Reading stacks of seasonal books with my kids, mostly during fall and Christmas, is one of my favorite parenting things. In September, the return of fall books is one of the few signs of a change at our house in the Arizona desert. Even though it's still so hot, at least we can experience fall through the pages of a book. I add a seasonal book or two to our permanent collection each year but get many through the library as well. In my library account I'm able to create lists of books so I have one specifically for "fall"... Read more →

Recently I've been thinking about the joy that hobbies bring me and asking myself how I can lean into that joy even more. In particular I'm thinking about my hobbies of reading and exercising. I suppose someone might wonder why I didn't include writing and podcasting as hobbies and it's because I don't think of them as hobbies but instead as my work. My writing and podcasting have expectations tied to them, both from myself and from readers and listeners. Reading, exercising, and other hobbies are things I do purely for myself. What I've realized is that when a hobby... Read more →

Have you read anything great lately? I used to share what I'm reading on Instagram but I've fallen out of the habit. (Although my Goodreads stays pretty up to date.) I like keeping a visual record of what I've read and hearing what others thought of the book so I want to get back to it! But first I feel like I need to get caught up sharing what I've been reading lately. And my lately I mean since early December (ahem). I'm about to inundate you with books so consider yourself warned! Here's what I've been reading... The Cuckoo's... Read more →

One of my favorite ways to avoid small talk - which I kind of hate - is to ask someone if they've read any good books lately or are listening to any good podcasts. And although I'm usually behind on movies and definitely on television shows I'll happily talk about those at length instead of about the weather.  So to avoid telling you about the hot, hot, humid weather, here are a few recommended reading + listening + watching from my list... Read more →