I just finished The invisible life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. I do not usually read Science Fiction/Fantasy novels, but a comment on a "What are you reading round up" on Cup of Jo caught my eye for some reason. I loved it.
What I am reading now: a re-read, which I imagine that you have also already read--Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin and two books on Audible because I am in the car a lot this summer driving my kids to various camps and jobs: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Would highly recommend all three.
I had to clean out my parents house - the one that I grew up in, the one we lived in for 40 years. It took me 6 months, over the course of 2 years. I made it my job. Woke up in the morning, worked out, had breakfast, and tacked the room/cabinet/area I had on the docket for that day. I knew I was done for the day when I started picking things up, looking at them, and then putting them right back down in the same place. My recommendation? Start with the easy stuff: the old paper and tax stuff you can have definitely shredded. DVDs and VHS tapes that you can donate or trash. All the piles of stuff you've been meaning to deal with and haven't, put them where they go. And then pick a cabinet. Make piles: Keep, donate, trash, I don't know. After dinner, with a glass of wine, go through the "I don't know" pile. That's always the hardest one. Take pics of your girls art work, send them the paper dolls to collage and frame. But don't beat yourself up about having to keep things. I have 4 boxes of the cards my mom sent me every day while I was in college, and I don't regret keeping those for a minute.
Boxes and labels. I’ve recently packed up 40 years of life in a Chicago highrise and moved out west
Family photos are the most difficult. Small boxes inside larger boxes. Bankers boxes and clear plastic bins. Share photos and objects and happy surprises with distant relatives and friends. Sort into envelopes and boxes and send in the mail
I hope you are saving the dolls, they look epic! Maybe a beautiful HAY storage box for them and they live on a bookshelf. Reading Covenant Of Water, very O book club and loving it so far but still have 600+ pages to go.
I've been reading tons this summer and have enjoyed:
Killer of a Certain Age - 4 former female assassins are ready to retire but wind up on one last adventure
The Lifestyle - 3 couples weather the ups and downs of their relationships while trying out "the lifestyle" aka swinging find themselves in the process (also not as racy as you'd think with the topic of swinging)
The Collected Regrets of Clover - story of a young woman who works as a death doula finding herself and her path in life
and of course Five Star Weekend - Another great beach read by Elin Hilderbrand about a woman who's a food influencer a la Ina Garten or Deb Perlman getting over the death of her husband with the help of her female friends and some great food
Just finished Are you there God it’s me Margaret? After watching the recent movie adaptation. I’m reading Emily Henry’s Happy Place now which is shaping up for a wonderful summer read. 👍
Do not, I repeat, do not get rid of those paper dolls. They are sparks of joy! I spent 2014 decluttering by removing at least one item from our house each day and posting it on fb for accountability. The process forever changed my attachment to stuff and shopping habits and more, importantly, our home remains clutter-free. However, even I would keep those dolls through eternity.
I’m recovering from an appendectomy and so I’m reading more than I’m eating. Love a book rec that I wouldn’t otherwise come across so thanks for that, Jenny! Reminds me of that feature in the NYT mag.
So: I just finished Love and Trouble, Claire Dederer’s excellent memoir on midlife. Lots to recognize there on lust and longing and identity. Also just finished Claire Messud’s novel The Last Life, on Morocco, France, family. Sad and beautiful. Now I’m reading Heidi Julavits’s The Vanishers which I’m loving so far, like how have I not yet read this level of enjoyment.
Those paper dolls are BEGGING to be framed in one long cool frame. For the girls some day, or their girls some day.
Also this poem helped us get through it:
Give-Away Song
This is my give-away—
not because I don’t want
it anymore,
not because it’s out of
style or
broken or
useless since it lost
its lid or one of its buttons,
not because I don’t understand
the “value” of things.
This is my give-away—
because I have enough
to share with you
because I have been given
so much
health love happiness
pain sorrow fear
to share from the heart
in a world where words can be
meaningless when they come
only from the head.
This is my give-way—
to touch what is good in you
with words your heart can hear
like ripples from a pebble
dropped in water
moving outward growing
wider touching others.
You are strong.
You are kind.
You are beautiful.
This is my give-away.
Wopida ye.
Wopida ye.
Wopida ye.
Gwen Westerman
FOSTER by Claire Keegan (novella). Amazing!!
Like everyone else, Lessons in Chemistry. Good reminders, well written, interesting characters.
I just finished The invisible life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. I do not usually read Science Fiction/Fantasy novels, but a comment on a "What are you reading round up" on Cup of Jo caught my eye for some reason. I loved it.
What I am reading now: a re-read, which I imagine that you have also already read--Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin and two books on Audible because I am in the car a lot this summer driving my kids to various camps and jobs: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Would highly recommend all three.
P.S. Keep those paper dolls. Moving is hard.
I had to clean out my parents house - the one that I grew up in, the one we lived in for 40 years. It took me 6 months, over the course of 2 years. I made it my job. Woke up in the morning, worked out, had breakfast, and tacked the room/cabinet/area I had on the docket for that day. I knew I was done for the day when I started picking things up, looking at them, and then putting them right back down in the same place. My recommendation? Start with the easy stuff: the old paper and tax stuff you can have definitely shredded. DVDs and VHS tapes that you can donate or trash. All the piles of stuff you've been meaning to deal with and haven't, put them where they go. And then pick a cabinet. Make piles: Keep, donate, trash, I don't know. After dinner, with a glass of wine, go through the "I don't know" pile. That's always the hardest one. Take pics of your girls art work, send them the paper dolls to collage and frame. But don't beat yourself up about having to keep things. I have 4 boxes of the cards my mom sent me every day while I was in college, and I don't regret keeping those for a minute.
Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett. A funny, bittersweet, somewhat whimsical novel. Highly recommend.
Also love love the suggestion to photograph kids' treasures and then toss! So hard to do.....
Reading The Guest, recommendation from here ☺️
Boxes and labels. I’ve recently packed up 40 years of life in a Chicago highrise and moved out west
Family photos are the most difficult. Small boxes inside larger boxes. Bankers boxes and clear plastic bins. Share photos and objects and happy surprises with distant relatives and friends. Sort into envelopes and boxes and send in the mail
I hope you are saving the dolls, they look epic! Maybe a beautiful HAY storage box for them and they live on a bookshelf. Reading Covenant Of Water, very O book club and loving it so far but still have 600+ pages to go.
I've been reading tons this summer and have enjoyed:
Killer of a Certain Age - 4 former female assassins are ready to retire but wind up on one last adventure
The Lifestyle - 3 couples weather the ups and downs of their relationships while trying out "the lifestyle" aka swinging find themselves in the process (also not as racy as you'd think with the topic of swinging)
The Collected Regrets of Clover - story of a young woman who works as a death doula finding herself and her path in life
and of course Five Star Weekend - Another great beach read by Elin Hilderbrand about a woman who's a food influencer a la Ina Garten or Deb Perlman getting over the death of her husband with the help of her female friends and some great food
Just finished Are you there God it’s me Margaret? After watching the recent movie adaptation. I’m reading Emily Henry’s Happy Place now which is shaping up for a wonderful summer read. 👍
Do not, I repeat, do not get rid of those paper dolls. They are sparks of joy! I spent 2014 decluttering by removing at least one item from our house each day and posting it on fb for accountability. The process forever changed my attachment to stuff and shopping habits and more, importantly, our home remains clutter-free. However, even I would keep those dolls through eternity.
Like many others, I've found taking (good, maybe artful) photos first helps with the parting...
Two other things that have helped:
--play loud and ruthless music while sorting.
--think of stuff as a constantly flowing river... you pull something out, you throw something in, there's always going to be more.
I’m recovering from an appendectomy and so I’m reading more than I’m eating. Love a book rec that I wouldn’t otherwise come across so thanks for that, Jenny! Reminds me of that feature in the NYT mag.
So: I just finished Love and Trouble, Claire Dederer’s excellent memoir on midlife. Lots to recognize there on lust and longing and identity. Also just finished Claire Messud’s novel The Last Life, on Morocco, France, family. Sad and beautiful. Now I’m reading Heidi Julavits’s The Vanishers which I’m loving so far, like how have I not yet read this level of enjoyment.