Around Here | I’m off work today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which still feels weird to me after never getting extra holidays while working in newspapers. But, I’m not complaining! I’ve got brunch with a friend, a few errands to run, and some writing to do… but I’m still hopeful I can find some time with a good book or two, since it’s really too cold to be outside the house much today.
Reading | It’s been a very slow month of reading. I’m not quite sure about the culprit, probably some growing pains with new routines and extra deadlines for my work over at Book Riot (plus lots of time watching Netflix, if I’m being honest). I’m hoping I can relax this afternoon and finish two books it feels like I’ve been reading for weeks — Duped by Abby Ellin and A Ladder To The Sky by John Boyne. They’re both books about tricksters and con men, which is a not-so-secret fascination of mine.
Watching | There’s been a lot of chatter about Netflix’s new show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, inspired by her best-selling 2011 book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’ve watched the first five episodes and found it charming (minus the couple in the first episode). It has the same kind of nice, supportive vibe as The Great British Baking Show, which makes me happy.
Listening | I recently change my morning alarm sequence to end with The Slowdown, a daily poetry podcast hosted by U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. It feels kind of chill and indulgent to hang out in bed for about five extra minutes every morning listening to a poem — highly recommended!
Blogging | Last week I shared my One Little Word for 2019, which I’m excited about. It’s a different kind of word than I usually choose, but I hope it’s going to lead to an educational year.
Writing | One of my other goals for the year is to write more days than I don’t. I’ve got lots of specific projects in the works — two editions per week of a nonfiction newsletter at Book Riot, reviews of the books I’ve read in 2019 — but I’ve also had some time to do some essays and other more personal writing. I don’t know if that’ll end up anywhere, but it’s nice to feel like I’m stretching a bit.
Loving | Speaking of stretching, I’ve also been doing more regular yoga thanks to a 30 day yoga challenge through Yoga with Adriene. I thought I’d try to do it every morning, but it’s turned out that getting on the mat at night before I got to bed is working better most days. I’m hoping to keep it up after the 30 days of videos wraps up.
Anticipating | My mom and I are taking a little road trip next weekend to visit a family friend in Wisconsin. I’m not really excited about all the driving, but I am excited about the time with family and friends.
Happy Monday, everyone! What are you reading this week?
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Hey, Kim! This week I’m reading three books: Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg (nonfiction), Brown: poem by Kevin Young, and The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (YA/dystopian). I’m starting to feel like I need to add “writing more” as a resolution for this year. There are so many things that are pulling me to put pen to paper.
I hope you have a good week.
Palaces for the People is on my pile of books I want to read soon! It’s a tall pile, but I’m hopeful about that one because I love libraries so much.
I’m reading The Curiosities by Susan Gloss. It’s still early, but I find myself frustrated that I don’t have as much time to spend with it as I want, so that’s a good sign? 🙂 Funny that you mention yoga at night works better for you. I grew up hearing “don’t exercise at night or it’ll mess up your sleep” but it’s really something that my body prefers wholeheartedly. And I actually sleep better.
Definitely a good sign, I’m glad you’ve found a great book! I think part of the reason the yoga is working is because her practices are pretty short, less than 30 minutes, and tend to be relaxed. There’s some hard stuff, but not that raise my heart rate too much. I’m curious to continue past January to see how it works long-term.
A road trip with your mom sounds nice… a chance for a good audio book and time with your mom. I am taking a vacation with my mom this summer.
Yes, an audio book! I’ll have to find a good one we’ll both like.
Oh yay! I was planning on watching Kondo’s show, but your comparison to GBBS has me even more excited about it 🙂
Yay! It’s not exactly the same, but it gave the same sort of vibe that I really like.
Right now I’m reading Four Three Two One, pretty good so far! I actually had off today, too, which was nice – I don’t think I’ve had this holiday off since I was in school!
It’s my first MLK Day off in a long time, I really enjoyed it!
Hannah looks watchful. I’d love it if you occasionally wrote a thought about one of the poems you’re hearing.
I will think about that! I haven’t analyzed poetry in sooooo long, I’m sure I’m very rusty.
I just finished Heavy by Kiese Laymon and I’m slowly working my way through Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, which I got for Christmas!
I’m a fellow Yoga with Adriene fan. I love how she’s so gentle with everyone; she understands if you’re new to yoga or just tired, but also pushes you to hold the poses and get a good yoga workout in.
I agree! I appreciate her modifications for poses and the way she is so encouraging. I’m excited to try and continue her videos more regularly during the year.
I’ve been watching the Marie Kondo tidying episodes, too, and finding them rather delightful. There’s comfort in watching those transformations of living spaces, especially when we’re hunkered down during this cold spell.
This week I’m reading My Sister, the Serial Killer and am having a hard time putting it down.
Another thing I like about it is that the result for each family is different. Some people end up with minimal homes, while others bring out their owner’s personality in these new ways. It’s so nice to watch.
I’m traveling home after a weekend away and am hoping to finish Crazy Rich Asians on my 90-minute flight tonight. It’s perfect for travel, light enough to keep my attention in less than idea reading circumstances and not so light that it’s boring. I’m also still halfway through White Teeth by Zadie Smith and I want to concentrate on that this week because I had to set it aside for other things and I don’t want to let it go too long or I’ll have to start over.
That is a good travel book! Parts are so frothy, you can just slide right through them, but you do need to pay attention to keep all of the characters straight (at least I did!).
I started reading The Light Between Worlds this weekend, which is a YA novel about three siblings who got to a Narnia-like land when they were kids, and now the youngest one is having a hard time adapting back to the real world. It’s great so far.
Ooooo, that sounds totally amazing! I’m putting that on my TBR right now, I love books like that.
I love the idea of waking up to poetry but I’ll be honest, I just don’t think it would work for me most mornings. I wake up so early for work and I’m not really a morning person. Having said that though, I am reading some Mary Oliver right now and of course love her work. I’ve been watching too much Netflix as well but have really been trying to cut back to actually do other things.