Favourite books: a mid-year recap

Somehow, I've managed to read 20 books this year. Relying on library books has definitely helped - they come with an inbuilt deadline, which can be as short as two weeks if it's a new release. Reading also helps me wind down, so I always have something on the go. Here's a quick look at what I've read and loved:

Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman was funny, totally relatable in parts, and heartbreaking too. I read it over Easter and was devastated when it was over - I loved the main characters so much.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee was my first epic of 2018. I found it all-consuming in the same way that A Little Life was, only far less traumatic.

Our Town by Thorton Wilder is a classic play that I read for the first time this year. I am fascinated by the minutiae of other people's lives and the beauty of everyday life, so this play felt profound. (This podcast is an excellent companion piece and introduced me to the play in the first place).

(I also read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng but didn't find it as captivating or believable as these three).

Non-fiction/Memoir

And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O'Connell. The most expensive book I've ever bought on my Kindle but I was desperate to read it after sampling this excerpt. It was totally worth it. I am still researching life with kids and found it raw and honest. I only wish it had been longer.

Am I there yet? by Mari Andrew. I follow Mari on Instagram and love her observations of life, its challenges and the crazy ways we relate to each other. This is a memoir with her classic illustrations and written essays and it's great. It's also one of the few books I've bought this year.

Drop the Ball: Achieving More By Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu. Tony and I are trying to share household chores more equally, especially as our jobs change. We've made a start, and while I didn't always relate to the author, this book helped me consider some of the things that've stopped me from doing less. One example: I'm fussy about what I eat, so have made most of our work lunches. Now we take turns, swapping every other day, and I eat what I'm given (and am grateful!).

Talking To My Country by Stan Grant I've mentioned here before. Having spent some time in the Riverina region of New South Wales, I had a strong sense of the places he wrote about from his childhood. The writing is powerful and the book showed me how much I have to learn about the history and experiences of Australia's first people.

Poetry

I whizzed through Rupi Kaur's two poetry books, The Sun And Her Flowers and Milk and Honey. Poetry normally intimidates me but Rupi's poems are both simple and powerful. They come with a good dose of feminism and insight into what it's like to be a woman of colour today.

The Uncommon Feast by Eileen Chong. I often feel conflicted about my identity, being Chinese Australian. I worry that I'm not Chinese enough because I don't have any language and know very little about holidays and traditions. Eileen's poems, essays and recipes made me feel like I had more culture than I realised, and not all of it is food related :)

And books I've reserved...

Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger by Fiona Wright
Staying by Jessie Cole
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (I loved her Death, Sex and Money interview)

P.S Let me know if you're read something great - new or old.

Three everyday reads

I would love to read everyday but most weeks, time gets away from me. For ages, reading meant always having a novel on the go but lately I've been enjoying books that are easy to dip in and out of. Here are three that fit the bill:

How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh

I read a page of How to Love each morning as I'm climbing out of bed. It takes me two minutes. Each entry touches on a practical aspect of love from a Buddhist perspective - from how to communicate in an argument to ways to be more comfortable in your own skin. While I don't agree with all of the entries, I find myself mulling over the great ones over the course of the day.

Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups

This was a Christmas present from my sister Carla. It's an anthology that's meant to put you to sleep. It's filled with short stories and poems from greats like Roald Dahl and Haruki Murakami as well as more contemporary writers like B.J Novak. It's a thoughtful compilation that makes it possible to read something satisfying even if 10 minutes is all you can manage.

In the Company of Women

Do you read Design*Sponge? My friend Sophie introduced me to it when I was living in Wagga Wagga (her kitchen was featured!). This book comes from the blog's founder, Grace Bonney, and every time I flick through it, I end up scribbling quotes in my journal. It profiles over a hundred creative women who share their approaches to life, work and creativity. The photography is beautiful, the interviews are illuminating and most profiles are just a couple of pages long.

What are you reading at the moment? I started Pond the other day and it's unlike anything I've ever read.

Raiding the magazine stash

There's a beautiful book shop at the end of our street that I visit most weekends, just to have a look around. The other week I found a copy of The Kinfolk Table and while I didn't buy it, it was a good reminder to revisit some of the magazines that are already on my bookshelf at home.

So lately I've been doing just that, making note of recipes I want to try (cauliflower and truffle soup please!), along with books and movies that I'd like to track down. Among the stack, there are a few American and European magazines and it's been especially nice to revisit issues that coincide with our current season.

What's in the stack? Old issues of Kinfolk, Fete Press, CherryBombe, Lucky Peach and The Happy Reader. Plus I've just discovered that my local library has just updated its online magazine titles, so I'm reading a few current issues on my iPad.

Audio books - an introduction

Do you listen to audio books? I'm normally a podcast listener but every now and then I love having something longer that I can really settle into - especially if I'm travelling lots or home alone.

Finding one you like though, can be a little bit tricky. It took me a little while to adjust to being read to but I've since listened to lots of great audio books, and really respect the special craft that is reading books out loud. Right now I'm listening to Helen Garner's latest book Everywhere I Look, and it's excellent because she reads it herself. Here are two more audio books read by their authors:

So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

As for fiction, I often listen to books that I've been meaning to read but never got around to or use it as a way to try out new authors. Here are a few I've loved in the past:

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (which my friend Kristy recommended. It was a lot of fun)

And one more thing - I use BorrowBox from my local library, which I think most Australian libraries have. It's not the easiest catalogue to navigate but I've found and reserved lots of great titles for free.

Winter reading stack

The stack grew accidentally. Books were bought, borrowed from friends and checked out of the library. Then they were scattered around the house - on coffee tables, beneath the bed, stashed hopefully in handbags.

Stacked neatly I can see that I have  enough books to get me through winter. The three I'm reading right this minute:

Care Packages by Michelle Mackintosh 
This book is beautiful - with pastel coloured pages and super cute layouts. Best of all, it has a sweet philosophy on gift giving and caring for the people around you.

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham 
Because the last season of Girls was great and over far too quickly. If you've seen Girls and Tiny Furniture, you'll be able to recognise a number of real-life experiences that were turned into storylines and characters.

My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl
This cookbook reads like a book, so much so that I've been reading bits before bed. Here's the podcast that made me sure I wanted to own it. As a cookbook, every recipe I've tried so far has been delicious and genuinely enjoyable to make.

And because the stack has gotten quite big, I figure that another book or so won't hurt. I have my eye on the latest Don DeLillo and can't wait to pick up the third issue of Lunch Lady magazine. I've also reserved Helen Garner's Everywhere I Look from the library as an audiobook. It should be excellent, Helen reads it herself.

Real Girl Wardrobes - Christina Gee

Christina is my sister-in-law and I remember liking her right off the bat. She’s warm, enthusiastic and very well read. She's not afraid to wear something bold (she wore an amazing pair of yellow pants to my wedding) and she always looks comfortable in her own skin. Today Chris shares what survived a recent wardrobe clean out and a very cool style mantra that leaves plenty of time for reading.

Do you have a must-read book?

My friend Maayan just lent me a copy of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, which she's been raving about since Christmas. It got me thinking about my must-read books - I have two. They are...

Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed.
I read this around about the time Tony and I got engaged. I remember carrying it with me everywhere while we were on holidays in Sydney and reading bits whenever I could. To me, it was a really empowering book but I've since found that it's a book that divides people, they either love it or are totally frustrated by it.

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami.
I remember hearing about the Tokyo subway gas attacks when I was in school and this book is a fascinating and chilling account of what happened that morning, according to the people who were there. Each chapter of the book is someone's memory of the event, until it switches to focus on people who used to be involved in the cult that orchestrated the attack 

I'd love to know if you have a must-read book or two. I hope you can share yours.

Photo: Cheryl Strayed on the Pacific Crest Trail

My new lunchtime ritual

I've been so hungry since I've gone back to work, my poor brain is still adjusting. But hunger aside, I've started a new ritual for work day lunch breaks. It's super simple - I try to read for half an hour, and something that isn't on a screen.