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| Hosted by The Book Date |
Life
What a difference a week makes! As I mentioned last week, I made a drastic change to my diet for my immune disorder and felt better by the holidays. Starting January 2, I went "whole hog" (so to speak, since it's a Carnivore Diet) and since then, I have felt great! The past three years have been a series of bad relapses and even my "good" periods in between weren't all that good, with the least bit of exertion sending me back to the couch. This past week was the best I have felt since 2019. I had lots of energy, was up and about and quite active, able to begin taking walks again and doing some strength training (slowly and carefully on both counts, to work my stamina back up), and it was just a joyful, productive week!
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| So good to be out in the world again & able to take walks! |
Last year, I did a project called #sky365, to post a photo of the sky every day on social media, as extra incentive to get outside every day (which was very helpful during those very sick periods). This year, I have launched #nature365! The idea is simply to get outside (or even just look out your window), and notice and appreciate nature.
Join the fun!
Use #nature365 on whatever social media platforms you enjoy, and post a daily pic of trees, flowers, sky, birds, animals--whatever kind of nature you notice in the world around you. Here are some of my #nature365 photos from last week:
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| White sycamore trees against a brilliant blue sky |
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| The unseasonably mild weather has some of our trees confused! |
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| A local creek |
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| Big winter storm left us only a trace of snow, quickly washed away by rain. |
On the Blog
Movie Monday: Flora and Son - we enjoyed this heartwarming, funny, uplifting movie about the power of music to connect us (plus a couple of similar movie recs at the end of the review).
Fiction Review: Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett - I finished this warm, funny, deeply moving novel about grief and family on December 30, and it made my Top 10 Novels of 2023 list!
What Do YOU Want to See in my Monthly Newsletter? - I send a monthly e-mail newsletter to my subscribers (click the Subscribe by E-Mail button at the top of this page to sign up) and wanted to check in to see which of the features people enjoy, which they skip, or if they don't read the newsletter at all (new year, fresh start!)
I'm still working on my 2023 wrap-up posts - coming soon!
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On Video
2023 Reading Wrap-Up and Top Category Picks - an overview of my reading year, some fun facts, and my #1 picks in different categories
Friday Reads 1-5-24 - kicking off the new year with some great novels!
Top 10 Novels of 2023 - my picks for best novels read last year (note that I somehow forgot to mention Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which is on that list!)
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My first book of 2024 is (drumroll ...) Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, a Christmas gift from my son and his girlfriend. It's excellent so far, set in a very scary dystopian near-future with elements that definitely come directly from our real world. After a serious economic event (worse than the Depression), referred to only as the Crisis, Congress passed a law that has resulted in extreme discrimination against Asian Americans, which led to protests, which led to children being removed from homes deemed "unpatriotic" or "unAmerican." In the midst of this world is a sweet 12-year-old boy named Bird, who is half-Chinese and living in a dorm room in Cambridge with his father, who works at the library. Bird's mom left suddenly and without explanation three years earlier. This novel is very immersive, especially as the reader is drawn further into its mysteries and secrets. And I love that librarians play an important role in quietly helping children and families in this novel.
On audio, I began listening to my neighborhood book group's January selection (our 200th book!), Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I've heard so many rave reviews of this novel and am very much enjoying it so far. It features multiple narrators, including Tova, a widow who has also lost her son and her brother and works nights cleaning at the local aquarium; Cal, a young man at loose ends whose mother left him as a child; and Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who is very smart and lives in the aquarium. He and Tova are both very isolated and lonely and begin to form an unexpected, unusual friendship. I'm loving it so far, and the audio is great!
My husband, Ken, is still reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (my review at the link), a book I read for the Big Book Summer Challenge that is on my Top 10 list this year! He's enjoying it so far, and it's nice to be able to talk to him about it.
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son, 29, finished rereading The Written by Ben Galley, the first book in the Emaneska series, and is now reading book 2, Pale Kings (a birthday gift from us).
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You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.
What are you and your family reading this week?
I'm so happy that your diet change has had such remarkable results, Sue! That is wild that things shifted so fast compared to the past several years—you definitely deserve to be feeling better like this.
ReplyDeleteAnd it looks like you've been reading some wonderful books! I'm definitely intrigued by both Our Missing Hearts and Remarkably Bright Creatures. Thanks so much for the thoughtful post, as always!
Thanks, Max :) Our Missing Hearts was excellent, and I am really enjoying Remarkably Bright Creatures.
DeleteI'm glad you're feeling better! I go outside mostly every day, but I don't usually think about taking pictures. That's a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI like taking pictures because it helps me get out of my head and focus on the natural world around me :)
DeleteI listened to Remarkably Bright Creatures on audio, too. The octopus chapters were fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYes!! I am loving Marcellus' chapters!
DeleteOh thats great news that you have noticed the diet is making a big difference. The nature photos are a great idea too with the incentive to take you out and really notice. Our Missing Hearts sounds really good if a bit scary because as you say can mirror the real world.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathryn - it really feels miraculous to feel this good now, after several difficult years. Yes, sometimes real-world dystopian can be pretty frightening!
DeleteIm happy to hear you have found something that is making a difference for you!
ReplyDeleteYour hashtag seems like a fun idea.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is a delight.
Wishing you a wonderful reading week
Yes! I am loving Marcellus :)
DeleteLooking forward to hearing more about the new diet! Is it grain-free, sugar-free, very low carb? I've swung back to a more vegetarian diet, which sounds the opposite of you, but still eat too much sugar and processed food, even though probably less than the average American. I'm apparently not ready to make an extreme change, but maybe I eventually will be!
ReplyDeleteRemarkably Bright Creatures on audio was a huge favorite for me, and a lot of folks at the library where I work, I loved The Lincoln Highway on audio, too.
The diet is literally carnivore and very strict (at least for the first few months) - meat, fish, seafood, eggs, butter. That's it! Some high-fat dairy is OK, but I'm intolerant anyway. Because of the specific health problems I have, I cut out sugar, refined grains, and processed foods a very long time ago and have been mostly eating Paleo for the past 5-10 years ... though I admit I wasn't 100% strict anymore. I was very, very, very sick the past few months, stuck in an awful relapse that had me living from the couch. It just feels miraculous to feel good! I'm enjoying RBC on audio. And I bet Lincoln Highway is excellent on audio!
DeleteYay for feeling better and having energy! That's fantastic news.
ReplyDeleteI also listened to Remarkably Bright Creatures and loved the character/voice of Marcellus.
Thanks, Helen - it is SO wonderful to be out in the world again! Marcellus was great on audio - loved his voice!
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