Let's Talk About Books Baby!

May

 (This picture is me with Rachel Brathen, famous yogini and now NY Times Bestselling author- I read her book in March, and was able to practice yoga with her on her whirl wind happiness world tour this spring!)

Books Bought:

Wanderlust: A Modern Yogi's Guide to Discovering Your Best Self By: Jeff Krasno

Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia By: David Greene (audible)

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal By: Conor Grennan (audible)

Books Read:

 Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own By: Kate Bolick (audible)

The Year of No Mistakes: A Collection of Poetry By: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

 Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia By: David Greene (audible)

The Pilgrimage By: Paulo Coelho

 Ok... well to gear up for Wanderlust Festival, I was super stoked to see they had a book coming out!  It's a mammoth and I bought it and am taking my time with it, so look for a review later!

As for other books bought, I just used my two monthly credits on audible to download a coupe of books!

I finally wrapped up Spinster this month and I'm a little indifferent to it.  Sometimes I found it so interesting and found myself nodding along, like, "Yes. Yes. Yes!" and then other times I thought it was a huge snooze fest.  Also, perhaps because my own mind is so indecisive on the topic of womanly singlehood, I found I couldn't fully agree with her or disagree with her.  It just is what it is.  Some people are single and some people are not.  Some get married, some do not.  Must we over think everything?  Must we explain ourselves?  Can't we just be?

I also finished up another book of poetry this month.  I loved it!  These spoken word poets that write bloody publishing is putting out are AMAZE-balls!  I just love the ideas, the themes, the honesty.  What a craft!  This author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz documented a year: a relationship, a move, etc.  I loved it!  Gives me ideas...

NPR's David Greene, how I adore you!  I love listening to your voice every morning on Morning Edition, so I knew this audiobook written and read by him would be great!  It was interesting in the sense that it was about Russia and I don't study or seek out information about Russia that often.  It makes me want to learn more.

Paulo Coelho, oh my.  I loved The Alchemist so much but I'm starting to wonder if that was a one hit wonder for me.  The guy is interesting, no doubt, and he explores the inner workings of humanity unquestionably.  But.... I don't know.  I feel like I'm kind of bored when reading his books lately.  I have a few more things of his on my list to read, so I'll keep at it.  He's Brazil's most notorious author for a reason, right?  I did like how The Pilgrimage shed a little more light on my obsession and love of the Way of St. James.

Well, June is in full swing... summer is on it's way!  Anyone looking forward to any new beach reads?  Let me know!

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

April

Books Bought:

 The Year of No Mistakes By: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns By: Andrea Gibson

The Paris Review No. 209, Summer 2014

Tracks By: Robyn Davidson (Audible)

Poser: My Life Twenty-Three Yoga Poses By: Claire Dederer (Audible)
The Marriage Game By: Alison Weir
The Bullet By: Mary Louise Kelly
Euphoria By: Lily King
Spinster By: Kate Bolick (Audible)

Books Read:

Tracks By: Robyn Davidson

Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns By: Andrea Gibson

All the Light We Cannot See By: Anthony Doerr
Poser: My Life Twenty-Three Yoga Poses By: Claire Dederer (Audible)

My-My, my love affair with books continues... although these days it is taking a drastically different form!  I am officially addicted to Audible.com although I'm very particular about the kinds of books I'll listen to versus read.  For instance, I prefer them to be non-fiction, have to be unabridged, I prefer them to be read by the author (although this one is not a deal-breaker).  I feel there is a big difference in listening to someone's memoir as I walk on the treadmill or drive, these things are kind of cold and straight forward.  I couldn't imagine listening to a book like All the Light We Cannot See, books like that need to be curled up with, they need to be taken in slowly so your imagination can wrap fully around them, books like that you need to feel the anticipation as you turn the page and feel the excitement of flipping through a few pages to see just how long the next chapter is exactly and if you can squeeze in one more chapter before bedtime beckons.  Books like that, when you finish them you need to shut it, and hold it close to your heart and breathe a sigh as you silently wish to yourself that you could write like that, and as you say goodbye to characters and places you fell in love with.  Obviously I really dug Doerr's book.  And the nice thing is, I finished it the day before it was announced as the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction.  Very deserving!

So, April.  National Poetry month... I love this month for that reason.  I always try to draw my attention towards poetry, and give thanks and appreciation to one of my favorite art forms.   On April 7th I was able to find a night that aligned perfectly with a poetry reading at Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe.  They always give a discount on books in this month, so I bought a few, along with a huge latte and settled in to hear the best Boulder has to offer.  It did not disappoint.  Some of the feminist poetry that writers are producing in this town is damn good!  Which brings me to the poetry book that I read this month.  It was published by Write Bloody Publishing, the same spoken word publisher that put out Sarah Kay's collection, I also had seen a dear friend of mine read Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns last year so it had been on my list for awhile.  It was so good.  Who knew that lesbian poetry could speak to my soul like that?  It was also very political, and I f'ing loved it!  I wish it was a collection I had written myself.

Anyways, back to audible.  I listened first to a woman travel memoir called Tracks, this was about a woman who decided to train some camels and walk across the Australian Outback.  Her journey was documented at the time by National Geographic, but this memoir was her words, and her inner thoughts.  It wasn't an Eat, Pray, Love or a Wild for me, but maybe for some females it is.  It was still interesting, just not my thing.

And lastly, Poser.  I liked this book more than I thought I was going to.  The author spends time talking about the 90's, Seattle, Yoga, what's not to like?  She even moves to Boulder at one point in the book!  What I could do without though?  All the baby talk.  I get it, people have kids and it becomes their everything... but sometimes I'm just not in the mood.  But on the whole, I liked hearing about a writer who does yoga and has an appreciation for all things zen and nineties.  :-)

Obviously, I'm buying books at a faster rate than I can actually read them this year!  It's time to take stock, and relax.  I need to finish a few that I've been working on for months and we'll see what happens in May. 

What are you reading these days?

Favorite Quote(s)

Today's prompt is nearly impossible to complete.  Why's that you ask?  Because the prompt is: your favorite quote.  Well, you can't be a person that reads a book a week and walk around in this world with only one favorite quote... many, many quotes make up who I am.  Words become a part of me, I soak in them like a bubble bath, I drink them in like a strong cup of coffee; and as much as I would like to be the creator of my own feelings and experiences put to words, I have found, that mostly my favorite books and authors sum me up perfectly.  So, in no particular order, here are my top ten delicious little morsels of language strung together... aka my favorite quotes EVER (we love a good list, right?):

1.  The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in.  Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other.  Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only. -Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

2.  You give me an apartment full of morning smells- toasted bagel and black coffee and the freckled lilies in the vase on the windowsill.  You give me 24-across. -Rebecca Lindenberg, Love, an Index

3.  Dignity is an affectation, cute but eccentric, like learning French or collecting scarves. -Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

4.  'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' Said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.' -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

5.  Even in the Eternal City, says the silent Augusteum, one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation. -Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

6.   Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right. -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

7. What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?  It's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good bye.  But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies. -Jack Kerouac, On the Road

8.   The greatest lie ever told about love is that is sets you free. -Zadie Smith, On Beauty

9.   I know it's hard to write, darling. But it's harder not to.  The only way you'll find out if you have it in you is to get to work and see if you do. -Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

10.   I love New York, even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway that belongs to me because I belong to it. -Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

March

Books Bought:
The Logan Notebooks By: Rebecca Lindenberg

All the Light We Cannot See By: Anthony Doerr
Yoga Girl By: Rachel Brathen
Good Food, Good Life By: Curtis Stone
Uganda Be Kidding Me By: Chelsea Handler (free on Audible.com)

Books Read:
Seriously, I'm Kidding By: Ellen Degeneres

 I Am America By: Stephen Colbert
Uganda Be Kidding Me By: Chelsea Handler
The Logan Notebooks By: Rebecca Lindenberg
Yes Please By: Amy Poehler
Yoga Girl By: Rachel Brathen

So far this year, I know I'm going to sound crazy when I say this... but I don't really feel like I've read that much!  Which is fine because I've been doing other things, but I find I'm mostly listening to books, which I feel kind of ashamed of, if I'm being honest.  For example, this month I listened to 4 of the 6 books that I "read" and of the two that I didn't listen to... one is a poetry book and the other is a workout/motivational book.  So there you have it, I have officially become a lazy reader.

With that said, this month I continued my trend of listening to funny, lighthearted books. I listened to four funny people, read their books.  There are worse things in the world, right?

Ellen Degeneres- this book felt like a stretch to me, she talked at length about how she had nothing to write about, and at times it really did feel like that.  Not my favorite of Ellen's, but I still had some chuckles!

Stephen Colbert- I liked this book about the same as I liked Jon Stewart's.  I think these are both incredibly intelligent men, and it helps that I have the same political beliefs as them.  I couldn't believe that Stephen Colbert could stay in this "character" that he created for so long.  It was scary that there truly are so many Americans who talk this way!

Chelsea Handler- Ok, she's funny, and incredibly offensive.  This book was significantly better than her "cheat" book where she had all her friends write a chapter about pranks she's pulled on them, but at the end of the day I can't help feeling like she's lost a bit of her original appeal.  At her age, it's starting to become a bit sad that she still drinks like crazy, spends money like crazy, and just plain acts... crazy.  These wild shenanigans were hilarious a decade ago, but now you can't help but feel kind of grossed out listening to her.

Amy Poehler- I'm a fan.  I have to say, I always knew this lady was out there doing funny stuff but until a colleague made me binge watch Parks & Recreation I had never really "gotten" it.  Now, I get it.  I thought this book would be as hilarious as Tina Fey's was (it wasn't), but it still provided insight into easily one of the most entertaining feminists of our time.  It was a bit heavy on the "mom" stuff for me, but I'm sure a lot of people find that angle interesting.

Now onto books I actually "read" with my own eyes!

Rebecca Lindenberg came out with a second book of poetry.  Since I was obsessed with her first, I knew I just had to buy this one too!  So, one snowy night as a friend and I stood outside the Fox Theatre in Boulder waiting to see a show, I made my way down to the Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe and lo and behold... they had it in stock.  As the barista steamed the milk for the two small hot chocolates I ordered, we had a lovely conversation books, McSweeney's, and poetry of course.  This collection didn't "wow" me like the first (but again, I cannot overstate how much I LOVED her first collection)!  Here is my favorite poem from this collection:

Thanksgiving

My guy buys brie, a baguette, and cherry tomatoes with his food stamps.  I buy firewood and wine. We go up the canyon and light a fire in a stone pit and sit in soft folding chairs and talk for hours, let the penny-colored pit bull walk against the river current.  And as we sit, the tall granite walls of the canyon slowly purple to black and the sky goes out, and the flames we're sitting by get brighter and warmer, until we begin to dwindle, and we douse them, and we go.


Pretty good, right?
Love her style!

Lastly, Rachel Brathen- aka "yoga girl", I first heard/found Rachel on Instagram, and I quickly grew to love her (just like everyone else).  She posts beautiful, inspirational pics and her captions are always completely raw and honest.  Her book, was pretty much everything we already know and love about her but in a physical form that you can put on your coffee table.  There were pretty pics, interesting tidbits, some recipes, and some instructions for yoga poses.  This was a quick read, but I really like it!  And, she is now a New York Times Bestselling Author, another reason I love her!


Anyways, that was my March!  What have you been reading lately?

A Case of You

"Joni! Keep Something of Yourself" -Kris Kristofferson (upon hearing the album Blue for the first time.)

(pictured Joni Mitchell & Graham Nash)

Embarrassingly, I have to admit that the first time I had ever heard a song penned by the lovely Joni Mitchell, I was driving down a long dark Virginia road and I was listening to Diana Krall's Live in Paris album in which she did a cover of "A Case of You".  I couldn't believe the lyrics of this song...

"Just before our love got lost you said

'I am as a constant as a northern star'

And I said, 'Constantly in the darkness?

Where that?  If you want me I'll be in the bar'"

"Oh I could drink a case of you darling

And I would still be on my feet..."

"Part of you pours out of me 

In these lines from time to time

You're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and you taste so sweet"

How do I express what my early 20 something heart felt at these lines?  I knew they were beautiful, but I don't even think that I could really feel what they meant until I went through my divorce.

Of course, by now I have heard the true masterpiece, which is Joni's, off of her album Blue.  And of course, listening to that whole album was miraculous!  It was like reading a diary of the person I want to be!  So honest!  That's why I love the quote (above) by Kris Kristofferson, she just really was so  bare, and raw... and it's lovely in all of it's poetic glory!

A couple of birthday's ago I received a record player (not my first in life, but definitely my first in a long time).  The first record I bought myself was Joni's Blue.  And again, listening to "A Case of You" on vinyl, with that vintage sound, well it's even more hauntingly beautiful. 

Awhile back, I was at the bookstore and I saw that Graham Nash had come out with a memoir.  I flipped through looking at the photographs and I came across the one above (if it wasn't this one, it was one very similar).  I remember the caption had said something about Joni working on a song from the album Blue.  I love this picture because I know that so much of that album came from her relationship with Graham, her traveling Europe, and her relationship with James Taylor.  I think this picture just hits home to me that you can just be living your life, but from that life you can be creating art.  And if the songs from Blue are not pure art, then I don't know what is, each song is a photograph.  

Though there are so many favorites to choose from off this album, I always come back to "A Case of You".  Maybe because it was my first, and like a first love, you can't help but remember it fondly.  It is so dear to me, because there are moments in life where you hear a song and you realize you're growing up--- you realize that you can distinctly tell the difference between real artistry and bubblegum pop.  In a world of manufactured Britney's, we need more Joni's. 

Comfort

In an attempt to get our minds flowing with creativity, and to strengthen the practice of putting pen to paper.... my dear friend Andrea and I purchased a book together called 642 Things to Write About, the book is full of prompts and we will choose one a day.  I'll be posting mine here, and to see Andrea's beautiful blog, click here!

Onto today's post...

Comfort

Comfort in food
In Chipotle Burritos
Suppression

Comfort in books
In other people's stories
Escape

Comfort in obesity
In walls of my own making
Sidelined


(Dis)Comfort in Chaturanga Dandasana
In honoring how I got to this point
Forgiveness


Comfort in Ujjayi Breath
In filling up my lungs
Intention

Comfort in Savasana
In relaxing into myself
Rejuvenation

Comfort in Anjali Mudra
In awakening to life
Gratitude

The way the sky looks today...

The way the sky looks today...
Is like flinging your car out of the roundabout onto the motorway
It's pushing your vehicle to 90 miles per hour in the fast lane
Flying past fields of rapeseed that crescendo in billowing waves
The way the sky looks today...
Is like rivers of rain running down window panes
It's the defrost and the windshield wiper blades
Stopping only for gasoline and toffee nut lattes
The way the sky looks today...
Is like old school Ray LaMontagne
It's "Jolene", "Trouble", and "Three More Days"
Singing along innocently and wholeheartedly about things to come and eventual gain