January 2022 Books

 American Grown by Michelle Obama inspired me to rethink our backyard garden and find ways to make it more productive. Vegetables fresh from the garden are so tasty and healthy. I want to grow more, but I often slack off because I want to enjoy other things.  Obama and other contributors are very upbeat and optimistic about gardening.  American Grown shows garden plans, the benefits of gardens, the benefits of moving more, and the benefits of eating more vegetables. I did, however, take issue with some of the nutritional information cited regarding other dietary choices as I know there is research that contradicts it. There are several recipes included in the book, a few would even qualify as vegan or vegetarian, and I plan to adapt some of them for my household and possibly my cooking blog, Vegan Cooking with TLC.

Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau was an interesting read. I had long wanted to read both works, so I was happy to find them in one book. I really thought I'd read Thoreau in high school, but I didn't remember either of these works as I read them though some passages seemed vaguely familiar. Walden is filled with descriptions of nature that plopped me right in the middle of the forest with Thoreau. The way he used nature to drive home points about human arrogance and so-called civil society was both intriguing and discomfiting. Thoreau had some interesting thoughts on life and living. Both Walden and Civil Disobedience contained elements that felt like he was working through his own thoughts and positions on a number of issues of the day. While he often sounded confident, there were times when he seemed to contradict himself in regards to the positions he was discussing. I'd often heard people talk about his general anger toward government, but I can't remember ever hearing anyone discuss his disdain of governmental support of slavery and war. I found that quite interesting, especially for the times in which he lived. While I rather enjoyed the book and would recommend it, I was quite glad to finish it. I would also recommend reading it in doses. I got a bit anxious to finish it and wonder if I would've gotten a little more out of it if I'd taken a bit more time with the last 30 or so pages. Oh, well, I own it, so I can always revisit it at a later date...


Ongoing:

 The Complete Poems of Bertolt Brecht by Bertolt Brecht is a very long book of poetry. I read a few poems each night. They are translated from German to English. I am enjoying them thus far, some more than others. He isn't shy about taking on uncomfortable topics. I'll share more of my thoughts as I read more. As this book is 1071 pages, expect it to show up for several months.

Your Body Is Not An Apology Workbook by Sonya Renee Taylor will probably take me a few months to complete. I started it at the beginning of January and am moving through it a bit more slowly than I expected. Some of it feels irrelevant to my life but other parts feel highly relevant. And sometimes I find those things that I want to think are irrelevant are just pushing me to examine things that make me uncomfortable. I'll share more as I work through it.


52 Lists for Calm: Journaling Inspiration for Soothing Anxiety and Creating a Peaceful Life by Moorea Seal - I started this journal, but it will take all year to complete. It's a list journal with prompts that one fills out weekly rather than daily. So far, so good.

52 Lists for Bravery: Journaling Inspiration for Courage, Resilience, and Inner Strength by Moorea Seal - This is another list journal I started at the beginning of the year. Like the one for Calm, it is a weekly list journal with prompts. Again, so far it is going well.


Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links meaning if you click on those links and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

If you'd like to follow what I'm reading in real time, please follow/friend me on Goodreads.

If you'd like to see when I publish new books, please follow me on Amazon.

If you'd like to learn more about me, please visit tlcooper.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

Image
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert grabbed my attention from the first page. Kolbert illustrates the future of extinction by illuminating the history of extinction. She tells a story of the Earth we inhabit in both scientific and historical terms related to the myriad species of animals that have and do inhabit the Earth. She travels to myriad places on the Earth to talk to scientists and historians. I felt like she took me along on her journey to places I would never go on my own. She discussed the effects of natural processes as well as unnatural processes affecting the extinction of species and how those extinctions lead to other extinctions. Her references to previous mass extinctions were always linked to the story of our Earth and present-day extinctions. She talked about frogs, bats, auks, coral, and trees among other things. The Sixth Extinction doesn't shy away from pointing out how each species is a part of an ecosystem and how all our eco
Read more

A Snitch in Time by Sunny Frazier

Image
Sunny Frazier always delights, and A Snitch in Time is no exception. She writes the Christy Bristol series in a way that feels lighthearted even in its darkest moments. When Bristol goes on vacation to visit her friend, Lennie, she never expects to get drafted into working for a different department doing her job. Bristol is intrigued enough by the crime at hand that her protestations seem half-hearted at times though her annoyance is very real. When she and Lennie get into a fight, she's left with nothing but the work the department expects her to do. Frazier drops the reader in the Sierra Nevada Foothills creating a sense of isolation that makes the reader cheer for Bristol to stand up to her superiors and get out of there while simultaneously wanting to her to solve the crime. When a witness contacts Bristol via phone she doesn't take her seriously at first only to discover she might have vital information. With suspicion cast in multiple directions, Bristol isn't sur
Read more

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff, Ph.D.

Image
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. pushed my buttons... mostly in the best way. Neff offers her research, her own experiences, and her observations mixed with information from myriad disciplines ranging from spiritual to neuroscience. I had read quite a bit of what Neff offers in other places, but she pulls it together in a way that makes it easy to understand and that makes self-compassion feel accessible and attainable. Her arguments for shifting from self-esteem to self-compassion and self-appreciation were better than I expected. She includes exercises along the way to help the reader access self-compassion. Self-Compassion feels like an introductory course and left me curious about what the research has shown since its publication. Neff supports and explains her premise of the life-changing benefits of self-compassion so well that I began to re-examine my own self-compassion journey with a bit more compassion... Check back soon for
Read more