Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives, written by Gretchen Rubin
This book is filled with practical information to help people set themselves up for success in developing habits. I love that Rubin doesn't declare one right way of doing things, but chooses instead to help people understand themselves better, which then helps them decide which habits to pursue and which to let go. I also love her secrets of adulthood sprinkled throughout this book, just little nuggets of wisdom.
p. 42, There's no magic formula - not for ourselves, and not for the people around us. We won't make ourselves more creative and productive by copying other people's habits, even the habits of geniuses; we must know our own nature, and what habits serve us best.
p. 83, Seeing "Choice Time" was a reminder that for people like me, leisure must be entered on the schedule as its own activity; it's not something I get only when I have nothing else to do. Because I always have something else to do.
p. 166, "How about this," I suggested. "Instead of feeling that you've blown the day and thinking, 'I'll get back on track tomorrow,' try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter. Fail small, not big."
p. 181, (O)ften, when we consider our actions, it's clear that any one instance of an action is almost meaningless; yet at the same time, the sum of those actions is very meaningful.
p. 199, My challenge, therefore, was to make my habits rewarding without sabotaging myself with rewards. How?
By finding my reward within the habit itself, with a reward that takes me deeper into the habit itself. If I look outside a habit for a reward, I undermine the habit. If I look within the habit for the reward, I strengthen the habit.
p. 230, Many people report that they want to "feel less stressed." But "stress" is a vague word, and because it doesn't pinpoint any concrete problems, it doesn't suggest any solutions.
*****
Kopp Sisters on the March (A Kopp Sisters Novel, book 5), written by Amy Stewart
Like all the books in this series, the story is based on real sisters and actual headlines, but turned into a work of fiction. And, like all the stories that came before, this one is about strong women trying to make their way in the world, despite the challenges they face. A young woman who lived and worked in the red light district as a teenager has her reputation nationally tarnished when her name is unfairly attached to a murder and is trying to make a new life for herself. A female deputy is mourning the loss of the job she loved and is tired of the inaccurate gossip about her. A middle-aged woman is determined to have the military use her pigeon messenger service. And a bunch of women want to do their part in the war efforts.
p. 20, Norma didn't just hold grudges, she feathered a nest for them and kept them warm, like a broody hen.
p. 305, "But what I'm telling you is that I couldn't wait for things to get better on their own. If I'd hung my head in shame every day for the rest of my life, it still wouldn't have been enough, would it?"
"Of course you shouldn't hang your head - "
"Because how much shame is enough? When do you know it's enough? Does somebody write you a letter and tell you? I don't think they do. I never got one."
"Miss Binford, I didn't mean to suggest - "
Beulah was good and wound up now. "What I'm trying to say is, you can't wait for somebody else to decide whether you get another chance. What if nobody ever does?"
*****
Mischling, written by Affinity Konar
Disturbing and beautiful, this novel centers on twin sisters in Mengele's Zoo, the horrific place where twins were sent and tortured in Auschwitz. When one of the girls disappears, the other has to figure out a way to keep living, holding out hope that her sister's alive, and eventually seeks vengeance when those in the camp are set free. This work of historical fiction is a strong reminder that the worst situations still have slivers of good in them and that we're all capable of far more good and bad than we realize.
*****
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