It’s spring – time to spruce up your home and especially your book shelves. Here are some suggestions from my guest Sarah Hollenbeck for adding diversity and interest to your shelves… and your reading habit.
When you look at your bookshelf, what types of books do you see the most of? Are there a lot of romance novels and mysteries, or are you more of a historical fiction fanatic? A bookshelf should reflect your interests, but it can also be a place of inspiration, (millennials know this well — they read the most books after all!) a place where you store books that can help you become a different person. And if you are looking at your bookshelf and seeing very few of these types of books, it’s time to take action.
Non-fiction books focused on education and hobbies are great ways to scratch that reading itch while learning something new. And there are a wide variety of hobby books you can try out, meaning you can still make sure your bookshelf reflects who you are as a person. If you have always wanted to make your home more green, try out some books on gardening or houseplant care. Or if you are a budding woodworker, you could buy a few books on how to tackle home improvement projects.
To help you find the best books to start a new hobby and update your home, the team at Hippo Insurance has put together an infographic highlighting 12 books every homeowner is sure to love. Check out the list below and get started on diversifying your bookshelf and your post-work activities!
Can you add some hobby books to this list? Please do so in the comments!
After Florida State recently whooped the (still) National Champion Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team, Virginia Coach Tony Bennett had some surprising words to share about adversity. During a post-game interview, Bennett said,
“You’ve got to be thankful for what adversity teaches you and are you thankful enough and wise enough to apply it.”
Tony Bennett, UVA Men’s Basketball Coach
Thankful for adversity? This is a concept I haven’t heard much in the past 12 months of difficulty we have faced during COVID. It’s a refreshing sentiment in a culture saturated with conflict and concern. Now, I understand losing a basketball game is a far cry from losing a loved one, a job, peace of mind, food, medicine, and water. I also appreciate it might be hard to take the advice of a man who makes four million a year coaching basketball when so many now are unemployed or underemployed and worried about things more significant than a season record.
However, many of us share a fond regard for sports and the values they teach. I coach cross country, not just because I love running and get excited about teaching kids the training benefits of a tempo run, but also because athletics challenge us to grow, physically, and more importantly, mentally and emotionally. I care less if my athletes claim a title and more about how they develop as young men and women to thrive in a world that is often unfair, exhausting, and difficult. One of my favorite quotes I share with my team is:
So let’s take a look at what Bennett says about adversity and use it for inspiration as we enter the 13th month of this pandemic. Bennett’s coaching rests on five pillars: humility, passion, unity, servant hood, and thankfulness. My, what a different country we could be if we all spent more time focusing on these ideals and less time on all the other junk flying around today. Yes, we are living through difficult times, but we can learn from these challenges and become better people, if only we set our mind in the right place.
Bennett has said, “If you learn to use it right, the adversity, it will buy you a ticket to a place you could not have gone any other way.” I assume here Bennett is referring to the humiliating loss to 16 seed UMBC in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Basketball tournament. The loss brought harsh criticism and even death threats to the #1 seeded Virginia team. Bennett has often referred to that loss as a “painful gift” that forced the team to grow and propelled them to their 2019 National Championship victory.
For us, off the court, can we think of this pandemic as a “painful gift”, one that is forcing us to reevaluate how we live, what we prioritize, and how we treat each other? Can we embrace the idea that the adversity of the past several months is moving us, individually and collectively, to a place of understanding we could not have found otherwise? Life has definitely handed us adversity in COVID-19. Now, will we be thankful enough and wise enough to apply what adversity is teaching us? I certainly hope so.
What inspires you 13 months into this pandemic? Please share!
This week was rough. The frigid temps and gray sky drained my energy, and I had a hard time lifting myself up. Things that helped me manage my mood, and I highly recommend, include: Yoga with Adrienne, practicing a musical instrument, and trading my spiraling thoughts for a good story. And that story was the YA whodunit, One of Us is Lying, by Karen McManus.
Premise
One of Us is Lying opens with five students showing up for detention under suspect circumstances; only four of them leave alive. Those four become the prime suspects in the murder of their classmate, Simon, the creator of a malicious gossip app. All of them have reason to hate Simon, and all of them have something to hide. There’s Bronwyn, the super student who never breaks the rules; Nate, who already has a record for selling drugs; Addy, the gorgeous Homecoming princess with the perfect boyfriend; and Cooper, the all-star baseball player being recruited by college and professional coaches. All four swear they had nothing to do with Simon’s murder, but the police think otherwise, and they must race to prove their innocence before one or all of them end up in jail. Unless, of course, one of them in lying.
What I liked
One of Us is Lying is told through four alternating points of view: Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper. McManus does an excellent job of developing each character and his or her voice, and she uses those alternating views to move the plot and build suspense. I could relate best to Bronwyn, the brain, but I found all four characters compelling.
One of Us is Lying breaks down the social framework of high school, and the characters in the book grow to understand each other beyond stereotype and rumor. It also explores the danger of social media and the online lives teens live today, as well as unhealthy dating relationships and the toxic focus on appearance and success that our culture perpetuates.
One of Us Is Lying presents not only an interesting mystery, but also a thoughtful commentary on the social pressures teens must navigate today.
What I didn’t like
I listened to the audio book, and all of the readers did a great job, except Cooper is supposed to have a southern twang that gets worse when he is nervous. The performers in the audio book did not consistently portray Cooper’s accent, and I found the entire notion of a drawl that comes and goes unrealistic. I live in the heart of southern drawl – the speed, semantics, and syntax of speech is consistent ’round here. 😉
Also, while I appreciate the toxic social trends McManus explores in her novel, I wonder if centering a book around harmful behavior doesn’t reinforce the behavior. There is a thin line between bringing attention and awareness to an issue and glorifying it. However, McManus handles the topics with nuance and sensitivity, leaving us with a thought provoking and satisfying story.
Recommendation
If you need a good escape read to help you through the winter blues, or anytime, try One of Us Is Lying. Excellent plot, pace, and four characters you can pull for. 😉
Can you recommend another great escape book? Please do so in the comments!
Valentine’s Day approaches, and with it, in our house at least, heart shaped sugar cookies with sweet pink frosting and Oreo cookie truffles. Then, shortly after, the “detox” of Lent begins. No dessert for six weeks!
Whether or not you have a significant other to shower with sweet treats or overpriced cards this Valentine’s Day (seriously, make your own!), I encourage you to use this “Hallmark holiday” as a reminder to embrace love, for yourself and the world around you. We live in challenging times, and this silly pink day, in the darkness of February, is a great excuse to love yourself and extend love to those around you – including people you don’t know or understand.
Since it’s gray outside, and therefore perfect reading weather, here are a few books I recommend to help you love yourself. If you can add any others, please do so in the comments!
Kendi covers historical information I either missed or forgot or was never given in school. He describes things I’d never heard of before, such as the Biblical justification of slavery known as “the curse of Ham” or the fact that Ronald Reagan launched his War on Drugs in the 1980s at a time when drug crime was actually quite low. He provides context around key events of American history, such as the Civil War, that gave me a better understanding of our country’s complicated relationship with racism.
Also, now I know who Angela Davis is.
Throughout the book, Kendi presents the responses of assimilationists, segregationalists, and antiracists to events in American political life, and how those responses affected policy and the lives of African Americans.
Although Kendi’s opinion clearly comes through in the book, this is not an opinion piece. Kendi includes no less than 45 pages of notes and references in the back of his book, and he obviously did the exhaustive research necessary to produce a “definitive history.”
What I didn’t like
Stamped from the Beginning is heavy, physically and intellectually. It requires a hearty commitment to read and digest all of the material it presents. Also, sometimes I found Kendi’s language confusing. He tends to use long sentences with complicated syntax, and on several occasions, I had to reread sections to understand what he was trying to say.
Recommendation
Everyone needs to explore and better understand the complicated history of racist ideas and policies that have affected America since its inception. I strongly encourage you to take a crack at Stamped from the Beginning. If 500 pages is too daunting, check out the YA remix of Stamped that Kendi wrote with the amazing and award winning kid lit author Jason Reynolds. It’s calledStamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. My friend Dana reviewed it last year and called it “an accessible, engaging narrative that I believe every American teen and adult should read.”
Have you read Stamped or its YA remix? What did you think? What other books about racism can you recommend?
Happy Black History Month, and thanks for getting nerdy with me!
The Word Nerd is reading…
Just read: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Currently reading: Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
Currently listening to: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus and Rising Strong by Brene Brown.
I’m going to steal a trick from my friend Amy and offer you some Sunday inspiration. Snow frosts the tree limbs and evergreen leaves outside my window, and the crisp winter coating hides the brown grass and helps me forget, temporarily, the challenges of life.
In a recent blog post at her amazing site Helping Writers Become Authors, K.M. Weiland shared some very inspiring words from Madeline L’Engle’s book Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art:
“Create” is my word for the year of 2021, as I still have not made creating a big enough priority in my life. I plan to create, and move toward wholeness, this Sunday. Will you?
