On My Shelf
I just got done reading The Husband’s Secret, by Liane Moriarty. I discovered Moriarty about a year ago when I picked up her book Big Little Lies and loved it. So I thought I’d try another. The Husband’s Secret is a story about three families that come crashing together in unforgettable ways. The story begins with a letter a wife finds, by accident, in the attic of her home. The letter is addressed to her from her husband and says it’s to be opened after her husband’s death. This, of course, is a great way to start the book, because at first you’re wondering what’s in the letter, and then you’re wondering what she’s going to do about what’s in the letter. (I actually cheated and skipped ahead to have my questions answered, because sometimes I have enough mystery in my life and like to know what’s going to happen in the stories I read.)
Moriarty has a singular style of writing that keeps a reader engaged and entertained and hardly able to put a book down, and I love that about her books. She’s entertaining, interesting and intriguing, and that’s hard to do when you’re not writing something like a mystery thriller. Her characters are quirky and smart and funny, and they really come alive on the page. I’ve got the rest of her books on my list now, because once I find an author I like, I read everything they write. So Liane Moriarty just got another superfan.
Learning
I’ve been on sort of a health kick lately, so I’ve been reading all sorts of books about eating and exercise and the science of mind over body. Two of the books I’ve just finished are Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body, by Jo Marchant, and The Feelgood Plan, by Dalton Wong and Kate Faithfull-Williams.
Cure is a book about exactly what it says: the science of mind over body. It’s been a fascinating read full of research and information about how things like placebos work and how our mind can actually reduce the symptoms of our illnesses, and, in some cases, even the actual illness itself. Maybe it’s because my husband and I just recently finished watching the PBS series “The Brain with David Eagleman,” but I find the brain and its ability to create a whole different reality really, interesting. And a little disturbing.
The Feelgood Plan is a great book about diet and exercise and choosing a healthy lifestyle. I’m always interested in learning more about food and health, and this book has been really great for nutritional information and also motivation. Wong, one of the co-authors, actually trained Jennifer Lawrence before she filmed The Hunger Games, and what he and Faithfull-Williams include in the book is really helpful for someone who’s interested in learning more about food and exercise health.
The book includes a bunch of pictures and graphics, so it’s not just pages and pages of information that puts you to sleep. It’s actually really engaging. What I like most about it is the 12-week plan the authors include in the back of the book, where you’re not just drastically changing everything in Week 1 and shocking your system into submission. You’re easing into a lifestyle change.
Personal
My second son just turned seven, which is really hard to believe. Everyone tells you all the time that parenthood flies by, but I can really see it every time my kids have a birthday. The days feel forever long, but the years are so terribly short. My boys are on their way to becoming young men, and there’s a sadness to that, but there’s also an incredible sense of pride. This is the story of parenthood.
I want to make sure I’m available and present for them every moment I can. While it’s important for them to see me work and be my own person and help take care of the home, it’s also important for me to say with my time, your heart is really important to me. I value my connection with you. So let’s be together for a while and just be.
We schedule this time in our house, and it’s made all the difference in the strength of our relationship and our connections.
Writing
I mentioned last week that I have a few book releases coming up soon, so I’m madly revising and editing my manuscripts. One of my series, Family on Purpose, which is a spiritual nonfiction project, will release May 4, and it’s not as difficult to get this one right, because it’s just a collection of diary entries that detail my family intentional living journey. For a year we lived out our family values and I write in journals about our progress.
But the other series, Fairendale, which releases June 1, is the one that’s starting to make my eyes cross a little. I’ve realized in the revising and editing of this series that I am even more of a perfectionist than I ever thought. It’s so hard to let works go, out into the world. It’s hard not to keep looking at the manuscripts and thinking that this could surely be better. That version two or three or five could be better.
Of course a manuscript could always be better. I’m always growing as a writer and honing my skills. But at some point, I have to release my work out into the world. I have to give it to my readers. I have to send it on its way so that it can live in the hearts of others. That means that at some point, my work has to be good enough.
This is one of the reasons why working with deadlines is great when you’re a writer. A deadline is a finish date. It says, you cannot look over this manuscript one more time. You must let it go. So I’ve got my deadlines circled on my calendar, and this week, I’m going to be finished. Or maybe next week. Or the week after that, because, you know, I’m sure I can make it better if I read through it one more time.
Listening
In the mornings when I’m fixing breakfast for my boys, I tend to be the only one up. So, because I’m sort of afraid to be in a room alone when it’s still dark outside, I usually turn on a narrated story to keep me company. Lately that story has been Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.
The audio book for this classic is read by Jim Dale, who is the narrator of the Harry Potter series and also narrates the classic, Peter Pan. He’s a fantastic narrator and makes classic stories really engaging. Last year my boys and I listened to his narrated version of Peter Pan, and they kept asking for it over and over and over again. It’s one of their favorites.
I’m looking forward to showing them Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and I’m hoping that he reads some other children’s classics—because kids love classics when they’re engaging. And Jim Dale is definitely an engaging voice.
