Since the pandemic began, I’ve focused a lot on the pursuit of happiness. I wanted to keep my spirits up. I took the free Science of Well-Being course through Coursera, I listened to happiness podcasts, I kept a wellness journal where I recorded things I was grateful for, exercise, meditation, beauty and excellence I appreciated, … Continue reading Happiness ensues
I finished reading Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching this morning. I marked it “Read” on Goodreads, and wondered, when the rating scale popped up, how does one decide how many stars to give an ancient religious text? Do people give star reviews for the Bible, the Torah, the Koran? (They do!). Compared to something like … Continue reading Rating the Tao Te Ching
I just can’t with favorites. I can’t think of anything in life that I have an absolute, all the time favorite of. I don’t have a favorite book, song, movie, TV show, dessert, drink, pen, author, season. And I don’t have a favorite quote. I’ve spent too much time already today agonizing over this question. … Continue reading I won’t pick a favorite quote.
My reading life is dictated by when ebooks are available at the library. My favorite days are when a hold becomes available the day I finish my current read. Those days feel like I won a scratch-off lottery ticket. I get a little nervous when my next book becomes available too soon, though. Too soon … Continue reading The next book on my list
I was restless and excited yesterday in anticipation of the coming storm. We had hot cocoa in the pantry and firewood in the hamper, and I wanted to lean fully into cozy. I wanted to bake, and I wanted to bake bread. Specifically, I wanted to bake oat bread. My first appliance as a grown-up … Continue reading Back to bread
My reading life in 2021 was rich and satisfying. I found authors who, after reading a couple of their books, I want to read everything they’ve written (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Lauren Groff). I delighted in Nigerian literature (I loved Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha series). I read books that awed me with their execution (Ducks, … Continue reading Reading in 2021
Butterfly Mind 