It’s here! I’ve been doing a Q1 reading list for the past several years that has somehow turned more into a book list for the whole year. (I have a lot of holdovers from last year that I’m keeping on here.) You can take a look through previous years here: (2022) (2021) (2020) (2017) (summer 2010) (Summer 2014) (Fall Cookbooks 2011)
Having a reading list helps me make decisions about getting in quality reading without falling into decision making slumps. I aim to have a large percentage of my reading written by women, POC, and international writers; and typically read a handful of Man Booker short list titles. I typically make a list of my favorite categories, and then will supplement or swap as I find reading that calls out to me.
I make room for the synchronicity of just picking up any random title, but I always have a backup!
One thing that I’ve learned after a lifetime of reading: it really helps me to have series that I can blow through – long books that don’t require me to continuously learn about a new world and a new set of characters, as well as a smattering of very easy read books (usually middle grade fantasy, or RomCom) – things I can read reliably for a half hour or hour before bed even after an exhaustive day.
A few notes and observations:
Audio Books: yes, I definitely count audiobooks as reading. I process information better when on my walks and runs, and thus prefer listening to memoirs or non-fiction this way. It’s also easier for me to stay engrossed and follow along while I’m moving physically.
Don’t forget FOOD! For the past several years, I read almost zero food memoirs, literature, or history – some of my favorite topics. So I made this one of my kitchen resolutions this year! (Again.) I’m also re-reading cookbooks.
The library is your friend. While I always try to support local book stores – I’m also a huge fan of my local library – grabbing things off the Speed Read Shelf is my jam. Plus you can leave with a large stack and it always feels like I’ve won something. (You can also get Kindle books from the library through Libby. Having a list allows me to put more things on hold, because sometimes there’s a longer wait.)
As always, still working my way through my list of Personal Leadership Development Books, and the BBC Big Read. I also read quite a few business books for work – whatever I need to expand my ideas and sharpen my skills.
I’m always interested in reading things that stoke great minds. I read for entertainment, to rest, to inspire, learn, and to stoke my curiosity. Whenever I listen to a podcast episode, I’m always curious about what kinds of things the guest is reading (particularly when the book is completely outside of their topic, or very niche in their topic.)
New: I’m trying to engage with my reading more by reading criticism, and more importantly, writing.
Categories to choose from: (I often choose outside these, but I find that when I’m in the mood for a particular feeling, it breaks down by this type of category.)
Book Categories I Enjoy:
Fantasy (Adult, YA Fantasy, Middle Grade)
Scandinavian Crime (or Noir crime in general)
Fiction (catch all)
Memoir (particularly: comedy, leadership, business or political)
Non-Fiction (Psychology, philosophy)
Nature (and generally Science Writing)
Creativity
Work (Product Management, People Management, Sales)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (BBC Big Read; I think I’ve read before) 453 pages
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2002, 255 pages)
Thursday Murder Club #1 (Series) by Richard Osman (2020, 382 pages)
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman (and Practical Magic) (2020, 396 pages)
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022, 368 pages)
Look for new:
Susannah Clarke
Erin Morgenstern
Stephen King
TJ Klune
Crime / Thriller / Gripping and/or generally Scandinavian
The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg (2010, 393 pages)
The Island by Ragnar Jonasson (2019, 336 pages) – 2 in the series
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018, 226 pages)
The Hunger by Alma Katsu (2018, 368 pages)
Death Notice (book 3, if they publish the translation) by Zhou Haohui
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (2016, 432 pages)
Pick a book by:
Henning Mankell
Jo Nesbo
Arnaldur Indridason
Viveca Sten (but I just read the newest in Dec.)
Lucy Foley
Memoirs / Non-Fiction Reporting
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish (2017, 288 pages) (own)
Dear Girls by Ali Wong (own) (2019, 240 pages)
Broken by Jenny Lawson (2021, 275 pages)
Taste by Stanley Tucci (own) (2021, 304 pages)
Eat a Peach by David Chang (2020, 306 pages)
“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman (1985, 356 pages)
I’m Glad my Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (2022, 320 pages)
Life Itself by Roger Ebert (2011, 346 pages)
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (2018, 518 pages)
A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney (2022, 196 pages)
A Book of Days by Patti Smith (2022, 410 pages)
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (2022, 423 pages)
Nature and Science:
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben (304 pages, 2015)
Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright (have on audio) (2017, 336 pages)
The Nature Fix by Florence Williams (2017, 226 pages)
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (2018, 482 pages)
Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski (2015, 400 pages)
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy: by Jenny Odell (2019, 257 pages) (on audible)
Food and Cooking
Note, I don’t keep cookbooks on this list, but I try to choose memoir-ish cookbooks as much as possible.
Cooking as though you might cook again by Danny Licht (2021, 78 pages)
Elegy for an Appetite by Shaina Loew-Banayan (2022, 88 pages)
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom by Rabia Chaudry (2022, 352 pages)
Romance/RomCom:
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (2019, 282 pages – done)
Red, White + Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (2019, 318 pages – finishing)
Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Book 2 – 2019, 296 pages), The Heart Principle (3)
Hook, Line + Sinker Tessa Bailey (2022, 365 pages)
Anything new by
Emily Henry
Rebekah Weatherspoon
Jasmine Guillory
Jennifer Armentrout
Leadership / Business / Finance:
Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman (1983, 301 pages) – own on audible
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman (2021, 129 pages)
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson (2002, 273 pages) (book and audible)
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, Kaley Klemp (In-Progress 2015, 377 pages)
Connect by Carole Robin, David L Bradford (2021, 203 pages)
The Gifts of Imperfection – Brené Brown (2010, 208 pages)
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink (2012, 272 pages)
Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards by Yu-kai Chou (own) (2015, 513 pages)
Creativity: Writing and Creating:
The Practice: Shipping Your Creative Work by Seth Godin (2020, 274 pages)
Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon (2014, 225 pages)
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon (160 pages, 2012)
How to Enjoy Art by Ben Street (2021, 160 pages)
Better Living Through Criticism AO Scott (2016, 282 pages)
Look for new:
Cal Newport
David Epstein
Fitness and Health / Mindfulness / Brains
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell (2021, 291 pages)
Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection by Ximena Vengoechea (2021, 337 pages)
Unmasking Autism by Devon Price (2022, 304 pages)
The Body, A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (2019, 491 pages) owned on audible
The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life by Piero Ferrucci (2007, 354 pages)
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (2021, 231 pages)
Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller (2020, 256 pages)
Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend (1992, 324 pages) (updated version on Audible)
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie (1986, 278 pages)
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (1997, 163 pages)
Look for new:
Mary Roach
Bill Bryson
And that’s a wrap! Will I get to all of these? Absolutely not. Will I try to expand on the diversity of my thought and add things along the way? Yes indeed!
What’s on your shelf this year? What’s up next? Here’s to a year of good reading!
Every year I sit down and make some resolutions for the kitchen. Given that food is one of my favorite sources of joy, novelty, and connection, it’s a favorite practice of mine to spend a little bit of time making this space more useful, and my time spent in the kitchen more meaningful. Having people around my table (even figuratively) is how I show love, and bring people together – and although we can’t do much of that these days, I’m thankful to be able to take the time to feed myself well.
I’ve been writing these resolutions for more than a decade, and some of them pop up year after year – affirm doing good things that work – and a handful are new each year. You can take a peek through previous years here: (2012) (2016) (2017) (2018) (2019) (2020) (2022)
Re-Commit to Consistent Kitchen Habits:
Particularly the habits that keep me consistent in other areas of my life. I find that most things in my life depend on me eating well.
Weekly Meal Planning: one of my home court habits in my “Let’s Eat” spreadsheet. I also make a weekly Evernote note with my shopping list on there as well.
Update my “Anytime Shopping List” ie: regular groceries list (favorites, protein, don’t leave the store without this!) — got a head start!
Update my “New Recipes To Try” list (with at least 52 stellar recipes for the year and beyond); and a weekly Turkish recipe
AND: Dishes cleaned before bed, coffee maker set. Coffee cup next to the coffee maker, ready to take on the day. (After a year + without a working dishwasher, this is now so much easier with a working one! Another reminder to tackle nagging tasks!)
Remove Clutter:
While some people find a perfectly spotless and minimalist kitchen ideal; I actually need to be able to see appliances or pantry items in order to be inspired to use them.
Do a systems audit for blockages
Make what I want to use more obvious
(New) Schedule a quarterly KITCHEN PURGE.
Quest for Best:
This is one of my personal values – I get a lot of satisfaction out of keeping track of the “best of”, like your own neighborhood consumer reports.
Do a pantry audit, and re-stock pantry with “best of” items, update my spreadsheet
Seek novelty: Bean of the Month Club, Spice Club, new item at Trader Joe’s or one new item at Formaggio each trip! (NEW: Noma R+D club shipments, an Omsom Everything box.)
• Get your knives sharpened. Just do it! (China Fair does it for a dollar) • Review storage containers for more sustainable options • Re-Read a classic cookbook every month • Read more food writing (and memoirs) – added to reading list!
AND: Write a new travel (and local!) bucket list of restaurants. (Currently in my Ideas Doc)
Make Memories in the Kitchen
Update Friends + Family Favorite List so I can cook in honor of my people and think about them (or cook for them!) If I haven’t solicited some from you, drop your favorites in the comments for me!
Monthly: Update Seasonal Favorite Cooking List (in my Ideas Doc)
Monthly: Update my list of “Big Cooking Projects” (in my Ideas Doc)
Zoom Cooking classes with friends! (In 2021, I had a great time taking a truffle making course, and a Lamb Biryani from Pondicheri – looking forward to choosing a few great options to take with friends and family!)
NEW: Pick two signature cooking gifts (something to perfect and send to people)
NEW: “The Weekly Bean” – I have a subscription to the Rancho Gordo Bean Club that leaves me with a very large stash of beans to eat. I aim for a bag a week. I was very inspired by a picture in the Rancho Gordo Bean Club facebook group of a woman who had a nice running list in a bullet journal of her weekly beans.
My bare minimum of reading/rereading starting point – I read a lot more cookbooks generally, but my specific resolution is to add recipes I want to try to my running doc!
Here we are in mid-summer! I’ve been working off a “Joy in July” list which includes things like “eat a lobster roll”, “sit by the water”, visit museums, and hiking, etc., to focus on experiencing good things in what has been an otherwise mildly stressful summer.
Yesterday I found myself making it to Farmers Market for the first time this season (only a month late!) and was overjoyed to find myself actually inspired with vegetables and fruit for the first time in a while. My summer meals are a lot of assembled salads, and I keep Mark Bittman’s standby Summer Express 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less from the early 2ks bookmarked.
I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I could get at Farmers Market at a reasonable price in these times of inflation, and ended up coming home this week with lettuce, a boatload of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, a bunch of zucchini, fresh basil, peaches, and raspberries. Grabbed some of the very good OMG English Muffins. Our farmers market has a great fresh fish vendor, too, although I was an hour late for the variety! I grabbed some of the last of the local haddock, which was delicious.
Weekly Meal Plan – 7/24/22
For the past few weeks, I’ve been having trouble with decision fatigue around food – and most other things – so this week’s meal plan includes more detailed options for lunches and breakfasts as well. I always feel comfortable swapping out if I’m craving something in particular in the moment, but having *something* planned helps me from stalling out on on my eating an actual meal.
Sat: Crunchy Slaw with peanut dressing, poached haddock, sliced tomatoes
Sun: Bonchon tacos (I’ve been hearing about these for weeks. Big decision will come down to bulgogi or chicken)
Mon: Red Sox Game – eat at the park!
Tue: WeCo roasted chicken ramen soy marinated roasted chicken breast with hoisin + ginger glaze; shiitake mushroom + spring onion broth; spicy miso paste; spring beans + peas with curry leaves + wilted spinach; fresh wavy noodles; scallions + pickled mushrooms + marinated egg
Thu: WeCo SHARK-cuterie board! 6 jumbo shrimp with WECO red cocktail sauce, Matiz organic mussels in olive oil & vinegar, Squailly’s bluefish paté, piquillo jam + pickles and a sleeve of Ritz crackers
Fri: gnocchi cacio pepe (new! from Trader Joes)
Sat: Fresh catch fish, boiled potatoes, steamed greens, a bunch of lemon
Lunches include: a pot of Rancho Gordo snowcap beans, Trader Joe’s Lamb Vindaloo, and Spicy Lentil Wrap, tomato and cheese sandwiches, some adobo seasoning chicken thighs, and assorted vegetables.
💙 Taking advantage of the flight delay this morning to come up with a list of some events for our local Wellesley alum club. We have more than 5000 alums living in the greater Boston area, close to the mothership.
Boston friends, any ideas? What I’m looking for:
I’m looking for ideas around:
Learning something together
Socializing in a new way
Eating something together
Creating something together
Service projects in our community
Connecting to Wellesley
Cross Club events (reaching out to the presidents and SIG leaders)
So far, some of the ideas + planned events (with attention to the fact that many of our events will be virtual or outdoors). Both the College and the alumnae association at large already puts a ton of virtual lectures, so this is primarily locally focused:
🎨 Creating Arts:
Botanical painting class with the Wellesley greenhouse people (Zoom)
MFA drawing class
Songwriting for non-musicians class
Plant workshops (maybe at Mahoneys? Who is offering these?)
🖼 Museum-ish Visits:
We already have a group Art in Bloom Zoom scheduled with the MFA
There’s an upcoming trip to the Fogg/Harvard Arts
Mt. Auburn Cemetery Tour
Symphony (we went to BMOP and it was popular!)
🛶 Physical Activities:
Ompractice class with Reggie Hubbard
Kayaking at the Boathouse (could we do an on-campus day?)
On The Mark Archery at Gore Place
Hiking in Blue Hills
🍋Food:
Virtual cheese tasting with Formaggio
Dim Sum (we’re going to Hei La Moon)
Dumpling making class (Mei Mei? Any reccs?)
Cross-Club cooking class zooms with “virtual restaurant touristing!” of local faves across states.
❤️ Service Opportunities:
Boston Marathon Volunteering
Cradles to Crayons
Any ideas for this for a small group? Either in person, or that we can do from our homes? What else should I be adding to my list? Looking for any suggestions at different price points!
On Writing: Who do you write for? Last night I spent a few hours reading through my old online journals through college, and sharing the best nuggets with friends. One thing that surprised me was the frequency in which I wrote. Faithfully, 3 or 4 times a week. The detail. The thinking in those pages. What a gift to my future self.
I think there’s something wonderful about writing to yourself and for yourself.
Who do you serve? There’s an Adam Grant tweet going around this week. (I’m currently mid-read of Think Again, which I’m enjoying.) “Too many people spend their lives being dutiful descendants instead of good ancestors. The responsibility of each generation is not to please their predecessors. It’s to improve things for their offspring. It’s more important to make your children proud than your parents proud.”
A few of the things that I’ve been very consistent at in the new year: going to bed with a clean sink and setting the coffee maker, and meal planning for the week.
I picked up a few extra bouquets of yellow flowers to surround myself with COLOR today. Two bunches from Trader Joe’s. The pink bouquet was from a delightful zoom flower arranging class with Alice’s Table.
⚡️ This week, I’ve been thinking about activation energy. Specifically, it takes me a disproportionate amount of effort to get started on things, even if I *desperately want* to do them. So cutting down any steps at the beginning of doing something, and making the first one or two steps I do simple to focus on action is key.
For tidying dishes, for instance, if I think about the effort to wash them, my brain overwhelms. Instead, I shift the focus to the first small step: turn on the water and let it get warm. This is enough to get the whole process going, and stay consistent with it.
Weekly Meal Plan 2/19/22
Next week I’ve outsourced most of my meals to WeCo, a local food delivery service. Why? Because much of my focus is going to be on working on our platform re-launch at Ompractice! The past several months have been low on energy. And WeCo meals are delicious, and the kind of food I enjoy cooking for myself, so I don’t feel deprived of the thing that brings me joy. (They’ve now expanded to New Hampshire!)
Dinners:
Sat: WeCo sweet chili shrimp + rice bowl sweet chili shrimp, brown rice, pickled celery + cucumber and kimchi + ginger slaw with sesame garlic vinaigrette
Sun: Turkish Spinach and Meat (although this might get swapped!)
Mon: Canadian Blue Box Kraft Mac and Cheese (thanks to my sibling crossing the border for food two weeks ago.)
Fri: WeCo hot oil udon noodle bowl – udon noodles with miso-roasted greens, charred broccoli with fried garlic, torn herbs and chili oil for pouring on top!
Sat: WeCo grilled cheese + tomato soup the classic! griddled white bread with cheddar and creamy tomato soup on the side… and a pickle because why not!
What’s on your plate this week?
xo, Sam
PS: Next Retro workshop is up and live for next week. It’s a 90 minute *Do The Thing: Monthly Review – we’ll work together on a monthly review for the month of February on Sunday morning.
The Second Lunch is a (mostly) food blog by Sam Tackeff about recipes, food writing, ingredient hunting, travel, healthy living, fitness, and everything in between.
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