January was a pretty wonderful start to 2016. Graham and I rang in the New Year in my beloved college town, East Lansing, Michigan, with two of my dearest friends from college. We saw one of my favorite musicians play a fantastic acoustic set at City Winery. We hunkered down and got cozy indoors for one… Continue reading The Month: January 2016
Polysyllabic Spree – January 2016
January was a lovely start to 2016 reading. I read four books that count toward my Read My Own Damn Books (RMODB) challenge, and most importantly: kept my resolution to read “1 for 1” – for every 1 newly acquired, galley or library book I read, I want to read 1 book I’ve owned for… Continue reading Polysyllabic Spree – January 2016
Reader, I Married Him
My mind gets boggled when I think about all the circumstances, choices, and happenstance that led to Graham (9,371 miles from home) and me (10,435 miles away from home) meeting in the middle of the Australian outback during 10 days in the spring of 2014. I feel incredibly grateful. Friends: yesterday Graham and I tied the knot.… Continue reading Reader, I Married Him
Review: Rising Strong by Brené Brown
I’m going to start this post off with two confessions: I had never read anything by Brené Brown prior to deciding to pick up Rising Strong. I’d barely even heard of her. This now feels like an egregious oversight on my part. I hesitated before deciding to read Rising Strong. The title and description kind of made… Continue reading Review: Rising Strong by Brené Brown
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
“You will have only one story,” she had said. “You’ll write your one story many ways. Don’t ever worry about story. You have only one.” Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the beautiful short story collection, Olive Kitteridge. Her latest novel is My Name is Lucy Barton, a short, moving novel about a… Continue reading My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Guest Post: Audiobook Recommendations From My Mom
One of my blogging goals this year is to feature more guest posts, and to invite my friends and family to have a voice on my blog. In that spirit I’m very happy to present a guest recommendations post from my lovely Mom, Ruth. My mom is a voracious audiobook consumer. She loves knitting, and… Continue reading Guest Post: Audiobook Recommendations From My Mom
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
The Road to Little Dribbling is a return to travel writing for Bill Bryson, the genre that made him famous. His last few (excellent) books have been non-fiction microhistories: he’s tackled the life of Shakespeare, the history of our homes and the things in them, and guided us on a tour of the eventful summer… Continue reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Photo a day project
Sometime in 2015 I had the thought “Gee, it would be fun to try a daily photo project in 2016!” Then I had the good sense to realize that maybe I should try it for a shorter period of time before committing to a 365 day long creative project. So I decided to try it out… Continue reading Photo a day project
Curating Our Digital Lives
One of my goals in 2015 was to put down my phone more – to stop mindlessly scrolling through feeds and apps as a way to put off things I should be doing, and to help me live in the moment more fully. I was moderately successful, although I need to keep working on it. But I… Continue reading Curating Our Digital Lives
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt: Review & Giveaway
Sometimes reading diversely can simply be about reading books outside your normal reading comfort zone. Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt met that criteria for me. It lies somewhere within the mystery / supernatural / gothic ghost story spectrum, and those who’ve gotten to know my taste in books over the years here will probably know those… Continue reading Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt: Review & Giveaway
2016 Reading & Blogging Resolutions
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is 2016 Resolutions. I love writing goals & resolutions every year, and I especially love reading other people’s, so this topic is a fun one for me. Here are my reading and blogging goals for the coming year. Reading Resolutions: Read my own damn books. Andi picked up on something… Continue reading 2016 Reading & Blogging Resolutions
2015 Books and Reading Recap
Is there anything more fun for book nerds than tallying up all our reading stats at the end of the year? Nope! Let’s do this. I read 127 books in 2015, which is the most books I’ve read in one year since I started keeping track, and probably the most since I was in middle… Continue reading 2015 Books and Reading Recap