2016 Reading List Archives - Inkwells & Images

Learning How To Be Here | Inkwells & Images

In my latest reading roundup, I mentioned that I had recently read How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living by Rob Bell. I picked this one up at Ashley Brooks’s suggestion and really enjoyed it.

I read this book while we were still in transition while building the house, a process that took far longer and far more money than we had anticipated. The last year was an exciting and frustrating time. We were waiting on a house to be done, but also very, very ready to get out of the apartment that we were in that had no washer and dryer and no dishwasher – and was a total of 650 square feet! It was very much a “sacrifice now to gain later” sort of situation, and we knew it was short-term. Even knowing that an end was in sight still left me wishing time away so that we could move and settle into the new place… and then we found out we were expecting. Which made me even more anxious to get the house finished (and as close to budget as possible) so we could start getting ready for a baby.

And now that’s the stage we are in: preparing for a baby. We weren’t planning on adding to the family quite yet this year, and while we’ve settled into the idea and are starting to get excited as our due date approaches, it’s still been hard to wrap our brains around how different life is going to be in three months compared to what we thought it would look like. I had grand visions of setting up a guest room and finally using all the brain power I had been spending on the house to work on building my business and writing a novel. Instead, that guest room is now a nursery (sorry, in-laws! It’s still an air mattress when you come to visit for now), and come April I will be spending all my energy – physical and mental – on a baby for awhile. And then a toddler. And then a child. Which is still 100% weird to think about.

Being the Type-A, planner-extraordinaire that I am, I know that having a baby is going to be tough. They need a lot of attention, don’t always operate on a convenient schedule, and ruin your sleep schedule for months on into years. (As you can see, I am going into this with my eyes WIDE open.) Obviously, there will be a lot of joy, too, and we’re going to love the little guy or gal, but it’s going to be a serious mental adjustment compared to what we were planning for our first year in our new home.

Why I’ll Be Reading How to Be Here Again & Again

Getting back to Rob Bell and his book. Ahem.

Throughout How to Be Here, Bell consistently reminds the reader that he or she is where they are for a reason. That every piece of life has a season and place. That rhythms exist and change and change again as you go through the years and respond to different callings on your life and time.

I think that’s a message I am going to need to hear every once in a while over the next year as we struggle through midnight feedings and days that don’t go as planned and goal lists that remain stagnant for months at a time.

I’m planning to buy a copy of How to Be Here and read it again this year as I need reminded that “here” is exactly where I am supposed to be.

My Favorite Quotes from How to Be Here:

“What [that person] needs is a job that doesn’t drain them, so that they’ll have the energy they need for the thing they know they are here to do.” – p. 63

“Interests, art forms, talents, hobbies, missions, passions… all have their place in our lives.” – p. 92

“Better to have a stomach full of butterflies than to feel like your life is passing you by.” – p. 106

“[On Friday Afternoons] I turn my computer off. When I do this, I always have the same physiological reaction: it’s like my entire being takes a deep breath.” – p. 165

“When you begin to practice a rhythm to your week, you begin to see the need for rhythm all the time.” – p .171

And my favorite, favorite:

If a good portion of your energies are given to the well-being of another person, that’s okay. It’s not just okay, it’s honorable, it’s beautiful… That’s your ikigai for now. It may change over time. It probably will.” ~ p. 100 (I didn’t write this page number down for some reason)

In this next season of life, when most of my energy is devoted to taking care of a little one, I want to remember those words and recognize that this season is a gift – just like all the others – and that it will disappear before I’m ready for it to, as it always does.

Have you read How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living by Rob Bell? If so, what did you think?

I’ve been talking about how it’s a “Middle Season” in life right now. It’s felt like that lot here on the blog and with the podcast and in the novel-writing – I’m just getting stuff done lately, not launching anything, not wrapping anything up – just doing the tasks that keep all the boats floating down the river.

But nowhere is the idea of “Middle Season” more apparent than where Scott and I are in life right now physically. We’re on the cusp of a dozen different decisions that need made, and we can’t make a single one of them right now. We’ve kind of started building a house, but there’s nothing to do at the moment. We applied for the loan, and now it’s a matter of sitting still until the appraisal is in and the banks says “yes” or “no.” We’ve signed bids and contracts and discussed floors and cabinets and now we wait – we can’t purchase or order anything yet. We know we’re moving in two months, but it’s still too far out to pack up anything or change our address or even start cleaning out the cupboards in earnest.

The longer I walk this earth, the more I discover that when life is in a season of upheaval, I read my favorite books over and over again. It’s almost a way to quiet my mind, to slip back into familiarity a few pages at a time. Books like Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and all the Anne of Green Gables novels.

I’ve also noticed that when life is just puttering along and I’m anxious for the next big thing to happen, I read books that change me. Books like Essentialism and Start and Grace for the Good Girl.

But what do you when life is a little of both? It’s a little stagnant, but you know big things are coming any day now?

Well, you read a little of everything.

So, here’s what I’ve been reading in 2016:

JANUARY

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

If you are a writer, I encourage you to read this one. Amy is a phenomenal storyteller, and sometimes she has a line that just zings the right way. I wrote a full review here.

The Searcher by Simon Toyne

Scott bought this book for me for Christmas at a local bookshop here in town. While mystery is not usually my genre, the book was well done. It is the first in the series, and I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the others or not. There’s too many books I want to read, that reading books that are “OK” is hard for me.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

I am rarely at a loss when it comes to words about books, but this one defies category. It’s a stunning debut novel, filled with longing and sadness. It’s a story about grief and one girl’s bravery to reach out to overcome it. I wrote a full review here.

Those Were The Days by Jenny Bravo

This short novella is a companion to Bravo’s These Are The Moments that I read last fall. I loved that book, and also enjoyed this take on the original’s heroine, Wendy, told from the perspective of her little sister Claudia.

FEBRUARY

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for awhile, but I’m so glad I read it earlier this year as Ashley and I launched the Chasing Creative Podcast. I needed it in 2016. I wrote a full review here.

Euphoria by Lily King

This book. I can emphatically say that I enjoyed the book, but I did not like the ending. No one got a good ending, and I can’t decide how I’m supposed to live with that.

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

Amber of Mr. Thomas and Me told me to read this, and I am so glad she did. If you liked Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, read this book. If you liked The Hunger Games or Divergent or The Maze Runner or any of the dystopian novels out running around these days, read this book. Plague and sacrifice and a mission to save the world. Woah.

MARCH

Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maude Montgomery

You’ve probably heard me say that Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books in the world. In fact, my novel-in-progress draws a lot of influence from this perennial favorite. But what happens to Anne after she decides to teach a year in Avonlea? This dear book shows her growing up just a smidge more than the original, while still keeping the girlish spirit that is just so Anne.

Anne of the Island by Lucy Maude Montgomery

And what does Anne learn at college when she finally get the chance to go? She learns herself, even more than Latin and Greek. This is the book where we see her become a full-grown lady and finally fall in love with Gilbert and start making plans for the future with him in them.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

I was looking forward to this book so much, and was a good bit disappointed when I finally picked it up. It was good – it was well crafted, well written. But I felt like there wasn’t a whole lot there. The protagonist was extremely passive and hard to relate to. After chatting with a friend from Ireland, the homeland of the main character, the novel made more sense, that the author was writing ironically with the position of women in mind, who didn’t have much say in 1950s Ireland, and even often today. It’s still not a book I’m going to recommend to anyone, but I may watch the movie and see how it shapes up in relation to the book.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I’m almost halfway through this novel, and it is amazing. It’s a fictionalized memoir from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife during their time in Paris. The writing is lovely, and even though you know that their marriage ends even at the beginning of the book, you can’t help but root for Hadley as you read.

ONGOING

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Nearly every guest on the Chasing Creative Podcast has mentioned this book as a creative influence, so I finally bought a copy and have loved reading it so far. I am slowly reading this book, trying to soak up each chapter and even journal a response as questions arise. It’s proving good for me – I already feel like I’ve been overcoming some creative obstacles as I journal my way through them.