High Shelf Esteem

Archives for November 2018

What’s Making Me Happy, Vol. 17

I swear it was just Halloween, but here we are at the end of November! Thanksgiving was a great chance to remember all the things I’m grateful for. Friends and family topped the list for the year. I’m so lucky to have people in my life that make me happy! For the purposes of this post, I do want to share a few (much) smaller things this month that have raised my spirits 🙂

Here’s what’s been making me happy lately:

Lavender and Flax Seed Neck Pillow (Hot/Cold)
I just pop this puppy in the microwave for 90 seconds, wrap it around my neck and am transported into a tranquil haven. The pillow hugs my neck perfectly and smells absolutely delightful. Good-bye neck tension! 

Panda Planner
I’m forever trying to get my schedule under control. I’ve tried all sorts of planners, apps, etc., but the Panda Planner is first one that helps with the logistics of the day-to-day, but also has a focus on the more important things in life. In addition to an hourly schedule, a task checklist and section for prioritizing projects, each day has sections for reflecting on what I’m grateful for, listing what I’m excited about, choosing a focus, and making an exercise goal. I’m not sure if the planner has made me significantly more productive, but I love that it’s making me more thoughtful with my approach to the day.

Katchi, by Nick Waterhouse (featuring Leon Bridges)
This song is so darn catchy. At first I was a little worried that the word “katchi” might mean something unsavory, but all it is is a Louisiana Indian term for “loving touch.” I’m okay with that! I’m going to continue belting it out at the top of my lungs in the car 🙂  

 

What’s making you happy this month? Please share in the comments below!

Literary Linking: November 19 – 23

This week’s link topics include: nostalgia for the Scholastic book fair, Michelle Obama’s bestseller, a long overdue book sale, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of November 19 – 23:

The Fleeting Magic of Scholastic Book Fairs
Book-fair week was my favorite week of the year in elementary school. I think I spent all the money I saved up (in my neon-colored wallet) over the course of the five days 🙂

Bookstore’s Tweet on the Sale of a Children’s Book after 27 Years Goes Viral
Not sure the book was really worth holding on to, but the publicity from this tweet has probably been great for business.

100 Notable Books of 2018
Best-books-of-the-year-lists season has started, y’all! Is it just me or are the lists coming out earlier and earlier every year?

A Parent’s Guide To Your Teenager’s Linguistic Distillation of Classic AP Lit Titles
These are a bit painful to read, but entertaining nonetheless (at least the ones that we grown-ups can decipher).

MIchelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ Sold More Than 1.4 Million Copies in First Week
The hold list at my library is at 357 for the print version and 1251 for the eBook. It might be worth buying if you want to read anytime in the next year!

An Exciting Announcement & How I Learned To Embrace My DNF Pile

I mentioned a while back that I had a few projects brewing. One of them was applying to be a contributor for Book Riot. I’m very excited to announce that I’ve been accepted and will be writing for the site regularly! I will still write here at High Shelf Esteem, but posts might be a little less frequent. I invite you to visit Book Riot and check out my writing there and the writing of all the other amazing contributors. Happy reading!

The following post first appeared on Book Riot.

 

How I Learned To Embrace My DNF Pile

Until recently, not finishing a book was a foreign concept, a sign of weakness, a readerly sin. Giving up was not an option. The immense guilt I felt for even entertaining the idea of abandoning a book made the notion of a DNF (did not finish) pile impossible.

That all changed last fall. I woke up in the wee hours of a November night with the worst headache I’d ever had. My husband rushed me to the ER where we found out I had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Long story short, I had brain surgery and have spent the past year recovering.

I am incredibly lucky. I can walk, talk, and do almost everything I could before the surgery, but when your brain gets poked and prodded, there’s bound to be a few things that change physically and mentally. For me, one of the biggest changes has been my ability to stay focused while reading. It takes a lot more energy to concentrate for long stretches of time, and I often have to backtrack and reread because I can’t remember what I’ve just read.

I used to pride myself on reading at least three books a week. Now I’m glad if I get through one, and that one book better be spectacular if I’m going to spend so much time with it.

In the early days of my recovery while I was still in the hospital, I picked up Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, and I couldn’t get through it. I kept reading the same lines over and over and none of them stuck. I wondered if I should force myself to keep going.

I looked at the IVs I was hooked up to; I saw my husband sleeping on the uncomfortable vinyl couch in the hospital room; I touched the bandaging around my head and I thought to myself, “Why am I doing this to myself? Life is too short to read books I don’t love!”

Annihilation wasn’t a bad book. It just wasn’t for me at the moment. I latched on to the idea that my time on this earth is limited and I shouldn’t spend it feeling frustrated and miserable. I closed Annihilation and made it the first book in my DNF pile.

I felt incredibly liberated and have since added a bunch more books to the pile. I want those of you with DNF guilt to experience this freeing feeling as well, so I’ve developed a list of reasons why it’s okay to abandon books you’re not enjoying. Let that DNF pile grow!

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO READ BAD BOOKS (OR BOOKS THAT JUST AREN’T FOR YOU)!

Life is too short to be doing anything that makes you grumpy during your free time. Let go of the “I shoulds” and embrace the “I wants.”

YOU CAN ALWAYS REVISIT BOOKS YOU’VE PUT DOWN.

There is no rule forbidding you to try again if you want. Sometimes a book just isn’t the right one at the time.

YOU’LL BE MORE FUN TO BE AROUND.

When I’m not connecting with a book and reading it feels like a chore, I’m a drag to hang out with. Why make my loved ones suffer when all I have to do is move on to something else?

IF YOUR BOOK IS FROM THE LIBRARY, DNFING AND RETURNING IT GIVES SOMEONE ELSE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY IT.

Just because I didn’t enjoy a book with 137 people on the library hold list doesn’t mean the next reader in the queue won’t absolutely love it. Set that book free.

BY STICKING WITH A BOOK YOU DON’T LIKE, YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON YOUR NEXT BEST READ.

Who knows? Maybe the next book you pick up will be your favorite of the year. There’s no way you’ll know if you keep slogging through that book you’re only reading because you want to sound smart at dinner parties.

 

All of this is to say, reading for fun should be fun. If a book isn’t doing it for you, close it and give yourself the permission to try something else. Looking at my DNF pile actually gives me a sense of pride now. Letting go of obligatory reading and finding books that excite me and enrich my life has been a game changer.

Now, I just have to figure out how to transfer that letting go mindset to the rest of my day-to-day life. Maybe there’s a book that can help…

Literary Linking: November 12 – 16

This week’s link topics include: politically progressive kids’ stories, the National Book Awards, competitive book sorters, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of November 12 – 16:

The Radicalization of Bedtime Stories
If your kiddos are going to wake you up in the middle of the night, you might as well make them “woke!” 🙂

The Competitive Book Sorters Who Spread Knowledge Around New York
Nerdy competitions are the best competitions.

Sigrid Nunez Wins National Book Award for ‘The Friend’
I always mean to read the National Book Award winners, but never get around to them. Nunez’s book has a dog as a key player, so it might just happen this year.

26 People Told Us How Public Libraries Made Their Lives Better
Some feel-good stuff right here. I hope your public library makes your life better!

A Parent’s Survival Guide To Reading the Same Picture Book for the 100th Time
I don’t have kids, but I do know how hard it can be to read the same book over and over. These ideas sound like sanity savers.

Literary Linking: November 5 – 9

This week’s link topics include: ‘Up lit’ books to improve your mood, who you should ask when you don’t know what to read next, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of November 5 – 9:

Trend Alert: Popular ‘Up-Lit’ Books To Improve Your Mood
Books that make you feel better about this crazy world without being saccharine and cheesy? Yes, please!

Tips for Overcoming ‘Reader’s Block’
Good solid suggestions, many of which I’ve heard before. Tip #4 is new to me though! Definitely going to give a try next time I’m feeling blocked.

J.K. Rowling Is Suing Her Former Assistant
You don’t cross J.K. You just don’t!

What Should You Read Next? For Thousands, the Person To Ask Is Anne Bogel.
If you’ve never listened to Anne’s What Should I Read Next? Podcast, you’re missing out. She has great reading taste and recommendations.

What I’m Reading Next: TBR November 2018

Welcome to the TBR Mix n’ Mingle Linkup hosted by the ladies at Literary Quicksand, Rachel @ Never Enough Novels and Allison @ My Novel Life, where we share what we’ll be reading the coming month!

In my October TBR post, I predicted that Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon (Book 3 of the Outlander series) might be the only book I get through for the month. I am proud to say that this was not the case!  But while I love Claire and Jamie, the 870-page tome really tested my reading stamina. For November, I’m going with shorter books!

Here’s my TBR for November:

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty
Why do I want to read this? Because it’s Liane Moriarty! I’ve loved almost all her other books (wasn’t crazy about the last one) and actually got my hands on a 7-day loan copy from the library on release day (11/6)!

Summary: Nine people gather at a remote health resort…Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can?

It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.

 

The Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1), by Lee Child
There’s a lovely retired couple that comes into my library on a regular basis looking for fast-paced audiobooks to accompany them on their drives to golf tournaments up and down the east coast. They are completely obsessed with the Jack Reacher series and the husband made a strong case for my reading it. I have to please the library customers, so that’s why I’m reading it this month 🙂

Summary: Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is a drifter. He’s just passing through Margrave, Georgia, and in less than an hour, he’s arrested for murder. Not much of a welcome. All Jack knows is that he didn’t kill anybody. At least not here. Not lately. But he doesn’t stand a chance of convincing anyone. not in Margrave, Georgia. Not a chance in hell. ~ From the publisher

 

The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
The History of Love is this month’s pick for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club, but it was also recommended to me by an old friend. She considers the opening of the book to be one of her absolute favorites. I trust her readerly judgement, so I’m really looking forward to digging into the story.

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother’s loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author. Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn’t know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives… ~ From the publisher

 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh
This is the Forever35 Book Club Facebook group’s fall read-along. There’s going to be a spoiler-filled discussion on November 26, so I better get started soon! I’ve never participated in the Forever35 read-alongs before and since I already had My Year of Rest and Relaxation on my Goodreads TBR, it seemed like the perfect time to read it. I’m curious to see how the story unfolds since the main character is supposed to be asleep or drugged out for most of it…

Summary: Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. ~ From the publisher

 

Hey, Kiddo, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
As a children’s librarian, I am very familiar with and enjoy Krosoczka’s Lunch Lady graphic novel series, but I’m excited to see how he’s taken his art to a new level for this memoir. Plus, it’s a National Book Award finalist!

Summary: Raised by his colorful grandparents, who adopted him because his mother was an incarcerated heroin addict, Krosoczka didn’t know his father’s name until he saw his birth certificate when registering for a school ski trip. Hey, Kiddo traces Krosoczka’s search for his father, his difficult interactions with his mother, his day-to-day life with his grandparents, and his path to becoming an artist. ~ From the publisher

 

What will you be reading in November? Please share in the comments below!

Literary Linking: October 29 – November 2

This week’s link topics include: commentary on America’s reading tastes, a message from Levar Burton, beautiful picture books from 2018, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of October 29 – November 2:

What’s the Best American Novel? A PBS Vote Is a Revealing Look at Our (Limited) Taste
The writer is a little harsh with his assessment of today’s readers (or non-readers, more like it), but effectively defends his recommendation to read more broadly.

A Store Had To Move Thousands of Books. So a Human Chain Was Formed.
Here’s your feel-good story for the week!

Levar Burton Has a Message for Non-Readers Like Donald Trump
And his message packs a spicy punch! Levar Burton was awesome on Reading Reading and he’s awesome now.

The 2018 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books
My personal fave is Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, but there are a bunch I haven’t read yet. Off to the library!

25 Words You Didn’t Know Were in the Dictionary
Most of these are quite amusing, although I don’t think I really needed to learn the meaning the word “feague”…

What’s Making Me Happy, Vol. 16

After a month away from High Shelf Esteem, I am back! October was incredibly productive and I hope to share some of what I’ve been working on with you all soon. Being productive and crossing things off my to-do list is very happy-making for me, but there a few other things that have been tickling my fancy.

Here’s what’s been making me happy lately:

Immigrant Song
Led Zeppelin on the whole makes me happy, but “Immigrant Song” has taken the cake for me. I was stuck in traffic a few weeks ago with a classic rock playlist on, and as soon as the pace picked up (there was no actual accident or anything like that, just lots of bad drivers on the road :p), “Immigrant Song” came on. The timing was perfect — I felt like a Valkyrie behind the wheel! Since then, any time I’m restless in the car, I blast “Immigrant Song.” Being on the road immediately becomes much more enjoyable.

 

Me taking a “bubble bath” before the bubble party

Bubbles
I recently hosted a bubble party at my library — a bubble-themed storytime followed by bubble-centric crafts and activities– and it was a total blast. The kids who attended got to dance like maniacs as a bubble machine cranked out a massive number of bubbles; they went nuts on bubble wrap; and they blew bubbles to their heart’s content. It filled my heart with joy to see them have so much fun, but it was in the preparations for the party that made me realize just how mood-boosting bubbles can be. Any time I turned the bubble machine on (I had to test it!), everyone around me couldn’t help but smile and giggle. I also HAD to test the bubble wrap that I was going to use for the kids’ “bubble bath.”  Each pop was so satisfying and resulted in a big ol’ grin. If you’re ever feeling down, just blow or pop some bubbles. I guarantee they’ll make you feel better!

 

Adriene and Andy
I’ve included Adriene and Andy in my “What’s Making Me Happy” posts before (Adriene from Yoga with Adriene and Andy Puddicombe from the Headspace meditation app), but I have to give them another shout out. Doing yoga and meditating with them provides me with a solid baseline of happiness and contentment.
Adriene’s free yoga classes on YouTube are accessible, fun, and she makes me feel like we’re old buddies. Her dog Benji, who sometimes makes a cameo in the sessions, is awesome too. Listening Andy’s dulcet English-accented tones every morning is pleasant period, but the fact that his easy-to-process approach to meditation has gotten me practicing daily has been a game-changer. Give them a try sometime!

 

Manifest
It’s been a while since I’ve liked a new show enough that I eagerly wait for the next episode to air. Manifest is doing just that. The show centers around the lives of the passengers and crew of a flight that suddenly reappears after having disappeared five years before. For the people on the plane, the flight was merely delayed a few hours, but for the rest of the world, the five years has passed as usual. What exactly happened up in the air???
I’m a sucker for a story premise like this and can’t wait to see how the show unfolds.

 

What’s making you happy these days? Please share in the comments below!