I did a fun thing a few weeks ago. I reread all of my blog posts, starting from the beginning. It’s been almost three years since I started writing here, and I honestly couldn’t even remember from week to week what I wrote, so I wanted to make sure I stood by what I’ve said over the years. I’ve also been thinking about sharing this blog with more people I know IRL, so reviewing my posts was important to me.
Well, hi there. My name is Elizabeth. Just thought I would remind you since I’ve been AWOL for MONTHS.
On Friday, my roomie Lyra and I watched the Hamilton filming on Disney+ (which I use my sister’s log-in for because I’m a cheapskate). It was MAGICAL. And I told Lyra that after watching the musical, which I had never seen, Jefferson’s song, “What Did I Miss?” had become one of my favorites. Don’t get me wrong, the song was always great. But the VISUAL elements really made it. Hence, this post title.
It’s that time of the year again! This is my third quarterly recap of books I’ve read in the last three months. Separated below into fiction and nonfiction. I hope it gives you some new book ideas! To read previous book review posts, check out Q1 2019, Q2 2019, 2018 nonfiction, and 2018 fiction.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. That being said, my first preference is for you to check any recommended books out from your local library! Read more about my affiliate philosophy here. You can also check books out in e-book form and download them to the Kindle app, which means you don’t even have to put on pants and leave the house to get your book. Isn’t technology grand? Occasionally, books I read and review are also available for free through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, and I make sure to note if that’s the case.
Rating Categories
Ok, here’s how I rate the books. It’s a super scientific method based on my own subjective opinion. If I trashed one of your favorites, I’m sorry…but not really. My blog, my rules, my views.
Drop everything to read this book (DEAR for short)
Highly recommended (HR)
Good book (GB)
OK
Meh don’t bother (MDB)
Non-Fiction
The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery by Mary Cregan. HR. Major trigger warning on this one. Cregan writes about her experiences with melancholic depression, and specifically her suicide attempt in a psychiatric hospital after losing her newborn. It’s wrenching and real, and she uses her personal experience to tell a broader story about the search for treatments for depression and some of the science behind it (which, turns out, doesn’t really give us a lot of answers). I think the more we’re exposed to stories of mental illness and their very real victims and consequences, the more we as a society can de-stigmatize those illnesses. This book works to do that.
The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should be Easy by Caroline Dooner. GB. This is one I read while thinking more and more about diet culture and its major problems. Dooner approaches dieting from the perspective of a serial dieter that struggled with weight cycling throughout her life. In the book, she explains that the biggest step for her (and one she recommends) is putting everything back on the table in terms of what’s allowed. You can have whatever you want. The idea is that yes, you might eat way too much chocolate for a bit, but eventually, you’ll tune back into your body’s natural cues and find a healthy balance. Restricting food is what puts us back in a mindset of scarcity, which can lead to those famine responses from our bodies. Basically, this seems to me like a more millennial-friendly version of Intuitive Eating. Worth a read if this is a topic that interests you.
Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight by Linda Bacon, PhD and Lucy Aphramor, PhD, RD. DEAR. I reference this book in my post about fatphobia in the FIRE movement. It’s a short read, and it packs a lot of the science around weight loss into one book (both in the narrative and in the references). If you’re someone who still thinks that losing weight is all about self-discipline and “calories in versus calories out,” then you need to read this and seriously examine your preconceived ideas on weight. Bacon and Aphramor do a wonderful job of explaining the issues here.
100 Questions Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Ask by Ilyce R. Glink. HR. If you’re a regular reader of the blog, then you know that I’m planning on moving to Cleveland and buying a house in the next few months. This is absurdly exciting for me but also a bit overwhelming. I’ve never owned my own home before, and I know that there are things about this process that I don’t even know I should be worried about. That’s where this book comes in. Glink does an amazing job of documenting all of the things you need to consider in the home-buying process, including what hurdles to expect and what problems to prepare for. Even though it’s a pretty thick book, it was a good read and is broken up into digestible questions and sections. After reading this, I feel like I can at least kind of have an intelligent conversation about home-buying where I’m asking the right questions.
The Holmes Inspection: Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy or Sell Your Home by Mike Holmes. GB. Again, I’m trying to read up on homeownership now before I actually have a house to deal with. Specifically, I don’t really have any experience living in older homes (which is primarily what I’m looking at in Cleveland), and I wanted to know what I should be looking for during an inspection. This book was a decent primer, though I wish it had more examples of good versus bad when talking about different housing elements. But, it’s pretty quick to read, and I definitely learned a few things.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. DEAR. For those of us that aren’t a minority, I think we have a particular responsibility to not only educate ourselves about racial issues but also to do so in a way that doesn’t place the emotional burden on those marginalized groups. I’m hoping to read more on this topic because as a society, we’re at a tipping point. I want to make sure I know what I’m talking about when racism shows up (because it does) but also that I know when to shut up and just listen since this isn’t my story. Anyway, everyone should read this. And if you have other recommendations on the topic, please let me know in the comments!
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. Both 100% DEAR. These are two of my all-time favorite books that I recently re-read. Seriously, Lawson is one of my favorite human beings of all time. She’s hilarious, and raw, and real. She writes about her struggles with mental health in a way that is approachable. It’s simultaneously accurate and disarmingly funny. Please make sure you read this ASAP. In fact, if you don’t want to read them, I can also highly recommend the audiobooks–Lawson narrates them herself, and there were points while I was driving when I was laughing so hard that I probably should have pulled over…
*side note about Lawson. I’ve gotten in the habit of picking up copies of these books at library sales because I always seem to give my copy away. Well, when I went to read the copy of Furiously Happy that I bought, I saw that the title page was already autographed. Which led to some wonderful twitter banter:
No need to change it. Just tell everyone that Andy is the cool nickname @TheBloggess gave you because you are just that tight.
This wasn’t the best quarter for fiction reading. I think I watched more TV for entertainment than I read. I read a few books, but it was a mixed bag in terms of quality IMO.
The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout. OK. Basically Twilight but with aliens. And there were a couple of twists, but they were only meh. The general premise is that aliens are among us, but there are also extra special aliens…and there’s a love interest…and the girl is super special for some mysterious reason…whatever. Turns out this is actually a spinoff in the same world as one of Armentrout’s other series. That one might be better, but I’m not sure I care enough to find out. Maybe when I’m really bored at some point.
Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout. GB. Slightly better than the above by the same author. At least it’s a semi-original premise. This one is a teen love story but involving gargoyles! Like from cathedrals. And demons. Another spinoff from a previous series. If I hadn’t already checked this one out from the library before finishing The Darkest Star, I don’t know that I would have read it. But it was a decent read if you need something light.
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. HR. This was lovely. It’s a fantasy novel involving the persecution of witches. One of the things I absolutely loved about it was the super unique magical construct. The attention to detail and nuance in developing her magical system gives Mahurin major points in my book. And from a debut author! If you like YA fantasy, this is worth a read.
Siren’s Song by Mary Weber. GB. This is a good series with an interesting plot. It’s only GB because the second book in the series was a little weak…and there were some holes in the plot where things didn’t seem to make as much sense as they should have. the magic aspect got a little vague at points, but the overall plot was fun.
Ok, that’s it for Q3. Only one more quarter of reading to go! I’ll probably include a tally for the year at the end of the next post.
Anything I should add to my reading list? I’d love to hear your suggestions!
I’ve been really bad about posting regularly on the blog lately. Like no post in the month of May bad. And you know what? That’s okay. Things have been really busy (in a good way), and I’ve been trying to be more intentional about giving myself time and space (aka slowing down). When I get stressed and try to power through, it never turns out well.
There’s this insidious trend in the personal
finance/self-help spaces that drives me crazy. It’s the idea that we need to
optimize every aspect of our lives, hustle hard to get ahead, and hack
inefficiencies like we’re machines. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good
productivity hack as much as the next person, but I think this line of thinking
can also be dangerous.
Dangerous because it implies that if you aren’t optimizing everything, that
you’re slacking. You aren’t trying hard enough, and that’s the reason you can’t
get ahead. Well, I’m calling bullshit.
I’ve always been a voracious reader, primarily of fiction (and specifically fantasy novels). This year, I decided to consciously track the books I read throughout the year, both so I could be keeping myself accountable with regard to reading more nonfiction, and so I could know how many new books versus old books I read/reread respectively.
via GIPHYContinue reading “A Year of Book Recommendations: Nonfiction”
It’s so appropriate that this post goes out today because it’s finally snowing for the first time in the Washington, DC area. Something about this weather makes me want to slow down and appreciate the small things. In other words, I’m ready to get hygge.
I have a confession: I’m dropping $2,500 on a completely elective purchase in October. And on two weekend trips that were planned pretty last-minute. And I have no regrets. Having my finances together gives me the flexibility to address what’s important in my life. Financial flexibility isn’t necessarily frugal, but it does mean my money is going to things I value.
Could I have picked a more clickbait-y title? You’re welcome. But it’s 100% true too. This is my second weekly update post, and it’s been one hell of a week. This is a pretty long post because there’s some background that needs to be established, but bear with me. I eventually get to the part about lighting money on fire and walking away. But I’ve also discovered that the value of happiness doesn’t have a price tag. And as trite as that sounds, it’s so true.
