January 2016 reading goals

I realized recently that I didn't read nearly as much as I had thought in 2015. It was a little depressing, but it also made some of my dissatisfaction with 2015 make more sense. Last year wasn't great--it actually really sucked in many ways, and I really think not reading as much as I would like had a big impact on the year.

So, one of my 2016 goals is to read more. A LOT MORE.

Reading simply makes me--and keeps me--happy. It keeps me engaged and it keeps me going.

I started tracking my reading a long while ago after reading Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree (read about it HERE) and then after being coming across the Rory Gilmore Reading List (the inspiration for this blog--find it HERE), but I haven't really tracked my reading much in a while.

It's time to get back to it!

Last month I was doing a lot of tutoring at my local library and started picking up books every time I was there. It was one of the best decisions I made last month! I've continued using my library this month even though I haven't done any tutoring in the last few weeks. The library is close and easy to stop by before or after other errands.

I then decided to start tracking my reading again after coming across bookish posts from two of my favorite creative and business inspirations, Michelle Ward of When I Grow Up Coach and Leonie Dawson from the Shining Biz + Life Academy, they both posted on Facebook asking for book recommendations (in closed/private groups/pages so I can't link to the discussions...sorry!).

Here is my January 2016 reading list with a few notes since the month is more than half over:

• Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup  
• ~Ing by Gabby Bernstein (loan period expired and no more renewals available...will probably re-add this to my list in the future)
• Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better by Pema Chödrön
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg--LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! 
• Wiser: Getting Beyond Group Think to Make Groups Smarter by Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie 
• Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer--Sell Like a Superstar by John Jantsch (loan period expired and no more renewals available...will check out again in the future)
• We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement by Rudy Karsan and Kevin Kruse
• Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ! I highly recommend reading this alongside Lean-In!
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (In SPANISH!)
• The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
• El tiempo entre costuras by María Dueña 

• War of the Foxes by Richard Siken (returned unread -- the first few poems didn't really resonate for me)
• Erratic Facts by Kay Ryan
• We Mammals in Hospitable Times by Jynne Dilling Martin (returned unread -- again the first few poems didn't do it for me)

• Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue edited by Amy Ferris (Another one that I loved -- it actually was very uplifting for me)
• The End of Memory by Jay Ingram (had to return it as loan period ended and no more renewals available. Definitely will check out again to finish it!)

In December, I finished these books and recommend them all:

• Beautiful Unbroken by Mary Jane Nealon (memoir; so moving and beautiful!)
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (fiction; Not at all what I expected!)
• Like a Beggar by Ellen Bass (poetry; One of the best poetry collections I've ever read!)
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (memoir/personal development; So funny! Loved it!)

So, what are you reading? What have you read that you loved? What have you read that you hated?

REVIEW: The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

What do books, weight lifting, and Tourette's Syndrome 

have in common?

I've been spending a lot of time at our local library lately, in part due to increased tutoring requests and the ease of meeting students there and in part due to a re-commitment to frugality and voluntary simplicity in an effort to pay down debt and increase savings. 

As I was wandering the stacks recently, I came across an intriguing title: The World's Strongest Librarian. 

I actually read the title on the spine, thought, "Huh, interesting...." and kept walking. I came back and looked at it two or three more times before finally taking the book off the shelf. 

I'm glad I went back. While I didn't LOVE every part of this book, I loved enough of it to recommend it. The subtitle pretty much sums up the book -- "A memoir of Tourette's, faith, strength, and the power of family." 

While the book is all of those things, and at times can feel a bit sappy, it is also quirky, fun, and enlightening. 

I'm slightly familiar with Tourette's and have known many Mormons, but this book gave good insight into both while also telling a charming, heart warming story of a young man coming to terms with having an, at times, debilitating condition, and the unique ways (they have to do with weight lifting!) he found to deal with it. 

The author, Josh Hanagarne, is also honest in a refreshing way about his struggles with his faith over the years -- something I think many people can relate to regardless of their religion. And, although I've known many Mormons, I realized in reading this memoir that I know very little about how Mormons practice their religion. It was interesting to read both Hanagarne's descriptions of his religion as well as how he began to stray from his faith and the unexpected way he seems to have reconnected with it.

Hanagarne is an actual librarian and what probably got me to bring this book home is his absolute love of books and reading. It is evident throughout the entire memoir and gave me an immediate connection to Hanagarne.

I love books about books or about people who love books. 

Hanagarne tells some sweet, interesting, and at times downright weird stories from his experiences with books and in particular from his experiences as a librarian. Having spent time in New York City libraries and also through working in emergency medicine, I frequently found myself not only smiling and/or sympathizing, but also nodding my head and thinking, "Oh, yes! I know exactly what you are talking about, Josh!"

I probably won't buy this memoir or reread it, but I did enjoy it and think you might too. 

You can find The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
at Amazon.com.

Or, try your local library. 

Did you enjoy this post? You might also enjoy:

• My favorite memoirs
• Let's Be Enemies by Janice May Udry with illustrations by Maurice Sendak
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Please note, Amazon links may be affiliate links. Making a purchase through them may result 

in a small commission for me. However, any such commissions are greatly appreciated. 

All opinions expressed here and anywhere else on my blog are 100% my own.

This post brought to you by mandala coloring page subscriptions

from Marbles and Jam.

Get your subscription by clicking through the picture below:

Let's be Enemies by Janice May Udry and illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Do you have favorite childhood books? Those books that you just loved to read over and over or books that you think of fondly when you consider your early reading experiences?

For me, Let's be Enemies written by Janice May Udry and illustrated by Maurice Sendak is just one such book. I adore this little treasure! It's a great little story that perfectly tells the tale of friendship among children -- friends today, enemies tomorrow, and friends again the next day. It's about navigating me versus you versus both of us together.

I just adore it.

I also appreciate the simplicity of the tale and the pared down, simple style of Sendak's illustrations. The simple story and the simple illustrations compliment one another perfectly.

I love that this little book and Sendak's illustration style doesn't confine itself to the borders of the page. Sendak was never afraid of the action going off the page, much like Edgar Degas paintings where it often appears that something is happening just outside the frame of the image.

And, the images throughout the book are just plain adorable. Sendak captures emotions and thoughts in the way he illustrates a face or the position of arms or legs. He creates whole characters in each illustration.

 

 

 

I love Maurice Sendak so much that when an exhibit of his work came to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco several years ago, my son and I jumped at the chance to go! Cameras were not allowed in the exhibit so I don't have pictures, but if you ever have the chance to see Sendak's work, please do go.

A beautiful illustrated talk between Terry Gross from NPR and Maurice Sendak, originally on NPR but illustrated by Cristoph Niemann for The New York Times -- this talk starts with mention of Sendak being an atheist. If you are not an atheist, I hope that won't discourage you from watching and listening as this really is a lovely little video and chat (although a bit sad as well). It is an excerpt from a longer interview on NPR's Fresh Air in an interview titled On Life, Death, and Children's Lit. I love this video and talk:

A second, lovely video -- this one is also illustrated for Blank on Blank on PBS Digital Studios, and it features Maurice Sendak talking about "Being a Kid":

Do you have a favorite Maurice Sendak book or illustration? Please share with a comment!

Did you enjoy this post? You might also enjoy:

• Book Review: Nalah Goes to Mad Mouse City by Anne Sawyer-Aitch
• My favorite dog-related books
• My favorite memoirs

Please note, Amazon links may be affiliate links. Making a purchase through them may result 

in a small commission for me. However, any such commissions are greatly appreciated. 

All opinions expressed here and anywhere else on my blog are 100% my own.

Reading update

I have neglected my reading blog lately due to several factors, not least of which is having the flu. You would think that the flu might be a great excuse to just lay in bed, reading. Unfortunately, I was so sick I didn't even have the energy to hold a book for more than a few minutes. As such, little reading was done last week.

The week before last, however, I did manage to finish two books - re-reading two of my favorites. When I am feeling stressed out, re-reading is one of my favorite things to do. I often look to books where I either identify strongly with a character or feel uplifted by the story. In this case, I think I felt both about these two books.

First was The Owl and Moon Cafe by Jo-Ann Mapson. I absolutely adore this book, the sweet story of a girl on the cusp of her teenage years and struggling to fit in, her single college professor mother who loses her job, her free-spirited hippie grandmother, and her stalwart great grandmother. The lives of these four generations of women weave in and out and around and through the Owl and Moon Cafe and the pressures and joys of life. I identify with each character, but in particular the single mom and daughter pair. This novel is contemporary chick-lit, and I love it. It is thoughtful, smart, and moving.

Second was A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. This book is filled with both tragedy and resilience. Thomas reflects on life with a husband who suffers a traumatic brain injury and how it turns both of their lives upside down. Her husband, in many ways, becomes stuck while Thomas has to figure out how to move and navigate a new way of life. She does so with the comfort of three dogs. She finds comfort in small things and in reflecting on her many memories. She finds her way through change to a graceful life that suites her and allows her to come to terms with her husband's injuries while moving forward with her own life.


I also have updated my Books for Sale page with a variety of novels, memoirs, and so on. Please do check them out.

Please note, this blog post contains links to Amazon Affiliates. 

Purchases made through these links may result in my earning a small commission.

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

A few weeks ago, I finished reading Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen. It was another easy, light read that I was able to pick up and put down without worrying that I would lose my place or miss an important plot element. Hiaasen has a knack for making crime and mystery funny. The book isn't actually about a bad monkey, but the monkey, although present throughout much of the book, is critical at the turning point of the novel.

Bad Monkey follows disgraced detective Andrew Yancey through an affair with a married-but-on-the-run woman, a relationship with a gorgeous medical examiner, and attempts to get rid of a shady real estate developer. A random arm makes (and remakes) an appearance, as do motorized scooter chairs. Watch out for deceitful women, doctors, and businessmen too!

The monkey is funny, and indeed often bad, but my favorite parts of the story involve Yancey's hilarious and clever attempts to foil the real estate developer that ruin's Yancey's view, among other things. 

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Check out this funny little video synopsis from Carl Hiaasen's webpage for the book:


Check out my other off-list reviews:

• The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

Set of four, printable jumbo bookmarks for sale in my Etsy shop.

Sophie Kinsella - The Undomestic Goddess

Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess definitely is not on the Rory Gilmore reading list. However, until the last several days I haven't had the time or energy to read anything that isn't already familiar and fairly light reading. I've been so stressed due to work, school, and money that I just couldn't keep up with the reading list. I needed something that I could read with ease and picked up The Undomestic Goddess to fill that need.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

The Undomestic Goddess is a fun little romp in the English countryside, following Samantha Sweeting, a highly stressed, perfectionist, intelligent lawyer who never makes a mistake. But, of course, never say never, right? Samantha is on the brink of becoming partner in one of London's most prestigious law firms and at a fairly young age for such an upward career move. However, it all goes wrong in a single moment when she discovers a career ending oversight, panics and runs away to the countryside with only her mobile phone and feelings of horror.

Samantha unwittingly finds herself in the middle of an interview for domestic help when all she really wants or needs is a glass of water and some aspirin for a headache. Feeling shaky and on edge from everything back at the office and with a splitting headache, Samantha is swept along and finds herself suddenly in a powder blue uniform dusting the bobbles and ornaments while trying to make Cordon Bleu worthy meals Problem is, Samantha's never dusted or cooked in her life!

The entire story is filled with fun and hilarity. I just love The Undomestic Goddess! It is one of my go-to books when I need to lighten things up in my own life.


P.S. - Do you know of a great children's literacy charity that takes book donations? I have a nice pile all ready to be donated and am looking for a worthy cause. Please leave a comment with your suggestion! Thanks!

More off-list book reviews may be found here:

• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
• If You Have To Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

Stationery, coloring pages, and bookmarks via digital download from my Etsy shop, Marbles and Jam - your purchase helps support my reading habit and also helps me get out of debt and save for my son's college tuition.

Checking in and reporting on Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of Cheryl Strayed's book, Wild, or at least seen a commercial for the movie version, starring Reese Witherspoon. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read Strayed's book, but once I started seeing the commercials for the movie, I started to become a bit more interested in the book. I picked it up in July, anticipating reading it during a vacation, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

While Wild wasn't my favorite wilderness memoir, I did enjoy it quite a bit. It is has made several "worst books for hikers" lists, but I think those readers missed the point. Wild is NOT about the great outdoors nor is it any sort of hiking guide. In fact, Strayed admits several times in the book that she was woefully unprepared for her adventure. Instead, this is a book about emotional survival, repair, and recovery after her world is blown apart by her mother's death.

I have to admit that I was also attracted to Wild because Strayed makes her home in Portland, Oregon, one of my favorite cities.I do wish that she had pushed a little deeper into the emotional and psychological struggles during the journey, and I wish she had talked a bit more about the actual hiking, terrain, and so on.

Have you read Wild? What did you think of it?

If you liked Wild, you might also enjoy Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. However, Krakauer's book doesn't have any kind of happy, feel-good ending.

Reading re-cap #1 - The Virgin Suicides, Flowers for Algernon, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Just a few days into my Reading Rory’s List challenge and I’m having a little bit of a freak out! What did I get myself into??? 349 books in 24 months? Some of these books are freaking THICK! It didn’t help that my first days into the challenge I simply didn’t feel like reading—incredibly unusual for me.

After lolling about on the couch in front of Netflix and binge watching “Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23” and “Kell on Earth”, I finally decided to crack open a few books. Yes, a few. I tend to read more than one book at a time. I always have and probably always will. It’s quite rare for me to only be into one book at a time, read it straight through, and then pick up the next one. My son is the same way. In fact, before we began to homeschool, this was a problem. His third grade teacher, while very nice and wise, didn’t understand our multiple-books-at-one-time reading habits and always asked that my son read only one book at a time. However, we both wanted to read things that fit our mood (much like Rory Gilmore), and sometimes that meant hopping from one text to another.

Shh...I'm reading! pendant from HomeStudio on Etsy

So, where did I start my Reading Rory’s List challenge? After finally turning off the tv, making a nice mug of hot chocolate, and finding a blanket to cuddle under, I pulled a few books from my pile, and began with:

• The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I have read all three of these previously, but I don’t really remember Flowers for Algernon, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is leaving me disappointed thus far. It’s not as great as I recall. I remember reading it in high school and loving it. So far, I’m bored. Admittedly, I am only about ten pages in, and it took more than 20 pages before I remembered why I loved The Virgin Suicides, so maybe I just need to keep reading.

Now, if you’ve not read The Virgin Suicides, you might be wondering, “With a title like that, how can you love it?” You’re right—pretty depressing title. My mom stopped taking book recommendations from me years ago because she said that everything I love to read is depressing. I suppose that’s partially true. I can’t help it, and I can’t explain it. Maybe I like depressing books because they help me to realize that my life is better than I often think it is, and I just need reminders. Maybe I like them because they inform my view of humanity in a new or different way. I don’t know.

The Virgin Suicides is interesting as it isn’t told from the point of view of one of the main characters, and is told more in flash backs and a bit of a journalistic investigative style from the point of view of boys living in the same neighborhood as the main characters, and at times it feels almost like reading a court report (references to exhibits and so on).  Even if you aren’t interested in the story of five sisters who all commit suicide within a year of one another, and the decay of their family beginning with the first attempt at suicide of the first daughter, I urge you to try this book if only for the style in which it is written.

I also urge you to try Flowers for Algernon for the same reason—the style in which it is written. Flowers for Algernon is written from the point of view of a young man with mental handicaps who is the subject of an experiment to see if intelligence can be improved artificially, but of course, things go wrong. The way in which the book is written is fascinating, even if you aren’t into the story. It is from the point of view of the main character, Charlie, but written as a journal. Charlie chronicles his experiences in a journal format (calling the entries "progress reports" as a part of the experiment), and the reader doesn’t just read the story of what happens to Charlie, but also sees the progression as his journal entries change over time. I especially recommend Flowers for Algernon if you’ve read and enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (which is also on the Rory Gilmore list).

Not on the list, but part of my current reading is If You Have To Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone. This is the same Kelly Cutrone as featured in the reality tv shows “The City”, “The Hills”, and “Kell on Earth.” I’m not usually a reality tv watcher, but I got sucked into these particular shows. This book is quite different than what I was expecting. Parts are feisty and pushy and b*tchy just like you would expect from Kelly Cutrone’s persona on tv, but other parts get into spirituality and soul searching in ways that many may find a little too woo-woo out there, but I’m enjoying the book anyhow. I’ve already learned many of the lessons in Cutrone’s book, and I believe most of us have to learn these lessons on our own and in our own way, but the book is interesting and informative anyhow.

* Links are affiliate links for Amazon. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a small commission.