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.
Weekly Intention: Ok this week’s intention is to make some plans for next week. I am off next week and would like to mix in some adventure into our week if possible and some time with my boys and some time alone.
This month’s intention is:July: Run Wild: Settle into the summer. Enjoy the wild. Use the energy of the sunshine and the long days. Step into it. Honor it. Bask in it. Last week of July, let’s see if we can get some more “wild” in our days.
One way I will show up this week: kind.
I will go into the wild: let’s see if i can find another friday adventure.
This week, I will pay attention to: what grounds me.
One new thing I will begin this week: i just began the 4 week core classes in peloton so that will have to do. also my bike is coming today so maybe that will have to be the thing!
One magic I will create: maybe a backyard picnic?
One thing I hope to release: my sadness over seeing the sadness of the people i love.
One thing I will join in on: maybe some live peloton classes
One area I will practice being open: that everything will be okay.
I am looking forward to: more climbing this week
This week’s challenges: still getting out of my mental space.
Top Goals:
Work: make a plan for the week, continue creating space, one more thing for packet. maybe write draft. keep email clean.
Personal: continue with daily peloton + biking! + running + climbing, more of eating the wild. draw. journal. do art. sleep earlier. continue 100 days of mantras. pick more friends to connect with.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. cook. walk. hike together. climb with jake. friday adventures. plans for next week.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i need more grounding. i am still all over the place.
This week, I want to remember: it’s going to be okay.
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: Hmmm not much this week either. Tbh, the days are blending into each other and I am trying to stay productive and positive but some days it’s easier than others.
Top Goals Review:
Work: did not really make a plan for the week, started creating space but not enough, did not do one more thing for packet. sort of kept email clean.
Personal: continued with daily peloton + running + climbing, slowly going back to eating the wild. drawing. journaling. not doing art. sleeping a bit earlier. continuing 100 days of mantras. not picking more friends to connect with.
Family: trying to support nathaniel and david and jake but doing so so. cooked very little this week. walked with N. hiked together. climbed with jake. did our first friday adventure.
I celebrate: going to the waterfall on Friday
I am grateful for: the good moments that are always there in the middle of the noise.
This week, I exercised: i ran 3 times for 30 minutes, I did peloton daily between stretching, strength, yoga, mediation, bootcamp, walking and running. i went climbing with Jake 2 times.
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: we went to Uvas Canyon park and hiked around waterfalls.
This week’s Wildcard was: the lovely waterfall will have to do.
I said yes to: going out even though i totally didn’t feel it.
I said no to: letting the days blend into each other.
Core Desired Feelings (leap, soft, release, join, delight) Check-in: a little better this week, mostly because i focused on what i love most. but still a bit all over the place
My mood this week was: numb
I am proud of: i am proud of all the exercise i am doing. i am showing up and trying.
I release: the need to control how others experience things. i can only change my perspective, if that.
Here’s what I learned this week: not much is changing any time soon so it’s best to find good coping strategies.
What I love right now: i still love the serenity of my backyard.
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.
Frends and Strangers (3 stars): Usually, I tend to love books where “nothing happens.” That generally means the book is focused on characters and that I get to see them and dive deeply to the characters’ experiences, thinking and choices and see their growth. In this story, even though “nothing happens” I didn’t feel the kind of depth I wish were there instead. I didn’t dislike the book but I also didn’t love it.
What’s Your Enneatype? (5 stars): I have never been a fan of the enneagram (or other tests TBH) but for some reason I really wanted to read this book so in preparation for it, I took 6 tests online just to see how consistent they would be, and of course, they disagreed with each other. But through the process, I found a number that I thought might be the most likely fit for me.
Thanks to this lovely and beautifully designed book, I was able to dig a bit deeper and the more i read, the most it resonated with me. I have since read several other books and have now become slightly obsessed with enneagram (like so many seem to be.)
This book is not a fully standalone book. It doesn’t have a test (but you can easily find several online for free.) and it doesn’t go into pages and pages and pages of depth for each number but it does have a lot of the basic and layered information for each number. So if you’re like me and wanted to take the plunge but didn’t think you could ever really find your number, this might be a good fit for you, too. And if you know your number and appreciate well-designed books, you will love this, too.
with gratitude to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Kawaii Doodle World (4 stars): I got this book so that I could do some of these lovely drawings with my little one. The characters and decorations are really fun and the author does a wonderful job of both breaking them down and building them up so you can see how to make really simple drawings and then how to use those skills to create more complex scenes. It’s the perfect starter book if you or your kids are interested in drawing these cute doodly characters.
with gratitude to Quarto Publishing Group and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Ordinary Hazards (3.5 stars): “It occurs to me that the expression ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ carries with it a false idea of forward progress.”
This book was hard for me to connect with it. At its core, this is a story about grief. Most of the story takes place at a bar, where the main character goes back and forth between being in the present day and recounting what’s going on in the bar and unwinds her story to tell us what happened until now.
The grief this character is feeling is so deep that there’s disconnection and numbing which made it very hard for me to connect with the character. If she’s not feeling her feelings, it’s really hard for me to feel them. I have to imagine them.
While I totally understand that this is an absolutely valid reaction to grief, I feel my feelings so much and so deeply that it was really hard for me to sit with this character with all that’s going on both in the past and the present and not be longing for more. I wanted to dig deeper. Deeper into her and her husband too (whom we get to know so little of really.)
I think while the story might be similar to some of Celeste Ng’s work, the feeling of this book definitely resonated more with the Claire Messud comparison for me. That empty feeling is so hard for me to reckon and connect with.
With gratitude to netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Dilemma (2 stars): I grabbed this because I wanted to continue to read something easy and fun and fast moving. I liked “The Breakdown” and thought it was really fast moving. Alas this one is wildly different. No major twists, no major revelations, just a husband and wife musing and worried about two different and major things, never talking to each other and then then when they do, they do, and nothing really happens. Very much unlike The Breakdown.
Know My Name (5 stars): I put off reading this book for quite some time. I live a handful of streets from Stanford and had, of course, heard of Chanel Miller’s story. I knew this book would completely break my heart and make me angry and sad. I didn’t know it would also make me hopeful. Chanel’s bravery and willingness to speak up didn’t result in a positive outcome for her but it did cause some tangible change for those who will come after her (because unfortunately there will always be more.) There are new laws now because of her. The judge is now gone because of her. These are permanent changes as a result of her willingness to speak up, her willingness to endure the pain and incredibly long journey of standing up for herself in court. I am so sorry for all she’s endured and so grateful for victims who’re willing to speak up and help the world become a juster place for everyone else in the process.
Self Care (3 stars): I am of two minds on this one. I liked both the punchy and seamless incorporation of jabbing fun at the wellness industry and social media. I liked the references dropped all over the book that make you smile (or chuckle) with knowing. It was laugh out loud funny at parts.
And yet, the characters were so one-dimensional and there were some dark issues that the book explores (especially towards the end) that just didn’t fit properly into this sarcastic and funny novel especially because they were not treated with the gravitas they deserve.
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 didn’t do awesome with my intentions last week. Still triggering quite a bit. I guess this week I need to aim for slowing down and being in the present moment more.
This month’s intention is:July: Run Wild: Settle into the summer. Enjoy the wild. Use the energy of the sunshine and the long days. Step into it. Honor it. Bask in it. I am definitely sitting in the sun but I am also definitely not going into the wild.
One way I will show up this week: slow.
I will go into the wild: i am considering doing some Friday adventures.
This week, I will pay attention to: when and how i start going downhill.
One new thing I will begin this week: still seeking an evening routine.
One magic I will create: my magic this week will be making Friday plans.
One thing I hope to release: my thoughts.
One thing I will join in on: book club this week!
One area I will practice being open: that things will and can turn around.
I am looking forward to: more climbing this week
This week’s challenges: just getting out of my mental space.
Top Goals:
Work: make a plan for the week, start creating space, one more thing for packet. keep email clean.
Personal: continue with daily peloton + running + climbing, go back to eating the wild. draw. journal. do art. sleep earlier. continue 100 days of mantras. pick more friends to connect with.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. cook. walk. hike together. climb with jake. friday adventures.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i want to go back to loving what is. choosing to be curious. serving others and being present to gratitude.
This week, I want to remember: things can change in a moment.
Living Wild is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here.
