1
00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:04,000
Speaker 1: Hi. This is Laura Vandercam. I'm a mother of four,

2
00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:08,600
Speaker 1: an author, journalist, and speaker. And this is Sarah hart Hunger.

3
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:10,920
Speaker 1: I'm a mother of two and soon to be three

4
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,159
Speaker 1: and a practicing physician. We are two working parents who

5
00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,479
Speaker 1: love our careers and our families. Welcome to best of

6
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 1: both worlds. Here we talk about how real women manage work, family,

7
00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,760
Speaker 1: and time for fun, from figuring out childcare to mapping

8
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,560
Speaker 1: out long term career goals. We want you to get

9
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,199
Speaker 1: the most out of life. Welcome to best of both worlds.

10
00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,440
Speaker 1: This is Laura, and this is episode nineteen on making

11
00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,959
Speaker 1: time to read with our guest and Bogel. We're very

12
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,800
Speaker 1: excited to talk with her. In the main segment of

13
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,440
Speaker 1: this episode. It's gotten us thinking about all things books

14
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,440
Speaker 1: because Anne is a book queen. She knows all things,

15
00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,720
Speaker 1: all recommendations. So Sarah, we've been talking to some of

16
00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,520
Speaker 1: our favorite books, like what's something you've actually reread? A

17
00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,040
Speaker 1: book you've reread? Oh, I think the book that I've

18
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,959
Speaker 1: reread most recently was Mirror Kami's Norwegian Wood, and I

19
00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,040
Speaker 1: think I've read it probably about three times, although not recently.

20
00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,360
Speaker 1: So maybe it's time to pick it up again. Other

21
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,200
Speaker 1: than that, really, I'm not a big rereader in general,

22
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,120
Speaker 1: and I will throw out a huge nerd alert that

23
00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,640
Speaker 1: I've read David Allen's Getting Things Done twice because I've

24
00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,559
Speaker 1: found his philosophy so influential. I wanted it to really

25
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,679
Speaker 1: like soak in So yeah, but Mirror Kami's Norwegian Wood.

26
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,319
Speaker 1: Why did you read that so many times? Norwegian? Oh

27
00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,320
Speaker 1: my gosh, It's just got this peaceful, lilting quality. And

28
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,080
Speaker 1: I love the scenes where they're just sort of out

29
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,319
Speaker 1: in the middle of nowhere doing not much. I mean,

30
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 1: that's that I think is Mirror Kami's absolute strength, Like

31
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,920
Speaker 1: he can make it sound just so like the essence

32
00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,200
Speaker 1: of life to have a certain you know, he's always

33
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 1: talking about like having a classical music album on and

34
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,640
Speaker 1: cooking some delicious Japanese concoctions. So I think I just

35
00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:01,040
Speaker 1: find it very soothing. I I've actually started reading it.

36
00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,240
Speaker 1: I started reading it last night. It was on my

37
00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,080
Speaker 1: to be read list, and then when you mentioned that

38
00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 1: it was the book you'd read, you know, three times,

39
00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,560
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, well, I should read it, clearly. I mean,

40
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:12,919
Speaker 1: I like, well, I really hope you like it. Other

41
00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,480
Speaker 1: things he's written, so hopefully I will. So the one

42
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,080
Speaker 1: novel that comes to mind that I have reread three

43
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,839
Speaker 1: times To the Lighthouse. Virginia. Oh, I haven't read that.

44
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,040
Speaker 1: It's it's good. It's short, so if you're going to

45
00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,960
Speaker 1: read a Virginia Wolf book, and it's also relatively accessible,

46
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:30,639
Speaker 1: which some of her other stuff when she got a

47
00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,960
Speaker 1: wee bit more avant garde, is much less so, so

48
00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,080
Speaker 1: I would definitely recommend it as a Virginia Wolf book

49
00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,520
Speaker 1: to read. That or Missus Dolloway is also very accessible,

50
00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:43,720
Speaker 1: and a lot of people who've you know, read The

51
00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,239
Speaker 1: Hours or something like that would want to read the

52
00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,200
Speaker 1: book it was kind of based on. But yeah, To

53
00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:49,760
Speaker 1: the Lighthouse is great, so I also got that sort

54
00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:54,520
Speaker 1: of lilting, beautiful prose quality. It's about a family vacation,

55
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,560
Speaker 1: but it's really about life in general and people's capacity

56
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,400
Speaker 1: for change, which is somewhat of an amazing thing. And

57
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 1: it's kind of crazy to think of her writing this

58
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:13,080
Speaker 1: when she was so horrifically ill herself. You know, she

59
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,120
Speaker 1: wound up taking her own life not not too long thereafter,

60
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,120
Speaker 1: but you know, she was. It's just such a beautiful,

61
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,359
Speaker 1: almost you know, happy book. And and so there's there's

62
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,519
Speaker 1: something just so profound about that contrast that I find

63
00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:33,280
Speaker 1: compelling to keep rereading. What are your kids like to read? Well,

64
00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,960
Speaker 1: my younger one certainly is not actually reading himself yet.

65
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,720
Speaker 1: That that series with Ada Twist Scientists and Iggy Peck

66
00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,760
Speaker 1: Architect by Andrea Beattie. He's super into that Nuffle Bunny

67
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 1: series Anything by Moe Williams. He loves it. And Annabel

68
00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,800
Speaker 1: has started to get into chapter books, although since you know,

69
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:55,840
Speaker 1: we're recording this a few weeks early, but the time

70
00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,080
Speaker 1: recently changed and now all of a sudden, she's too

71
00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,400
Speaker 1: tired every night. But she really liked Charlotte's Web that

72
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,120
Speaker 1: we recently just finished. What about yours? So, my older

73
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,640
Speaker 1: son has been rereading all the Harry Potter books. He's

74
00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,800
Speaker 1: really been getting into them. There's new illustrated ones that

75
00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,720
Speaker 1: have come out. They're like beautiful coffee table looking type books.

76
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,320
Speaker 1: He's been buying those and reading through them, really enjoying that.

77
00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,440
Speaker 1: He's actually been reading it to a six year old sister. Oh,

78
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,320
Speaker 1: I love that cute, wonderful, Although it usually doesn't occur

79
00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:25,920
Speaker 1: to him to want to do this until like nine

80
00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 1: thirty at night and I'm like, no, she a sleep.

81
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,200
Speaker 1: You cannot do this, you cannot keep her up, like

82
00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,520
Speaker 1: just because you forgot to read it to her earlier.

83
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,119
Speaker 1: So yeah, I've been into those. You know, I'm gonna

84
00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,720
Speaker 1: throw out in terms of like, there's so many like

85
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,400
Speaker 1: crappy celebrity written children's book but we have actually really

86
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,680
Speaker 1: liked the freckle Faced Strawberry books by Julianne Moore that

87
00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,839
Speaker 1: she has written decent children's books and they're really well

88
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,560
Speaker 1: illustrated by a woman named Lewynn fam who I've gotten

89
00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,599
Speaker 1: to interview several times and who's amazing as an artist.

90
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,680
Speaker 1: So I'll throw those out there as books that have

91
00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,960
Speaker 1: had some staying power despite its feel bad saying despite

92
00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,159
Speaker 1: because I'm sure not all celebrities, but she's she's actually

93
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,280
Speaker 1: really a good children's book author. Who happened? That's really

94
00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,680
Speaker 1: cool movie starr? And then we've always like Cloudy with

95
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 1: the chance of Meatballs perpetual. Oh yeah, mine love that

96
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,160
Speaker 1: is the idea of calling from this guy is just

97
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:27,919
Speaker 1: so inherently wonderful that they love that. And what I

98
00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,080
Speaker 1: said one morning in Maine, I will throw out sort

99
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,760
Speaker 1: of a you know, caveat on that that it's very

100
00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,520
Speaker 1: slow and it's kind of long. I think one morning

101
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,960
Speaker 1: in Maine maybe came out before they said it that,

102
00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,719
Speaker 1: you know, all children's books have to be about thirty

103
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:41,480
Speaker 1: two pages in length because of the way they're printed,

104
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,359
Speaker 1: and this was, you know, somehow exempt from that. But

105
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,360
Speaker 1: it's it's a good one if you've ever been to Maine.

106
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,279
Speaker 1: It has a very good main sort of feeling. Makes

107
00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:52,800
Speaker 1: me want to curl up with the llll Bean catalog

108
00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,039
Speaker 1: every time I read it with the kids. So that's

109
00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,800
Speaker 1: a that's a fair perfect winter pick. I love it.

110
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,360
Speaker 1: We are very I did to have on the program

111
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:05,599
Speaker 1: today and Vogel, who is the blogger behind Modern Missus Darcy.

112
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,640
Speaker 1: She is also the host of the podcast What Should

113
00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,640
Speaker 1: I Read Next, which Sarah and I both listen to religiously,

114
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 1: and she is the mom of four children. How old

115
00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,720
Speaker 1: are they now? Anne? Oh, they're getting so old. We

116
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,120
Speaker 1: have a seven, ten, twelve, and fourteen year old. Oh

117
00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,520
Speaker 1: my goodness, fourteen. I know, I think in my mind

118
00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,560
Speaker 1: they're still like babies, but I guess that's just when

119
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:29,200
Speaker 1: I mind they're still babies. So they've grown up with

120
00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,800
Speaker 1: the blog, I guess to say so yeah, both of

121
00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,200
Speaker 1: us love to read modern missus Darcy. We get a

122
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,600
Speaker 1: lot of our book recommendations from there too, so I guess.

123
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,000
Speaker 1: And my first question for you is, how do you

124
00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,400
Speaker 1: decide what to read next? Oh? Wow? I think people

125
00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,240
Speaker 1: expect me to have some kind of science or spreadsheet,

126
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,400
Speaker 1: and really I read what I need to read for

127
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,679
Speaker 1: work or because my kids are asking me to please

128
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,320
Speaker 1: read a book, and I read what I'm excited about,

129
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,600
Speaker 1: And often I get excited about books by talking to

130
00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,960
Speaker 1: other readers. Although we are getting ready to enter I

131
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,320
Speaker 1: realize that it's not Christmas yet, but we're getting ready

132
00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:07,080
Speaker 1: to enter Summer reading guide season around here. Every year

133
00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,080
Speaker 1: we put out a big summer reading guide. It is

134
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,600
Speaker 1: the big reading project we do. I keep saying we,

135
00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,520
Speaker 1: like I'm not the only reading I'm not the only

136
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:20,080
Speaker 1: one who works and plus assistance to acolytes. That is

137
00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: what I mean. And also, I honestly think it's that

138
00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,640
Speaker 1: like feminine insecurity thing, like it just feels more official

139
00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,000
Speaker 1: to say we, but really it's me, it's you. We

140
00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 1: will read a metric ton of books coming out between

141
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,320
Speaker 1: about March first and the fourth of July and share

142
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,840
Speaker 1: our favorites that we've actually read cover to cover the

143
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,200
Speaker 1: middle of May, usually a week or two before Memorial Day,

144
00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,280
Speaker 1: so that starts almost now. So that's just a big project.

145
00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,880
Speaker 1: But most of the time I read what I'm excited about. Yeah,

146
00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:48,800
Speaker 1: But for our listeners who are not in the in

147
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,240
Speaker 1: the book world, it's because you can get access to

148
00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,600
Speaker 1: books like about what three or four months before they're

149
00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,960
Speaker 1: published usually is that when people start sending them to you.

150
00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,480
Speaker 1: When I'm lucky and ask nicely, I mean I'm not

151
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,720
Speaker 1: I'm not important enough that the publishers are like, oh,

152
00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,920
Speaker 1: make sure Anne gets a copy. And that wasn't the

153
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,560
Speaker 1: case when I started blogging. But even I've heard from

154
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:15,040
Speaker 1: new readers who don't have like major online presences that

155
00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,360
Speaker 1: if you ask nicely and say you have an Instagram account,

156
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,240
Speaker 1: it's not just that I'm so special. But I am

157
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:22,240
Speaker 1: on a bunch of mailing lists now, and like any

158
00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,559
Speaker 1: catalog you subscribe to that keeps coming, books keep showing

159
00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,720
Speaker 1: up on my doorstep, which is wonderful, But I'm running

160
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,680
Speaker 1: out of shelf space rapidly, exactly, and probably out of time.

161
00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,080
Speaker 1: Because you have some limited bandwidth, it does make it

162
00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,599
Speaker 1: harder to decide which to read next. Yeah, well, and

163
00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,440
Speaker 1: certainly that's a question a lot of our listeners struggle with.

164
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,959
Speaker 1: And you know, we aim this podcast at very busy

165
00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:51,400
Speaker 1: women who are working big jobs raising kids, and reading

166
00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,520
Speaker 1: is probably one of those things that gets shoved to

167
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,800
Speaker 1: the side for many people. And if somebody is listening

168
00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,640
Speaker 1: to this and realized, like, geez, I haven't read a

169
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,719
Speaker 1: book in a while, what are some good ways to

170
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,080
Speaker 1: kind of ease back into that reading habit. Ooh, that's

171
00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,880
Speaker 1: a great question, because I realized as you were asking me,

172
00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,319
Speaker 1: how do I decide what to read next. It's true

173
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,400
Speaker 1: that I read what I'm excited about, but I've also

174
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,880
Speaker 1: been reading and reading a lot for a long time.

175
00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,280
Speaker 1: So I think I have this software operating in the

176
00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,200
Speaker 1: back of my brain that says, what have you been

177
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: reading lately? What do you need to balance that out?

178
00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,640
Speaker 1: What have you not been reading lately that you really

179
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,959
Speaker 1: want to read in one part of your brain, even

180
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,360
Speaker 1: if you don't tend to pull like the heavy novels,

181
00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,319
Speaker 1: for example, off the shelf. So all those micro decisions

182
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:35,840
Speaker 1: are happening in the back of my mind before I

183
00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,360
Speaker 1: do sit down with a new book. I just finished

184
00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,440
Speaker 1: a book last night, so I actually need to decide

185
00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,599
Speaker 1: which novel I'm going to read next later today, And

186
00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,400
Speaker 1: says Anne, right, because you know she finished book last night.

187
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:47,719
Speaker 1: She's like, well, I have to be reading now. It's

188
00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,640
Speaker 1: ten o'clock in the morning. If I haven't read yet,

189
00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,040
Speaker 1: I just like to know what's coming next, because deciding

190
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,640
Speaker 1: is hard, and when it's time to run out the

191
00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,240
Speaker 1: door later to sit in some waiting room for a

192
00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,000
Speaker 1: kid's appointment, I want that book already in my purse

193
00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,520
Speaker 1: because otherwise I'm going to be late because I'm going

194
00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,480
Speaker 1: to stand in front of my shelves going what comes next.

195
00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,080
Speaker 1: I would say that if you haven't been reading in

196
00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,160
Speaker 1: a while, like go for the low hanging fruit, read

197
00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:14,440
Speaker 1: the thing that has made you think, oh, I wish

198
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:16,679
Speaker 1: I had time to read that because I've been looking

199
00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,720
Speaker 1: for that, Or read the book that's been sitting on

200
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,280
Speaker 1: your nightstand because you do actually want to read it.

201
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,160
Speaker 1: Or my favorite is to pick something really really short

202
00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,800
Speaker 1: and go with that. I like that, or like an

203
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,120
Speaker 1: easy you know, one of those candy fluffy books. I

204
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:32,840
Speaker 1: feel like sometimes that gets me in a mode if

205
00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,400
Speaker 1: I've been out. Pick something that's just a little mindless,

206
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,800
Speaker 1: but fun and then sometimes that leads to more, you know,

207
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,520
Speaker 1: meaty stuff later Gateway drug for bigger book. So and

208
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,440
Speaker 1: what I mean not to make you cough up your

209
00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,000
Speaker 1: whole recommendation list here, but just a title or two

210
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,720
Speaker 1: that is short and easy. If it's somebody who hadn't

211
00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 1: read in a while, like you know, we'll give us

212
00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,319
Speaker 1: a crowd pleaser or two. Well, I don't know about

213
00:10:58,360 --> 00:10:59,920
Speaker 1: the I think this is a crowd pleaser, but that

214
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,920
Speaker 1: doesn't mean everybody knows about it. There's this new book out.

215
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,120
Speaker 1: It's called Heating and Cooling. It's by an author i'd

216
00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,080
Speaker 1: never read before whose name escapes me, Kim Marie Martin.

217
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,920
Speaker 1: Maybe she's the poet Laureate of the state of Mississippi.

218
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:14,800
Speaker 1: So I probably just lost a bunch of people right there.

219
00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,040
Speaker 1: But these are micro memoirs, which basically means she's telling

220
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:28,719
Speaker 1: three sentence to six page funny, heartwarming, tear jerking, complicated

221
00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,840
Speaker 1: stories of her own life. And I was reading this

222
00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,240
Speaker 1: on the couch the other night, and she was she

223
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,000
Speaker 1: was talking about I'm not going to tell you what

224
00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,960
Speaker 1: she was talking about, but because it'll sound ridiculous, but

225
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,120
Speaker 1: she was just talking about a moment in her real life.

226
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,559
Speaker 1: And I was like cackling on the couch and my

227
00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:52,040
Speaker 1: kids were like, Mom, you what are you reading? And

228
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,360
Speaker 1: then she tell she tells stories about her sister and

229
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,199
Speaker 1: her husband and her children that like catch you off

230
00:11:58,200 --> 00:11:59,720
Speaker 1: guard and get you a little teary, but in the

231
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,200
Speaker 1: best way, Like she's able to write stories to go

232
00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,480
Speaker 1: quite straight to the heart of some core human experience

233
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,720
Speaker 1: really really quickly. And what I love about that book

234
00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:10,760
Speaker 1: for someone who's been in a reading slump or someone

235
00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,280
Speaker 1: who hasn't read in a long time, is it's a

236
00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,160
Speaker 1: short book to begin with, so you could read the

237
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 1: whole thing start to finish and feel like you accomplish something.

238
00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,480
Speaker 1: But also you can sit down and read a whole

239
00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:25,520
Speaker 1: story in three minutes. Literally the short ones will take

240
00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:27,800
Speaker 1: you twelve or the longer. The longer Wins will take

241
00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,839
Speaker 1: you twelve. Fest and Finney. I asked doctor Google here,

242
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,200
Speaker 1: give me that funny because I type for that. I

243
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,520
Speaker 1: typed in heating and cooling, and I got, like my

244
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:42,600
Speaker 1: local HVAC company, No, I actually don't need my furnace service.

245
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,600
Speaker 1: I was looking for a book, but okay, so that's

246
00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,640
Speaker 1: a good one for that. So heating and Cooling fifty

247
00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,000
Speaker 1: two micro memoirs. So we've got people who are, oh,

248
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,000
Speaker 1: that sounds so cool. I like the idea of it

249
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,320
Speaker 1: being sort of just based on her life. I like

250
00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,280
Speaker 1: unremarkable tales told in a you know, very interesting your

251
00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,240
Speaker 1: notable ways. And you mentioned something about reading in the

252
00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,920
Speaker 1: waiting room there, and I know now you read books

253
00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,920
Speaker 1: for a living, which is just completely awesome. But when

254
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:10,720
Speaker 1: you were starting this out, and when I think we

255
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:12,920
Speaker 1: started reading your blog many years ago, I mean you

256
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,400
Speaker 1: were working at an actual company, like you had a job,

257
00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,160
Speaker 1: and you have a job job, and you were homeschooling

258
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,920
Speaker 1: your four children as well. So when did you read

259
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:31,160
Speaker 1: during that time? Well, I didn't read. You know, it's

260
00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,120
Speaker 1: possible I read more the thing about that life then,

261
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,640
Speaker 1: because that's not I'm not homeschooling anymore. My kids are

262
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,720
Speaker 1: in school full time, and now I'm not. I work

263
00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,319
Speaker 1: in my home office in the room adjacent to my bedroom.

264
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,360
Speaker 1: So it is a different life now. But reading has

265
00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,640
Speaker 1: always been my favorite escape, my introvert coping mechanism of choice,

266
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:57,120
Speaker 1: my way to relax. So, especially with a life like that,

267
00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,760
Speaker 1: I needed some time to myself in my own head.

268
00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,040
Speaker 1: Reading was wonderful for that. So I'd read during that time.

269
00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,400
Speaker 1: I'd read back when my kids went to bed at

270
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,679
Speaker 1: seven thirty. I just can't imagine now, but there was

271
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,800
Speaker 1: a time when that happened, and so I could read

272
00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,200
Speaker 1: for two hours some nights after they went to bed.

273
00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:14,600
Speaker 1: I could read in the morning, and then in those

274
00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,760
Speaker 1: minutes where you're waiting for the water to boil, or

275
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,440
Speaker 1: you're waiting for the repairman to show up, or you're

276
00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:22,360
Speaker 1: really in the doctor. I spent a lot of time

277
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,040
Speaker 1: in pediatricians doctor's offices back then, and so you're in

278
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,400
Speaker 1: the waiting room, and those eight minutes here, ten minutes there,

279
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,440
Speaker 1: they really add up, they do, and I mean they

280
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,680
Speaker 1: sort of literally now that I read a lot of

281
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,600
Speaker 1: stuff on the kindle app because it shows you how

282
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,320
Speaker 1: much time you have left in the book. And so

283
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,880
Speaker 1: it's just a matter of math that, like, you know,

284
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,760
Speaker 1: forty eight minutes segments, there's three hundred and twenty minutes,

285
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,280
Speaker 1: which is you know, if you've got a three and

286
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,000
Speaker 1: a half hour book that about covers it, and Laura,

287
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,760
Speaker 1: you're you're like an amazing success story in someone who

288
00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,840
Speaker 1: didn't useful. I don't know about success, but seems successful

289
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:55,720
Speaker 1: to me. Didn't used to read that much and then

290
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,960
Speaker 1: and then ramped it up there. Yeah, it was. It

291
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,440
Speaker 1: was an interesting I mean, partly it's the phase of

292
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,800
Speaker 1: life thing. I mean, and you probably appreciate this too,

293
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,560
Speaker 1: that when you're little, your youngest child is older than two,

294
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,200
Speaker 1: time starts opening up a little bit more. Oh, it's

295
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,800
Speaker 1: so different because I do get asked a lot like

296
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,920
Speaker 1: how do you do what you do? And I'm doing

297
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,600
Speaker 1: a little too much. But still, like the age of

298
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,520
Speaker 1: my youngest child has made a world of difference. So

299
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,520
Speaker 1: there's just such a huge difference between having a two

300
00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:28,120
Speaker 1: year old in the family and now my young is

301
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,800
Speaker 1: the seven and that's just an entirely different lifestyle. But

302
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,080
Speaker 1: then again, I'm not pinned to the couch breastfeeding like

303
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,360
Speaker 1: six times a day like I was when I had newborns.

304
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,000
Speaker 1: Every time I had a teeny tiny baby, I did

305
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,000
Speaker 1: read a ton, just because this was before there was

306
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,000
Speaker 1: an iPhone and I'd just be, you know, pinned to

307
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,880
Speaker 1: the couch, stuck and I didn't we didn't have a

308
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,680
Speaker 1: TV in the room. I don't know. I've never been

309
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,560
Speaker 1: a daytime TV watcher, so it was I got a

310
00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,040
Speaker 1: ton of reading done during that season, yeah, those four seasons,

311
00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,960
Speaker 1: those four seasons. Yeah, well, and but for me it

312
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,560
Speaker 1: was more I mean what you talked about that you

313
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,840
Speaker 1: could get that even if it wasn't two hours at night.

314
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:05,320
Speaker 1: Let's say your kids were going to bed more like

315
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:06,880
Speaker 1: eight thirty or nine. You might have an hour to

316
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 1: read after they go to bed if you chose to

317
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,400
Speaker 1: do that, or you know, thirty minutes somewhere else during

318
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,360
Speaker 1: the day. And this time does add up, like if

319
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:19,240
Speaker 1: you read for an hour a day, seven days a week,

320
00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,840
Speaker 1: if you read, you know, fifty sixty pages an hour,

321
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,280
Speaker 1: that gives you three hundred and fifty pages a week.

322
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:27,880
Speaker 1: I mean, you can get through a lot of books

323
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,560
Speaker 1: in a week. Then, I mean like a book a week,

324
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,280
Speaker 1: it'd be four books a month. And I had that

325
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,360
Speaker 1: realization when I tracked my time and I realized that

326
00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,600
Speaker 1: I had read for three hundred and twenty seven hours

327
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,480
Speaker 1: during a particular year that I tracked, And that sounds

328
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:43,960
Speaker 1: pretty good, like it's almost an hour a day, but

329
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,680
Speaker 1: so much of it was just junk, like it was

330
00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,680
Speaker 1: you know, random newspaper articles, random magazine articles like that

331
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:50,880
Speaker 1: I didn't really care about. And I saw that numbers like, well,

332
00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,480
Speaker 1: what if I put that against actual real books? And

333
00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,560
Speaker 1: so that was really the big decision that got me

334
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,440
Speaker 1: reading a lot more year. For any of our listeners

335
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,439
Speaker 1: who are sort of in that position, who are reading

336
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,240
Speaker 1: some but would like to read more, I mean, how

337
00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:10,920
Speaker 1: do you scale that time up? I mean, what are

338
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,680
Speaker 1: some good strategies for making it a little bit more

339
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,960
Speaker 1: of what you do with your leisure time. Well, I

340
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,520
Speaker 1: think the best strategy is to find something you actually

341
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,480
Speaker 1: want to read. As you know, you've talked and written

342
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,679
Speaker 1: about this very eloquently, Laura, some readers will read no

343
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:27,639
Speaker 1: matter what, and to a large extent, I'm one of

344
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,000
Speaker 1: those readers, and a lot of our modern Missus Darcy

345
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,960
Speaker 1: people are. But even I read more when I have

346
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,600
Speaker 1: a book I'm really excited about reading, or whole stack

347
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,360
Speaker 1: of them. Like, reading looks a lot more desirable than

348
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,879
Speaker 1: other things if I'm excited about the books that are

349
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,879
Speaker 1: awaiting me, and other than that, when I've been in

350
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,120
Speaker 1: low reading seasons and I've wanted to I mean, when

351
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,000
Speaker 1: my time has been occupied and I've wanted to wedge

352
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,320
Speaker 1: more in. Some people read first thing in the morning,

353
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,199
Speaker 1: though I've never really been one of those. I had

354
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,440
Speaker 1: a podcast guest last week who said that to get

355
00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,879
Speaker 1: reading in he has a toddler in a busy season.

356
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,680
Speaker 1: He said that he wakes up and he reads before

357
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,159
Speaker 1: his feet hit the floor, like some people check their

358
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,120
Speaker 1: Instagram account. And I'll read during meal times if I'm

359
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,159
Speaker 1: by myself, Like I won't read during lunch with my

360
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,040
Speaker 1: kids at the table unless there unless it's a Saturday

361
00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,359
Speaker 1: afternoon and everybody's like doing homework or reading magazines than

362
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,000
Speaker 1: I might. But otherwise, if it's just me, I can

363
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,160
Speaker 1: read during lunch. And I really can't say enough about

364
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,320
Speaker 1: those small moments that feel insignificant. They really add up,

365
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,520
Speaker 1: and you may need to choose with care what you're

366
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,640
Speaker 1: reading in those moments. That might not be the time

367
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,920
Speaker 1: to read like Warren Piece, because that doesn't really work

368
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,840
Speaker 1: three paragraphs at a time, which I believe that this

369
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,560
Speaker 1: is the thing. I honestly Warren Piece. The chapters are

370
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,720
Speaker 1: really short. It has that I wouldn't know micro micro

371
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,080
Speaker 1: memoirs me that you just recommend it, not that you know,

372
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,919
Speaker 1: take a little bit more to get through this than that.

373
00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,960
Speaker 1: But the chapters are literally like two pages, and so

374
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,200
Speaker 1: there are hundreds of them. But they're two pages, and

375
00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:58,680
Speaker 1: so you get to feel like, hey, I could read

376
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,639
Speaker 1: through a chapter in Tolstoy, like while I'm waiting for

377
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 1: this phone call to start. Yes, well, that's a great

378
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,240
Speaker 1: example of found moments. And also a lot of people

379
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,199
Speaker 1: if you're traveling, if you're a commuter, I love audiobooks.

380
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,840
Speaker 1: Not everybody does. But if you're a podcast listener and

381
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 1: you started working some audiobooks into the routine as well,

382
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,160
Speaker 1: you already know how to use that audio format. That's

383
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,040
Speaker 1: another way to get it in. You can listen while running,

384
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,880
Speaker 1: you can listen while walking the dog. I love personally

385
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,359
Speaker 1: for the travel side of things, like going through a

386
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 1: novel while I'm on the plane is the best. It

387
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,879
Speaker 1: gets the time down and I never have that uninterrupted

388
00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,200
Speaker 1: time at any other time. And I know some people

389
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,200
Speaker 1: can work really well on planes, but I'm not one

390
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,800
Speaker 1: of them. But having a great book is like the

391
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,760
Speaker 1: best companion. Yeah, that's exactly true. And so you know,

392
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,640
Speaker 1: given that we have the ultimate book recommender on the podcast,

393
00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,000
Speaker 1: So let's say we are you are a reader who's

394
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:55,639
Speaker 1: reading some and wants to read more. You want to

395
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,480
Speaker 1: tackle something a little bit more ambitious, doesn't have to

396
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,200
Speaker 1: be warm peace. You have any rec commendations for somebody

397
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: who's looking to add a more ambitious book to their

398
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,240
Speaker 1: to be read list. You know, it's really interesting that

399
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,360
Speaker 1: you're asking this. We did a reading challenge on Modern

400
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,040
Speaker 1: Missus Darcy last year or I guess it's still this year,

401
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,760
Speaker 1: and we had two different categories. We had one set

402
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,880
Speaker 1: of books to read, like twelve categories for people who

403
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:22,960
Speaker 1: wanted to put the oomph back in their reading life,

404
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:24,960
Speaker 1: who were reading was kind of a drag or not

405
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 1: something they were doing and they just wanted it to

406
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,000
Speaker 1: be fun again. And then we had some people who

407
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 1: chose to read for personal growth, like to really go

408
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,200
Speaker 1: deeper with their book picks. And these were like read

409
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 1: a book in translation, read a National Book Award winner,

410
00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:39,919
Speaker 1: that kind of thing. Reading for fun, you're reading like

411
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,800
Speaker 1: a celebrity memoir. They were different categories. But what we

412
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,360
Speaker 1: heard from readers, which I was really surprised, is that

413
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,280
Speaker 1: the readers who chose to do both categories, who took

414
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,200
Speaker 1: on twenty four books instead of just the twelve, were

415
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 1: all more satisfied with the books they'd chosen. It will

416
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,119
Speaker 1: not all, but many were more satisfied with the books

417
00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:00,200
Speaker 1: they'd chosen and the reading for growth instead of they're

418
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,439
Speaker 1: reading for fun. And that was the opposite of what

419
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:07,080
Speaker 1: I expected. And it really made me wonder about what

420
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,440
Speaker 1: we choose to read and why, and where we get

421
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 1: it right and where we get it wrong. And we

422
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,399
Speaker 1: just discovered this yesterday, so I'm still very much processing it,

423
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,920
Speaker 1: but that is something I didn't expect, and it does

424
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 1: have me thinking, like, if we want to read because

425
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,880
Speaker 1: it's fun, it can still be fun even if we're

426
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,680
Speaker 1: picking up a book that's heavy. I'm just thinking out loud,

427
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 1: I'm still working through this. Yeah, yeah, no, I mean

428
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,640
Speaker 1: I think that's fascinating. And I will say that I've

429
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,879
Speaker 1: picked up some of your recommendations and thought, oh, this

430
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 1: is a little dense in the beginning, and then found

431
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 1: them to be some of my absolute favorites. So that

432
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,400
Speaker 1: actually does make some sense to me. People like a challenge, right,

433
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,640
Speaker 1: I mean, it's you know, there's different kinds of fun.

434
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,399
Speaker 1: There's effortless fun and there's effort full fun and the

435
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 1: effort they both have their place, but it's always easy

436
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,680
Speaker 1: in life to over invest in the effortless fun, precisely

437
00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 1: because it doesn't take any effort, but it tends to

438
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,160
Speaker 1: be the stuff that takes a little bit more work

439
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 1: that we feel best about later on. And you had

440
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:05,600
Speaker 1: a category and that would like read a book that's

441
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,720
Speaker 1: over six hundred pages, right, that was I mean, that

442
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,879
Speaker 1: was something that a lot of people have not done

443
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 1: but would be a good way to challenge yourself. You

444
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 1: nailed it, Laura. And I'm trying to remember some of

445
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:17,720
Speaker 1: the ones that did you wind up reading through on

446
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 1: any of them that you hadn't read yet that you

447
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,680
Speaker 1: were a really long one? Yeah? Yes, I read Wally

448
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:30,120
Speaker 1: Lamb's Oh what's it called? It's the one about the twins.

449
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:36,440
Speaker 1: I know this much is true, and I I mean

450
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 1: it's almost a thousand pages. It takes for ever to

451
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 1: set up the story, it goes in a million different directions,

452
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: and it had one of the best endings I've read

453
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:47,640
Speaker 1: in recent years. So I was really glad I did.

454
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 1: I'm not a huge stranger to long books, like I'm

455
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: pretty sure I've read others that were about that long,

456
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,440
Speaker 1: but that's the one I wanted to actually like write

457
00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 1: in the blank on my sheet because I really loved it.

458
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,760
Speaker 1: For other readers who want a challenge, Oh, that's tricky

459
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,639
Speaker 1: because it kind of depends on what you're like. But

460
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,119
Speaker 1: I always, I always think it's fun to read those

461
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 1: books that are being talked about, like as part of

462
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: a larger cultural conversation, like Saying Unburied. Saying just won

463
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,520
Speaker 1: the National Book Award, so that could be an interesting

464
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,880
Speaker 1: one to pick up because other people are talking about it.

465
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed the new louise Erdrich Future Home of

466
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: the Living God, which really reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale,

467
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: with a little bit of the passage thrown in interesting,

468
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 1: a little bit dark and broody, but not inaccessible to

469
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,359
Speaker 1: someone who doesn't read a ton. It did remind me

470
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:40,720
Speaker 1: of The Handmaid's Tale, which would be a great That's

471
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 1: a classic that has been talked about a lot recently

472
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,760
Speaker 1: in the cultural conversation because it's Margaret Atwood and that

473
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 1: I mean, she never goes out of style. But I

474
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 1: just read that recently for the first time because it

475
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:53,919
Speaker 1: was one of those books that I'd never read, and

476
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,400
Speaker 1: it did feel really satisfying in an effortful, fun kind

477
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,159
Speaker 1: of way. To cross it off the list, you know,

478
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,600
Speaker 1: the kind of books that I really gravitate towards. Are

479
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:09,480
Speaker 1: the reflective, well crafted but not too wordy literary fiction,

480
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 1: like I really like Wallace Stegner, Wendell Berry, Marilyn Robinson,

481
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,199
Speaker 1: and they all happen to be Award winners. That I

482
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,359
Speaker 1: just read Crossing to Safety on your recommendation, and I

483
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 1: loved it. I was reading it at like three in

484
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,800
Speaker 1: the morning too, because for some reason I couldn't sleep

485
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:30,000
Speaker 1: and it was perfect books for three am its own category.

486
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: You should do a list of those, and it totally

487
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,640
Speaker 1: could be I may steal that. I love that book.

488
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: I'm glad you liked it. But yeah, so all the

489
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 1: authors I just mentioned are great in that category. And

490
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 1: then I also really like Chris Cleeve. Everyone braves forgiven

491
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,120
Speaker 1: this year. This Is How It Always Is by Lori

492
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 1: Frankel was one of my favorite stories about a quirky,

493
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 1: endearing family, but who's going through a hard thing before

494
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 1: we visit The Goddess by Teacher of Banerja Devakaruni was

495
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: one of my favorites from last year. That was a

496
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 1: novel told in short stories, so it was really easy

497
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,919
Speaker 1: to read a little bit at a time, not that

498
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:05,360
Speaker 1: I did. I think I read this in the course

499
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,880
Speaker 1: of one evening because I didn't really like the cover,

500
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 1: but I wanted to vet it for the Summer Reading Guide,

501
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:11,879
Speaker 1: so I sat down at the kitchen counter and it's like,

502
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:13,199
Speaker 1: I'm just going to give it a try so I

503
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: can say I did. And I don't think I got

504
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: back up until I finished that book because it was short.

505
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: But those are all books that go in different directions

506
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,560
Speaker 1: and have different tones, but all have really well drawn

507
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: characters or real depth to them. They're talking about important

508
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: things that matter to humans, not just to individual people,

509
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 1: books that we can really resonate with on a personal level.

510
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,639
Speaker 1: And that's one of the big reasons I read. I

511
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 1: think that's what makes it satisfying for so many people.

512
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,480
Speaker 1: So let's talk about when the book reading is not satisfying.

513
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,879
Speaker 1: When is it okay to abandon a book. You know,

514
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: there's some people who Sarah and I are both we upholders.

515
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 1: We like to, you know, follow the rules. It could

516
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: be hard to abandon a book on Yeah. I really

517
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,880
Speaker 1: do actually struggle with that, and I know I need

518
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:00,639
Speaker 1: to do it more because of what you said before,

519
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,280
Speaker 1: which is if you have I'm one of those like

520
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: vacuum films, like I don't know the type of reader

521
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,919
Speaker 1: that needs an excellent book and then I'm reading all

522
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: the time, and then if I'm not, then I'm very

523
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 1: very stalled. Versus Laura who and you, who I think

524
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: are just like going to read no matter what. So yes,

525
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 1: talk to me about abandoning books. I need this. I

526
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 1: am also an upholder in this book. Abandoning thing was

527
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 1: something I came to over. Yeah, I mean there was

528
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 1: a time when I realized, oh, I could stop, it

529
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: would be fine. People have their own rules, Like when

530
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: we've talked about this in Modern Missus Darcy Land, people

531
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: have said that they call their personal rule the giver rule.

532
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,880
Speaker 1: They will give a book sixty pages because that's how

533
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:42,679
Speaker 1: long it took for the giver a book that they

534
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 1: ended up loving to get good. I've heard one hundred

535
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,560
Speaker 1: pages minus your age as a guideline. Some people give

536
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 1: a book fifty pages. Something that really helps me now

537
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 1: and may help others even if they're not in the

538
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,159
Speaker 1: same place, is I'm reading books for a variety of

539
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: different reasons. So we're about to start reading all these

540
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:04,920
Speaker 1: summer reading guide titles, and I know that most of

541
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: your listeners are not putting together. Some are reading guide

542
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 1: but I still think like the specific instance can help

543
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 1: you think through like why are you reading. We'll read

544
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 1: a lot of books that the royal. We will read

545
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:22,119
Speaker 1: a lot of books that might seem interesting and you know,

546
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 1: perfectly readable and like something I want to read, but

547
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: are not right for the purpose I'm reading it for

548
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,439
Speaker 1: at the time. So instead of abandoning it forever and

549
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 1: casting it aside and you know, taking it to goodwill,

550
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: I can just set it aside and be like, you

551
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,479
Speaker 1: know what that might be for me, but it's not

552
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 1: for me right now, and that's fine. So that is

553
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 1: something that's really helped me. There are some books that

554
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: I that I have started reading. I'm like, you know what,

555
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 1: that's not going to be for me. I just started

556
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: reading Jennifer Egan's A Visit to the Goon Squad because

557
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 1: I've been meaning to read it for years, and I

558
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 1: checked it out of the library and I read eighty pages.

559
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,000
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I don't know that this

560
00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: is the book for me. I have so much to read.

561
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 1: Maybe I'll feel differently in ten years, but there's so

562
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 1: much to read. I don't feel like this is for me.

563
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,120
Speaker 1: I'm not comfortable with a couple of the themes. Personally.

564
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just the timing, but this is going back

565
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: and I'm going to move on, And it's not like

566
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 1: I've decided I'm never going to read that book ever

567
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: in my life. But telling myself there's a difference between

568
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: forever and right now has been really helpful in getting

569
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: over that upholder instinct to keep going because it's a

570
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,440
Speaker 1: commitment that you started and you have to follow through

571
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,440
Speaker 1: because that's the kind of person you are. And that's

572
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 1: why I was before, Oh, so interesting. You've never thought

573
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 1: of framing it that way, as in, not, oh, I'm

574
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: putting this down a give up, but oh well, we're

575
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,159
Speaker 1: just going to stop for now and then reassess. I

576
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: like that future Sarah might want to pick it up someday.

577
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 1: That's very Sarah is also really like fantasizing about the

578
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen you know, your picks, the twenty four picks.

579
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, that sounds very challenging and exciting. So cool.

580
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: Sarah gets to that one. Yes, in the midst of

581
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 1: having your newborn, right, yeah, that's what she said on

582
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 1: the couch reading a book. I like it so and

583
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: I've I've sort of had this fantasy about joining a

584
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,840
Speaker 1: book club, and I never have. I think for reasons

585
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:08,880
Speaker 1: that I'd probably be a really bad book club member.

586
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 1: But Sarah's in one makes what makes a good book club? Like?

587
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 1: If somebody is setting up a book club or looking

588
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: to join one, like, what is a sign of a

589
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 1: really good book club? Ooh, that's a good question, because

590
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 1: I have been I'm not currently in a real life,

591
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: in person book club, but I've been in plenty before

592
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 1: and I've gone to meetings and I've taken my book

593
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: and we've all sat in a circle and gone I

594
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: liked it. I liked it too, And that's just no good. Yeah,

595
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 1: for a a book club, you want something with lots to discuss. Well,

596
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: First of all, the ending, any kind of ambiguous ending,

597
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 1: left turn ending, Those are really interesting to talk about,

598
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: where you can decide what happens next. Did you like it?

599
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: Did you didn't? Any kind of polarizing book might make

600
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,920
Speaker 1: you crazy reading reviews on the internet, but it's so much, too,

601
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,400
Speaker 1: so much fun to talk about in person. Any kind

602
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 1: of book that some people love and some people hated

603
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 1: makes for a really great discussion. A lot of book

604
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: clubbers have said that their favorite book club meetings and

605
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 1: their favorite book club books have not existed in the

606
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 1: same space, so you can have a great discussion even

607
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: if you don't love the book, or if you do

608
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 1: love the book and other people hate it, that's especially fun.

609
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: Unlikable characters can be a lot more fun as a

610
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,560
Speaker 1: reader if you can pick them apart with your fellow

611
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: book clubs. And also characters making big decisions, characters put

612
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,719
Speaker 1: in impossible situations, characters facing very relatable struggles, those can

613
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:44,480
Speaker 1: all be good fodder for book club discussion. So you

614
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 1: think it's mostly about the selection of the right books,

615
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 1: I think that makes sense. Well, Pard to that. I'm

616
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 1: sure asking good questions is also important, but it's a

617
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 1: lot easier for the conversation to start itself if you

618
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 1: pick a book that isn't currently discussable. Yeah, that makes sense. Actually,

619
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,080
Speaker 1: you're right. I feel like the conversations have flowed the

620
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 1: best where I've gone in hating the book, and then

621
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 1: some other people unexpectedly really like it who I expected

622
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,760
Speaker 1: to dislike it, and you write it naturally, it naturally

623
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:18,200
Speaker 1: goes to Sarah. What's the example of that for you? Oh, well,

624
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 1: we read Loner. Oh my gosh, I don't have the

625
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,240
Speaker 1: author at hand, but it is about a very creepy

626
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,440
Speaker 1: college student. And actually the author happened to know the

627
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 1: host of the book club, so we ended up getting

628
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: the author on the phone. So that was pretty exciting,

629
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:35,600
Speaker 1: and we had to kind of talk about the book

630
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: before because some people we had the author on the phone.

631
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 1: But it was a very interesting book and Teddy Wayne

632
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 1: is the author. Polarizing, interesting and with a very very

633
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: horrible main character. So it fits a lot of those

634
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,760
Speaker 1: things that Anne just mentioned. And that was a great

635
00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 1: book club pick that I didn't necessarily expect it to

636
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 1: be because I didn't necessarily love reading the book, but

637
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 1: it was a fascinating book and it was well and

638
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: even though it was kind of gross. So, speaking of

639
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 1: the writing side of things, Anne is a published author.

640
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:09,640
Speaker 1: She has two boks out, but the one that most

641
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,760
Speaker 1: recently came out, called Reading People, is about looking at

642
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 1: the various personality frameworks and how they affect our relationships

643
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: with others. I got to say, my favorite part of that, Anne,

644
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: was when you talked about the various literary characters who

645
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,719
Speaker 1: meet each kind of the Meyers Briggs personality framework. So

646
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 1: I'm an I INTJ, so I guess we're the I

647
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: don't know if it was mister Darcy or something like that.

648
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,479
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting this. But how as being on the author

649
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:43,560
Speaker 1: side of books and book publishing changed how you read

650
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 1: and how you interact with the books that get sent

651
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: to you, Well, I read less the month before the

652
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 1: book came out and the month after the book came

653
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 1: out than I think I read in my entire life

654
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,120
Speaker 1: as a reader. So that made a big difference just

655
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,400
Speaker 1: being so busy. And also I had this was a

656
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: rookie mistake, but I had a book deadline for an

657
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 1: essay collection coming out next fall four days before Reading

658
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 1: People came out, So I didn't realize how ridiculous that

659
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 1: was when I signed that contract. But that did terrible

660
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 1: things for my reading life. So I thought that was

661
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,320
Speaker 1: really ironic that becoming an author means you read less. Yes,

662
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,440
Speaker 1: so I've you know, I've bounced back now, I've had

663
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 1: plenty of time to get back in my introvert, happy

664
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: reading space. But yeah, that really surprised me. It's been

665
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: really interesting to see how the publicity side works. Like

666
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,840
Speaker 1: I thought, I thought I knew, but I knew just

667
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 1: enough to be dangerous. I think about about all that,

668
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,560
Speaker 1: and I'm still learning very much. I mean, this is

669
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 1: only my first book, so I will keep learning how

670
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: all that works. It has changed a little bit the

671
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:54,640
Speaker 1: way I interact with the books that I see online.

672
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: Like in like, I was so excited to be on

673
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,480
Speaker 1: one of Bustle's lists of like, oh, twenty amazing memoirs,

674
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,640
Speaker 1: not memoirs, but non fiction to add to your to

675
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 1: be read list, And so I was between like Hillary

676
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 1: Clinton and some other big deal person coming at this fall.

677
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,200
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, this is amazing. But it also made

678
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,399
Speaker 1: me realize that all those lists I like to read

679
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 1: online are just publicists emailing each other. That's kind of depressing. Well,

680
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: it has to come from somewhere. True. It does quite

681
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: an honor, it does. And you know, there were more

682
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 1: than twenty books coming up this fall, so my fellow

683
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,319
Speaker 1: authors are being like, they didn't have to include it,

684
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 1: like they you know they did. It does mean something

685
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,320
Speaker 1: like yeah, but it does make me a little bit cynical.

686
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 1: It has, I don't know, like it's been a little

687
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 1: bit different, but not very because I've been doing vetting

688
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,240
Speaker 1: a lot of books, getting sent to a lot of books,

689
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,640
Speaker 1: is a bookish enthusiast, which is not that that different

690
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,919
Speaker 1: from doing it as an author. For a while now,

691
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 1: it's been a little bit different, and I definitely, I

692
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,440
Speaker 1: definitely am feeling a lot more kind hearted to the

693
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,520
Speaker 1: books that come to my house, like, oh, that poor author.

694
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,960
Speaker 1: This is hard work, isn't it. It's hard. But even

695
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,040
Speaker 1: if the book isn't very good, you know, there's still

696
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 1: a lot of work that went into it. Yeah. I mean,

697
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 1: you can't can't recommend something you don't like. But on

698
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: the other hand, I just just knowing what goes into it,

699
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 1: the year's effort, and yeah, to have all those books

700
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,040
Speaker 1: just going out in envelopes, landing on people's doorsteps and

701
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:35,280
Speaker 1: hoping they open them. Yeah, it does change things. Wow.

702
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 1: So we're going to hit you up for one more recommendation,

703
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 1: and which is that? So Sarah is going on maternity

704
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,920
Speaker 1: leave and for the next three months, maybe Sarah, you

705
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,640
Speaker 1: can tell her what you're looking for for that time. Yeah,

706
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 1: I want something, Well, I don't know I would. I'm

707
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,239
Speaker 1: open to a lot of things, and I will tell

708
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,439
Speaker 1: you that I'm sure I will get plenty of recommendations

709
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 1: from your podcast in your blog anyway. But if I

710
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,440
Speaker 1: give you, like a few random things that I've liked

711
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 1: that you've recommended, you can give me another one. Okay,

712
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:08,520
Speaker 1: you're ready. Americana, I read this year, love it. I

713
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: mentioned Crossing to Safety, Laura had mentioned before. I have

714
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,200
Speaker 1: a guilty pleasure. I loved the Kevin Kwan Crazy Rich

715
00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 1: Asians series, and I'm super excited that it's going to

716
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: be a movie. I like some Leanne moriarty. I mean,

717
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,080
Speaker 1: that's fun stuff. What Alex Forgot is probably my favorite.

718
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,040
Speaker 1: I don't tend to get into nonfiction as much. It's funny,

719
00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:29,600
Speaker 1: Like once in a while there'll be a topic that

720
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,680
Speaker 1: I really like, Like I really liked Deep Work by

721
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 1: call Newport, but I I just it's one of those

722
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 1: where I'll start a nonfiction because I love the idea,

723
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,640
Speaker 1: and then I just sort of peter out. So yeah,

724
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: if you have a juicy novel or a you know,

725
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 1: a medium ambitious one for me that you think would

726
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 1: be great media pod, I always love it. Yeah, okay, yeah,

727
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 1: because those do all hit serious themes. I have not

728
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 1: read the Crazy rich Asians trilogy, but I get the

729
00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:01,799
Speaker 1: impression pretty good, snarky, funny. I don't I don't know,

730
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,239
Speaker 1: describe it for me, Uh, kind of fantastical. I mean

731
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: it puts you in another world. It's totally snarky. It's

732
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: got a million pop culture references, but it's actually decently written.

733
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 1: And I will say I have a little bit of

734
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:17,279
Speaker 1: like an I don't know. I think Asian culture is

735
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 1: really fascinating. I used to read a ton of Miurakami

736
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,399
Speaker 1: that's more Japan, and this one's more China and some

737
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,480
Speaker 1: other countries. But yeah, that one hit a nerve. I mean,

738
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:31,760
Speaker 1: I would like devour them. They're they're they're sort of candy. Okay,

739
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:36,399
Speaker 1: I'm wondering about this would be a great book club book,

740
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,240
Speaker 1: but it doesn't mean you love it. But I'm wondering

741
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:42,520
Speaker 1: about I'm Glad About You by Teresa Repik, especially because

742
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 1: it's described as having a crazy Rich Asians element. I

743
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,920
Speaker 1: think they said, like it's crazy, the humor of crazy

744
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:57,840
Speaker 1: rich Asians meets like the wistful tone of beautiful Ruins.

745
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 1: So interesting make it because it's about it's about two

746
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 1: kids who fall in love I think in high school,

747
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,360
Speaker 1: although it might go back longer. So they're like the

748
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 1: loves of each other's lives. They think but he wants

749
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 1: to be a pediatrician. Sarah and she and so they

750
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,280
Speaker 1: go their separate ways, but there's still this die between

751
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: them and basically they know they're right for each other,

752
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,680
Speaker 1: but real life intervenes and then it gets messy and

753
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:38,560
Speaker 1: they make bad choices. So that sounds great. I really

754
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 1: didn't like the ending, but I have friends that did

755
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:47,600
Speaker 1: and that so if you, if you fall on especially

756
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 1: the dislike side of the spectrum, talk to somebody into

757
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 1: reading this book too, so you can talk about it

758
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 1: with them. But I think that might be fo or

759
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,839
Speaker 1: maybe book. Maybe it's a good book. Yeah, awesome, Thank

760
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,480
Speaker 1: you so much. And oh, let me think what else?

761
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 1: If you love Crossing The Safety Angel of Repose is

762
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 1: my next favorite Wallace Stegner might take a little bit

763
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,560
Speaker 1: to get into. It goes back and forth in time

764
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:15,200
Speaker 1: between a current contemporary I mean contemporary when Stagner was writing,

765
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 1: a contemporary writer researching the lives of his grandparents. So

766
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,280
Speaker 1: it goes back and forth and time between this writer

767
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,080
Speaker 1: living his life right now, dealing with his own issues,

768
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 1: and embarking on this research project because he feels like

769
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 1: he needs to uncover what happened in their story. Because

770
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,759
Speaker 1: something seemed tragic to him and he wanted to know

771
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,200
Speaker 1: what actually happened back then, so he imagines what their

772
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 1: story was, and then you come back to the present day.

773
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 1: So that present day story does help get you oriented

774
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,399
Speaker 1: before you're plunge back in time. But the backstory really

775
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 1: reminded me of a book I know Laura's read, A

776
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:54,840
Speaker 1: Clearing the Distance by Vittel Ribsinski. The way he talks

777
00:39:54,880 --> 00:40:00,560
Speaker 1: about New York City at the time that Frederick law

778
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:03,839
Speaker 1: Olmsted was a young up and comer trying to find

779
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,359
Speaker 1: his way, it just reminded me very much of that era.

780
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:11,720
Speaker 1: And yeah, it's six hundred pages, so it's no small

781
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,319
Speaker 1: small thing to embark on, but it's so good. A

782
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,600
Speaker 1: shorter one I really like by him is The Spectator Bird.

783
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 1: And then I'm trying to think of something that's more

784
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 1: in the Leon Moriarty spectrum. Yeah, for when the kids are,

785
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,279
Speaker 1: you know, the babies not sleeping at all and I

786
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:30,640
Speaker 1: need some But no, Actually, that Stegner sounds great too,

787
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 1: and it reminds me of crossing a safety And then

788
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:35,839
Speaker 1: he obviously really likes to examine that brightly life. He

789
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,640
Speaker 1: enjoys that quite a bit I did really like this

790
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,600
Speaker 1: is how It Always is, which is a little bit

791
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,719
Speaker 1: more serious, and I believe there's a physician. I mean,

792
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: not that you need to read books about doctors, but

793
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,800
Speaker 1: I believe there's a physician in there, if I'm remembering correctly,

794
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:49,960
Speaker 1: who does play an important role in like the last

795
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,640
Speaker 1: third of the book. Cool. No, it is sometimes fun

796
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,120
Speaker 1: to kind of see that world entered, like I loved

797
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,279
Speaker 1: Small Great Things because you know, it was in a

798
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 1: hospital and there was babies, and I was picturing it

799
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: kind of being in that so awesome. Well, I've written

800
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 1: all of those down. I'm super excited. It's fantastic, although

801
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,440
Speaker 1: I should probably say the flip side of that is

802
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:10,759
Speaker 1: that this is how it always is. The title comes

803
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,680
Speaker 1: from a conversation between two parents saying, we are facing

804
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,760
Speaker 1: this impossible situation. We have no idea what our kid needs.

805
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 1: We don't know what's right for them. We could totally

806
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 1: screw this up in a really bad way and ruin

807
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:24,600
Speaker 1: their lives forever. But this is how it always is.

808
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,439
Speaker 1: You never have all the information you need, so let's

809
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 1: just do the best we know with what we have

810
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,200
Speaker 1: right now. So, if you're sitting on the couch, maybe

811
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:36,440
Speaker 1: feeling postpartum strong emotions, reading about impossible things that happen

812
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,400
Speaker 1: to parents. I just want you to know what you're getting.

813
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,680
Speaker 1: But it's so good, You're so good. I think wallowing

814
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,799
Speaker 1: might actually be sort of healthy. So I like that

815
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,440
Speaker 1: idea so well. And so we always end up our

816
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: main segments with our love of the week, and we're

817
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,239
Speaker 1: hoping we can keep you on for a love of

818
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,800
Speaker 1: the week. So mine this week is buying books in general.

819
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,000
Speaker 1: I recently just told you I was spent at the

820
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:03,880
Speaker 1: school book fair at my kids elementary school, I'll have

821
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,880
Speaker 1: their scholastic book fair, and I will admit that I

822
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:09,480
Speaker 1: sent you going today, sent in quite a bit of

823
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 1: money with each of them that they could buy books,

824
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 1: because I like the idea of them choosing their books

825
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,239
Speaker 1: and reading it. And I will draw a tough line

826
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,080
Speaker 1: on buying toys, like I don't buy toys randomly at all,

827
00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: but if a kid asked for books, I'll pretty much

828
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,360
Speaker 1: always get it. So yeah, it's one way to increase

829
00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:26,920
Speaker 1: the amount of reading is just to have more books around. Sarah,

830
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: what's on your list this week? On my list? And

831
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 1: I'm going to stay thematic with this one is that

832
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 1: I never ever kept track of the books I read before,

833
00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:39,759
Speaker 1: which is odd because I am, as all listeners know,

834
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,840
Speaker 1: kind of love to track stuff. But in twenty seventeen,

835
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 1: I did manage to write down every book I read,

836
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: and I read just about twenty. Maybe I'll be up

837
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,600
Speaker 1: to twenty two or so by the end of the year.

838
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:53,239
Speaker 1: And it's so cool to actually be able to look

839
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:55,160
Speaker 1: at oh, like, this is what I read, and this

840
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:57,719
Speaker 1: is what I liked. And next year maybe I'll try

841
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:00,880
Speaker 1: for twenty four, twenty six something like that. So yeah,

842
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,160
Speaker 1: I love that I finally kept trying. Nan. What do

843
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:07,400
Speaker 1: you have this week? Oh, a planning thing. I know.

844
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:12,640
Speaker 1: I love planning things. I am at the point of

845
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 1: the year where I'm thinking about my systems and what

846
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 1: I want to reboot for the new year. And I

847
00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: just ordered this large personal monthly planner that is a

848
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,960
Speaker 1: blank monthly calendar. At the top, it just has the

849
00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:26,480
Speaker 1: days of the week and then you have to fill

850
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 1: in the dates. But I have put this on my

851
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:30,719
Speaker 1: wall so I can see a whole quarter at a time.

852
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:33,879
Speaker 1: And really, I didn't think I was a visual person

853
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:36,360
Speaker 1: for a long time, because I don't really care that

854
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:38,760
Speaker 1: much about pictures, but I need to see the words

855
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 1: in the dates and where they all fall. And I

856
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,520
Speaker 1: am so excited that now I can see this all

857
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:45,680
Speaker 1: instead of scrolling up and down and up and down

858
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 1: on Google Calendar or flipping back and forth and back

859
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,600
Speaker 1: and forth in my planner, I can see three months ago.

860
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:51,960
Speaker 1: It's making me really really happy. And it costs like

861
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:56,000
Speaker 1: ten bucks. That is awesome. I actually have something similar

862
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,360
Speaker 1: like to that, even though I am a devoted planner

863
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,000
Speaker 1: user at work. I have that have like the months

864
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,440
Speaker 1: tacked up on top on the top part of my

865
00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 1: desk and I have to see it's exactly what I

866
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,719
Speaker 1: have to see it visually because to see how the

867
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,040
Speaker 1: pieces fit together, that's so cool. I love your Love

868
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:11,880
Speaker 1: of the Week well, and thank you so much for

869
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:13,960
Speaker 1: coming on. We really appreciate it, and all our listeners

870
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,399
Speaker 1: please go check out Modern Message Darcy on the web,

871
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,520
Speaker 1: the what Should I Read Next? Podcast, and Ann's book

872
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:24,640
Speaker 1: Reading People, which was out this fall. It was my pleasure.

873
00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:27,160
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me all right. So for our

874
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,400
Speaker 1: Q and A segment today, we have a seasonal question

875
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:33,359
Speaker 1: that came from a listener who wanted to know what

876
00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 1: ideas we had for the holiday gift season this year,

877
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:39,719
Speaker 1: so I've had to plan kind of ahead this year

878
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 1: because of my impending child. And as of now, it's

879
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:46,680
Speaker 1: you know, as we record this right now, it's the

880
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,200
Speaker 1: end of November, but I've already sent Josh a list

881
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:52,600
Speaker 1: and am sort of prepared to do my click shopping.

882
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:55,760
Speaker 1: So I do have this kind of fresh on my mind.

883
00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:59,760
Speaker 1: You know, Hanekah's earlier than Christmas. Hanka is way earlier.

884
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:01,880
Speaker 1: Don't even remember what day it starts, but it's something like,

885
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:03,799
Speaker 1: I think it's right around my due date. My du

886
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:05,600
Speaker 1: date's the ninth, and I think it's maybe the eleventh.

887
00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:09,640
Speaker 1: So I need to be prepared in this in this context.

888
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:12,879
Speaker 1: But so I was gonna say, Laura is not as

889
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,600
Speaker 1: much of a she doesn't worry about clutter as much

890
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 1: as I do. But I hate it. I don't have

891
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,520
Speaker 1: a huge house. I just can't stand picking up all

892
00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:24,879
Speaker 1: the time. I love throwing stuff out. Again, things may

893
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 1: evolve as my kids get older and have more autonomy

894
00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 1: over their own stuff, but right now, you know, one

895
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,160
Speaker 1: of the things I think about when I'm buying is like,

896
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,400
Speaker 1: how can I buy things that are going to be

897
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,200
Speaker 1: really fun but not take over the house. So Cameron's

898
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,360
Speaker 1: really into puzzles, so we're going to do that. My

899
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,480
Speaker 1: husband is determined to buy them both ukulelees. So I

900
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,080
Speaker 1: don't know where that came from. Well, he's into the

901
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,000
Speaker 1: ukulele himself, and he has shown me videos of little

902
00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:55,840
Speaker 1: prodigies and I'm like, well that's not our children, but okay,

903
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: So they're gonna get instruments and he's gonna try to

904
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:02,680
Speaker 1: teach them some chords. Annabel's big gift maybe from the

905
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:06,080
Speaker 1: American Girl Catalog, although I haven't totally committed. We're going

906
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 1: to get a lot of craft sets because I imagine

907
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:10,920
Speaker 1: I'm going to want to keep them occupied sometimes, you know,

908
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:13,759
Speaker 1: while I'm nursing or doing stuff for the baby. So

909
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:16,000
Speaker 1: stuff where they can sit down and do them over

910
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:18,520
Speaker 1: the winter. And again, since it's Hanukah, you need a

911
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:20,440
Speaker 1: lot of books, but not a lot of books, a

912
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:22,080
Speaker 1: lot of gifts. But some of them are going to

913
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,920
Speaker 1: be just very practical, Like they both need new shoes,

914
00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 1: so that's going to be, you know, one of one

915
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:29,960
Speaker 1: of the fillers. And then we'll definitely buy a bunch

916
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,480
Speaker 1: of books. What about you, guys. Yeah, I think there's

917
00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:34,600
Speaker 1: going to be a lot of books, just because it's

918
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that I feel good about buying.

919
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,960
Speaker 1: And then if they have more books, they will read

920
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:43,640
Speaker 1: more books. It's the whole supply thing going on. But

921
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:45,520
Speaker 1: I think it's mostly just been about kind of paying

922
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:47,839
Speaker 1: attention to what the kids like during the course of

923
00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:51,239
Speaker 1: the year. You know. So my daughter and I went

924
00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:53,040
Speaker 1: to the American Girls Place in New York a couple

925
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:55,040
Speaker 1: months ago, and I saw one thing that she liked

926
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,520
Speaker 1: that she didn't then get. She had, you know, a

927
00:46:57,520 --> 00:46:59,680
Speaker 1: limit of what she was allowed to ask for while

928
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 1: you're in the place, so she chose something else. But

929
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:03,960
Speaker 1: I've kept in mind, like, oh, what was the runner up?

930
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,560
Speaker 1: So she might like that. We are probably for the

931
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:09,040
Speaker 1: little guy. We'll probably get some more Thomas the tank

932
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,319
Speaker 1: engine trains, And it seems always like a waste because

933
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,320
Speaker 1: it's the last kid, you know, and so let's buying

934
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,920
Speaker 1: all this capital in the form of trains. We have some,

935
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 1: but they've lasted through all of the kids, so I

936
00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 1: think they're really great. So I know that I will

937
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 1: be able to give them to somebody else, probably in

938
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:26,560
Speaker 1: a couple of years, and so that's a nice thing

939
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:29,319
Speaker 1: to be able to buy something that will last. There

940
00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:31,759
Speaker 1: will be video games, because there's always video games. But

941
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,560
Speaker 1: one thing I'm also trying to think of this year

942
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 1: is experiential gifts, because that when you get to the

943
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:40,880
Speaker 1: older kids, they don't go as much for the toys anymore,

944
00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:43,040
Speaker 1: Like they don't play with toys all that much, the

945
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:45,799
Speaker 1: ten year old, hardly at all, the eight year old

946
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:48,200
Speaker 1: some so thinking about, well, what would they like to

947
00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:51,160
Speaker 1: do and be, you know, tickets to a sports game

948
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:54,960
Speaker 1: or even something like staying in a hotel overnight is

949
00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:57,439
Speaker 1: just the height of craziness for them, Like they don't

950
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,839
Speaker 1: do that all that often, So you know, taking them

951
00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:02,760
Speaker 1: on a one night trip somewhere else on the East

952
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,879
Speaker 1: Coast for instance, it'll be pretty exciting. So we're trying

953
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,279
Speaker 1: to think of stuff like that, and in general, you know,

954
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:10,799
Speaker 1: experiences are really fun for kids. Little kids, they do

955
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,279
Speaker 1: need a lot of stuff under the tree or with

956
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:18,600
Speaker 1: whatever you do for other gift giving faith traditions. But

957
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:21,719
Speaker 1: you know, thinking about having a few things for that

958
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:23,640
Speaker 1: and then a few things that cannot spread out the

959
00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:26,600
Speaker 1: fun over the next couple of weeks or months can

960
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 1: actually be a great way to get through winter as well. Yeah,

961
00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:32,640
Speaker 1: I love the experiential idea. I can't wait till my

962
00:48:32,719 --> 00:48:34,560
Speaker 1: kids are old enough to think about the sort of trips.

963
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: We're not quite in that phase yet, but your older

964
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:40,640
Speaker 1: ones certainly are, so that's fantastic. Yeah. Well, this has

965
00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:44,320
Speaker 1: been Best of Both Worlds Episode nineteen. We've been talking

966
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:47,919
Speaker 1: all things books and tune in next week for more

967
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:54,080
Speaker 1: on making work and life fit together. Thanks for listening.

968
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:57,320
Speaker 1: You can find me Sarah at the shoebox dot com

969
00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 1: or at the Underscore Shoebox on instant and you can

970
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:05,600
Speaker 1: find me Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. This has

971
00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:08,880
Speaker 1: been the Best of Both Worlds podcasts. Please join us

972
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,360
Speaker 1: next time for more on making work and life work together.