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.
My Path to Happy (3 stars): I enjoyed my time with this little book that brings to life the author’s journey with her depression. The drawings were cute and slightly juvenile. If you read this as the story of one person and her journey through this really dark time in her life, I think there’s a lot of authenticity and hope in her own journey even though not a lot of depth. However, I would not recommend giving this to anyone currently suffering from depression. The author makes a lot of choices for herself where she experiments with different ideas and ignores doctor recommendations. That might be completely ok for her but not necessarily great as advice to others since it’s important to see a professional and make your own choices around your mental health.
thank you to netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing fr an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
The Art of Spiral Drawing (4 stars): When I saw the cover of this book, I couldn’t stop staring at the unique and 3-dimensional looking drawings. This book breaks this style into very simple components and shows you how to make some of those much more complicated art pieces on the cover.
I’d never heard of Spiral Drawing but it’s super-cool looking and relatively simple to do. It reminds me of zentangles and once I’ve practiced enough I have no doubt it will be just as calming. If these intrigue you as much as they did me, I am sure you will love this book.
with gratitude to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
21 Rituals to Connect with Nature (4 stars): I pick a word of the year each year and my word for 2020 is “wild.” My goal is to connect more with nature and to spend more time outdoors. So when I saw this book, I knew I was going to have to read it.
I knew nothing about the author and didn’t read much of the blurb either, so I had no prejudices going in. This book has 3 sections of 7 rituals each. Each ritual has the science behind it, an anecdotal story, and then the “what to do” as well as some thoughts to journal. All of them are relatively basic and simple but powerful exercises. If you go into this book thinking it will be new, complicated or unusual ideas, you will get disappointed.
Most of the ideas are things that involve your senses or intentionally being aware of the nature around you. Trees, birds, water, sun, etc. They might seem simple, but for me, they were the exact reminder I needed that there are really small things I can do each day that have profound effects in my life. I loved almost all the ideas in here.
Most of the ideas in the book are very tangible but there are a small handful of ideas that may or may not resonate with you depending on how you feel about psychic energy. Those didn’t fully resonate with me but it didn’t deter from the power of the overall book, for me.
I cannot wait to do these rituals again and again.
with gratitude to netgalley and Watkins Publishing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Meditative Stone Art (4 stars): This book is about creating small pieces of art on top of stones. I have done that in the past and loved it but what really drew me to this book was the mandalas. I’ve been trying to learn how to draw mandalas and I loved the ones that were on the cover of this book. So I was hoping it would help me to learn more about how to draw them.
As the title indicates, this book has step by step of 40+ designs. It also has a template for every single one of them at the back of the book. for me, it was the perfect starting book. Besides the mandalas, it also has wonderful examples of beetles, butterflies, fish and other animals and plants.
If stone painting or mandalas are interesting at all to you, you will enjoy this book!
with gratitude to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Expressive Sketchbooks (4 stars): If you’re a beginner Sketchbooker or are interested in beginning, I think you will really enjoy this delightful book. It has a great collection of the author’s sketchbooks and some really simple ideas to help get you started. And it also has elegant, beautiful, and more sophisticated ideas too. There’s a great mix of ideas with pencil, watercolor, and collage.
This book also talks about the emotional experience of creating, of doubting yourself, of getting stuck and learning to make peace with your art and looking at it as practice and learning. I really enjoyed the author’s kind voice and soft guidance throughout. She was both relatable and knowledgeable.
A great encouragement and idea-filled book for sketchers.
with gratitude to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Postscript (3 stars): For reasons I couldn’t understand, I kept resisting reading this book. I barely remember reading the original and wasn’t sure if this would feel like an unnecessary extension of a lovely story that should have been well-enough left alone.
Thankfully, it didn’t feel that way. The story had its own proper plot and also had the benefit of seeing a story over time and reflecting on its lessons slightly differently after so much time had passed. Considering how long it had been since the first book, I though this was a nice juxtaposition between real life and the book.
I really liked it, of course. Ahern can write and knows how to weave a story well with memorable characters. If you liked the first, you will likely like this one, too.
Leave Only Footprints (5 stars): “It occurred to me that part of the reason I’d seen so much debate about the year’s first sunrise, and not its last sunset, was that our beginnings always seem more important than our endings. In life, we can often control how things start. Endings are elusive and amorphous and uncertain.”
I loved this book. My word of the year this year is “wild” which is about being in the wilderness more. In 2002, I did a cross-country trip with my husband where we went to 30+ national parks and promised each other to rent an RV when we retired so we could do more of that. So when I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it immediately. I wanted to revisit the parks I’d seen in person and find out about all the ones I hadn’t.
“I don’t know what, if anything, comes after this life. But I can tell you this: If there is a Heaven, I bet it looks a lot like Yosemite.”
And the book did not disappoint. It is the journey of the author over the course of a year as he visits every National Park in the United States. The book has parts that are informative, parts that are funny, and parts that are poignant. For me, it struck the perfect balance between the three, managing to make it a really enjoyable read.
“In a cave, you are simultaneously outdoors and indoors, protected from the elements and yet exposed to all sorts of new dangers.”
I will admit that more than once, I wished the book came with photos. I wanted to be able to imagine what the parks looked like as he told stories about being in them. Some are very briefly mentioned, while the others are longer. But I wanted to see photos of all of them. I spent time going between my book and internet searches so I could see the photos of the mentioned places.
“When I saw the pile, I couldn’t decide if it was depressing or beautiful. It’s probably a bit of both. It’s a monument to our desire to do the right thing, but it’s also proof that, sometimes, doing the right thing doesn’t matter. Sometimes it can be too little, too late.”
I know the author has live video segments, I haven’t seen any of them, but I will definitely go looking for them so I can enjoy all of this once more.
Thank you to netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
And there we go, another week of reading in 2020.
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.
Prompt: Listen – 04 | Use “Funny how a melody sounds like a memory.” to tell the story of a specific song that brings back memories for you.
When my husband and I first started dating back in college, I spent a lot of time in his dorm room, hanging out with him and his college roommate, Jason. At the time, they were really into Quentin Tarantino and while I hated the movies, I loved the soundtrack. At some point, we started listening to “Son of a Preacher man” and couldn’t stop.
We put the song on repeat and basically never turned it off. We would lower the volume and just keep it going in the background the whole time. When one of us entered the room, we would yell “Oh it’s my favorite song, turn it up!!” and we would increase the volume and sing it together.
This kept going for the better part of many, many months. I never got sick of it.
Even now, when I hear the song, it makes me smile and brings back all of the memories of that time of my life. The best memories.
This year I am planning to do something different than last year. Around last September, I stopped taking a lot of daily photos which then meant I also stopped scrapbooking. I have several of the Story Kit’s piled up. So I decided to switch gears a bit and see if I can use Ali’s prompts to tell my stories. I might (or might not) also turn them into scrapbook pages. In the meantime, I will just enjoy telling my stories.
Stories from 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. The prompts are from Ali’s Story Kits unless mentioned otherwise. I have started an instagram account for these, we’ll see if I keep it up.
Weekly Intention: This week my intention is to try to go back to a bit of a routine for myself and find ways to ground myself. The coronavirus news is definitely creating a low but persistent level of anxiety in me. Coupled with the inability to go climbing and working late nights due to perf, I am more discombobulated than I’d like to be. My intention this week is to go back to exercising in the mornings on the treadmill and to see if I can make it to two classes at work this week. Coupled with some drawing and some journaling I am hoping that will ground me. I also plan to leave work at a reasonable time every day, even if it delays perf even further.
This month’s intention is:Wild Air: Go outside. Smell the spring air. The seasons are shifting again and it’s time to try new things, new places, take new chances. Pick one thing and go big. Drink the wild air.I did finally make the exercise list from February but I still didn’t make a list of people to reach out to and date nights to do. I did start a hike list but we only managed to do half of one this week. Let’s see how we manage next week. We also have to apply for our Whitney and Half Dome as this is the last week for Whitney.
One way I will show up this week: calm.
I will go into the wild: I am hoping that Jake and I can take another hike this weekend and I also want to get out for 20 minutes every day, even if it’s just to sit in the sun.
This week, I will pay attention to: continuing the food plan, getting more exercise, and finishing perf. setting a routine for some of my other work that’s still not settled.
One new thing I will begin this week: back to daily walking.
One magic I will create: I want to have a bit of a time with my kids if I can pull it off this week. Some small magic together as a family.
One thing I hope to release: the guilt i feel over how off this year feels so far. how little i feel like i am honoring my word. also how hard i am being on myself.
One thing I will join in on: work exercise classes!
One area I will practice being open: that everything will be okay.
I am looking forward to: perf being done.
This week’s challenges: just going back into routine, exercising again.
Top Goals:
Work: finish perf. stay on top of email. spend some time with nbu and tokyo. write down plans.
Personal: i still really crave the way figure out a routine that works for me. i still crave journaling. go back to exercising more. continue eating the wild.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. taxes. whitney and half dome. science fairs. school breakfast.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i am trying to remember these, keep it all in perspective, and lean into who i am and what I value.
This week, I want to remember: i am so lucky and blessed.
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: Voting wearing plastic gloves. I always prefer to vote in person but this year, I wasn’t sure it was safe. So we decided to go with gloves on just to be safe.
Top Goals Review:
Work: did not finish perf but pretty close. stayed on top of email. did not spend some time with nbu and tokyo.
Personal: did not figure out a routine that works for me. did journal a little. did not get into a groove. did eat the wild.
Family: supported nathaniel and david and jake. finished taxes, round one.
I celebrate: Voting.
I am grateful for: my family’s safety and health at these times of uncertainty
This week, I exercised: i’ve been doing a poor job of exercise. i went bouldering on Tuesday night at work and I went on a mini hike with Jake today. I need to go back to the daily walking and maybe take some classes at work since I can’t go to the climbing gym at the moment.
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: Some awesome outdoor time in Houston. That will be it this week.
This week’s Wildcard was: Well coronovirus definitely is a wildcard. Albeit not a good one.
I said yes to: bouldering at work, a 5am hike right after the time change so it was a 4am hike. working really late every night this week.
I said no to: exercising in the mornings, which i am sad about.
Core Desired Feelings (leap, soft, release, join, delight) Check-in: i haven’t connected to my core desired feelings in so long. I actively work on releasing but nothing else sadly.
My mood this week was: on edge if i am honest.
I am proud of: staying calm throughout all that’s going on
I release: the guilt of not getting it all done, of not being perfect.
Here’s what I learned this week: life is precious. yes, i know this but i seem to also have to relearn it often.
What I love right now: I love that the days will now be even longer, i love that spring is around the corner and i love that I have a desktop at work now.
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 Girl With the Louding Voice (4 stars): I really enjoyed this book of a girl who despite her terrible circumstances is convinced she wants to get an education. Sold to a husband at the age of 14, she doesn’t stop in her quest despite one setback after another. It was hard to remember that despite living a very grown up life, the main character is just 14 as she goes through all these experiences. Sometimes she’s doing naive things and some times she makes mistakes. All in all, I am glad I read it.
Yes No Maybe So (3.5 stars): I enjoyed this sweet novel. The two characters were reasonably developed and had moments of being weak and moments of being strong. I also liked how several things don’t get resolved. There is always a need to tie up loose ends when a novel finishes. If it’s a plot driven story, I can see that might be necessary but in real-life things don’t tie up so easily so having a handful of things unresolved feels more right to me. Like Albertalli’s other books, I thought this was real and sweet and enjoyable to read.
Run Me to Earth (3 stars): Sometimes a book just comes at a wrong time. I could never get into this book or focus fully on it. So I didn’t connect with the characters. I still enjoyed my time with it and will have to go back and read it another time again.
Trick Mirror (4 stars): I picked up and put down this book several times before I finally read the whole thing. I am not sure why I waited so long. It was an excellent collection of essays that were well researched and we’ll written. Highly recommend.
Interior Chinatown (4 stars): I really enjoyed my time with this book. What a smart, funny, poignant and sweet book. Such a unique way to explore Asian-American racism and stereotypes, funny but not dark or ironic and also manages to be sweet and touching at the same time. Highly recommended.
Me and White Supremacy (4 stars): I will have to read and reread this book regularly. When it comes to these topics, I prefer to read wide and regularly. I can never learn enough and I have a long way to go. I listened to this on audio which I would not recommend. It’s a workbook, it’s best in print form.
Moon of the Crusted Snow (3.5 stars): I really liked the time I spent with this quiet, sad, and well written novel. The atmosphere in the novel was a big part of the story for me. The topics explored in the short novel still managed to be complex and the characters were memorable and textured. An unusually well done dystopia.
The Opposite of Fate (4 stars): I postponed reading this book because I thought it would be melodramatic and the reviews said the characters were one dimensional. For me, neither turned out to be true. This was well-narrated so the story seemed quiet and sad which rang true to me, but not melodramatic and over the top. I liked each of the characters and didn’t really think they were one dimensional. The whole story is centered around one event so you only see the characters through that lens for the most part, but I still thought the author did justice to the nuanced decisions throughout the book. At least for me, it was a good read.
And there we go, another week of reading in 2020.
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.
I am not a naturally happy person. I work hard, I am reliable, I am kind, I am thoughtful, but I am not always happy. My default state of being is pensive, sad, and often worried. I spend a lot of my time hustling for worthiness and trying to earn the space I take up in the world. This is likely why I feel very drawn to people who can lighten my mood and quiet down my thoughts. At the very top of this list is my amazing husband.
My husband and I met and started dating back in 1994. He was always so happy and light and joyful. It didn’t matter how hard a day was, he would go to sleep and wake up like tigger: full of hope and joy and excitement.
Even now, twenty-five years later, he is still the light that fills up my life. He walks into the room and I feel like the sun is shining on me. Of course, he has his tough days too and he’s not always tigger-like but the joy my husband exudes is enough to fill both of us up most days than not.
I often tell him that he doesn’t even have to do anything, he just needs to be around me and I feel filled up with sunshine. I feel optimistic and grateful and happy. His presence alone is enough for me.
I am so grateful that I found him.
This year I am planning to do something different than last year. Around last September, I stopped taking a lot of daily photos which then meant I also stopped scrapbooking. I have several of the Story Kit’s piled up. So I decided to switch gears a bit and see if I can use Ali’s prompts to tell my stories. I might (or might not) also turn them into scrapbook pages. In the meantime, I will just enjoy telling my stories.
Stories from 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. The prompts are from Ali’s Story Kits unless mentioned otherwise. I have started an instagram account for these, we’ll see if I keep it up.
Weekly Intention: I get to travel for work at the early part of this week. I will be in Houston for three days with 60+ colleagues in a leadership training. Then I get to be home while Jake travels to be with his siblings. My intention this week is to be kind to myself. I’ve been struggling and I really need this reminder.
This month’s intention is:Wild Air: Go outside. Smell the spring air. The seasons are shifting again and it’s time to try new things, new places, take new chances. Pick one thing and go big. Drink the wild air.One more week left in February. I still didn’t make a list of people to reach out to and date nights to do nor did I make the exercise list from February. For March, I think my plan is to make a hike list and see how many we can complete. We also have to apply for our Whitney and Half Dome.
One way I will show up this week: focused.
I will go into the wild: I am hoping that Jake and I can take a hike this weekend and I also want to get out for 30 minutes every day.
This week, I will pay attention to: getting ahead at work, and starting the food plan.
One new thing I will begin this week: I am planning to start eating the wild again this week. Let’s see what I can do.
One magic I will create: Maybe I will give myself a celebration party for being done with the packet.
One thing I hope to release: I am actively working on acknowledging the anxiety and listening to the voices inside that don’t seem to be rational. Paying attention to what I say and what I hear and how I feel. First step to releasing is noticing, I hope.
One thing I will join in on: I have a trip to the kids’ school on Tuesday night which involves a community dinner.
One area I will practice being open: that it might work. just maybe.
I am looking forward to: having jake back.
This week’s challenges: just so so so much work this week.
Top Goals:
Work: finish perf. stay on top of email. spend some time with nbu and tokyo.
Personal: figure out a routine that works for me. journal. get into a groove. eat the wild.
Family: support nathaniel and david and jake. taxes.
I will focus on my values (love, learn, peace, service, gratitude): i am hoping the journaling will help me here.
This week, I want to remember: all the kind words i heard this week.
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: Getting to be on the NASA observation room at the Johnson Space Center and watching the control room and the scientists at the ISS. How amazing!
Top Goals Review:
Work: did docs for draft 2. cleaned email. traveled.
Personal: did not figure out a routine that works for me. did journal. did not get into a groove.
Family: supported nathaniel and david and jake.
I celebrate: Traveling and coming home and supporting both my kids.
I am grateful for: finally committing
This week, I exercised: i didn’t do much this week, just a thursday night session with Jake but I did stand and walk a lot earlier this week
This week, I answered the Call of the Wild: Some awesome outdoor time in Houston. That will be it this week.
I embracedSilence of the Wilderness: Pretty solid journaling over the weekend and I am planning to do a lot more in March.
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.
Weird (4 stars): “But believing that your weirdness is your superpower can also be hugely beneficial. There is evidence that thinking about your circumstances in a different way—a process called cognitive reappraisal—can help you cope with challenges better. Perceiving what makes you weird as being what gives you strength can, ultimately, make you happier. If you already possess the lemons of social rejection, you might as well make a really odd lemonade.”
I’ve had a mixed relationship with this book. From the get-go, I should have realized that maybe I was putting too much pressure and had too high expectations. I have always, always felt weird and lacked a sense of belonging regardless of where I was and how I got there. It didn’t matter if I passed exams, if I got promoted, if I made it through an interview, or if I was invited. I have constantly had a voice in my head that repeated that I just didn’t belong there. Regardless of where “there” was. And that I was different, weird, and would never just be like others.
So when I came upon this book, I was like: I will finally have all the answers.
I assume you can see why it might not be possible for this book to meet my expectations. And, alas, while it did not, it was quite a good book to read.
“When we hear a dissenting view, we think more critically about what we’re hearing.”
The book is full of stories. Many of the people in the book are different because of an outwardly visible trait. There are a handful of examples where it’s an invisible difference but many of those are also things like religion or cultural background, etc. and even though I am also outside of my country and culture, I felt this way when I was back home, too. The closest, maybe, example for me was the author herself and I appreciated her honest account of her own life and her own journey with feeling weird and the anxiety this has created for her.
There were some really wonderful bits in the book, ideas for me to try, ways in which for me to feel less alone about who I am and how I feel (which is where the comparisons to the book “Quiet” come from, I assume.) Seeing the ways in which others have found their ways around has been tangibly helpful to me. But, of course, there wasn’t the one true answer to how I could either feel differently or suddenly just be ok with who I am. No such answer exists.
‘I told Chloe that my boyfriend naturally takes criticism in the Joyable-approved way. “When you criticize him, he seems to say, ‘That’s interesting! I’ll assess your viewpoint along with all the other evidence,’” I said.’
I loved this because it’s a similar experience to how I feel with my husband. I think there’s a fundamental sense of belonging that many have which makes taking this type of feedback more palatable but if you don’t have that grounding sense of belonging, well everything is up for grabs.
There are two things I wish this book had more of. One is stories of people more like me. People who feel weird and different but not for any obvious reasons. That might be too much to ask and I understand that.
The second thing that I missed was the author’s summary of her findings, the book ends with a story and I found myself craving for the author’s distillation of all she learned, all she’d recommend, just one more reiteration for me. Many non-fiction books have this and sometimes it does get on my nerves but alas this time I found myself looking for it.
with gratitude to netgalley and Hachette Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Perfect Little Children (3.5 stars): I was craving a fast-paced mystery this week so I started this story without knowing much about it. I knew it was going to have some craziness and hoped it would be enjoyable.
It totally delivered.
I read this one in a single breath. It was crazy, twisted, but also really enjoyable. The characters weren’t well developed, there was much suspension of disbelief and just a whole bunch of crazy. But I expected it all and wasn’t looking for anything else. So it was perfect for me at that moment in time.
The Holdout (3.5 stars): After my last crazy mystery I was ready for some more. This one promised the same kind of twisty mystery so I picked it up and started reading it. I enjoyed the twists in the story, a handful that I didn’t see coming at all. I liked the characters and the plot. It wasn’t deep or literary but it also wasn’t silly and completely unbelievable like some of these stories can be. It also didn’t assume the reader was stupid like some of the plot twists can do. All in all, it was another super fun read for this week.
And there we go, another week of reading in 2020.
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.
