Weekly Intention: Ok this week’s intention is twofold: do what i need to do with perf and then ground myself with the here and now as much as i can.
This month’s intention is:August: Wildest Dreams: Time to get organized again, transitions are coming, big ones this time. Get organized, plan, prepare and do what you need to do. Write down all your dreams. Make plans. Not sure what I meant by big transitions. But school starts next week so this is our last week of summer together.
One way I will show up this week: organized.
I will go into the wild: maybe we can go climbing this week
This week, I will pay attention to: getting organized at work.
One new thing I will begin this week: some sort of releasing exercise
One magic I will create: maybe some goodbye to summer fun.
One thing I hope to release: perf
One thing I will join in on: book club this week.
One area I will practice being open: to whatever comes i guess and that it might not be all bad.
I am looking forward to: being done with perf.
This week’s challenges: just the energy it takes to get through the week. dentist appointments, two school trips. a lot going on this week.
Top Goals:
Work: finish and submit packet, continue creating space, make a plan, keep email clean.
Personal: continue with daily core + biking! + running, meditation and stretching, do better on eating the wild. draw. journal. sleep earlier. continue 100 days of mantras. pick more friends to connect with. cold showers.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. cook. walk. climb together. friday adventures. school trips to get materials. dentist.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): I am learning to be peaceful and to love what is. I am feeling grateful that we are safe and healthy.
This week, I want to remember: that what matters to me is actually just loving my people.
Living Wild is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
The Wildest Part of this Week was: Most of the effort this week was taking care of my people, ignoring my email and then sitting and doing all the email at once. It was a short/long week.
Top Goals Review:
Work: wrote packet, didn’t do awesome in creating space, did not make a plan, didn’t keep email clean but cleaned it.
Personal: continued with daily core + biking! + running, added meditation and stretching, did so so on eating the wild. drew. journaled. slept soso. continued 100 days of mantras. did not pick more friends to connect with. took cold showers.
Family: supported nathaniel and david and jake. did not cook. did not walk. did not hike together. did no friday adventures. not the best week for family. but i tried.
I celebrate: working out so hard.
I am grateful for: the little health scare from this week likely being nothing.
This week, I exercised: i ran 3 times for 20 minutes, I did the peloton bike every day and i also did several core, arms, meditation and stretching classes.
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: we didn’t do an outdoor adventure this week.
This week’s Wildcard was: just so much stress this week but all will be ok.
I said yes to: writing my packet.
I said no to: reading my mail at night.
Core Desired Feelings (leap, soft, release, join, delight) Check-in: i am releasing the pressure of spending too much energy on perf, and being kinder with myself. i am delighting in animal crossing still and leaping into exercising more and more.
My mood this week was: tired
I am proud of: all the exercise I am doing.
I release: the anxiety from all the mail
Here’s what I learned this week: the way i move through things matters
What I love right now: the peace animal crossing is bringing me.
Weekly Review 2020 is a year-long project for 2020. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I also have an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
The End of the Day (4 stars): “Whatever their differences might be, they were alike in one, now obvious way: they were both men who left her bruised. “
I love Bill Clegg’s writing. I know several people thought this was a slow-moving novel, but not for me. Maybe because I knew that, I sat down and committed to reading at least 30% of it in one go. Most stories pick up by the 30-40% mark and this was no exception. By that time, I’d met most of the characters, gotten attached to them and was curious enough about the plot (and how the characters connected) that there was no way I was putting it down.
“He is yours and so he is also mine, whether I like it or not, but let’s not pretend to have the same experience of him, she told Hap later, after they became engaged.”
The characters in this story seem to far away from each other that, at first, it’s impossible to imagine how they might be connected. And yet, the story beautifully, patiently weaves them together and you’re left seeing the whole quilt in a way that makes each square more precious.
I loved Clegg’s writing, his characters that slowly made their way into my heart with their exquisitely flawed lives and choices. None of the characters were utterly likable and yet they were each so relatable in their own ways and easy to sympathize with. The wanting, the grief and the sadness of their lives was so palpable.
I enjoyed this quiet book very much.
With gratitude to netgalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Trouble with Hating You (4 stars): Even though I’ve already forgotten most of it, I read this is in one sitting and enjoyed every single moment i spent with it. It’s fast moving, funny, and truly enjoyable.
What You Wish For (4 stars): There’s something sweet and magical about Katherine Center’s books. They are like cozy blankets and a warm cup of tea on a cold night. At a time like this, her books are exactly what we all need. The delicious dialogue, the wonderful characters and sweet sweet stories. Love her.
The Butterfly Lampshade (3.5 stars): I love Aimee Bender. Her previous book was one of my very favorites and this one was also up there for me because her use of imagery, her ability to blend the surreal with the real, and the 3-dimensional characters she has even in her smaller characters are really all i want from a book ever. This book about mental illness was not as wonderful as The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake so if you haven’t read any of her, i’d recommend that first.
Midnight Sun (3 stars): There was almost no chance I wasn’t reading this book. I’ve been waiting for it since she originally started writing it 15 years ago. My first 30 minutes with the audiobook felt like I wouldn’t actually be able to go through with it but then I remembered the familiar characters and got lost in the lovely world again. By the end, it was definitely feeling a little too long, but I am still glad I got to revisit this with all the memories it brought back.
The Book of Wild flowers (4 stars): If you enjoy looking through a book of absolutely beautiful flower drawings, you will love and adore this book. I loved every single drawing in the book. It’s incredible how many varieties of flowers can be found in nature and how delicate and beautiful each other. I have a soft spot for the poppies and sunflowers.
with gratitude to netgalley and Dover Publications for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
And there we go, grateful to be reading.
Books I Read this Week 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
Weekly Intention: I have only 3 days of work this week and my biggest intention is to be present and work hard during those days and then give myself grace on the others. Summer is almost over. I want to be with my kids a bit more.
This month’s intention is:August: Wildest Dreams: Time to get organized again, transitions are coming, big ones this time. Get organized, plan, prepare and do what you need to do. Write down all your dreams. Make plans. Meh when I wrote this, I had no idea about covid of course. Though transitions are still coming. I need to make some plans.
One way I will show up this week: focused.
I will go into the wild: not sure if i will this week, i will plan to take it one day at a time.
This week, I will pay attention to: my kiddos and my hubby.
One new thing I will begin this week: meditation and stretching before bed, cold showers in the morning.
One magic I will create: if i can do this simple night routine, it will be magical.
One thing I hope to release: my stress around all the life things. is that even possible?
One thing I will join in on: more fun time with Nathaniel.
One area I will practice being open: that things at work will work out.
I am looking forward to: getting some work done.
This week’s challenges: writing my packet.
Top Goals:
Work: write packet, continue creating space, make a plan, keep email clean.
Personal: continue with daily core + biking! + running, see if you can add meditation and stretching, do better on eating the wild. draw. journal. sleep earlier. continue 100 days of mantras. pick more friends to connect with. cold showers.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. cook. walk. hike together. friday adventures.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i decided to love the days, even when i do nothing.
This week, I want to remember: how incredibly precious life is.
Living Wild is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
The Wildest Part of this Week was: This was a very quiet week. I did practically nothing all week since I was off work. A lot of exercise, doctor’s appointments, reading, puzzle making and playing animal crossing.
Top Goals Review: I had no goals. I met them all!
I celebrate: relaxing a lot this week, I feel very peaceful.
I am grateful for: david being ok.
This week, I exercised: i ran 3 times for 30 minutes, I did the peloton bike every day and i also did several core, arms and stretching classes.
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: we didn’t do an outdoor adventure this week.
This week’s Wildcard was: a doctor’s appointment on Monday, still hoping it’s ok.
I said yes to: doing nothing.
I said no to: feeling bad about my lack of plans.
Core Desired Feelings (leap, soft, release, join, delight) Check-in: i am releasing the pressure of doing things, and being softer with myself. i am delighting in joining nathaniel with animal crossing and leaping into exercising more.
My mood this week was: anxious but also calm
I am proud of: all the exercise I am doing.
I release: the need to control the outcome
Here’s what I learned this week: all that matters to me are the people i love.
What I love right now: just not working for a little bit.
Weekly Review 2020 is a year-long project for 2020. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I also have an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
Vesper Flights (4 stars): “The switch in recognition is eerie: I go from seeing rushing patterns in the sky to the realisation that they are made of thousands of beating hearts and eyes and fragile frames of feather and bone. I watch the cranes scratching their beaks with their toes and think of how the startling flocks that pour into reed beds like grain turn all of a sudden into birds perching on bowed stems, bright-eyed, their feathers spangled with white spots that glow like small stars. I marvel at how confusion can be resolved by focusing on the things from which its made. The magic of flocks is this simple switch between geometry and family.”
Helen Macdonald has such a beautiful way with words. When you couple her love of animals and nature with her ability to observe the smallest details and her eloquence with words, you get these beautiful stories. These stories of nature, of birds are to be savored which means that you slow down as you read them and marvel in the beauty of nature.
“They used to think that we record a short term memory, then archive it later, move it to a different part of the brain to story it long term. But now they’ve discovered that the brain always records two tracks at once. That it is always taping two stories in parallel. Short-term memories, long-term memories, to tracks of running recollection, memory doubled. Always doubled.”
If you like nature and especially birds, this book is sure to sweep you away and make you appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature. You will not be disappointed.
with gratitude to netgalley and Grove Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Biggest Bluff (3.5 stars): I’m not a huge poker player but I really enjoyed my time with this book. It was quite interesting to see how you can go from someone who doesn’t play to someone who can achieve quite a lot with concerted effort, a LOT of practice, guidance from the pros, and self-mastery.
I find most nonfiction to be a little longer than necessary and this was no exception. It was still interesting the whole time
Faking Friends (3 stars): Fun, lightweight read about relationships, friendship, finding yourself and standing on your own two feet. I will say that while I enjoyed it as I was reading it, when I look back upon it, I am not feeling the warm fuzzy feelings you get with most of these light reading books. The characters were all pretty not-awesome and the way everyone treated each other was quite awful.
The Girl from Widow Hills (3 stars): Read this one in one sitting. Mystery with a twist in the end-ish. I liked the story and enjoyed my time with it. I seem to go between romance and mystery and some literary through this pandemic so this was my mystery of the week. It was fast paced and an easy read. I wish the characters were a bit more developed but nonetheless i enjoyed it.
The Henna Artist (4 stars): I really loved this story. I put off reading it for a long time because historical fiction never feels like my preference but then i always like the books.
Full Disclosure (3 stars): I really liked this YA novel about a girl with HIV. I had not read a novel with the main character (especially YA) having HIV. I also really enjoyed what I felt to be a more accurate representation of teenagers in general.
And there we go, grateful to be reading.
Books I Read this Week 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
Weekly Intention: I am not working this week so my intention is to slow down, exercise, enjoy time with my kids, and maybe go on some adventures.
This month’s intention is:August: Wildest Dreams: Time to get organized again, transitions are coming, big ones this time. Get organized, plan, prepare and do what you need to do. Write down all your dreams. Make plans. Meh when I wrote this, I had no idea about covid of course. Though transitions are still coming. I need to make some plans.
One way I will show up this week: slow.
I will go into the wild: maybe one adventure this week would do me good.
This week, I will pay attention to: just the quiet.
One new thing I will begin this week: this week, i will begin nothing. if i am in the mood maybe some art.
One magic I will create: just relaxing will be magical
One thing I hope to release: all the weight of all this. even if i can just put it down for a little while it would be great.
One thing I will join in on: some fun time with Nathaniel.
One area I will practice being open: that “wasting” days is ok.
I am looking forward to: resting
This week’s challenges: doctor’s appointment this morning.
Top Goals:no goals.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i need a bit of routine and some plans so the days don’t just pass with my doing nothing.
This week, I want to remember: these lovely summer days since it will be fall soon.
Living Wild is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
The Wildest Part of this Week was: Well I am not sure it was wild, but our climbing gym shut down this week as the county closed back up. So that was definitely wildly sad. We also got our Peloton delivered this week which was really lovely.
Top Goals Review:
Work: did not make a plan for the week, did continue creating space, did do one more thing for packet. did not write draft. sort of kept email clean.
Personal: continued with daily peloton and the biking! + 3x/week running + we also did a bunch of climbing, i did so so on eating the wild. i drew 4 times and journaled 5 times. i still did not do art, have to figure a plan for that. i have been trying to sleep earlier. i did continue 100 days of mantras. i didn’t yet pick more friends to connect with though i did connect with two new people this week.
Family: supported nathaniel and david and jake. cooked. did not walk or hike together. climbed with jake. did not do friday adventures. made no plans.
I celebrate: seeing my cousin.
I am grateful for: the peloton, we’ve all been doing it a lot.
This week, I exercised: i ran 3 times for 30 minutes, i went climbing with Jake 3 times. I did the peloton bike every day and i also did several core and stretching classes.
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: we didn’t do an outdoor adventure this week.
I said yes to: going to my cousin’s even though i didn’t feel it.
I said no to: checking my email all weekend!.
Core Desired Feelings (leap, soft, release, join, delight) Check-in: even a bit better now. but i am still feeling in that in between place where i feel like doing nothing most of my days.
My mood this week was: noncommittal
I am proud of: all the peloton riding i did this week.
I release: so much of the angst and stress i am carrying
Here’s what I learned this week: how i move through things has a huge impact on how i feel
What I love right now: i’m going to have to go with the bike!
Weekly Review 2020 is a year-long project for 2020. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I also have an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
Clap When you Land (4 stars): I love Acevedo’s books. I’ve loved The Poet X and With the Fire on High. And I loved Clap When You Land. I love the rhythm of her books. I love her characters. I love the way her books make me feel. This is a very short book and Acevedo has a section at the end where she explains how she got inspired to write this story. Enjoyed my time with this one.
A Beautifully Foolish Endevour (3.5 stars): Sometimes you read a book at the wrong time for you. I think this was my issue with this book. I loved Green’s first book and really enjoyed the story and the writing. I was very much looking forward to the sequel. Even though I know he didn’t write it during 2020, this book is such a relevant book for 2020. The desire to escape and belong to a virtual reality is just so palpable this year when the real world is unfriendly to human activity.
And yet.
I felt like this book was too much, there were too many things crammed into it. There were too many POVs and not enough depth in any part cause there was just so so much going on. The social commentary was fantastic and I think there could have been two other books here instead of the one dense and shallow one.
Still love Hank Green and will continue to read anything he writes.
The Book of Hidden Wonders (4 stars): “In each room the crying sounded different. In the drawing room there were huge, racking sobs; in the bathroom quiet little whimpers.”
This is the story of Romily who lives in a ramshackle mansion in the English countryside with her artist father who writes picture books about Romily and her cat. These books a wildly popular and there’s a story that they contain a treasure hunt.
The book is a coming-of-age story for Romily as people looking for the treasure wander in the vicinity of her life, as her mother who abandoned her comes in and our of her life, as she befriends a local girl.
As the years pass, and Romily finally uncovers the treasure, she is left to pickup the pieces of her life.
Even though the book is quite sad, I really enjoyed my time with it. I loved the visual elements and each of the characters were unique and interesting. I wish I knew more about the dad. Some really really beautiful writing and imagery in this story.
with gratitude to netgalley and harlequin publishing – Park Row for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Reading People (4 stars): I have become obsessed with Personality Assessments a bit this summer so this was the perfect complimentary book for me. It is, in fact, the only book that has finally made me understand Myers Briggs enough to make my peace with it. I enjoyed Bogel’s writing very much. It’s the perfect combination of background history, information, and personal story. If personality tests interest you, too, you will love this book.
The Switch (4 stars): I read and loved Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare last year, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this story.
This is the story of Leena and her grandmother Eileen. Leena is deeply burned out and is required to take two-months off work when she blows a major presentation and Eileen is newly single and looking for both some fun and companionship in her life.
To help each other, they decide to switch homes for a while so Eileen can live in the bustling, urban London and Leena can relax in the quiet life of Eileen’s little neighborhood.
What I loved most about this book is how lovely both of the women were and how they each found ways to bloom where they were. Even though things don’t go as planned, of course, and they learn so much about themselves and what they really want, of course. And they get to see that the people they think they understood, maybe they didn’t understand as well as they thought. Even with all that, most of the moments of this story and happy, hopeful, and show you how strong both Eileen and Leena are.
How they have each other and other community to help and support them. And how they show up for the people around them, too. O’Leary knows how to create characters that stay with you.
This lovely book was made only more lovely by the narration of Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones who play their parts beautifully and really make these characters come alive.
with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve never heard of or read any books by Alice Feeney before but the premise of this book sounded interesting to me so I decided I wanted to give it a try. It’s about a journalist, Anna, who goes back to her hometown to report about a murder. And Detective Jack who is also trying to uncover the truth while he’s embroiled in it himself.
This is a fast paced novel where the chapters alternate between him and her and the whole time you’re trying to figure out what’s going on and who did it. I am not usually a fan of twists or weird ways the author tries to manipulate the plot in books like these to make it hard to guess.
But in this case, Feeney managed to keep me interested and surprised without making me frustrated. She does an absolutely excellent job of keeping the reader on his/her toes. If you like fast-paced mysteries, you will love this one.
If audiobooks are your genre, this one is narrated by two actors: Richard Armitage & Stephanie Racine, which makes the audio quality excellent.
With gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Nothing Man (3.5 stars): The premise of this book was absolutely fascinating to me. The chapters alternate between a book (within the book) where the author’s writing about a serial killer who’s murdered all of her family and others. The serial killer himself finds the book at a store and starts reading it so the alternating chapters are told by him as he reads this book and reacts to what he’s reading.
This book was great at first and great at the end with a bit of a slump in the middle, for me. As the details of the serial killer and the ways in which he killed all of his victims kept coming, I was pretty ready to put the book down but, of course, I kept wanting to see what was going to happen.
And I am glad I stuck with it. There were some twists I didn’t see coming and other twists I did see coming. The whole book came together really well in the end.
I read an audio version of this book narrated by Alana Kerr-Collins and John Keating and the two different voices really helped make the story more real.
with gratitude to netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
And there we go, grateful to be reading.
Books I Read this Week 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
