a lifestyle blog for book lovers

My favorite finds from around the web: 

A compelling strategy to read more, more comprehensively, and in less time. “By reading in one-to-two hour slots, but actively reading—taking notes, thinking about the book, and looking at the architecture of the argument—you can actually retain it.”

How a closet cleanse helped me embrace my thirties. “What remained in my closet was the me of today, more casual, hopefully a tiny bit wiser—plus so much extra space, where the future beckoned.”

Author Ariel Lawhon on the book that changed everything. “I learned from Diana Gabaldon what it means to trust an author. She takes her readers to the broken, exhausted, exhilarating point of every emotion. Whether writing a knife fight, a journey, a homecoming, a betrayal, a wedding, or at times even torture, she builds her scenes until the page quivers with tension. Where a lesser writer would have mercy on the reader and cut the scene short, she takes it to the most brutal, unexpected, delightful, and profound conclusion.”

We are hopelessly hooked. “What does it mean to shift overnight from a society in which people walk down the street looking around to one in which people walk down the street looking at machines?”

Favorite instagram:

literary matchmaking sarah

When your 10yo asks you, and I quote, “What should I read next?”, you do what you do. (Follow me on instagram @annebogel.) 

On the blog: 

One year ago: The furniture you live on, and the furniture you live around. “At the end of the year, I shared a list of things that worked for me in 2014, the things that made my life run more smoothly, or the things that just made life a lot more fun. like Lucky’s Market, audiobooks, my glitter flats. I very nearly included our living room sectional on that list. I decided not to because 1. It’s just a sofa and 2. It felt materialistic.”

Two years ago: When family therapy is worth it: 5 myths about counseling, plus my 5 favorite things about it.

Three years ago: My see-saw marriage. “We’ve been on a huge learning curve these past few months. (My mantra: “Even good change is stressful. Even good change is stressful.”) We’ve been figuring out what our “new normal” looks like.”

Have a great weekend!

8 comments

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  1. Cheryl says:

    Can I ask a WSIRN question for my 14 year old daughter? She is a voracious reader, but has gotten mired lately in the huge number of YA dystopian novels. She used to read more widely, but it’s like she’s gotten sucked into a vortex she can’t escape. A couple of years ago she read every “Dear America” out there, so she definitely loves series. But they no longer have the drama of so many of the YA books she reading now. Any ideas of something to toss her way? I love reading with her, and just finished the Lunar Chronicles at her and your suggestion. I would just love to break her out of the dystopian universe she seems to be stuck in. MANY thanks! (BTW, we love listening to your podcast together. So fun!)

    • Susan says:

      Check out Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. There is high tension and drama as well as the power of female friendships. Totally the opposite of a mean girl book. It is set in World War 2 and starts with one of the characters enduring Nazi interrogation, but if she has been reading dystopian novels she’s probably ready for those kinds of scenes.

    • Margie says:

      You might take a look at Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. It’s a fantasy set in an alternate regency England. It is not dystopian, there is some humor and one of the main characters is a young woman. There is a little romance but no sex. It’s not marketed as YA but I thought it had a bit of a YA feel. It also seemed like a good gateway book for people that don’t usually read fantasy but want to try the genre.

    • Anne says:

      Shoot, I was about to recommend The Lunar Chronicles! I have zero experience recommending books for teens, but she’s certainly old enough for many classics, like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, These Is My Words, I Capture the Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird.

      It would take some more mulling it over to come up with current books.

      If she wanted to come on the show I’m taking submissions. 🙂 whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

  2. Meghan says:

    Oh, I don’t know if I could do that active reading technique. It sounds exactly like how I made it through college taking 2-3 history seminars per semester (reading one book per class per week), but it wasn’t fun. Since my job is pretty much reading and analyzing nonfiction, I don’t read much on the side anyway, and when I do, I like to slow down and not worry about hitting a deadline! I love a good time-management tip any day of the week, but this is one where slowing down is more my speed 🙂

    As a new reader, I do love the one-two-three years’ back links! Thanks for sharing those.

  3. yettie says:

    As someone who’s on the tail end of her 30s and has been on a perpetual closet cleanse, I loved reading that article in Elle. I guess introspection and resolutions that revolve around how we dress is a rite of passage before the big 4-0 hits.

    The links posts are always some of my favorites

  4. Great post about furniture! As a fairly new visitor to your blog, this was my first time seeing it. I’ll be buying my first house within the next year and was wary about spending any large sum of money on furniture. It’s helpful for my spend-thrift mind to realize furniture is more than just an expense…it can impact the way you live / how you feel.

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