P&PS

While I would usually include other media in  my annual statistics dump like I did last year I didn't watch much TV or see many films. The first TV episode I watched was in March, the second at the end of May. If we exclude marathons by friends and family in which I participated I watched 6 films, 10 shorts, and 79 TV episodes. 2 films I watched on a flight, 2 were Canadian indie films, and 2 were documentaries. The shorts were mainly Canadian. The TV episodes were unsurprisingly mainly split between Motive, The Newsroom, and Criminal Minds with a smattering of new discoveries: Happy Valley, The Bletchley Circle, and Countdown to Life. Since that pretty much covers most of the topics of interest I don't have any graphs, but don't worry I have a new book related chart to make up for it. Reading wise I read 100 books in 2015, averaging 8.3 books and 2,560 pages per month. In 2015 my average book rating was 3.93 stars out of 5, with an average of 306.5 pages per book. ...

I did quite a bit of reading in 2015, started a handful of book reviews, and finished even fewer. To help remedy that I thought I would post mini book reviews for some of my favorite books of this year. To see the complete list of favorite books from this year, check out my  2015 favorites . This is the second part of my reviews, the nonfiction section. Since it feels disingenuous to discuss personal narratives (most of which these are) I'm going to stick with discussing what it is that stuck with me most. And as with the other mini reviews I've included short summaries at the top of each review so you can have a more complete idea of what I'm talking about. Most of them come straight from Goodreads, so if you're looking for more details that's a good place to start. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq by Riverbend In August 2003 a young Iraqi blogger began reporting her experiences as a civilian observer in Baghdad. Describing the reality of regime change i...

I did quite a bit of reading in 2015, started a handful of book reviews, and finished even fewer. To help remedy that I thought I would post mini book reviews for some of my favorite books of this year (now last year oops). To see the complete list of favorite books from this year, check out my 2015 favorites . To kick this off I'm going to start with the fiction books (nonfiction coming soon). Since I don't talk much about the plot in any of these I've included a short summary for the book at the top of each review, most of which were taken from Goodreads. 72 Hour Hold  by Bebe Moore Campbell Keri's 18-year-old daughter, Trina, has recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As Trina grows increasingly abusive, both verbally and physically, and substitutes illegal drugs for prescribed medications, Keri's desperation heightens. After a 72-hour hold fails to get Trina the help she needs, Keri learns about an underground group called the program. When Keri ca...

Originally I was going to answer the same set of questions I did last year , but ultimately I felt a bit like I was repeating myself either from 2014 or because most of 2015 was pretty consistent.  The first third of 2015 was somewhat rough, lots of work and not much else, so most of the rest of the year was regrouping from that, much like in 2014. Thematically the year was mainly about coming back to myself, centering, relearning patience, and finding gratitude. Travel-wise the summer was a mix of new adventures and old favorites (mainly from 2013). Most of my favorite memories for the year come from that time. In particular, Toronto and Victoria were both new favorites of mine. Both places felt freeing and peaceful; Victoria was more centering while Toronto was empowering in an energetic sort of way. I have a post with all of my 2015 favorites , but a few other highlights include seeing  The Way We Get By  in May as well as Joy Williams at the Gramercy, an...

MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS (reviews here  and here ) FICTION 72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell Burial Rites  by Hannah Kent Night Film by Marisha Pessl Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia Butler Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The Cold Song by Linn Ullman The Likeness by Tana French The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud NONFICTION Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq by Riverbend Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park Rising Strong by Brené Brown Sky Burial by Xinran HONORABLE MENTIONS A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion A Wall of Light by Edeet Ravel Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2000 by Charles Murray Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum...

REFLECTIONS I picked through a bunch of the 2014 in review questions posted by into-mind and answered a bunch of them below, you can check out the full list here if you’re interested. 1. What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren about? / 26.What experience would you love to do all over again? / 6.What was your favourite place that you visited in 2014? Traveling. There’s so many great stories I have from the people and places I visited this year. New York City was beautiful and thrilling, Vancouver was amazing and heartwarming and as inspiring as always. Portland was cozy and intriguing. San Fransisco was quirky and amusing. Boston was changeable and familiar. 2.If you had to describe your 2014 in 3 words, what would they be? Progress, rediscovery, and solitude 3.What new things did you discover about yourself? / 28.How did your overall outlook on life evolve? I can’t say there’s a whole lot I discovered about myself this y...

It’s the end of 2014 which means it’s once again time for stats and charts! Reading wise 2014 wasn’t a bad year. I read 113 books (I’m back on track for my 101 in 1,001 goal!). I averaged 9.42 books per month, with an average rating of 3.93 stars and 289 pages per book (34,036 pages total). The Fiery Cross was my longest read with 1,443 pages. My shortest read, a book on minimalism, had 32 pages. 68 books had female authors but only 11 books were written by people of color, something I’m planning on working on in 2015. Along with this I’m also planning on reading more books written and set outside of the United States. In 2014, 71 (65%) of the books I read were written by US authors and 52 (47%) were set in the U.S. Of the books I read, less than one percent were set in each of the following, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean. I reread 12 books in 2014. I read 5 literary fiction books, 12 classics (including modern classics), 17 nonfiction books, 2 books of poetry, 5 graph...

MOST INFLUENCIAL BOOKS A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje City of Thieves by David Benioff February by Lisa Moore Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver Rise and Shine by Anna Quidlen Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson The Man Under My Skin by Julianna Gray FAVORITE AUTHORS Anthony Bourdain Barbara Kingsolver Diana Gabaldon Gail Carriger Jasper Fforde Michael Ondaatje Rainbow Rowell Stephanie Pearl McPhee Stieg Larsson NEW (TO ME) FILMS Catching Fire (2013) Dark Girls (2011) Entre Nos (2009) House of Pleasures (2011) In a World (2013) La Chambre des Morts [aka Melody’s Smile] (2007) Norwegian Wood (2010) Sons of Clouds (2014) The Man and the Hole in the Roof [Short] (2014) ...

I know I haven't posted my 101 in 1,001 list here but since this is, in a sense, a blog of resolutions I figured this would be the place to post my modifications to some of my goals.  I'm hoping this clarifies the intent behind the original statements making it easier to follow through on them. Started As Became Finish all the book and tv series I've started Follow up/Finish series I've started Open my etsy shop again Sell handmade goods (online) Can/preserve at least 25% of my winter food Source/produce more food locally Raise chickens for eggs Source/produce more food locally Grow/produce my 5 fav foods from the last 5 years Source/produce more food locally Go Camping Get out into natue more (2x/month for yr) Save 27.5K Save more (20% of earnings) Finish a project before taking on a new one Don't overcommit Listen to the voice in my head more often Trust myself m...

Read 40 books Sew a quilt Sew a civil war era costume Simplify / Destash Set more attainable goals / Finish a project before taking on a new one Buy more local food / Grow my own food Pay off debt / Save money Travel Donate to charity Exercise more / Do more yoga Spend more time unplugged Write 150k words