Top Ten Tuesday

Today I’ve paired some book titles that would make a killer band name along with a favorite song I think fits the name (and likely has nothing to do with the book itself).

There’s a tricksy theme here, can you guess it? If not look for the bonus clue 😛

New band: The Fever (by Megan Abbott)
Hit track: Honest Mistake (by The Bravery)

New band: Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe)
Hit track: Emerge (by Fischerspooner)

New band: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (by Jesse Andrews)
Hit track: Say So (by Dojo Cat)

New band: Emergency Contact (by Mary H.K. Choi)
Hit track: Only Human (by The Jonas Brothers)

New band: The Andromeda Strain (by Michael Crichton)
Hit track: High Horse (by Kacey Musgraves)

New band: The Death Cure (by James Dashner)
Hit track: Circles (by Post Malone)

New band: Bleak House (by Charles Dickens)
Hit track: Mariners Apartment Complex (by Lana Del Rey)

New band: The Undomestic Goddess (by Sophie Kinsella)
Hit track: Don’t Start Now (by Dua Lipa)

New band: The Pleasure of My Company (by Steve Martin)
Hit track: Dancing with a Stranger (by Sam Smith)

New band: The Slippery Slope (by Lemony Snicket)
Hit track: Bad to Worse (by Ra Ra Riot)

*BONUS CLUE*

New band: Get Well Soon (by Jennifer Wright)
Hit track: It’s the End of the World as We Know It (by R.E.M.)

And the answer is…

XOXO

I am one crafty lady – and I mean that quite literally today. While I don’t think I’ll ever get the honor of appearing on Making It (though I dream of it regularly), that hasn’t stopped me from trying to learn a whole bunch of handy skills…and amassing quite the collection of hobby books. Y’all thready for this?

Embroidery

Embroidered Life by Sarah K. Benning
The Embroidered Art of Chloe Giordano by Chloe Giordano
Thread Folk by Libby Moore
Hoop Dreams by Cristin Morgan

Macramé

The Year of Knots by Windy Chien
Modern Macramé by Emily Katz
Macramé at Home by Natalie Ranae
Macramé 1 & 2 by Fanny Zedenius

Paper Flowers

The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers by Livia Cetti
Crepe Paper Flowers by Lia Griffith
The Fine Art of Paper Flowers by Tiffanie Turner
Paper to Petal by Rebecca Thuss

Weaving

Welcome to Weaving 1 & 2 by Lindsey Campbell
On the Loom by Maryanne Moodie
The Woven Home by Rainie Owen
Weaving Within Reach by Anne Weil

Non-Books *gasp*

The Crafter’s Box
Creative Live
Masterclass (More on this adventure soon!)
Skillshare

XOXO

With all these lovey-dovey posts before V-Day (which is totally blowing up my TBR), I want to switch gears to talk about loving yourself. *cue girlish giggles*

The term “self help” kinda makes me want to harm myself or others, but it’s a lot easier to say than 20+ word version I usually tell myself to avoid saying those two words in succession. I blame it on a shiny new decade, but this year I found myself actually making resolutions. So gross. This is a very long way to say: this year I made some personal goals of investing in my wellness/spirit/skills/knowledge/awesomeness/damn self with the written work of others – and I’ve actually been putting effort into it. I know, I am surprised, too.

Here’s a selection of books that didn’t make me want to roll my eyes until I perished. Maybe next year I’ll be able to admit I even liked them 🙂

On being vulnerable…

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
To be fair, I only read this because of work book club (which I helped found) where we read a great many professional titles that are dryyyyy like saltines. This was the first in a long line of books that didn’t make me want to cheat and just look up a summary online. If you want to dip a toe in with Brené, scope out her Netflix special.

On therapy…

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
I vote skip the book, and watch her TED Talk.

On self-help books…

How to Be Fine by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer
I’m quickly realizing this is becoming a post of me telling people to skip the books, but seriously, skip this one. It’s a compilation of this duo’s podcast By the Book – which is VERY much worth checking out.

On not giving a fuck…

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
I think this will forever hold the record of most f-words in a single book I’ve read. But in terms of a book that actually made me reconsider a behavior and put some changes in place, this one takes the fucking cake.

On being exhausted all the time (and a millenial)…

The Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
This is a much longer version of the original article on Buzzfeed. And you guessed it, read the article and only go on to the audio if you want more of the interviews that formed this piece.

On banishing doubt…

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Damn straight I am. And so are you. Fin.

On being present…

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
I read this because Oprah talks about it a lot (and it was a daily deal). I think I preferred listening to Oprah and Eckhart chat about its lessons on Super Soul conversations – just a little more personal and practical that way.

On being like Pooh…

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Ok, the Pooh thing is a whole other book, but I’ll never be able to separate Winnie and Taoism, and that’s fine by me. Look for the John Minford translation specifically; it’s got lots of extra poetry and interpretations that dives deeper into each writing.

On philosophy…

Out of Your Mind by Alan Watts
This is what started the whole self-help-athon. Actually, it was this recording that through happenstance came into my life sometime last winter. It shook me down to my bones.

On being fat, feminist and fabulous…

Shrill by Lindy West
This book has some truly polarizing content, aka it earned me at least one unfollow on Goodreads because I liked it. If I learned anything from Lindy and this book, it’s haters gonna hate and I’m too busy crushing it to care. There’s also one mega bonus that comes along with this book, the show! It’s the absolutely BRILLIANT and has 100% more Aidy Bryant than the book. Seriously, stop reading and go watch it.

XOXO

Whale, hello there! 🐳 It’s been a wee lil bit since I’ve posted – the blog has been on cruise control for like more than a month meaning it’s been like nonstop WOWs. Oops oh well. But I’m back-ish with my most anticipated releases for the second half of the year. 

June 25th – Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau
July 1st – False Step by Victoria Helen Stone
August 20th – The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon
September 3rd – To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
September 24th – Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
(Also super excited about Pumpkinheads)

October 1st – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
October 22nd – Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
November 5th – The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
November 5th – The Toll by Neal Shusterman
December 10th – Dragon Unleashed by Grace Draven

XOXO

In which I try REALLY hard to only mention books that have never appeared on the blog before. Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing mostly-romance books that happened in the last decade – but chances are, I’ve already talked them to death here. Much like I’m doing my reading right now, this post is all about a palate cleanse. When I’m not focused on blogging content, I read a bit of anything and everything. This post quickly became part hidden gems, part completely random nonsense, part…I don’t even know what. The more I dug in and looked outside of the obvious-to-me choices, the more I found this hidden group of personal memories in these unexpected titles. 

2009 – The Strain by Guillermo del Toro
2010 – Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
2011 – The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
2012 – Along the Way by Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez
2013 – Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

2014 – Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill
2015 – Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
2016 – When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano
2017 – Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2018 – The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis

XOXO

Today, it’s all about the badass ladies who inspire me on the regular, and a few of their gems that I hope will resonate. In no particular order awesomeness…

You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more. To be more splendid. To be more extraordinary. To use every moment to fill yourself up.
Oprah Winfrey, What I Know For Sure

Believing takes practice.
Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

What if I forgave myself even though I’d done something I shouldn’t have?
Cheryl Strayed, Wild

The girl wore her scars the way some women wore their finest jewelry.
Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Healer

You do not have to be good.
Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese” – Dream Work

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Hopefully, as you get older, you start to learn how to live with your demon.
Amy Poehler, Yes Please

I know it will be OK because everything is OK in the end. And if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.
Taylor Jenkins Reid, After I Do

Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something you own.
Michelle Obama, Becoming

Side and semi-related note: I recently gave a chat at my alma mater about all things girl power – which even included a few of these quotes funnily enough. Since we all know I love a good list, I used it as an opportunity to share some of my favorite memoirs with the group as “Recommended Reading,” and today seemed like an a-ok day to share here, too.

Go forth and inspire!

XOXO

For a long while before the blog, I reviewed all over the place. It wasn’t until much, much later that I kind of found my voice as it is today and went all in on book blogging. This little trip down memory lane reminds me of how much I used to agonize over what I wrote, instead of just putting energy into being my authentic self. None of these reviews even seem like me now, except for the Gabaldon. The review simply reads, “Oh, the boobage.” I stand by that.

S. (aka Ship of Theseus) by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Exile by Diana Gabaldon
Icebound by Dean Koontz
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy
The Bird Market of Paris by Nikki Moustaki
What If? by Randall Munroe
Inland by Kat Rosenfield
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

XOXO

On a rainy day (which is rare in my neck of the woods), there are two things that I absolutely love: a cup of tea and some Brit lit…bonus points for a little devastation in the plot.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Collector by John Fowles

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
About a Boy by Nick Hornby
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

XOXO