Five Good Reads

The weekend is (almost) here on the west coast and if you’re anything like me, you will be ushering it in with a little peace, a little quiet, and a lot of reading.

Here are a few things I enjoyed this week – bookmark them for the days ahead. And buy a real book this weekend. Preferably from an independent bookstore, if possible. You have a library to build, friends. This picture is telling you so.

How to do less! Of everything from beauty to time management to work to socializing. I loved this piece on Atelier Doré because it offered different perspectives on balance from women in different ages and stages of life. The universal truth? We can all cut back on something to make room for a little more nothing.

Using intuition to find self-acceptance, from our friends at goop. I really appreciated this deep-dive into our intuition and how it plays a role in defining our personality and sense of self. The tips on connecting to our intuition – while definitely a little goop-y – also felt straight-forward and simple to incorporate at the same time.

Embracing my passion helped me fall in love with my day job. In an era where we are inundated with messages about finding our passion and how work shouldn’t feel like work, this was a refreshing piece that examined how it’s not always our 9-to-5 that’s to blame for our work weariness. The reality is, a lot of us need to pay our mortgage and sometimes our passions don’t do it for us. The writer inspires you to seek your passion, energy and interests outside of your day job to come at it with a fresh point of view. A novel idea. Pun intended.

Why children aren’t behaving and what you can do about it. My husband and I just had a chat this week as our kids took on the second week of 6th and 2nd grades about how the parenting stakes are higher than they have ever been and how we spent so much time educating ourselves during the baby and toddler years and have basically stopped now…when it actually counts. This was a timely read that a friend just shared on Facebook (thanks, Erica!) to remind me that I am not finished with my parenting homework. I still have many years ahead of me to get it right and advice like this will certainly help me along the way.

Finally, the best book I have read lately: The Immortalists. This was just a really solid, fictional family saga. The story tells the tale of four siblings who learn their fate from a psychic at a young age…and inevitably allow it to dictate their lives through to the end. Four unique tales of love, sadness and growth all told through the lens of one overarching family dynamic. An entertaining but thoughtful read. Perfect for a weekend with nothing to do.

Hope yours is lovely. x

*image above via Apartment Therapy