Five Things to Tell You Vol. 38
two excellent books, animal gender, smoothies, and more!
Well, hello there! So happy to see you today!
It was my first full week back at work, last night I went with the oldest and a friend to our local Great River Folk Festival to see Humbird and Charlie Parr perform, this evening we get to watch the middle kiddo play for the first time on the alumni team for the annual Alumni Game his HS soccer team puts on every year, and tomorrow the family is going to a fish boil (my first ever!) with my husband’s family in a nearby town. The days are full, but in the best way ♡
Settle in with your favorite snack and let’s dive in …
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The two books I finished last week were just SO DAMN GOOD that I have been suffering from a bit of a book hangover since. The perils of reading excellent work, I guess.
My friend Laura Gardner told me to read What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown early in the summer, and despite me trusting her implicitly (as I mentioned on Tuesday!), I was hesitant about this one because I had stuck in my head that it is a thriller, and I really, really don’t love most contemporary traditional thrillers. So, it took me three months to get to it, but DAMN am I glad I finally gave it a chance! What Kind of Paradise is NOT a thriller, and I recommend it highly to anyone who loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Not a perfect comp plot-wise, but very close vibe-wise. I adored the contemplation of technology’s and AI’s impact on humanity.
And I’m so very sorry that you have to wait until September 30th to read Heart the Lover by Lily King, but by me telling you about it NOW, you can make sure to get your library hold in ASAP or pre-order it to have on hand on release day. My friends, this book is absolutely gorgeous, and I sobbed, and Lily King never ceases to amaze me. I don’t typically like campus novels, but THIS one, THIS is the type of writing about college I adore. I think the switch to middle age toward the end is what sold me? I mean, besides the perfect prose, of course. Guard your emotions, though, because this WILL be a tearjerker.
While we wait for October 3rd, my girls and I have a new album that we are just giddy over. The youngest became enamored with Conan Gray some time ago, and the sheer amount of time I have had his music in my ears has endeared me to his work as well. His newest album, Wishbone, released last Friday and it is pure infectious FuN.
We agreed that the album is almost all bangers, and if my body would still let me run, it would be perfect for my running playlist.
Speaking of music, one of my canine babies is named Booker, and we call him MANY things including Booster Seat and Boo. Just look at this guy’s face - he melts my heart every time.
Our love for our very own Boo is what made our entire family so very gleeful when the oldest recently discovered this 1971 song that is absolutely perfect for us to serenade him with. Love the words, love the beat, love the vibe. Love finding old but new-to-us music!
I have mentioned my love for the site The Pudding here before, and I’m so excited to share yet another one of their fascinating visual data stories.
This analysis of animal gender in children’s books is RIGHT up my alley, and something I actually spent a lot of time thinking about when I was in elementary libraries and reading so so so many picture books aloud.
I spent countless minutes pondering picture books and the gender of humans, gender of animals, animals vs. humans as characters, and anthropomorphism in children’s books in general as I picked my read alouds and curated my collection.
If you, like me, find this topic fascinating, definitely check out this piece!
Being back at school for the year means having to be very intentional and prepared regarding FOOD. My day and job do not always allow for eating as hunger strikes, and letting myself get too hungry leads to feeling absolutely horrible for the rest of the day. That means I need to make sure what I DO eat is filling and last me through the busiest part of my day: the morning.
I have been relying on fruit and protein smoothies in the car on the way to school for years and years now, and recently have gotten more efficient by preparing multiple cups at a time to keep in the freezer - then in the morning when I’m sprinting, I can just pop some plain 10% fat Greek yogurt on top, add milk, blend using my trusty Ninja, and out the door!
I leave the house at 7:05 now, and my drive is about 35 minutes, so I have time to finish the smoothie and a breakfast bar before arriving at school and going all-out until lunchtime, which is at 12:00 this year. I might have time to grab a handful of peanuts or something in between classes, but sometimes there isn’t even time for that AND a bathroom break. And the bathroom break will always take precedence!
I linked to the current version of my Ninja - mine is too old to be linkable anymore I guess! I bought extra cups for mine so I could prepare more in advance, and which I’m sure you can do for the newer cups as well. As for the protein powder, this is what I have landed on after years of hating the taste of almost every other one I have tried. Those cups have different combinations of frozen bananas, strawberries, and raspberries in them along with the protein powder.
That’s all for this week ~ thanks for reading! Please feel free to reply to this email or use the link below to leave a comment to chime in about any of these things, or to share one of your own things ♡
Thanks for stopping by!
