My favorite finds from around the web:
• Why it’s worth it to fight for rest. “It’s taken me twenty years to learn how I need to rest. And once I paid attention, I had to fight the urge to think I was resting all wrong. What looks like rest to me might look like boredom or even work to someone else.”
• How to boss yourself around. “It’s like there are two of you in there: a taskmaster with an eye toward the future and a petulant toddler who is much more concerned with the immediate pleasures of the present. How do you get you to obey … well … you?”
• Classic novels pitched in 140 characters. “Curtis Brown, the distinguished and venerable literary agency, along with another agency, Conville & Walsh, has started an “online project” asking potential authors to send them ideas for novels or non-fiction books in 140 characters or less, with the hashtag @PitchCB.”
• How I conquer insomnia (even if I don’t get any sleep). “Right now, the data is mostly anecdotal (Google “insomnia and introversion,” and you’ll find loads of personal stories), but it makes sense. By and large introverts (and I am one of them) are more sensitive to stimuli, keep their emotions inside, and process their thoughts internally—all of which have the tendency to cause sleeplessness.”
What I’m reading this week:
That’s a picture of my beach reading stack above, but I accidentally omitted these two. (They were resting on my nightstand at the time.)
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Thanks for the encouragement to read this one.
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Believe it or not, this is my first ever Christie novel. I raced through it—thanks for telling me to start here instead of with Murder on the Orient Express as I intended. (Which one should I read next?)
On the blog:
• Enduring vs. enjoying the journey.
• Popular this week last year: My favorite TED talks.
• Don’t forget to take the MMD reader survey!
Have a great weekend!
9 comments
Death on the Nile is one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. It involves a twisted love story on a cruise of the Nile. Great for summer
I just battled for rest and struggled with a bad night’s sleep last night! This post is so timely and helpful. I’ve learned (the hard way, many times) that I just simply cannot write professionally before bed. I tried editing my latest post on the Bullet Journal last night, and I was so excited about finishing and publishing it that I couldn’t fall asleep and then dreamed of comments all night long.
As an introvert, I really struggle with sound. I’m guessing I could learn a lot and be helped by reading more on HSP – any quick tips you can offer?
“Do Over” has been on my shelf foooreeever, and I haven’t gotten to it yet. I just started “For the Love” (so far, it has me cracking up and looking forward to getting older). I can’t wait to hear what you think of both!
I think any of the Christie books are good. I read them all in my twenties. I do think that “And Then There Were None ” is a great place to start. I enjoyed all of her books but I personally like the Miss Marple stories better than Poirot.
I am reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on your recommendation, Anne. So far so good. I am about 1/3 finished.
I am an introvert/highly sensitive and I have insomnia several times a week. I usually try relaxation techniques first but I often get up and read for an hour or so and then I can go back to bed and fall asleep. I know that I cannot be on the computer late at night if I want to be able to sleep well. I try to read for a half hour or so in bed before lights out and that often works, but not always.
The article on bossing yourself around is so timely. For about a month this summer I was so good about exercising frequently and eating not too much junk. And then I had a couple of totally lazy weeks. As I’ve tried to get myself back on track I’ve found that instead of thinking about how I want to feel a month from now, I think about how I’ll feel an hour from now if I eat that fatty, not actually very good store-made cookie in the break room. When I think long term, I often justify things by thinking that I don’t want to cut all indulgence out of my life, but when I think about the short-term consequences I tend to be much more realistic about how my actions will actually make me feel.
I can’t believe you’ve never read Agatha Christie. I read her over and over, as well as the other Grand Dames of early 20th century mystery writing. My recommendations are: if you want to stick with Poirot, read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd; if you want to try Miss Marple, start with Murder at the Vicarage.
Although I love PBS versions of Miss Marple and Poirot I’ve never read any Christie either! Shame on me. Actually, glad to hear you loved And Then There Were None because I’m co-teaching a Brit Lit class for homeschool high schoolers and the lead teacher has it on the list for the spring. Can’t wait to read it!
“Murder at the Vicarage” is classic Christie. The “Man in the Brown Suit” is my favorite but a little different.
I was addicted to Agatha Christie in high school. I think I read all of the Poirot stories the library had in about six months! The Mysterious Affair at Styles is sort of Poirot’s intro. I also remember liking The ABC Murders and Five Little Pigs. My mom prefers the Miss Marple books. It’s hard to pick with Agatha Christie, there are so many to choose from!