What have I read during the Pandemic of 2020...

I have been able to read alot of books during the quarantine and not all are listed and reviewed below.  I first want to thank Netgalley, the public library systems and friends who have given me books... oh and Amazon for shipping one of them to me so quickly.  

Another thing... we updated a room in our house to be what we originally intended it to be... a library.  It was an office/music studio/painting studio up until last Thursday when we moved a desk to our basement and thus moved the office and music studio to a much better place in the house.  I got my oh so desired library and reading safe space.

I can focus and read in a space that is purely dedicated to it.  It's a magic thing.

So behind the cut are the books that I have read in March and April 2020. 

OH all books are linked to Amazon... there is no affiliate link, I do not get any commission, it's just an easy resource for folks to get a book.  Just to be clear.  I do suggest if you can, go to your local independent bookstore...give them your money.  If you don't want the physical copy see if your library has the Kindle (or reader of your choice available then give them a couple bucks or become a member at a sponsor level) and support your community... that is what I do.  

Becoming by Michelle Obama.

I have one short paragraph about my thoughts about this book.

OMG this book slays.  I was so inspired by her story, the tone in which this book was written and how much it really resonated with me.  It just slays.   I wish I had read it when it came out, I really honestly think things in my life and how I look at them (the challenges mostly) would have been different. SLAYS. I am going to buy a hard copy... read it and annotate it. There are big lessons to be learned here.

Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever

A book about Mr. Rodgers and how we can all learn his lessons, follow the path and bring some of the Neighborhood to our lives each and every day.

With the resurgence of love and admiration for Fred Rodgers, I wasn’t surprised to see another book hit the bookshelves about him.  At first I thought this is another biography about Fred Rodgers, certainly but it was the second half, more on that later, that really made me sit back and relish the book.

In one way or another anyone that finds interest in Mr. Rodgers has been touched by him in some way so it’s hard to not go into reading this wondering when the author is going to insert himself into the story.  But that doesn’t happen. He tells many stories of other people, some we are familiar with and some new friends.  And I was relieved.  I appreciated it so much. It let me learn and grow from the stories.

The first part of the book really is a timeline of the production and development of the television show, along with the development and temperament of Fred Rodger’s life.  Some of the more personal items are lightly discussed but it really is about the development of the television show for this first part of the book.  Which as a former tv producer, I found incredibly fascinating but may be a little boring for those who may not be interested in the minuetia of television production.  I am not saying it’s boring, it certainly isn’t but there are some more interesting things to be investigated and read. 

As I was writing this I thought… wow… this book kinda has the same gentle character and desire to teach as the tv show did.  There is that same pacing actually. Nothing is really dumbed down to the reader, just like nothing was dumbed down to the children that Fred Rodgers and his partners/team presented to or taught anything to.  The pace of the book was really gentle and well presented.

Part two of the book is really where the book shines.  I wasn’t anticipating this part of the book to be honest, since I picked the book solely on the subject matter not how the book was designed.

The second part of the book really is a how to manual with examples of “Ten Ways to Live More Like Mr. Rogers Right Now”.  Which upon coming up on that title page made my brain open right up and I literally said “yes, this is what I need right now… thank you Gavid Edwards”.   I had no clue just how touching all the stories and examples would be. Some stories I knew and had read before or seen before but many were new.  Again, this is where the book really shines and shows the reader the deep humanity of Fred Rodgers and how we as readers can learn from his example.

If you are looking for a little more insight into Fred Rodgers and Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood that you may not have already had… this is a great book to get you there.

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves

I decided at the beginning of April, with being at home full time and working that I needed to revisit this book.  I took part in a "work book club" about two years ago and went all in on the lessons. But I think with time and life I let some of the things that I adopted fade.

I wanted to make sure that in my new existence in the workforce and how I support those that I work for and with that I supported with empathy and understanding. I needed to revisit the book.   The four concepts really resonate with me strongly and I am glad that I reread it.  It's a good book to revisit and get that booster shot of social awareness training. 

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I got the book from a friend at work a while back and had the time to sit and read it recently.

I read this other review that said it was a "masterpiece".  I won't go that far. It was good.  I had pictures in my head of what they looked like and sounded like.  I didn't go to the obvious place (it is referenced at the end of the book, and I won't reference it here so that your ideas of these characters isn't tainted) though.  

The format of the book is presented as transcripts from interviews (ala Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain).  I can't imagine that the author didn't read that book and take her format inspiration from that format.  It works for sure, and progresses the storyline really well.

It also made for a very entertaining and easy read.  

The song lyrics at the end of the book was a nice surprise (amoungst others in the story) and I have to give credit where that is due because I really wanted to hear the songs (but can't at least until the movie comes out) because the band and characters are not real.

These were great characters to spend some of my quarantine with... that is for sure. 

And in fact that is what I said in the thank you note to the person that loaned the book to me.

I have three books that I am currently reading :

Banging the Monkey - by Tod A

The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, a History of Greenwich Village by John Strausbaugh

Diane Arbus: A biography by Patricia Bosworth

Other things that I have been doing to keep myself creative in this time:

I have been making birthday cards to donate to the Project Angel Heart birthday team. I am hoping to make 500 by the time that this is all over.  I have about 4/5 more to go... but I am going to do it.  I love making cards and am finding that it's really actually super fun to go through what I have handy to make things with.  Since I can't order anything new (although I did preorder some stamps from Ink Road Stamps recently) I have used what I have around here. It's really nice actually to use what I have. Plus it makes me look forward to when all of this is over that I will be able to go crazy and order lots of new stuff because I actually will need it and not just want it. Probably once I get all 500 made I will post some of them up here.  Tomorrow (Saturday) I really hope to make many many cards made.  I have prepped my space, what I am going to listen to and culled 6 card designs that I want to do multiples of. 

I have been trying to cook something new and different every day.  I don't think once in the last five weeks that we have been home that I have repeated.  Even if it's salad there is a new riff on it with contents of said salad.  All I know honestly... I am super burned out on cooking dinner. So last weekend I made rainbow cookies and on Wednesday I baked a Spring Fling Cake. Both turned out terrific. Who knew that I would be baking and get such pleasure out of it.  I am not getting on the sourdough bandwagon yet though.  I am waiting for my friend to bring me some starter this weekend.  I am not sure if I will bake a bunch of bread or not because simply put I just cant eat bread like I used to... f' you carbs and blood sugar. So I am worried about having it in the house alot.  I may have to bake for my neighbors that can though.  We will see.

I have also started to weed our small gardens in the back and the front.  They are mostly flower beds but I do have some mint that I planted last year that I am hoping to start seeing come in again soon.

I am going to hand dye with botanicals next.  I have some thank you presents that I need to make and thought that it would be nice to make something useful... so I am going to try dying cotton napkins and towels with avocado.  It will be about three weeks before I try that but it's on deck, I have all the details for what I need, and just have to order the napkins/towels.  

I am trying to maintain some sanity. It's really hard and I am trying to not feel warn down either.  But it's a lot right now for sure.

Trying to keep my spirits up, read alot and make something creative every day....

Any tips and tricks or book ideas... please feel free to share... this is open season for hive help!