Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein This title is my current side read. I was a fan of Kondo's first books so I picked this one up at the start of the pandemic thinking, "Sure, why not?" I expect it to be pretty much a copy of her other titles but focused on work. So far, it's exactly that. I love all things organizing and minimizing which makes this is a straight up comfort read for me.
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The Montessori Toddler: A Parent's Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being Simone Davies Our kiddo is in full toddlerhood now. That means I need more patience and to understand how her brain works. This book, so far, has done a great job of sharing why toddlers act the way they do and how to capture their innate curiosity and desire to help. It's also just a really pretty book. Lots of white space, beautiful illustrations, and lovely layout. It's designed more like a handbook that you can pick and choose to read as you wish. Project Hail Mary Andy Weir It's been ages since I read a new book within in days of its release. I binge read The Martian, and greatly enjoyed Weir's sophomore effort, Artemis. This book is, so far, in the same vein. It has an all too smart lead character with a sassy attitude. There is a lot more math than this first books and the structure is quite different (current events with flashbacks) which helps this text stand apart from his other novels. I have a feeling this one is going to cause me to read far past my bedtime soon. Why Have Kids: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness Jessica Valenti After putting a ton of Jessica Valenti books on my TBR board last week, I decided to grab one that was available at the library. I'm nearly halfway through already (because Valenti's writing is just so readable) and I am here for her throwing American intensive parenting and lack of community/government/social support under the bus. She is doing a great job of laying out what so may moms are just burnt out, unhappy, and lost. I have a weakness for pictures of royals and pictures of weddings. A few weeks ago, I opted to grab a trio of royal wedding albums from our public library as my secondary reads.
Royal Wedding: Souvenir Album Alison James Harry & Meghan: The Royal Wedding Album Halima Sadat William & Catherine: Their Romance and Royal Wedding in Photographs David Elliot Cohen Robert Jobson A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Suzanne Collins I sped read through The Hunger Games series when it first came out but I have mixed feelings about reading this prequel. This book focuses on Coriolanus Snow who was, without a doubt, a villain in the first books. I'm conflicted about reading a novel that will likely make me empathize with someone who later condoned and even promoted the death of children. But, I'm the type of reader who has to complete a series once I start it. It'll be interesting to see what I think of this book in the end. Forbidden Beverly Jenkins After watching the first six episodes of Bridgerton, I was in the mood to jump into a romance novel. I picked up this title which had been chilling on my bookcase for a few months. I’ve always loved a good Western but this one has something extra. The hero is a multiracial, formerly enslaved man who is successful in business by passing for white. Our heroine is a Black woman who longs to run her own restaurant. So, this has all the regular tropes of a good romance, but a lot more substance than you sometimes see. Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger This is my main read at the moment and I grabbed it because I can never NOT watch the movie Apollo 13. The first night I read this, I figured it would be a little dense and I'd fall asleep quickly. Nope. I managed to read 50 pages that first night and I would have kept going if I let myself. So far the book is an incredible, well-paced narrative. I know what happens and how it ends but the dangerous situations still feel tense and scary. In addition to this book, I have two side reads going at the moment. These books continue my love of all things royal fashion. I've had these in my TBR pile from the library since before the Oprah interview aired. Now they have a wait list. I'm going to do my best to read them quickly and return them so others can get their fill. Meghan: The Life and Style of a Modern Royal Caroline Jones Kate: How to Dress Like a Style Icon Caroline Jones White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Robin DiAngelo I put myself on the wait list for this at the library nearly a year ago. Due to all the attention anti-racist books have received, it only arrived a few days ago. I'm two chapters in and I can see why this book makes people uncomfortable. One - it was designed to do that. Two - it's asking white people to take a good hard look at themselves and it forces people to admit things they don't want. As a white, cis-gendered woman working at an HBCU, I know I have to be even more cognizant of my own biases and internalized racism. It's not a comfortable act, but it's important to learn so that we grow and improve. I'm a one book at a time sort of reader. That comes with a little bit of an exception. I only read one main book at a time. I sometimes have easier books going alongside my main read. My main read right now is The F*ck It Diet by Caroline Dooner. It's about intuitive eating and getting back to a place where we don't obsess about food. The book has a sassy tone and really takes the diet industry to task. I also like how the claims are backed up with science. That said, it still feels like a traditional diet book - albeit one that just tells you to eat and eat a lot more. Apparently, traditional diets just mess a lot with your metabolism which throws everyone's weight off. My secondary reads are a nice stack of cookbooks from the library. These are all about one dish and one pan meals. Weeknights can be a bit chaotic for us trying to get dinner on the table (and in to our toddler) before her bedtime. I've only pulled a few recipes, but it's fun to learn all the many things you can actually cook in an oven. Rice! Who knew? |