• reading

    The need for a secular sabbath

    August 21, 2019 / No Comments

    “If you dread a day of rest from the digital world, then you probably need one.” –Sharon Samiento

    Most of my daily life is plugged in to technology. I spend a minimum of 10 hours a day working, sitting at a desk, utterly focused on my computer and cellphone. When I’m “off the clock,” many of life’s pleasures also take place in front of screens: writing, reading on a Kindle, watching movies or Netflix, browsing the internet or playing video games.

    Such a technology-based life feeds my curiosity — and pays the bills — but when combined with the madness of the news cycle, it can be hell on the body and soul. I don’t breathe normally anymore, in that I have to remind myself to do it, deeply and purposefully, or else the air I consume is shallow. Sitting upright in a chair takes mindfulness; the posture of slumped shoulders is so easy to assume when you’re focused outside of your body.

    I crave quietness more than I used to, quietness of environment and of the mind. At least for a little while.

    So, I’m going to reclaim a day each week to unplug and decompress. Abby Falik takes a similar secular sabbath. The founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, a nonprofit that channels teenage wanderlust toward social good, recently told the Books of Your Life podcast that the practice had made her more productive in the rest of her life.

    Just what will I do with that day? Why, I’ll read, of course, but books in a dead-tree format (paperback and hardcover) rather than an electrical one (audio and ebooks). I’ll bake new recipes instead of just collecting ideas from food blogs. I’ll write letters and poems, stories and novels in longhand; such scribblings can easily be transcribed into the computer later for editing purposes. And, I’ll do my best to get outside more. As a writer, it’s so easy to become homebound and isolated. Yet inspiration comes from outside forces as well as imaginative ones.

    Trying new activities, exploring unknown places and generally saying yes to non-techy adventures will, I hope, make me a little less stressed and a lot more inspired.

  • My Top 10 favs of 2018: A year spent reading, watching and listening to stories

    December 16, 2018 / 2 Comments

    Amidst the madness of the world, I consumed 54 books, 35 movies, dozens of TV programs and many podcasts this year. These were my favorites.

    (Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)

    MY FAVORITE BOOKS

    1. “The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century” by Kirk W. Johnson

    2. “The Outsider” by Stephen King

    3. “Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service” by Devin Leonard

    4. “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss

    5. “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean” by Susan Casey

    6. “It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree” by A.J. Jacobs

    7. “The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World’s Happiest People” by Meik Wiking

    8. “Elevation” by Stephen King

    9. “The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country” by Helen Russell

    10. “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker

    (Honorable mentions: “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader” by Anne Fadiman, “Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship” by Isabel Vincent, “The Switch” by Joseph Finder, “I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections” by Nora Ephron, “From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death” by Caitlin Doughty, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, “Cherries in Winter” by Suzan Colon, “Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life” by Annie Spence, “Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A Collection Of Library Humor” by Roz Warren, “How to Find Love in a Book Shop” by Veronica Henry and “Flat Broke with Two Goats” by Jennifer McGaha)

    Overall reading ratio: I read 16,276 pages across 54 books — 51% fiction, 49% nonfiction; 43% male, 57% female.

    MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS

    1. Sense8
    2. The Great British Baking Show
    3. Love Your Garden
    4. Grace and Frankie
    5. The Kominsky Method
    6. 9-1-1
    7. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
    8. One Day at a Time
    9. A Million Little Things
    10. Escape to the Country

    (Honorable mentions: Timeless, The Great British Baking Show: Master Class, Santa Clarita Diet, This Is Us, Big Dreams Small Spaces, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Elementary, The Good Doctor, Madam Secretary, Grimm, Escape to the Continent, How I Met Your Mother, Salt Fat Acid Heat, Castle Rock and Altered Carbon.)

    MY FAVORITE MOVIES

    1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    2. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
    3. Last Flag Flying
    4. Feminists: What Were They Thinking
    5. The Man Who Invented Christmas
    6. Ready Player One
    7. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
    8. Unrest
    9. Between the Folds
    10. Avengers: Infinity War

    (Honorable mentions: Bohemian Rhapsody, Shape of Water, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Molly’s Game, Love Between the Covers, Black Panther, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Tag, Game Night and Skyscraper.)

    MY FAVORITE PODCASTS

    1. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
    2. Small Town Dicks
    3. Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
    4. Criminal
    5. Death, Sex and Money
    6. The Anthropocene Reviewed
    7. Fresh Air
    8. Nocturne
    9. Dear Hank and John
    10. The Daily

    (Honorable mentions: The Bookshelf, Everything Is Alive, 99% Invisible, Radiolab, Rumble Strip, Sidedoor, This Is Love, Let Me Google That, Awards Chatter, Reply All, Word of Mouth, The Sporkful, Outside/In, Something Wild, The Penguin Podcast, The Science of Happiness, Remembering the Passed, Back Story, You Must Remember This and I Was There Too.)

  • Quote of the week

    January 3, 2018 / No Comments

    “I don’t believe that books — even bad books — corrupt us. Instead, I believe books challenge and interrogate. They give us windows into the lives of others and give us mirrors so that we can better see ourselves. And ultimately, if you have a world view that can be undone by a novel, let me submit that the problem is not with the novel.” —John Green

  • In 2018, I resolve…

    January 2, 2018 / 1 Comment

    While the timing may be arbitrary, making resolutions is a lovely practice. Doing so encourages self-reflection, a belief that one can change for the better and a desire to try new things. Sure, such goals may end unsuccessfully a day or month later, but giving resolutions “the old college try” could lead to promising results.

    This year, I resolve:

    To experience at least seven hours of sleep a night. As a lifelong workaholic and occasional insomniac, I rarely sleep enough. When I was 20, sleeplessness was not a big deal. In my mid-40s, my body and mind demand a recharge and I shall no longer feel ashamed by this need.

    Read at least 50 books by Dec. 31. I generally do so anyway, but last year, I was just a bit short. Reading is one of my greatest pleasures. Why should I deprive myself?

    Write more — and revel in make-believe. For nearly three decades, I’ve written and edited nonfiction for a living. Although my journalism career thrived, my imagination atrophied and now writing fiction and poetry is much more difficult. This year, I will dedicate more time and energy to exercising this muscle.

    Practice hygge. According to Meik Wiking, author of “The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets To Happy Living” and the CEO of The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is all about appreciating the simple pleasures in life. It is a lifestyle that revolves around coziness, community, contentment and reveling in quiet comforts. Some of the hyggeligt things that already bring me happiness include:

    * Spending time with my husband and pets

    * Sharing meals and/or playing games with friends

    * Reading

    * Cooking and baking, particularly from scratch

    * Hot beverages (coffee, tea, cocoa)

    * Silent Book Club meetings

    * Soft and warm lighting

    * Sitting in a comfortable chair and reading or watching TV/movies

    * Warm sweaters, wool socks, scarves

    * Flannel sheets and heavy, soft blankets

    * Fire from candles or fireplaces

    * Appreciating natural beauty by watching snow fall, listening to thunderstorms, staring at ocean waves or smelling fresh flowers

    * Indulging in desserts

    * Dwelling in darkness

    Due to some of the stressful elements in my life (I’m looking at you, 24-hour news cycle), happiness can sometimes feel fleeting. Yet I am fairly healthy. I’m loved by family, friends and animals. And I have a beautiful home that’s located in a part of the world with fresh air and four distinct seasons. I simply need to keep the more negative aspects of my career from weighing down my spirit. In short, I’m going to embrace hygge.

    What do you resolve to change in 2018?

  • music cassette tape

    A sneak peek into my culture diet

    June 17, 2017 / 2 Comments

    W magazine reporter Stephanie Eckardt recently did a fascinating Q&A with Neil Gaiman for the Culture Diet column. In it, Gaiman described all the wonderful bits of art and literature he’d recently consumed. Eckardt’s questions were fun so I decided to answer them as well.

    First thing you read in the morning:

    The breaking news alerts that have piled up on my phone while I slept. Unlike most people, I’m not addicted to my phone. I don’t even keep it by my bedside; instead it rests in a holder on my desk in the library downstairs, merrily buzzing away all day while I sleep in the Batcave that is the master bedroom. Once I’ve showered, dressed, fed the kitties and come downstairs, then I’ll stop by the desk to see what madness has occurred during the day. If there’s nothing hugely pressing — or nothing I can do anything about for another hour anyway — I make breakfast.

    Books on your bedside table right now:

    Currently I’m rereading “It” by Stephen King, a deliciously scary, 1,168-page horror novel that Hollywood is adapting into a movie (again). I last read this book when I was 12, the same age as the kids in the story. Now, 30-some years later, I’m reading it again, and remembering parts that once filled me with dread while discovering new bits I’d forgotten entirely. I’m also marveling over the fact that I’m now older than many of the adult characters. Yesterday, I finished rereading “Zen in the Martial Arts” by Joe Hyams, a nonfiction lesson-filled collection of essays by a writer who once trained with Ed Parker and Bruce Lee. I’ve read this book several times over the years yet I still manage to glean something new from its pages.

    The TV shows keeping you up at night:

    Well, until Netflix canceled it, I was utterly enraptured by “Sense8.” Those of you who follow me on social media know how terribly disappointed I was by the show’s abrupt and ridiculous cancellation. Best show on TV, by far. Such a waste.

    Last movie you saw in theaters:

    “Wonder Woman.”

    Last show you saw at the theater:

    “Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett” at the Boch Center in Boston. She was a hoot.

    Last piece of art you bought:

    A Silas the Gargoyle statue.

    Last museum exhibition that you loved:

    I haven’t been to a museum in ages, something I hope to rectify very soon. The last exhibit that truly blew my mind was Annie Leibovitz’s “American Music.”

    Release you’re most eagerly anticipating:

    Stephen King and his son Owen have a new book coming out in the fall titled “Sleeping Beauties.” I can’t wait to see how that collaboration turns out.

    Last song you had on repeat:

    Last concert you saw live:

    Henry Rollins at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Mass. It was a week before the election so now it feels like ages ago.

    How you get your news:

    Online.

    Do you read your horoscope?

    If I stumble on horoscopes, I’ll always read mine and the one before it (I’m a cusp baby).

    Last thing you do before you go to bed:

    When I’m alone, I read before falling asleep. On those rare and delicious times when I get to share a bed with my husband, cuddling ensues.

    What’s your culture diet?

    –Photo by Eduardo Schäfer