Summer Reading Recommendations

 I would wager that most of you surmised this, but I will say it anyway: I love to read. There are few greater pleasures in life than curling up with a good book. I love the versatility of it-- whether I am sitting in front of the fireplace, on my porch, in a hammock, at the beach, or in any sort of waiting room, I immediately find relaxation and comfort in a book (and rarely leave the house without one). On our trip to Charleston, I packed SIX plus a couple of magazines. So, yeah, you could say I am a bit of a bibliophile. 

One of the biggest perks of summers off is time to read. I spend about nine months every year with required reading and planning, and sometimes after 8+ hours a day of reading, I want nothing more to do with it. I usually end up seeking that comfort to help me fall asleep, and it comes in the form of rereading a Harry Potter book for the 88,000th time. Unscheduled time that I can fill with adventures via book is the absolute best (besides, ya know, real adventures). 

If you're anything like I am, you have a few genres you trust, and only occasionally take recommendations. I will confess that if there is a book everyone seems to be reading, it makes me want to not read it. However, nearly half the books on this list I'm about to share with you came to me via recommendation, and were so good I am now sharing them with you. I hope you can enjoy at least one of these during the remainder of the summer. 

1) Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo: In honor of Shark Week, I chose to include this nonfiction story. If you've ever watched Shark Week, you've heard them reference this probably once every half hour without realizing it. This is a New York Times bestseller and account of the shark attacks off the Jersey shore in 1916-- the attacks that inspired the film Jaws. I had a professor friend recommend this to me when I was in grad school and confessed that I was never really into nonfiction and found it, frankly, quite boring. She recommended I read this historical thriller and it hooked me on nonfiction. 

Fun fact: parts of it are told from the perspective of the great white shark. 

2) A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer: I spent a lot of time over the last year and a half (if not longer) singing about how I want much more than this provincial life. Never mind that I do not live in provincial France. I think, for me, it's more about the idea of adventure in the great wide somewhere that made me feel such a connection to Belle my whole life. This leads me to another recommendation, this one by a student-- a retelling of the tale as old as time, but in a completely creative way. I don't want to say too much so I don't give anything away, but I will say I slept on this way too long and once I finally flew through the pages, I was happy to find out it was the first in a trilogy. 

Fun fact: the main character has cerebral palsy. 

3) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer: This book. I picked this book up... geeze, I don't even know how many years ago. I was still living at home, maybe in early undergrad, and I was drawn by the blue cover with the giant depiction of the moon on it (side note-- I have a thing with the celestial as well as with the color blue (and many of the books on my shelves are some shade of blue)). It stayed with me-- I love the way it is told from the perspective of Miranda, a teenage girl, writing in her diary. I love that it takes place in my home state. And I love the way it captures dystopia in a way that is fresh and pre-the whole "downfall of society and now we have to wait for some badass teenagers to save the day" type of thing. This is more raw, and as such, more believable. It is also the first in a four-book series, and while it's technically YA, that didn't stop me from pulling it out in the spring of 2020 and rereading the whole series, then passing it on to Shelley to read, and then recommending it to our friend Ben (all three of us read the whole series in a matter of under two weeks total). 

Fun fact: Shelley and I still joke with Ben about his fear of the moon now. 

4) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, which is unusual considering it is both a coming-of-age piece and a mystery novel. The way it was written is just art. I usually fly through books because I was gifted with being a very quick reader, but this one I forced myself to slow down and set aside from time to time. It was just so lovely I wanted to crawl inside and live there for a while. I didn't want it to end. 

Fun fact: This is one of those books that was everywhere about a year ago, and I finally read it just to see what it was all about. I'm so glad I did.

5) We'll Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn: One of my favorite Christmas gifts Shelley has ever given me was a Barnes and Noble gift card for $100. We went one random Friday night in January when things with the pandemic were still REALLY crazy-- like, before we were vaccinated and no one really left the house much. I browsed books for hours and made the most of my discount to get seven books (plus a coupon for a buy one, get one cookie (which I promptly used and then ate, at home, in front of the fire, whilst curled up with one of my new books)). This was one of the books. I often wander into the travel section because reading travel memoirs makes me feel like I'm visiting the places I hope to actually see one day, and gives me some good ideas for what to see and what to eat. This memoir was so skillfully written, and the author was someone I really connected with, because like me, she has hypochondria and very morbid anxiety (like more so than the average anxious soul). I enjoyed her outlook and the lens through which she told it. 

Fun fact: I found her on Instagram, messaged her to tell her how much I loved her book, and she actually responded. We had a little chat back and forth, conversing about it all, and it was a pretty cool fangirly moment for me. 

6) World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil: I love this book. I read the bulk of it while I was lying in a hammock during our camping trip this past May, and it rocked my world. It's everything a memoir should be, plus it has color illustrations throughout. She takes moments from her life and her many moves around the country and weaves it in to the solace she sought in nature no matter where she was-- the respect for nature that comes from spending time completely immersed in it. Alongside it, though, is a call to action. For example, she shares stories of fireflies. Who among us hasn't run barefoot through a yard on a July evening to scoop these little guys out of the air and let them gently crawl over our hands before fluttering off? And yet, they are declining because of us. She elaborates more on this in the book, along with many other animals and how we need to wake up before they are gone. These creatures, this world, the things we take for granted but need in order to survive, are in danger. Perhaps an immersion will bring about an appreciation and incite action. 

Fun fact: This book was the Barnes & Noble Book of the Year in 2020. 

7) This One Wild and Precious Life: The Path Back to Connection in a Fractured World by Sarah Wilson: This book was published in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. Honestly, this is kind of a heavy read, but it is important. Wilson discusses how with political upheaval, social injustice, climate issues, and a worldwide pandemic, we are all living through significant trauma and experiencing the PTSD that coincides-- and honestly, since it's all still happening, it's hard to remove ourselves from that or even process it. She suggests going to the edge-- pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, experiencing life, experiencing art, and experiencing nature. She shares her own process (alongside some really cool hikes she's done) in this book. This is a really well-researched piece and she has a strong voice that makes you feel like she's conversing with you. 

Fun fact: The author has added little side notes and commentary in the margins, which is highly enjoyable.   

Have you read any of these? Let me know if you have or do-- leave me a comment! :) Happy reading!

We Are the Weekenders

If you’ve never been awakened before 6am by a group of turkeys surrounding your tent, you’re kind of missing out. 

Jolted awake from a dead sleep by a sound that is less like the gobble of childhood games and more like a cross between a man’s stifled laugh and a dog’s bark, I hear a call and response echoing across the campground and the rustle of feathers as they pass the tent. After about fifteen minutes of this, I unzipped myself from my red cocoon of a sleeping bag and jam my glasses on, emerging from the tent and hoping to catch a glimpse. A Tom turkey stands right at the tree line, less than ten feet away, his tail fanned out, silhouetted by the rising sun and catching the hints of green, purple, and brown amidst the black. Slowly he turns his flat, run over-looking head to me— a question? 

“Ohh, I don’t want any trouble,” I murmur, knowing somehow he can hear me, and slowly back into my tent.

Home sweet home 

The long weekend began with...

Thursday afternoon, and a promise of a Friday off that had been sustaining Ben and I for weeks. At the end of the spring semester, when you're in that final hour of the school year, any moment of reprieve is welcome. After work, Shelley & I drove out to Raccoon and awaited Ben's arrival while we set everything up in our little campsite. We ended up on the line between our site and Ben's site because the site we had booked was on a slope that would've had us sleeping upside down like bats. 

Once Shells and I had the tent set up, Shelley continued unloading the car while I set up our home away from home-- the tent that sparks conversations and always secretly reminds me of one of the wizarding tents at the Quidditch World Cup. 

As we were making our trips back and forth from the car and giving Ben a hand here and there, we suddenly heard "Help" coming from the direction of Ben's tent. Shelley kept walking, but I looked over and saw Ben through the mesh window, trapped inside of his tent. Somehow, in trying to inflate his mattress, he had gotten trapped at an angle in the back of the tent and couldn't reach the zipper to let himself out. After doubling over and laughing myself to tears, I unzipped the door so he and Shelley could run back to our house to load Arlandria up with firewood. I elected to stay behind and alternately read and people watch those at the other campsite-- a family of four, including a kid who only knew one song on the ukulele and proceeded to play that over and over and a dad who proceeded to belch loudly and brag about his musical skills as his saucy son asked, "If you're so good, how come you're not in a band or something?" 

Shelley and Ben returned with firewood and tales of a giant turkey with fanned feathers they had seen a few sites over. Ben and I set up hammocks in a triangle of trees as Shelley excitedly made dinner on the flat top grill (and I truly mean excitedly). They had burgers and I had filet mignon on a Caesar salad, and we sat around the fire drinking seltzers and sharing childhood stories and roasting each other, which is apparently what the three of us do on camping excursions together. 

Eventually it got so cold that we decided to go to our tents to curl up, and it was FREEZING that night, which is surprising for mid-May. Even just switching to our pajamas had me shivering so convulsively I could barely get socks on, and we ended up barely sleeping. 

When we woke up in the morning, Ben was gone. 

He had texted us that he went to get a new tent that didn't require him to be horizontal to dress and some warmer clothes. 

Shelley and I had parfaits she made us as we sat near the fire and warmed up in the morning sun. I wrapped myself up in our two-person hammock and alternately tried to read and doze. 

When Ben returned, the three of us ventured down to the beach trail and I walked into the lake and barefoot through the sand. It was a little murky since it was so early in the season, but so grounding nonetheless. Shelley & Ben hung out on the grass line and then we hiked back up the very treacherous beach trail and tried not to die. They say it's one of the more intense ones and they aren't lying. 

bluebells

As we sat enjoying chicken and asparagus for lunch, we talked about the dramatic family next to us and how they had packed up and left. They made several trips, and it turns out they had set up camp at another site. I was glad to see them go, I said, because that guy burped and farted all night and snored so loud I swore he would wake the dead. Ben just kind of looked at us and blinked, and then finally said, "Are we really not going to talk about this?" Apparently, some drama had gone down the night before, and the snoring, farting, burping man was complaining about Shelley snoring and how it "sounded like a banshee" (not really a valid comparison) and how he was going to go over to our tent and say something, and his wife was trying to talk him out of it, so Ben was wide awake worried about what would happen and what he'd have to do if someone tried to come to Shelley & me to have words in the middle of the night. Three things: 1) good riddance to bad rubbish 2) between the machete and the police-grade pepper spray, he would not have been a happy camper 3) I've slept beside Shelley for six years and as THEE world's lightest sleeper, I can say that it is not as dramatic as the man who slept in his truck and then switched campsites made it seem. Some people's kids, man. 

We enjoyed this story immensely and are still making banshee references. 

We played some bocce and listened to music, Shelley ran home to grab some warmer clothes, and Ben set up his new tent to get ready for Liv's arrival. She arrived in time for dinner, which was us making hot dogs over the fire. We hung out in the hammocks again (I'm really happy ours had a little line of twinkle lights) and then we watched the stars and told stories around the fire until we all headed to bed, exhausted. 

As one would imagine, having played bocce before didn't mean I was any good. Sports...

Someone else never played before and was much better. Alas. 

Saturday morning, we woke up much warmer. Shelley and I cuddled up on the air mattress for a while waiting for it to get a little lighter (aside: do not camp without an air mattress unless you're doing backpacking-- it is a back saver). 

me & my love 

Shells made a breakfast skillet with eggs, sausage, onions, peppers, and potatoes and then we lounged around for a bit before deciding to head to the lake. 

I got a paddleboard and headed out on the lake while Shelley, Ben, and Liv loaded into their kayaks. At a certain point, I realized no one was behind me so I looped back around and saw Ben & Liv but no Shelley. As I was asking them what happened, I had a very National Geographic moment as Liv yelped and I heard rustling right by my head-- apparently two geese almost flew into my head. Shelley had to go back for a new kayak because as she was paddling, "her life flashed before her eyes" which is our way of saying she almost sunk. There was a hole in the kayak and it was quickly filling up with water. 

Liv & Ben

Once that fiasco was out of the way, we floated around together for a while eating peanut M&M's and enjoying the sunshine. It was a beautiful day. We saw a little turtle lounging on a log. 

I went to paddle around the lake a second time and saw it fly by, so I followed it, and saw it land so I dropped to my knees on the board and paddled up about 10 feet away. I looked at it nod at me and we just kind of sat looking at each other. It was pretty magical, and then Shells joined me and snapped a photo.

We decided to order our own gear after two summers of renting so we could go whenever we wanted-- Shelley got a two person inflatable kayak for us from Amazon & I got a paddleboard (storing that and transporting it on my little hatchback is kind of hilarious). 

We got back and kind of lazed around for a while. Sunshine makes me sleepy. Elizabeth and Jason came up with Ollie to visit us, and we talked and joked around for a while. 

Ollie, Elizabeth, & me

Liv and Ben went for a walk and Shelley napped and I read some more of World of Wonders in the hammock (if you haven't read it, PLEASE DO I linked it here). It's somehow both nostalgic and urgent, and it was the perfect read for a camping weekend.

I had gotten a bocce set from Target prior to this outing, and the four of us played together, and found a baby toad that Ben almost stepped on as we were measuring bocee ball distance using footsteps. Shelley and I scooped him onto a plate and carried him across the street to the woods and safety.

We had hot sausage sandwiches for dinner around the fire, listening to a vibe-y playlist I had and just talking. We heard a lot of barred owls and Shelley & I taught Ben the difference between a mourning dove call and an owl. We made s'mores with giant marshmallows, and I ate mine sandwiched between a chocolate chip cookie, which was one of the best things I've ever tasted in my entire life, and I eat well. We drank wine out of Yeti cups, laughed around the fire, and relaxed into one another. 

This camping weekend was free from phones and television and email and internet and work, and it sort of felt like being a kid, which inevitably (at least for me) brought up a lot of childhood stories. I felt very in touch with myself at like, 9 or 10. It was great-- measuring distance in footsteps (instead of the tape measure we had in the car to measure tables/shelves/pottery (a version of myself that seems very distant from who I was that weekend)) and trying to cartwheel, and not worrying or being anxious or wearing mascara or even brushing my hair, just playing and having a good time. 

Adults should play more. Why has that not been normalized? Why do we have to be so stuffy and serious when in reality adults are just more aware, stressed kids that are kind of playing at knowing what they're doing?

Waking up that Sunday was when I saw the turkey, after a whole weekend of joking "what would happen if one was just at our camp site?" After my encounter, I snuggled back into my sleeping back and up to Shelley again and fell back to sleep. When we awoke, we had parfaits for breakfast and burned the last stick (a Shelley tradition). Shelley & I played a game of War (another of our camp traditions (I won)). 

We broke down camp, which is always sad, and I was able to actually get our tent and all its pieces into the back-- a badge of honor I wear proudly because if you've ever folded a tent, you know that is no easy task. We had chicken and zucchini for lunch, which Ben dropped all over the ground and had to share Liv's. I begrudgingly offered as well but was not even a little upset when he said no. 

We talked a bit and then inevitably had to go, as many of the other campers did over the course of the day. A campsite that was pretty much full at 6:00am while I was making eye contact with a turkey evaporated over the day to just empty grass and forlorn fire pits, while everyone headed back to the land of wifi and television and emails, so so many incessant emails, auto-connecting to wifi instead of the freedom of connecting to nature and all its beauty, of enjoying the small moments we can get in the midst of the 40 hour workweeks that suck our souls. 

We are the weekenders.

Tiny Terrarium: A How To

I've become a little bit of a plant hoarder over the last few years. It started with our very small back deck and the success we had one summer growing flowers, lettuce, and some herbs. Then I saw a cute fig plant in a silver pot when we were at Trader Joe's, and something about watering it every couple weeks and seeing it thrive made me so happy. 

Then, I read that plants help people with anxiety to feel a sense of calm. Now, not only do I have a porch full of darlings, but there is a fern in my office, a fiddle leaf fig and a pothos in our bedroom, a hanging grass plant in the hallway, the original fig is in our living room along with another pothos, some succulents, a snake plant, and a couple other lush looking ones for which I have no name. 

Recently, we put up a shelf in our living room (more on that later), and I added some ivy (RIP), a maiden hair fern, and this adorable succulent terrarium. I actually saw this container on Amazon when I was browsing pottery, ordered it, and then let it sit in my office for a couple months. 

Shelley & I went to Lowe's and I got the necessary supplies-- they have a great selection of the tiniest succulents I've ever seen, as well as the moss, soil, and pebbles needed. 

The heavenly lighting and rainbow over these succulents couldn't have turned out better if I tried. 

I loved my terrarium so much that I actually made one for my mum for Mother's Day, and since it's so easy I figured I'd share a little how to here in case you want to make one too. It's a great gift because it's simple but it adds a nice touch to a home/office space, and succulents only need to be watered every couple of weeks! My mum warned me she notoriously struggles with plants but the minimal effort of succulents is perfect for that. 

I love all the color options you get with succulents. 

1) The first step is to gather your supplies:

• a glass container (there are so many options on Amazon, Etsy, or any home store)
• moss 
• potting soil 
• some pebbles for draining (they come in a variety of colors-- I went with the white/blush package)
• succulents (you can use as many as you'd like, but I try to stick with the rule of three)
• a shovel (if desired-- I find using my hands to be very grounding)

2) Start by putting pebbles in the bottom of your container. I used a small handful and filled the bottom diamond of the container. 

3) Place moss over the top of the pebbles. These two combined will aid in drainage and keep your plants watered without oversaturating them. Succulents do not thrive well when watered too often. 

4) Add a couple inches of potting soil over the top of the moss layer. 

5) Use your fingers to create holes for your succulents. 

6) Remove the succulents from the plastic pots, loosening the packed soil and roots before placing in the terrarium container. 

7) Work from the back of the terrarium to the front, placing your succulents in there and being sure to give them enough room to thrive-- try not to overcrowd. 

8) Add in moss and pebbles on top of the soil to fit your aesthetic preference.

That's it! Super simple and it took me probably 5-10 minutes to make one. 

tiny terrarium treasures

The finished product

If you make one, I'd love to hear how it went! I might make another one to put in my office this fall-- one of my least favorite parts of work is the lack of nature, so the more greenery in there the better!