This has been a full month. Will and I are started it in New York and ended it back in Louisville with a few unseasonably cool but completely welcome days.
This month we celebrated fifteen years of marriage, we had fun times with friends and family, we buried our family dog. We’ve been for many bike rides and taken lots of walks. We went berry picking even though we can never remember to get out to the fields until the season is over.
We’ve been tidying up and moving things around in the house. I’ve been re-reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and taking the Nester’s self-paced cozy minimalist course (hint: enter my name as the referrer on that link and get $10 off) and—on top of last month’s read How to Live with Kids—it’s making a big difference in the way things look around here. (I still haven’t finished painting the hall that I started in January but never mind that.)
What I’m reading
What I’m reading
I’ve been diligent about sticking close to my summer reading list: This month I’ve read Deep Down Dark, The Cruelest Month, A Rule Against Murder, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, and half of Little Women. I’ve also been reading a nice assortment of new fiction, including The Rumor, Weightless, The Summer of Good Intentions, and Sweet Forgiveness.
And I’m still reading H Is for Hawk. I’m usually more a speed reader than a savorer, but this one is proving to be the exception to the rule.
In my kitchen
The kids have been making lots of summer dinners: Sarah cooks every Monday and Thursday, and Jack is learning to grill. (His specialty is flat iron steak with Trader Joe’s BBQ coffee rub.)
We’ve also been brewing batch after batch of iced coffee and cooking up everything strawberry. Sarah made that beautiful summer tart shown above.
Best of the web
Vera Wang says: Know when to walk away … and start something new. “Your life isn’t always measured by tangible results. What it really is in the end is the process, and what you learn about yourself and about life.”
David Foster Wallace’s syllabus for his 2008 creative nonfiction course: includes reading list and footnotes. “In some ways, Wallace syllabi themselves count as pieces of creative nonfiction. What other professor ever had the prose chops to make you actually want to read anything under the “Class Rules & Procedures” heading?”
Telling the truth with charts. “A chart tells a story. Explain what’s happening in a way that’s understood, in a useful, clear presentation that’s true. But too many charts fail at this simple but difficult task.”
The economics of tidying up. “Why do people have so much trouble throwing things out? Turns out, the answer lies in people’s heads. Running through Kondo’s best advice and most of her book is the argument about the anxiety-induced limits of human decision-making. Seeing as an entire branch of economics studies exactly that, it’s no wonder that economists have a particular interest in her advice …. The clutter that piles up in apartments is a product of people’s cognitive blunders.
On the blog
The perfect summer reading for every Myers-Briggs personality type. Combining two of my favorite things: personality geekery and summer reading.
The 2015 Summer Reading Guide. I’ve loved hearing what you’re reading this summer.
My summer uniform. I’ve gotta say: this method—and this particular daily outfit—are really working for me.
How are you TODAY? A simple change to a common question makes all the difference when it comes to helping our friends (and maybe ourselves) through something difficult.
What makes a relationship work? Skip tall-dark-and-handsome, go for kindness (and 10 tips for making it last). On my anniversary: the challenges I face in my own relationship, and proven tips for getting it right as we move forward.
Linking up with Leigh Kramer to share what I’ve been into lately.
19 comments
that summer tart looks glorious …
seriously yummy!
Hi Anne!
Would love to know your iced coffee recipe!
I use the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for “perfect iced coffee.”
I just finished the Cruelest Month yesterday. I’m so glad you put Still Life in the summer reading guid! I’ve found these books to be incredibly smart and deceptively philosophical, not just your average murder mystery. The stories contained in each book are quite good but the real magic has been in the stories that arch over several books as well as their commentary on life and the human heart. I could go on but I don’t want to give anything away. I’m taking a break before starting the next one as they suck me in completely. Thanks for the recommendation!!!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
Hope your loving Inspector Gamache & Three Pines as much as I do. Another suggestion for your reading list (cause you need more) is the Phryne Fisher series by Greenwood. Yes, the Miss Fisher mysteries on Netflix are based on this series, BUT the books are so much better. The TV version is good and thecostumes & settings alone are fabulous. Enjoy!
Thanks for the recommendations!
Ooohh you have given me so much to read…I love the ideas behind tidying up, but I’m just not sure where to start without upsetting hubby and kiddos
I love Little Women & have been wanting to read Deep Down Dark – I’ve heard great things about it!
That tart is beautiful! I cannot wait for my son to be old enough to cook for me. 🙂
I look forward to hearing what you think of Sweet Forgiveness. It’s on my TBR list since I loved The Life List.
That’s quite the book stack!
I ate up the Armand Gamache mysteries in the past year and Bury Your Dead was my favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I’m looking forward to more Gamache!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’m reading The Brutal Telling right now; Bury Your Dead will be next … 🙂
I love your Best of the Web this month! The Vera Wang interview was so interesting and her perspective about failure, moving on and reinventing yourself is spot on. But the Economics of Tidying Up – whoa! I’m married to an engineer and I’ve watched his closet get more and more crammed with clothes. I’m determined to help him tidy that up, and the logic of this article will be very helpful!
Thank you for the book lists! I am the one who gets so excited when the next month’s Bookpage comes out at the library. All the possibilities! I am in the middle of “The Book of Speculation” and enjoying it. “Language Arts” is waiting for me and I am also reading “I Thought It Was Just Me” by Brene Brown, because I can’t have just one book going at a time.
Can Sarah come and make that tart at my house? Please?
Don’t mind me – I’m just clicking on all the links you shared here as your best of the Web…
Also, I doubt you know this about me, but I worked at Vera Wang after I graduated college. I temped as the assistant to the CFO while I sent out applications for journalism jobs.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to find something else in my life that meant quite as much.” <– I totally get that.
No I did not know this! I want to hear all about it sometime. 🙂