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2023 in Review

Posted in Books, Getting It Together, Home, Hope, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work, Writing on December 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This year was a wild one. I’m pretty surprised I accomplished as much as I did. I met the spirit of each of my resolutions, if not the actual goals themselves.

Theme: Home

I’ve thought and read a lot this year about what home (having one, being at, making one, etc.) means. I’ve jotted down notes throughout the year and shared some of them here (click “home” link in the word salad over there —>). As I was finishing up The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, I ran across a quote that sums up a lot of my thoughts on the theme – “Nothing about deathlessness or permanence, nothing forced; it was only a request, a cry of longing: stay here, please stay, be our shelter, be our home, be loved…”

Home is not something I construct once and have forever. It is a living, breathing thing. I find it in spaces, but I can also carry it with me, a sense of belonging that simply comes from being at home with who I am. A loving, peaceful home – or world – cannot be created from exploitation or greed. It must be cultivated with care. And care is complicated, especially when there are few systems in place to foster it.

I see this working in many of the choices I’ve made this year to put down some things that seem great but are either shiny trash or just not for me. I’ve also put my strategic/analytical strengths to good use in choosing new things to pick up. 

I don’t think this a lesson that ends, but I’m glad to have explored it more thoroughly this year.

Arts/Words/Creativity 

The thrill of having a week off work without having to use any PTO often goes to my head. Especially when setting goals for the upcoming year. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. I like thinking in terms of extravagant possibilities, particularly when it comes to creative pursuits.

While I didn’t quite make the goal of reading 180 books, I don’t think it’s beyond my reach (in general – definitely beyond my reach in the next day and a half). In fact, I was ahead of schedule for most of the year, until work and health issues exploded. I don’t know how much those things will actually settle down, but I’ll keep the same goal for next year and see how it goes.  

When it comes to setting reasonable creative goals, I first had to fail spectacularly to learn. Most of the year, I faithfully set weekly plans on Sunday…and then did not meet them. Minor tangent – I am delighted to report that failing isn’t half the gut punch it used to be. Perhaps I’m actually healing from my overachiever, perfectionist ways? Here’s hoping. Anyway, in the last few months, I have become better at setting realistic short-term goals, a skill I plan to take into the new year with gusto.

Health/Wellness/Energy

I still really dislike strength training. And I dropped my Pilates membership because I wasn’t going anyway so it didn’t make sense to spend money on it. But I am begrudgingly sticking to a pretty regular schedule, completing at least two upper body and two lower body sessions a week. I am happy to report that it still works even when you whine about it, and a little whining is cathartic. 

My favorite wellness habit this year has been my commitment to making sure I have the downtime I need to function properly. The more I learn about how my brain works and what it needs to be at its best, the easier it is to say no to things that keep that from happening. Same thing with cutting out foods that make me feel sluggish. Actually feeling good and having sufficient energy to do things is so much better than slogging through or pushing myself until I collapse. I’m up to three regular time-outs a week. I think that’s the sweet spot where I still feel connected to people and life in general without getting overwhelmed and out of sorts. 

As it turns out, these are skills I will need in the months ahead.

I have some hard things coming up, health-wise. I don’t know all the specifics yet or the extent to which I will need to reorganize the rest of my life to adapt to these changes in the upcoming months, and I don’t know how much of it I will share here. I do know, however, that I will need the space to figure it out as I go along. And the work I have done this year toward being healthier – both physically and mentally – is going to help me do that. I’m grateful for what this year has taught me in this regard.

Finances

I do not have $1000 in my cushion account. Like I said, some shit has come up. But at least I have a cushion account, and I’m leaving it alone (except for the emergencies and extra surprises for which it is intended) and replenishing it as I am able. This is still an improvement over last year.

As far as my goal of identifying one new way to save or make money every month, I have gone above and beyond. I dropped subscriptions and services that I wasn’t using enough to justify the expense. I curbed impulse spending by giving myself a 3-day waiting period before buying anything I didn’t need to make sure I actually wanted to make the purchase (this was more successful at certain times than at others). Do you know how much more satisfying it makes the purchase when you actually do decide you want it? I had no idea. 

But most of all, I applied for and got a new job that increased my monthly take-home pay by about 18%. I have needed every penny of it, and I am so glad to have it. 

This year has shaken me in several ways, but it has also revealed that my foundation and my support system are stronger than I thought they were. Most days, I’m more grateful than anxious, and I’m pleased about that. 

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Challenge(s) Accepted: Reading Goals for 2024

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions on December 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Now that we’ve covered the challenges I didn’t quite finish in 2023, let’s move on to the challenges I want to work on next year. 

I’m not going to make it to the 180 books I planned to read this year, but I’m going to try again in 2024. I did, however, read a few more than I finished last year, and I still have almost a week of reading to go. So lofty goals help me read more even when I have long, dry periods of no focus. I’ll take it.

I’m also back on my nonsense of choosing four different challenges (three for the whole year, one for summer). It was good to take a year off, but I missed them, and I got a little jealous when I saw the communities discussing and recommending books for the categories. 

I’m going with my favorites:

  • Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge – I like this one because it’s designed to diversify your reading list, and it definitely does that for mine, both in authors and genres represented. 
  • POPSUGAR Reading Challenge – I love the whimsy of this challenge. The prompts are unusual, and I especially like that the prompts follow a theme (and that the theme is “dictionary”). 
  • The 52 Book Club Challenge – Designed to help you average a book a week, the prompts on this one also make you think outside the box. As an added bonus, I adore this community, and they have super cute merch. I have my own tracking system in place but if I didn’t, I’d be scooping up that journal in a flash.
  • Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Minimalist Summer Reading Guide (not out yet, obvi) – This is my favorite online bookish community, and they put so much thought into their reading guides. Maybe I’ll actually finish this one this year. Maybe I’ll even finish it in the summertime. 

For those of you who are clicking the links and doing the math…yes, you are correct. If you total the number of books on the four challenges (assuming 12-ish from the MMD Summer Challenge), it comes to 137. By the time I fill in their blanks and read for the book clubs and other social reading I do, that doesn’t leave me a lot of open choices for just fun, which is absolutely essential to my reading life. 

The way I get around that is by allowing the same book to count for multiple challenges. In fact, I delight in finding books that fulfill different prompts. A little thrill rushes through me when I discover one that works for all of them. So I can probably read 60-70 books and still complete them all, leaving the rest of the 180 with quite a bit of wiggle room.

I’m so excited about these challenges that I may not even wait until January 1 to start. 

Do you like reading challenges? If so, what are your favorites?

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Girlxoxo Reading Challenge Recap

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions on December 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I don’t think I’ve ever finished the Girlxoxo Monthly Key Word Challenge any year that I’ve tried it. It may be time to retire this one. It’s a great idea, but it always gets relegated to the back of the line. 

Here are the ones I read (and also what I planned to read but didn’t). 

January

Keyword – all

Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was fantastic. Whoever recommended it to me (I can’t remember, but if it was you – thank you so much!) told me to read it without knowing the premise, and I’m so glad I did. The book would have still been a decent story if I had read the jacket synopsis and the Goodreads blurb and then perused a few reviews, but I was really glad that certain elements were surprises. It made a good book even more enjoyable. So I’m giving you the same advice. Give it a read, but go into it as a blank slate.

February

Keyword – book

So…here’s what happened. 

I originally meant to read The Book Lover’s Cookbook for this prompt, but after a few months of choosing to read anything but this book, I finally just took it back to the library. Then, I decided to read The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. Have I even opened this one? No. No, I have not. I know exactly where it is in my apartment, though, so at least there’s that?

March

Keyword – friend

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante – I have owned this book for years, but when I put it on my March TBR I could not find it anywhere. So I ended up borrowing the library’s ebook copy. I love this exposition of lifelong friendship and how the dynamic changed as the two main characters got older, particularly as other people came in and out of their lives. I particularly enjoyed how well Ferrante wrote the perspective of the storyteller when she was an adolescent. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

April

Keyword – found (or some variation thereof)

I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer – This is a collection of erasure poetry. For the base of each poem, Baer takes an existing message, such as the ones she receives from social media or via DM, and lifts words out of it to form a response. It was a quick read but a good one. I want to read Baer’s other collections, too.

May

Keyword – dragon

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King was my plan. Even though I didn’t do so this year, technically, I have read this book. I read it for a book report in 6th grade. It was my first Stephen King book (and one of his milder ones, content-wise). My English teacher took one look at the author’s name and was scandalized, and my mom was like, “You said she could read anything as long as it was fiction. This is fiction. I don’t see the problem.” 

It’s still one of my favorite Stephen King novels. 

June

Keyword – wild

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly – Every time I read a book in which the characters go hiking, I grow more confident in my absolute lack of desire to do so myself. If any book was going to convince me, though, this one would. It made hiking sound fun and charming and adventurous and even romantic. As a person of faith, though, my favorite part was Alexei’s letters toward the end of the book in which he talked about what hiking the PCT reminded him/taught him about his own beliefs. I also adored watching his relationship with Ben unfold and how they navigated boundaries and the impact that their social circles had on them. Very sweet story.

July

Keyword – this

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. Even if I hadn’t read anything else on this challenge, I would have posted this recap just so I could talk about this book. 5/5 stars, highly recommend, whether you like time travel, sci-fi, and romance or not. It’s so witty and beautiful and good. The audio is nice, but I also enjoyed reading along with the ebook. I am also probably going to buy a print copy, because I want it on my shelf and will probably read it again. The banter and the character development were fantastic, and the plot moved along at the perfect pace. 

August

Keyword – how

How Not To Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz – The reader of the audiobook is amazing. Definitely get this one on audio. The story is told as a first-person account of the main character’s meetings with her employment agency clerk. I loved this unique approach – it’s a fun way to let the reader get a sense of the character and how she presents herself. Parts of the story were sweet; other parts were sad. All of them made me root for her, even when she was wrong.

September

Keyword – lies

Big Little Lies by Liana Moriarty – I may still read this one before the year is over. I’ve started it, and I like it so far.

October

Keyword – darkness (or some variation thereof)

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacey Willingham – I figured out the killer pretty early, but the story was still interesting and kept my attention. It was a quick read and sparked a good book club discussion, so I’m counting it as a win!

November

Keyword – two

When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky by Margaret Verble – The premise is a Cherokee horse diver suffers a terrible loss during her act, and the story unfolds from there. There are several magical realism elements to this historical fiction story that I particularly enjoyed. It’s a good mix of heavy, whimsical, funny, and dark. It’s told from different characters’ perspectives, and the audiobook is great.

December

Keyword – dance (or some variation thereof)

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon – This was a re-read for me, and it was just as amazing the second time. I especially liked reading my signed copy!

So I guess I finished most of the challenge this year, but I think my journey with it ends here. If you want to challenge yourself to read a book a month with a thriving community but want a lot of leeway in deciding what your specific book is, this one or their monthly motif reading challenge (now at chapteradventure.com) is a good place to start. They also have a round-up of all the 2024 reading challenges they know about, so that’s a good place to find one you like, too!

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The Tale of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Minimalist Summer Reading Guide

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions on December 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Since this summer, I have been keeping track of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Minimalist Summer Reading Guide. We’re just going to ignore that it’s not summer and hasn’t been for a while. We are also going to skate right by the fact that I also haven’t finished some of these books (although I have either obtained them all or at least have them on loan from the library. Sometimes intentions count?). 

We’ll just focus on what I did finish. Here’s what I thought of some of the MMD team’s favorites.

  • Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld – This was a (mostly) fun read with a few serious moments that affected me deeply. The love story was a lesson in learning to communicate clearly. It was also an interesting (and intentional? Perhaps not?) exposure of socioeconomic privilege, which almost overshadowed the love story for me. At the risk of spoilers, a lot of things could have gone a lot more badly if either character wasn’t gainfully (and, at least one of them, extravagantly) employed. Content warning for healthcare fears and access, particularly as it relates to COVID. 
  • The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray – I haven’t started this one, and I’m going to start with The Murder of Mr. Wickham because, while I recognize that MMD said the second in the series could stand alone, I am just not that kind of reader. 
  • Talking at Night by Claire Daverley – I own it but have not started.
  • The Postcard by Anne Berest – Currently checked out from the library and judging me ominously (it’s pretty thick) from the shelf in my living room. I’m sure it’s a very nice book that I will enjoy once I get to it. 
  • The summer reading guide listed Congratulations, the Best is Over! by R. Eric Thomas, but I wanted to read his first collection of essays, Here For It, first. I’m so glad I did. I loved both of these books. I already have the one on the challenge, but I’m going to have to buy the first one, too, because there will come a time I am schnockered and will need something to read aloud from (or pressure others to read aloud from). Also, I want to buy a second copy for my church’s library. Thomas is charming and hilarious. And the title essay, wherein he talks about his challenges of faith and his wedding – I want to shout it from a mountaintop. I want to sing it to the rafters (but won’t – I’m no Whitney). But yes, Lord, and amen. Congratulations, the Best is Over! is also fantastic, as he wrestles with returning and finding his place in the city he never meant to come back to. Highly recommend both books.
  • Yellowface by R. F. Kuang – I read this book so fast. It was a well-crafted train wreck and a great exposition of the downward spiral someone might go through as they keep rationalizing unethical actions. It’s a fantastic analysis of the process of whitewashing in the publishing industry. I recommend it and even read it twice so I could lead the discussion in November at one of my work book clubs. 
  • No Two Persons by Erin Bauermeister – I love the concept of this story. It traces a book through multiple readers and outlines how the book changed their lives. It was well-written, and the stories were very sweet. This is a good audio selection, as each chapter was read by a different person, so it was super easy to keep them distinct.
  • The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – Another I’m looking forward to reading soon (ideally before I run out of time to recheck it from the library).
  • Banyan Moon by Thao Thai  – I am a sucker for a story told from multiple perspectives. It keeps me from siding with just one person, thus helping me gain a fuller understanding of the story overall. Seeing this tale of family and the complicated relationships often involved in it through the eyes of three generations was very effective. 
  • If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook – I started out listening to the audio of this but switched over to the library’s print copy, and I enjoyed that more. This was one of those books that I spent most of it yelling, “Just talk to each other!” in frustration. There weren’t a lot of surprises – most of the plot points that seemed like they were meant to surprise were pretty predictable. I liked most of the characters, though, and I enjoyed seeing how everything eventually worked itself out. 
  • The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry – The ending is a little predictable but there were still a few small surprises. Mostly, I enjoyed the theme of forgiveness and mended relationships that run throughout the book. I listened to the audiobook while driving around all over west Texas to see family, and it was a lovely companion for that trip.
  • The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle – Confession: I do not love museums. I mean, they’re fine. They are interesting enough. But, like…an hour’s worth of interesting. I like to browse casually and at a regular pace, and then I want to leave and get a coffee or a snack. I do not want to make a whole day of lingering there. I did love the main character’s passion for this project, though, and I’m always a sucker for a story about finding your place in the world. The story was sweet and charming, and there was a twist at the end that I did not see coming at all.

So…not too shabby, actually. I have read most of them, and I definitely see why they made the cut for the MMD challenge. 

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Alphabet Challenge – Update 7

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work on December 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I intentionally did not take on most of my usual reading challenges this year specifically to give myself more flexibility, and in that regard, my reading plans this year were successful. Another thing I liked about my reading this year is that it was even more social than usual. I hope someone picks up the ball on hosting staff book clubs at UNT (I’m working really hard not to volunteer for yet another thing at work…but I want to). I really enjoyed reading fun things with people from across campus.

One thing I did challenge myself to read an alphabetical list of both titles and authors and while I didn’t quite finish it, I definitely chose some for this list that I enjoyed and wouldn’t have read otherwise. My favorite part of this challenge was picking some of the books off my shelves at home that I have been meaning to read for years but never got around to it. 

Anyway, although I didn’t quite finish the whole alphabet, I made it through quite a few of them. Here’s the last installment of the year.

For the main list of book titles I’ve finished for this challenge, see this post. For reviews on specific books, see previous posts:

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

Update 4

Update 5

Update 6

A

Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo 

B

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

C

The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood 

The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton 

D

Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith  

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz 

E

Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro 

The Measure by Nikki Erlick – So good! I can see why so many people recommended it, and I’m glad one of my book clubs worked it in before the end of the year. The basic premise is that people over the age of 22 all over the world started receiving mysterious boxes with strings that measure the length of their lives, and the plot developed from there. It was told from multiple perspectives of a few interconnected characters and addressed several issues that would arise from such a phenomenon. Why would/wouldn’t someone open their box? Should people running for office or those going into military service be forced to open their boxes and divulge the contents? Is there a duty to disclose to partners/employers/friends/parents/etc.? For the record, I would 100% open the box. Even though I agree with a lot of the reasons not to, and I am firmly in the right-to-privacy camp, it would come down to the simple fact that there is information there for the taking…and I would absolutely take it. I’ve already convinced one of my book clubs to read this next year, so I’m excited to see what they think.

F

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland 

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney 

G

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 

Winter Recipes from the Collective by Louise Glück 

H

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur 

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris 

I

The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

J

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry 

The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez 

K

Writers & Lovers by Lily King 

L

Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach 

Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón

M

Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home 

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

N

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik 

O

The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson 

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

P

The Pisces by Melissa Broder 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 

Q

Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood 

Blessings by Anna Quindlen – Reading this book, I realized something about my selections this year. I’m in the habit of reading books where either everything goes wrong and is awful all the way through, or after a few small bumps everything magically works out in the end. This book is a realistic mix of both. There are real joys and heartaches all throughout the story, and it’s not particularly predictable at any turn. The writing is rich, and the characters are layered. Highly recommend.

R

A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay – This book’s premise has so many things going for it for me – quirky characters, inheriting/running a bookshop, budding romances, healing relationships. But it was a slog to get through. There were definitely some good moments, but when I find myself counting page numbers and looking at the clock to estimate how much time I have left until I finish, it’s not a good sign. If the book had been any longer than it was, I probably would not have finished it.

S

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 

T

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby 

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

U

V

Verity by Colleen Hoover 

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa – Oh, my heart. I cried for like the last 80 pages of this book. I was mad and happy and sad and furious and proud and touched and about fifteen other feelings. I can see myself reading this one again. The characters use a lot of slang, so it will be interesting to see how it reads in a few (or twenty) years. I hope the difficulties the characters face read differently in that time, too (I don’t have a lot of hope, but I do hope).

W

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Witch King by Martha Wells – This is the latest from the author of the Murderbot series I love so much, and this found family fantasy novel is just as good. After 400+ pages, I feel like I’m just getting to know the characters a little bit, and I want more! The world contains demons, witches, immortals, and other types of fantasy characters from a unique perspective, and the interplay of both their powers and limitations offers endless storyline opportunities. I don’t know if this is the first in a new series, but I would be the first in line to read more.

X

Y

Z

Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul by Najwa Zebian

I am excited to pick up a couple of reading challenges for next year (more on this in an upcoming post), but I think I’m going to finish this one out, too. 

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Friday Five – Happy Almost-Holiday!

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Home, Roots, Work on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It’s the last workday of the year (well, at one job – probably going to do some writing for the other one next week. Probably. Maybe. We’ll see.). I am in the process of interviewing everyone who passed through the application portion of selection (for the department’s new live-in student staff next year) and indicated they were specifically interested in the Housing Ambassador side of things, but I am done with today’s round! I desperately need to organize my office, so that’s on the to-do list this afternoon.

Then tomorrow, it’s off to the family farm with my sister and brother-in-law! 

But first, I have some things to share with you today:

  • My favorite news this week – Martha Wells’s Murderbot is going to become a show! I love Murderbot. Very excited to see what they do with it.
  • I Am From Here by Vishwesh Bhatt – This cookbook is written like a love story to food and family and all the influences that brought Bhatt to where he is today. Beautiful pictures and a horde of new recipes to try.
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren – I enjoyed this book, but I was stressed out for most of it because there was a going-back-in-time/Groundhog-Day-esque element, and I didn’t feel like the conclusion to that was thoroughly flushed out. Are they OK? Did everyone make it out alright? I needed answers sooner and also more completely.
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – I LOVED THIS BOOK. The characters are endearing and one of them is an octopus. It’s not as weird as it sounds. It’s charming and wonderful and if you liked A Man Called Ove or Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine or books like that, you will like this one, too.
  • And finally, while I’m definitely going to pick up dinner tonight on my way home, I am looking forward to my upcoming slower week. Gonna make some big-batch meals in the crock pot and roast a whole lot of vegetables for warm salads. Maybe make some soup. I’ve pretty much depleted my stash of frozen leftovers in the last couple of weeks, so I’m excited to replenish them.

I also look forward to posting some year-in-review thoughts as well as my theme and goals for next year in the upcoming week. I wish you contentment and love as you finish out the year!

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Friday Five – A Musical Weekend

Posted in Alive, Books, Bookshops, Church, Friday Five, Fun, Home, Music on December 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Another busy week, another busy weekend. This one is going to be pretty exciting, though. Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal for our Advent/Christmas program at church, which we will present on Sunday morning. And then Sunday night, my band Wenepa is playing at Rubber Gloves at 8:30.

(I mean, it’s Chickasaw – not Cherokee – for “noise” and also we’re a quartet – not a quintet – but…close?)

I have not had a lot of focus this week (or for the last six months, but who’s counting), so I didn’t read as much as I wanted to. Here are some things I did finish/run across. Enjoy!

  • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow – I had high hopes for this one. I had heard a lot of good things about it. But my overall impression? Meh. The storyline was okay. The characters were fine. I liked it enough to at least finish it. It just didn’t stand out. If you like historical fiction with some magic thrown in, you may enjoy it. 
  • To Fall in Love, Drink This: A Wine Writer’s Memoir by Alice Feiring – Alice Feiring is the reason I started drinking mostly organic, unfussed-around-with wines, and to this day, most of my favorites fit in this category. I tabbed so much of this book as she listed hundreds of wines to try and what she finds interesting about them. I also enjoyed the stories of her family and her career. It was a quick, informative, and fun read.
  • I want to go to all these places. 
  • I love this piece about making even mundane tasks or errands into an event. I mean, I’m not sure that I need to add another stop to errands, so I love the theme of the piece more than some of the specific details. Sign me up for at least one pasta/wine night a week at home with music and comfy clothes, though. I, too, like certain moments in that movie (Because I Said So) and that scene (as well as several other scenes…and Gabriel Macht…) for those same reasons. It looks like a good life.
  • AND OMG YAY JENNY LAWSON IS WRITING ANOTHER BOOK YAY!

I hope you have a fun and only-as-eventful-as-you-want-it-to-be weekend!

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Friday Five – Books and Festivities

Posted in Books, Friday Five, Fun, Seasons, Work on December 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This month is out of control already, but I am reading up a storm. Carving out the necessary time to do so is even more crucial in busy months. 

  • I’m also participating in Susannah Conway’s December Reflections challenge as part of my reflecting-on-the-year process. Today’s prompt is ‘Best Decision of 2023,’ and hands down, the best decision I made was applying for and accepting the Coordinator for Housing Services job. I love working more closely with the Housing Ambassadors in a position where I get to both witness and aid in their professional growth. It’s such a privilege. (Having my own office is nice, too.)
  • Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey – I gave this book 4 stars for two reasons. First, one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Julia Whelan, reads it. Superb. Highly recommend. Second, the main character, while a mess, is embarrassingly relatable to me. She leaned full in to that downward spiral after her divorce, and that is exactly my irrational bad attitude after a breakup or fizzling of any kind. Everything is terrible, love is a sham, wallow and refuse to heal for a good minute because if you don’t, the cults of productivity and respectability politics win. This is exactly what that feels like and (spoiler alert) what it feels like to emerge.
  • Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage by Heather Havrilesky – I mean, the title alone was enough to hook me. An unflinchingly honest memoir about the joys and trials of marriage. I think anyone who is planning to get married (ever) should absolutely read this book so they can go ahead and set reasonable expectations for it. I would also recommend it to those who are married as a cathartic “Oh, good – it’s not just us” or “Oh, good – at least we don’t do that” or “Oh, wow – maybe we should get some therapy” tool. I would expect nothing less of Ask Polly.
  • Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan – FANTASTIC. I zoomed through the audio this past weekend because it’s been on my TBR for a minute and one of our work book clubs was scheduled to discuss it this week. I’m going to recommend it to at least two other book clubs for next year. I appreciate it when popular authors are humble enough to bring in other writers to collaborate on books that center on things outside their own experience. It makes the story so much richer.
  • The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun – Dark eco-tourism tale. My favorite parts of the writing were the bits of humor sprinkled throughout, which gave it a moderately unhinged, uncertain mood. I’d be feeling a certain way about the horrible things it was describing and then one of the characters would do something quirky or slightly charming, and the effect was jarring. Really well-written and unsettling.

Soon, we are off to our over-the-top departmental holiday party. It’s my favorite Christmas party at work of the year. Then I am getting my hair done…and going to Chelby’s I-beat-cancer party…and Molten Plains Fest is tonight. It’s just going to be a good day.

I hope you have a good day and a great weekend, too!

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Favorite Book(s) of 2023

Posted in Books, Church, Food, Getting It Together, Mental Health, Reading Challenges on December 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The prompt for December Reflections today is “Best Book of 2023.”

I tried to choose just one. I really did.

Okay, I didn’t try super hard.

But I did narrow it down to five books. And they’re (for the most part) in slightly different genres.

So there’s that.

When I am choosing the “best books” I have read in any given year, I may not be selecting ones that had the best writing (although all of these are well-written) or were the most profound (although all of these definitely had those moments). The sole factors that determine my decision are:

  • Did I love reading it?
  • Did I get something meaningful (possibly even life-changing) out of it?

And out of all the books I’ve read so far this year, these five meet those two criteria the best.

  • How To Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis – Anyone who veers in a neurospicy direction and has trouble keeping their home or other spaces organized/tidy/clean should read this book. I cannot count the ways it has helped me.
  • Here For It: Or, How To Save Your Soul in America by R. Eric Thomas – Kind and funny and charming. My favorite parts were the ones in which he talked about his wrestling with faith and identity and how that plays out.
  • Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner – As my parents age, I am more drawn to stories about loss and grief, and this was a gorgeous memoir that explored both as well as the food that reminds her of her mother.
  • This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – Is it a love story? Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? Yes. In all the best ways.
  • Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree – This book made me fall in love with cozy fantasy. I’ve already put the second one on hold at the library.

What were your favorite reads this year?

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My Love Affair With Lifelong Learning

Posted in Books, Core, Getting It Together, Home, Writing on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Paying closer attention to my writing life reminded me that I may need business cards at some point. I’m not quite satisfied with this copy but it’s close.

For the past 12 weeks, I have been experimenting with the concept of a DIY MFA. I don’t have any career aspirations that actually require an official MFA, but I know that there’s so much that I could learn from such a program that would be beneficial to me as a writer, and I am a big fan of lifelong education. I essentially wanted to outline my own class to take each semester, leaning into the wisdom of others and all the rich resources that are out there to improve my writing. Each semester would be 12 weeks long, giving me three courses a year plus a nice break between them.

So I read a ton of the background info on the DIY MFA website (see link above), created a sort of MFA 101 syllabus (gosh, I’ve missed this part of teaching so much), and jumped right in. 

There are definitely challenges with trying to teach yourself something that you don’t already know. There are also delightful discoveries.

If I give myself an honest assessment, I would have made a B in the class I created if I had taken it for real from an accredited university. I accomplished the main goal, which was to build strategies for incorporating the following four elements of a traditional MFA into every week:

  • Writing (putting words on the page to improve craft, creativity, and productivity)
  • Reading (learning both what works and what doesn’t from the examples of others)
  • Community (collaborating with writers/artists, connecting with an audience, and/or submitting/performing work)
  • Education (listening, watching, and reading things to learn how to do the previous three elements better from people who excel at them)

But I didn’t come close to finishing all the things I had outlined to do. I loaded myself up with articles to read and podcasts to listen to (the plan was to mimic a studying/lecture situation), and I made extravagant goals that, looking back, pretty much ignored the fact that I have two jobs and am not a full-time grad student. 

I gave myself a ton of resources to get through and activities to complete every week. It didn’t look like that long of a list when I started, but about seven weeks in, out of curiosity, I added up the time it would take to get through the resources outlined in that week’s plan. Almost 11 hours of podcasts alone, which are not my favorite media by a long shot. Before I started this project, I might have listened to one or two podcast episodes a month. And suddenly I expected myself to dive into 11 hours of them a week? Bless my heart. No wonder I was overwhelmed.

Additionally, podcasts were but one aspect of my education that I was trying to fit in. I also listed weekly writing, reading, and community goals that, if completed in full, would have taken at least twice as many hours than the education portion. This resulted in a to-do list that would have been a heavy load even if this project was the only responsibility I had in life.

It was easy to get discouraged by looking at all I wasn’t getting done every week. Upon reflection, however, the reason this typically straight-A student is pleased with the overall outcome is that no semester in a traditional MFA would have been this packed. A 9-hour class schedule in most programs is considered full-time, because it takes into account that, to do well, you will likely need to spend 3-4 times as many hours outside class, reading and completing assignments, as you spend inside class. I went into this as if it were one (3-hour) course, but the syllabus I created was easily the equivalent of a 12-hour graduate workload. That I finished a little more than half of it means I exceeded my initial expectations. 

And I loved every minute of it.

Well, most of the minutes. Gonna be more selective and seriously dial back the number of podcast episodes I listen to each week for the next round starting in January. I just…that is not the life for me. 

But it forced me to be more mindful of my goals and how they balance. As a result, I’ve written more in the last 12 weeks than I have in the rest of the year combined. I also feel less stressed about decisions about my involvement with my various artsy communities (specifically, those times I want to do something but need to say no) because I now have a better overall understanding of my creative life as a whole. More of that, please. 

I also think having an official textbook for each semester would be helpful because then I can choose additional resources that complement it rather than jumping topics so much. For example, the next session’s textbook is Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, which I have been through once already, but I know there’s so much more to learn there. And Cameron’s book is so detailed that the syllabus will basically write itself.

So this first session was a success, even if it didn’t always feel like it at the time.

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