Where Yah Been, Bitch?

 

It's been a ding dang minute.

I was thinking about this blog recently and wasn't sure if I would just leave it to sit in the ether or if I would write again, or just delete it all-together. To be honest, I was leaning toward delete.

Then on a whim today I deleted instagram and tik tok (I'm sorry- I know I'm "too old"for it but I really do love it) and for some reason I just wanted to write in my blog- to get back to documenting this hum-drum life of mine.

Lately I've been trying to connect with myself a little more- to re-establish some independence that I may have lost in the warm and secure nest of being with another person for over 10 years. No, we aren't breaking up- let's just call it an "I-turned-29-last-week-and-had-a-realization-that-I-don't-do-nearly-enough-of-the-things-I-actually-want-to-do" epiphany. I hated going for walks alone because I felt strange just heading out my door without going for a jog or at least having a final destination in mind. I have all of these ideas for what I want to do to our house and never end up doing them because I've convinced myself that I just can't. 29 is the year I'm saying to hell with that. I've been walking every day and I bought some black paint and painted the wall behind our bed black (don't worry- I'll write a blog post about it). I'm taking an online course on indigenous studies and even one on the science of happiness. I'm reading and learning about vegetarianism (yup, I'm a proud af vegetarian now) and anti-racism. These things make me feel happy- much happier than scrolling through instagram (even though I truly do get great ideas for interior decorating, or learn about minimalism, and vegetarianism, and being eco-friendly) or tik tok (even though it's just freaking fun to watch). 

2020 has been a literal shit show but I've also learned a lot this year. I actually found quite a bit of joi de vivre inside of quarantine, through going for walks and having free time and just enjoying simple, simple things. I'm grasping on to that more and more now that I'm back in the office and life is starting to seem more normal. 

I used to hear people say they were working on themselves and think it was such a strange idea- like how does one work on themselves? Just change the way you act- duh. But as I'm stumbling further and further into adulthood I'm realizing that I spend a hell of a lot of time working on myself and it's freaking hard to change and be better but I'm working on it. I'm going to therapy, and I'm reading and I'm reflecting on things and it's cool and awful and enlightening all at once. 

All of this to say- I'm working on being one of those people that I always wanted to be. I'm going to nourish myself with hobbies and interests and experiences. I'm going to create and learn and take in new information and experiences. So I'll be here. I still have my annual book review to complete (9 months too late but hey!). 

Hope you follow along and enjoy this new journey!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
The Comeback Kid 

Am I Just Rambling Or Speaking Complete Truth?

I chose the above picture because it's a pretty accurate depiction of where I am in my life right now. Things are very inbetween. I'm still taking selfies in the mirror, fawning over my hair and outfit choice, being photo-bombed by my cat. My laundry is over flowing but things are generally calm. I'm warm and happy in my home with my family. It's somewhere between calm and chaos. Somewhere between child and adult. Not young enough to see that laundry and not think about how I should go do that right dang now. Not old enough to know the true chaos of children, or even a dog. I like my low-maintenance and generally aloof cat thankyouverymuch.

I just spent some time scrolling through this blog, or navel-gazing if we're being honest (which is truly one of my favourite words), but I think a little (or a lot) of self introspection can be a good thing. We've just come to the end of a year (and a decade) and this is a time I really love taking stock of how things have been.

10 years ago Jordan and I had just started dating. We were children. We lived in completely different cities while I went to university and he worked. A decade later we've lived together for over 4 years, we own a cat together, we have changed jobs (and careers) multiple times and been around the world together. It's been a hell of a ride.

I can't help thinking about how easy things used to be back then, at least in retrospect. I saw some high school kids walking today and said how I wished I was a teen again. I remember feeling like it was so hard at the time but that was before bills and full time jobs and therapy sessions and all of the things that come with being an adult who is trying to just exist. I know that being a teen was an emotional roller coaster but weren't things just so much simpler then? You never had to worry about the big existential questions. You were more worried about whether someone liked you or not. Ah, what a time to be alive.

I do love the autonomy of adulthood though. We have the ability to make our own choices. Go where we please. Eat what we please. Stay out as late as we want and take the car as far as we want. It's a give/take situation that it's hard for me not to contemplate (maybe because of my current parking spot firmly on the in-between.) Back in high school there was nothing to think about, that's just the way it was. Now things are so in your hands that it can be a bit scary. Am I making the right decisions? Am I becoming the type of person I want to be? Am I doing the things I want? In general my answer is yes, but it can be a bit exhausting being the C-E-O of such things as your one and only precious life. I don't think people talk about that a lot.

We also don't talk about how wonderful it can be too.

I think we generally just put our heads down and do it.

But it's hard. And it's magical. It's everything in-between.

This next decade I'll be turning 30. It will probably be the decade where things change the most for me in my life and it's funny because we haven't quite decided how different or similar it will be. Will we have kids? Dogs? Trips to far off places? We don't even know yet.

So I guess I'll just sit in the excitement of that, instead of the fear of it because "if it's half as good as the half we've know here's hail! to the rest of the road."

From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Shameless Navel-Gazer

Thoughts on Working Out

This may not be a revolutionary statement and you may have heard many people spout this cliche before but I have a love-hate relationship with working out.

Wild, right?

My dedication to working out comes in ebbs and flows. I consistently worked out when I had a gym partner, then I didn't. Then I got addicted to spin class, then I burnt out on it. Then I jogged a bunch for the summer, then it got cold. By November I hadn't used my gym membership in three months (meaning my $44/month was going to great use).

I started feeling some symptoms of the Winter Blues when it started to get cold and out of sheer desperation for some sort of energy I dragged my butt to the gym. It was at this time that I decided I was going to master the stair climber.

In the past I have enjoyed the stair climber just due to the fact that it was so hard that it made you feel like you'd worked your butt off in as little as 3 minutes. The problem was that I wasn't truly using the stair climber properly. I would clasp my hands to the side rails and put the majority of my weight on my arms effectively making the stair climber a heck of a lot easier than it's mean to be. Basically I was cheating myself through poor form (see example below):

I decided that I would finally master the stair climber even if it meant starting with just a couple of minutes at a time.

I looked up proper form for the stair climber and promised myself that I would walk straight up next time, with my hands lightly placed on the rails for balance only. What that meant was that my first trip on the stair climber was exactly 5 minutes and ended with me wheezing for air. But I did it.

I made a plan to increase my time slowly like so:

Session one: 5 minutes, level 7
Session two: 5 minutes, level 7
Session three: 7 minutes, level 7 (pause at minute 5 for a rest)
Session four: 7 minutes, level 7 (pause at minute 5 for a rest)
Session five: 7 minutes, level 7
Session six: 7 minutes, level 7

A slow progression but progression nonetheless!

<< My first time on the stair climber >>

It's March now and I'm at 16 minutes, level 7. 5 minutes now feels like a dream, although it all still feels hard most times and I continue to wheeze by the end of each climb. My goal is to make it to 20 minutes and then I'm going to work on climbing higher. I like to see how many floors I get to and equate that to an actual building (the Eiffel Tower is 108 floors, the CN Tower is 147 floors, the world's tallest building is 160 floors).

<< My most recent trip on the stair climber. I'm half way up the CN Tower!)

I've also signed up for two races this year in the spring and summer and am going to work on getting my run times faster and my run lengths longer.

I still have trouble getting myself to the gym most weeks but I feel like I'm finally seeing it differently. Working out is a chance for me to re-energize myself. I know that when I'm feeling incredibly tired for no good reason and the cold of winter is getting to me that if I get myself to the gym I'll feel better within minutes. I also have a goal that I'm working towards that kills me to skip out on.

This still doesn't work some days and I still struggle with all the fun things that come with being a human bean trying to enjoy their life and take care of themselves and just plain find a way to be comfortable in my skin and happy more than not- but it's a thing. It's a thing I'm accomplishing and failing at and continuing to try to accomplish and that's good enough for me.

When in doubt I'm going to continue to be like Chris Traeger and make a fun, beautiful goal like running all the way to another planet:

<< I love him so much >>

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Human Bean 

Book Club

I don't know if you know this about me...but I'm a reader.

I consider myself such a reader that when I saw Joanna Gaines wearing a "Book Club" sweater I went ahead of scoured the internet for one of my own. When I couldn't find myself one I went ahead and had one made (see above!). Seriously, check out @customlymadewithlove on instagram. I sent a grainy picture of the sweater I was looking for and we worked together to make the sweater of my book-loving dreams. And it was such a great price!

Who am I kidding, if you read this blog knowing I'm a reader may be the main thing you know about me since my annual book review is my most (and only) consistent blog post.

I l-o-v-e writing my annual book review and sharing all the books I've spent the past 12 months immersing myself in but I also don't think it's nice to be so dang greedy with my book selections. I think I should share a bit as I go!

That's why I'm going to share what I've been reading so far this year and what I want to read. That way we don't have to wait a whole year for some book recommendations! I'll still share what I think of my books at the end of each year but I thought this could be fun!

Each year I make a goal for myself to read 12 books. This year I'm doing really well with my goal! I'm already on my 6th book this year! Last year I hadn't even finished my first book until March (or maybe even April!).

I won't get too in-depth about any of these books but I will tell you that two are re-reads of a couple of my favourite books (so that means I dang-well like them!) and the rest have all been winners so you can't go wrong with these picks!

Let's do this!

Books read so far in 2019:

1. White Oleander- Janet Finch (Re-read)
2. Nobody Cares- Anne T. Donnahue (Um hi, Anne went to my highschool- at a different time than me- and lives in my hometown and this book made.me.feel.seen even though we have literally never crossed paths).
3. Homebody- Joanna Gaines (I mean, duh!)
4. Stranger in the Woods- Michael Finkel (Fascinating)
5. Survivor- Chuck Palahniuk (Re-read)

Current read:

Educated- Tara Westover (a recommendation from my sister!)

Books I either already have or plan to read:

1. White American Youth- Christian Picciolini (Already purchased)
2. Adjustment Day- Chuck Palahniuk (Favourite author- enough said)
3. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant- Veronica Peerless (I need this so badly)

I hope this has given you some great inspiration! Now we're in a book club together except we will never discuss the books together and you can just wait until December to hear what I actually think of the book. I mean, I can't think of a better Book Club, personally.

Happy reading, pals!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Book Club President

Joy, or Something Like It

I do not like winter.

I don't like the cold, I don't enjoy hot chocolates, or snow shoe-ing, or skiing, or big puffy jackets and all of the additional winter related fa-shun.

I used to- once upon a time, when I was finished with my day by 3pm and I had the afternoons to feel the sun through the windows while I napped and binged on snack food while watch CSI.

Now I'm more in the category of drive to work in the dark, drive home in the dark, don't leave the house once you get inside of it. Basically, a seasonal hermit.

This change in lifestyle (from relaxed teenager with no idea of what it took to keep that house warm, stocked with junk food and cable ready, to an adult who just wants to feel the sun on her face every once in a damn while) has made it harder for me to get through winter. Some may call is Seasonal Affect Disorder, some may call it the Winter Blues. I've got them.

That's why I can easily convince myself that winter is never going to end (even though it most definitely will) and last month I was able to have a conversation with myself where I decided that nothing in my life brought me any joy.

Now, like I said, I'm wrong about these things, of course. But I was able to tell myself that piece of nonsense and actually believe it, even if it was only for a little while.

Also full disclaimer: I am happy. I know in the grand scheme of my life that I am happy. I love my home, home life and the people and animals who live in it. I generally enjoy my job and I have great friends. I also have a warm house, food to eat and yadda yadda yadda. But I did realize that I wasn't feeling *joy*.

Now, joy is a word we're overusing in this KonMarie world but I don't mean the joy we're supposed to feel when we pick up an item of clothing. I mean the joy of lying in the grass with the sun warming your face, or the joy you feel when you pick up fresh dhalias from the market, or when you feel excitement about meeting up with some friends. The small, inconsequential little joys of everyday life.

So I made a list. I made a list of all of those teeny-tiny things in life that bring me joy. They were simple. They didn't even include the big things in life like the people I love because I don't need reminders about the happiness they bring me. I want to remember the tiny things that make life special. I wrote all those things down, and I'm still writing them down when they come to mind. Just thinking of them makes me feel a little happier.

The next thing I'm going to do is invite those little joys into my life. I want to buy plants and nurture them, I want to grab a big cup of coffee and a good book and sink into the relaxation of a lazy afternoon. And when I'm doing those things I'm going to notice them. I'm going to slowly immerse myself in warmth of them like the feeling you get while lowering yourself into a hot bath.

I know this isn't the cure to the winter blues and this definitely doesn't make up for real, genuine struggles but I think that if we all just took a moment while we're swinging in a hammock listening to the trees, or listening to our favourite songs with our handsin a the warm, soapy dish water and thought to ourselves "hey, this is pretty great" that we could get a small piece of joy and hold on to it, at least for a little bit.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Joy Sparker

Build Your Own Industrial Shelves (Plus A Short Novel About Our Home)

When we first moved into our house I pictured turning it into a "home" to be a quick and easy process, much like you see on HGTV, in particular Fixer Upper. Mostly I just wanted the house we bought to be turned into a Joanna Gaines original in 6-8 weeks without any effort on my part. Oh and it would be great if it was fully furnished to my liking, thankssomuch.

What actually happened was obviously, quite different (besides the part where we went away on vacation after the renovation and came home to our house painted a stunning navy blue by Jordan's parents- who I'm forever grateful for!)

Instead of a crew doing all the #demoday work Jordan and I spent the entire summer we moved in tearing the basement to the studs and rebuilding it as an apartment. When I say Jordan and I, I mostly mean Jordan. I had very good intentions at first but eventually I was begging to mow the lawn in 40 degree heat instead of being forced to pull one more nail out of the studs. It was a hell of a summer that ended with Jordan, his brother, and I insulating the entire basement over two nights in the Fall with fiberglass falling into our eyeballs. What.a.dream.

We eventually did get the basement finished and our reward was a pre-planned trip to Europe. When we came back from Europe we still had a heck of a lot of painting and cleaning to do but we were almost there. (Side bar: during this whole renovation Jordan worked his ass off going to work all day and slaving away all night. He basically pushed himself to the limit ripping up floor tiles, getting on the roof and putting his body in danger the whole time. In the last couple of days he bent over to pick up a pencil and pulled his back and we still laugh about that to this day.)

This extremely long-winded story is to say that by the time we had finished turning our basement into a legal apartment and moved our friends in as our very first tenants we had little to no interest (or cash) left to work on our part of the house. I put things on our beige walls, sighed over our chipped and stained laminate counter tops and wiped grime from our back-splash free kitchen. But it was ours.

Fast forward two years and we've been working really hard bit by bit to make our part of the house ours. We've painted our walls grey (with an absolutely gorgeous navy blue statement wall in our living room, which I love), we've change our counter top out for butchers block, subway tiled the back-splash and repainted, framed and changed the hardware on the cabinets. Our house is finally living up to the fixer upper finish, not just the before!

Now that the frame of the house is living up to my dreams, I'm still working on getting the contents of the house up to snuff. That includes some furniture that I'm planning on axing (your days are numbered, boys), a dresser that is getting a new coat of paint, and some of the things we originally put on our beige walls that went right back up when they were painted grey.

Exhibit A: our chalkboard

This chalkboard was a hand-me down that I decorated the first night in our house. For some reason it was very important to me that I get that done and hung immediately. And it served us well. At minimum it gave people a chuckle occasionally. But it's time in our life was over. I had my eyes set on some shelves and since we had some leftover wood from making our headboard I was able to sway Jordan into building them with me!

We obviously had to have a never ending conversation about the height, placement and width of the boards. At the end of it we still couldn't come to an agreement so we decided to do what any millennial would do: take it to instagram!

Jordan's preference was option 1 and my preference was option 2. I don't want to brag or anything, but my choice won. (Okay I'm bragging, I have impeccable taste).

Now, if you want to know how not to go about building shelves, you can ask experts Jordan and I. We spent our entire Christmas break going to every Home Depot, Home Hardware, Rona, Lowes, and everything in-between trying to match up these dang pieces. Our shelves included four pieces: a foot, a pipe, a topper and a bracket. We originally bought everything to fit a 1 inch pipe because that was the only size where we could get six sets of all four pieces. Well, we got the pieces home and realized they weren't long enough for our wood! (Measure first people, don't estimate, and also don't measure, lose the measurement, and say "it's okay, we can eyeball it").

We scoured the hardware stores for longer pipes and it took us six stores but we finally found what we were looking for. We finally got them up on December 31st and congratulated ourselves on being the most productive people of 2018.

I am completely in love with these shelves! They turned out just how I imagined and if I do say so myself: I think I styled them dang well.

So the moral of the story is: life is not like a 40 minute HGTV show, you'll probably never move into a home that looks exactly how you want it to be from fixtures to furniture and you sure as hell won't be able to make it exactly what you want without a little time and patience.

Our home still has a long way to go, but it's getting there. Until then I'll just be over here dreaming up the next headache I'll be badgering Jordan into!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Demo Day Diva

Books of 2018

Welcome to my favourite (and only consistent) blog post each year!

This year I had a goal to read 12 books but guess what: I didn't. I read 11 and that's just the way it is sometimes. I will say that I did start about 10 other books that I either got bored with, am currently half through, or found something I wanted to read more. My currently reading and to-be-read piles may never empty.

I continued to get into audiobooks this year. Don't get my wrong- I do not consider this technically reading- but if you should choose to read these books because of my recommendation then more power to yah!

I definitely had some great reads this year, some re-reads and some serious p.o.s's (in my humble opinion) so without further adieu, here are my 2018 reads:

1. Nocturnal Animals- Austin Wright

This was the first book I read in 2018 and that really blows my mind because I started it in April. What a lazy, hazy beginning of the year I had!

I was super excited about this book when I first started it. The premise is that a man is sending his book manuscript to his ex-wife and she is reading it throughout. You bounce between the ex-wife's life/reality and the book manuscript. The book manuscript was super interesting (at first) and really jumps into the action right away. It also did a great job of making you feel super anxious and getting you into the characters' feelings.

I spent the entire book being super excited for when everything was going to come to a head and then it just didn't. There was no big payoff. No point when everything was explained or addresssed. It was quite an unsatisfying read.

2. The Child Finder- Rene Denfeld 

Now this was a beautiful book.

It's about a woman who has an amazing knack for finding lost or kindnapped children, because she was kidnapped as a child, herself, even though she can't remember anything but her escape. In the book she searches after  a little girl who went missing in the woods. The books goes back and forth between The Child Finder's point of view and the little girls. It was really a beautiful book and I loved the parts from the little girl's point of view. It really reminded me of ROOM.

3. I'll Be Gone in the Dark- Michelle McNamara

This book is my #1 pick from the year. It was incredibly amazing.

Michelle McNamara spent years researching, searching for and writing about The Golden State Killer. She even gave him his name when she realized he was being referred to at the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker. Michelle died suddenly in 2016 before she could finish her book. Her husband and a couple of her researchers pieced the book together with what she had- which was amazing because even in her pieced-together and unfinished chapters we still didn't lose Michelle's voice throughout.

This book was honestly terrifying. I've never gotten scared from a book before but this book made me check my locked doors and close my curtains at night. I think that's an amazing testament to Michelle's writing and this insane story.

When I finished the book I was so frustrated with the fact that this crime still hasn't been solved. I couldn't have imagined what people who had been working on this crime for decades felt. Amazingly THEY CAUGHT THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER THIS YEAR! This was one of the most satifying endings I could have imagined.

If you like true crime read.this.book!

4. Down the Rabbit Hole- Holly Madison

As you know, I have almost no shame in what I'll read. If it's well written and interesting I'll take it (this is why 50 Shades of Grey got a chance but then was subsequently burned for terrible, unforgivably awfully writing- I mean come on E.L get yourself a damn thesaurus PLZ).

I'm fascinated by tell-alls by people from truly bizarre worlds so Holly Madison's look into the Playboy Mansion has been on my to-read list for a long time.

The book is definitely a tell-all and Holly doesn't hold back. She shares every dirty detail inside and outside the Mansion and basically smears Hef, the Girls and even her later boyfriend Chris Angel. I was all for it. She obviously manages to come out smelling like roses and it was obvious that she was doing everything to paint herself that way. If nothing else this was a fun read that entertained me as much as a good gossip sesh.

5. Hunger- Roxanne Gay

This book was a real hearbreaker.

Roxanne Gay wrote about her experience being morbidly obese and navigating her way through the world in a body that people don't understand or accept. She shares the childhood trauma that led her to wage a war on her body and cause her to feel the need to control her feelings and create an uncontrollable comfort in food.

This book was a tough read because it really puts you in her mindset of exhaustion, defeat and embarrassment. It also brought to light a lot of considerations that as a non-obese person, most of us don't see. She also brought sympathy and a sense of realness to a topic that to be honest, most people, including Roxanne herself, don't always have a lot of sympathy for.

I would definitely recommend Roxanne's work- especially if you're looking to be challenged and broken open.

6. Brave Enough- Cheryl Strayed

Cheryl Strayed is one of my personal heroes. She wrote Wild, which I listened to last year, about her experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. She is also one of the most wise, nurturing, truthful and amazing people I've ever read. I even bought a book of her book of quotes, Brave Enough, this year and basked in her wisdom!

She wrote an advice column and I was super excited to read her compelation of columns in this book. I really loved her advice and the way she treated each person with so much love, while also hitting them with the tough stuff when they needed it.

7. Party Monster- James St. James

Speaking of bizarre lives: this one was definitely a doozy.

Party Monster is the true story of the murder of Angel Melendez. It takes place in the 90s New York City Club Kid world where drugs were flowing, costumes were the uniform and everyone basically seems like they're living in the world of Gossip Girl but meaner, and dirtier, and hazier.

This was a fun and interesting ready, if not a bit hyper since the writer was very liberal with WRITING IN ALL CAPS. It was definitely an interesting look into the post-Studio 54 days in New York City where people wanted to be wild and to stand out. Basically, these club kids paved the way for a lot of the amazing drag we now see on Ru Paul's Drag Race. It was a cool look at a counter-culture and definitely made me never want to try ketamine (or Special K) but it did make me want to paint blue dots on my face and walk into a club while greeting every single person, even if I don't know them.

Most importantly: this book was originally titled Disco Bloodbath and that is the best band name I've ever heard. Someone puhlease make this band. I'll support you forever.

8. Little Fires Everywhere- Celeste Ng

I said it last year when I read Everything I Never Told You: Celeste Ng is a beautiful writer and she completely gets the simmering dynamics of families. She writes stories that remind you of your life and the slight injustices and moments of misunderstanding that happen within a family and shape who you are and how you understand the people you love.

I loved spending many of my summer afternoons reading this book and wrapping myself up in a blanket of sadness for all the characters.

9. I Am The Messenger- Marcus Zusak

A lot of people know Marcus Zusak as the author of The Book Thief but I'll choose I Am The Messenger over that any day- even if I've never truly understood the ending of this book (and still don't).

The story is about an average guy who starts receiving Aces in the mail. Each Aces has three different people on it that he has to find and help. It's one of my favourite books and has been since I first read it in higschool. This book is pure magic and it makes me so happy, heartbroken, and everything in between every single time I read it (which has been about 10 times by now).

Seriously, read this book!

10. Whoever Fights Monsters-Robert Ressler and Tom Shachtman

I actually started this book near the end of last year, put it down for most of this year and finally finished this November. I have no idea why I put it down because it's.so.good!

Since I was a kid I've been fascinated with criminal profiling. This is when a detective can look at a crime and can tell the police what the person most likely looks like, where they most likely live, what they most likely do and so much more. It's definitely not a perfect art and they get it wrong a lot but the things they do get right are amazing. I spent a lot of this book slapping Jordan on the arm and re-telling him what I just read. I honestly think criminal profiling is just the coolest.

11. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs- Chuck Kolsterman

Now listen, you know I love a good piece of pop culture gossip and I'm also a big fan of dissecting why people are they way they are so I figured this book would be a no-brainer because it's just essays on pop culture. It breaks down The Real Wold, cover bands, journalists, serial killers and a lot more. Unfortunately this book easily dates itself (it was written in the early 2000s and a lot of his pop culture references flew right over my head). That didn't keep me from enjoying most of the book though, especially his essay about serial killers because, obviously.

I did, however, find the author to be a bit of an asshole, which I think he's well aware of. He came off as the type of guy who would debate anything with you and in the end do his best to make you feel like you were dumb. He also said some offensive things that I'll chalk up to being from a time before we were so #woke. I wouldn't fault him for his rude 'tude if he were at least 25% funnier about it since my moto is: if you're gonna be offensive you have to at least be hilarious.

My final feeling on the matter is: he's no Jon Ronson.

In addition to reading a bunch of books this year, I also listened to a few as well! (Don't worry- I don't  consider this "reading"- that kind of thinking would be sacrilege).


Listened:

1. Strange Piece of Paradise- Terri Jentz

This ended up being one of my favourite books this year.

In 1977 Terri Jentz was on a cross-country bike trip with a friend when a man ran over their tent with his pickup truck and hacked each of them with an axe. They both lived and while Terri's friend didn't remember a thing and didn't want to- Terri was left to experience and remember the ordeal alone. 15 years after the attack she went back to the small town in Oregon where it happened and went to investigate her own attempted murder.

I loved this book a lot. It's completely gutting and frustrating- like most true crime. Terri is so brave and strong and her story was an amazing one to hear. I highly recommend this book!

2. Behind Closed Doors- B.A Paris

This was one of those books that I had seen so many people read and recommend that I finally gave in and decided to listen to it. Boy, was I disappointed.

The story was about an abusive marriage and I honestly just found it completely unrealistic and silly. The villain in the story- the husband- was always dramatically monologuing his master plan and it all came off incredibly dumb. I don't think you need to get that out-there with a story like this to help the reader understand the fact that abusive relationships are terrifying. I thought this would be a great psychological thriller that really delved into abusive marriages but in the end it was more like watching an episode of children's television where the villain is always "trying to take over the world" for some undeveloped reason. Also, the writing left much to be desired. Boo to this book. BOO!

3. To Shake the Sleeping Self- Jedidiah Jenkins

I'm a big fan of books about people testing their limits, especially against themselves and nature. I especially love books about people hiking or traveling across great expanses (like Wild or Girl in the Woods), so this book was a no-brainer for me.

At 30 Jedidiah Jenkins decided to bicycle over 14,000 miles from Oregon to Patagonia (the southern most tip of South America). The story was super inspiring (and definitely helped me push myself at the gym while I listened to it- you just can't quit running early when you know there's someone in the world who biked for over a year). I like Jed's honestly throughout the story and his quest to find himself and understand his relationships. The booked faded a little near the end and got a little bit boring but the last couple chapters brought it back. I'd definitely recommend this book and Jed read the book on tape himself so that was a fun surprise.

Well pals, those are my books from this year. I definitely read less than I hoped to (I didn't even finish my first book this year until April!) In 2019 I've set my goal to read 12 books (one for each month), though I do hope I surpass it!

Hope you enjoyed my annual book club!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Bibliophile