemp@gmail.com.
Hi Alison,
Thanks for reading my blog. I’d be glad to suggest some restaurants. There are so many in Iowa City and Des Moines that might help if you can tell me a little more about your preferences. Then I’ll blog on it! I gather you want casual, inexpensive, interesting vegetarian entrees. Beyond that any other things you like – ethnic? bbq?
Cheers, betsy
Hi,
My name is Morgan Parker.
Our company has a few websites similar to betsyrubiner.wordpress.com (same page rank, similar content quality and age).
Would you be interested in exchanging links with our websites? (Don’t worry, I checked and we are not competing for the same keywords.)
Let me know, and I will send you a list of our sites. Also, if you have any other websites, send them as well since I have more than one site I can offer you.
Thanks in advance,
Morgan Parker
morgan.j.parker@hotmail.com
Hi Morgan,
Thanks for your email. What is your company? And sure, you can send me a list of your sites.
Cheers, Betsy
Hello, How do I get in touch with you? There is no email or contact info listed .. please advise .. thanks .. Mary. Please contact me maryregency at gmail dot com
you can get in touch with me via my blog. what do you need?
Hi Betsy,
I was looking for a guest post on your blog, or if you are interested then we can go for link exchange partnership. I’ll post your blog link in my website that will get you a huge amount of traffic and i will expect the same from you.
Sounds Fun!
Reply me on my mail, if you are interested in Link Exchange or Guest blogging.
gaurav.hasija@onetravel.com
Thanks
Hi Betsy,
I was going through your blog, “Avoiding the overpriced toll roads into Chicago from Iowa – how I avoided I-88.” Thank you for the information. If you or any of your readers want to know tolls on any route and know a toll-free route, they can use Tollguru Toll calculator. https://tollguru.com/toll-calculator. It is free. And it shows all the toll points on the route along with Tag transponder tolls, cash tolls, and license plate video tolls.
Thank you!
Dear Betsy,
I enjoyed reading about the new hotel in Grinnell. As a biologist, though, I have to note that plants do NOT release oxygen at night, but only during the day using sunlight as an energy source for photosynthesis. At night they respire just as we do, using oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
Good to know. Thanks
Hi Betsy, I’m a freelance picture editor and I’m working on a new book about artists and their residence. Can you please let me know if you took this image of Grant Wood’s Studio, or are the rights with The Star Tribune? http://www.startribune.com/midwest-traveler-an-eastern-iowa-art-road-trip-goes-beyond-american-gothic/501036991/ Feel free to contact me on sbell@phaidon.com and I can send further details. With thanks, Sarah
Hi Sarah, I am away from my office until oct 29. Will check on the photo when I return. Betsy