My Spring Reading Recap

a wedding, my personal curriculum basket & some reflection

My heart is so filled with JOY. 🩵🌞

The last month has been filled with beautiful memories, hosting special events, fun family memories and excellent conversations.

A quick recap:

Let’s start with graduations. 🎓🎓🎉

Graduation week and then dorm moving out day went well. There was a lot to do and it was a bit stressful but the weather was decent temps that day and we got it all done.

Everyone settled in at home rather quickly and we have all adjusted to new rhythms as a household of 8. The 4 young adults now in my home are helpful and fun to have around. Mary’s BFF is staying with us and she is wonderful.🩵

Wedding planning took over the schedule as Mary and Elijah finalized the details and everything was gathered. The goal was to keep spending as low as possible so there were many trips to thrift stores with specific lists of things to find. It was a lot of work but it came together beautifully.

The whole week of the wedding was full of fun celebrations hosting friends and family, the rehearsal dinner, making many meals, and prepping DJ equipment. So many people stepped up to make our DIY plans happen.

We are so blessed by so many wonderful friends, family, and an amazing church community. The help and support we have had during this very busy season has made it feel lighter and enjoyable.

And a special thank you to you, my Substack community, for giving me the space to unapologetically take a break to love on my family and be present for so many special moments. 🩵

Isaiah (Scott’s BFF), Kyle, Scott, Elijah, Mary, April & Jim, Lara

Wedding photos taken by Cody Frolander & Eric Fox

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So, what was in my reading basket this spring?

    [note: this post is NOT sponsored, I just want to share what I’m reading]

Non-Fiction Books I Loved:

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett🎧— This collection of essays was so easy to fall into while cooking or folding laundry, and I wanted to return to it in the evenings with a color page or my knitting. Patchett’s writing style is so engaging and beautiful. The way that she narrates the human experience is fascinating. This also sent me on a fun rabbit hole of reading.

I also read her other non-fiction books:

• What Now? 🎧- an essay based on her commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College

• This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage 📖🎧— essays that embrace the art of telling the truth as opposed to the art of making things up

• Truth & Beauty 🎧- her memoir style story of a unique friendship

and I did a re-read of her award winning book: The Dutch House.📖🎧 This was the book I enjoyed in an online book club many years ago that revived my love for reading fiction. The audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks!

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Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee 📖🎧 — I had so much fun reading/listening to this one. The research, examples, and tangible nature of this book was so compelling. With each chapter I wanted to redecorate my house, go on a trip, or visit an art museum. (In reality I did none of those things but I did feel like it.😉) Finding the science behind an emotional state that has felt unattainable was very comforting.

Incorporating joy in my home and life can really be as simple as a bouquet of fresh flowers, making a dessert on a random Tuesday, and finding awe in ordinary moments. Reading this book when I did helped me apply the ideas to a season of many celebrations and also to the days full of cleaning, food prep, and errands. Check out her Ted Talk: Where Joy Hides and How to Find It and free resource 50 Ways to Find Joy Every Day.

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Radiant Rebellion: Reclaim Aging, Practice Joy, and Raise a Little Hell Hardcover by Karen Walrond📖 — I started this book on my birthday trip weekend. The cool breeze moved through the tall pines as I sat in my camping chair reading. I could hear my kids playing tag in the forest and feel the sun warming my back.

This topic felt much needed this spring as I turned 44 (a friend told me that means I’m mid-forties ) and I was in the role of “mother of the bride” (which feels wildly “old” somehow even though I was 23 when she was born ). 😜

Karen Walrond’s first chapter cracked me open and met me in that place where I have felt alone and questioned so much. Agism has been quietly creating havoc and destruction in the background of my life for a very long time. It is also something I have struggled to fight because the opponent has not been specifically defined. But now, I can see it.

Why are all Disney villains old women?😜

Each chapter was full of specific ways to embrace joy and reframe getting older. It was super practical and, like Walrond’s other writing, full of research and helpful examples.

I also really enjoyed this conversation on this podcast Good Life Project — Rethink Aging: the Science, the Lies & the Possibilities.

“I wanted to understand what it would really mean to live my most healthful, grounded, forward-looking life. …to greet your future with a sense of adventure…” — Karen Walrond

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Practicing Presence: A Mother’s Guide to Savoring Life through the Photos You’re Already Taking by Joy Prouty📖. This book was perfect in the mornings when I needed something to start my day gently. It was encouraging and supportive.

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I also have enjoyed this online class by Jordan Kohanim called: Self-Paced Workshop Sketchnoting ADHD Executive Functioning. My kids love being part of her classes on Outschool. When I saw this parent focused self-paced class, I just had to join it.

Her teaching is engaging and full of inspiring ideas. I am always looking for helpful tools to add to my parenting skills and teaching toolbox and her class is full of them!

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My Fiction Stack -

In my WWII historical fiction category I read:

Rebecca Yarros’ World War II novel The Things We Leave Unfinished. It is a dual-timeline romance with letters from her grandmother’s romance in the past. Has anyone else read this book lately? I really enjoyed the way that it skips back and forth on the timeline and how Yarros holds us in suspense. I would love to hear your thoughts!

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When The World Was Broken by Ruth E Stitt. Because I know Ruth personally, I have been extra excited to read this book. Every interesting story starts with a fascinating discovery. Ruth’s Aunt found a box of letters from World War II and thus began a whole history research project and the desire to share this story with all of us.

While reading, my heart ached as the characters lives became shattered by persecution and mistreatment. I learned pieces about their personal experience (and that of many Jewish people) that were new to me. I liked how the POV moved back and forth between the relatives in the United States and in Germany. Stitt’s writing is honest but sensitive to the difficult topics faced.

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I choose to DNF several audiobooks with library themes because the content got too heavy or had trigger warnings that were too much for me. Which really bummed me out because I read over half of at least 3 novels that were very compelling and well written.

There are so many amazing books out there that I have decided I can’t spend my time reading something that will keep me awake at night.¹

Also, because I am in a very busy and people-centered spring, I felt that my audiobooks needed to be fun, light-hearted escapes. So I turned to YA and rom-com style fiction.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry 📖. I really enjoyed this one! It takes place in a small town and is full of hilarious enemies-to-lovers banter. I found it to be a good excuse to go to bed early to fall asleep reading in the quiet. (With a purring cat of course😺)

I have a few more that I plan to start soon so I will share them in my June plans.

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Overall, the past 2 months have been busy but satisfying, and I am actually surprised at how much reading I got in.

I hope this peek into my reading basket inspires you to shape a plan that fits your own unique life and season.

And also give you permission to take a break if needed. 😉

I would love to hear about your current reading plans!

🌼📓Happy Reading!

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P.S. — If you’re loving this idea of a personal curriculum, check out:

How to Build a Personal Curriculum

It’s my practical, encouraging online course designed for busy seasons.

Everything I share will always have a free home here. Joining the class is just one way to support my work if it’s been meaningful to you.

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1. More on my DNF policy coming in a future post. It’s quietly sitting in my drafts folder. If you are interested comment below and tell me what you want to know. Reader interest always gives me a wave of inspiration. 😉