My friend, Alyssa, tagged me in a Facebook post claiming that she was interested in learning what sort of books I have loved. And since brevity is not my strong suit, I just went ahead and decided to write a blog post about it. 

List 10 books that have made a lasting impression – they don’t have to be “great” works or “right,” just ones that have stayed long in the mind. In no particular order. And we’re off! 

1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Obvious? Maybe. Sylvia came to meet me, for the first time, during a particularly dark semester in college. I passed through The Bell Jar, confused about how she knew so much about me before she’d met me. At the risk of sounding dramatic or getting too dark (because, it was a long time ago but it was real, too), Sylvia kept me alive. 

2. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
I couldn’t have chosen a better Lamb book to be my very first. This book is long. Really long. But it is thorough and it is completely on-point in exploring the depth and complexity of a whole life. I remember reading this, wondering how on earth this man could write so spot-on from the perspective of an obese, teenage girl. How did he know? But, he knew. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is probably because, really, we’re all the same. 

3. A Good Man is Hard to Find (and Other Short Stories) by Flannery O’Connor
Growing up in a religious culture, things can turn black and white–good or bad–really easily. This book was one of the very first sources to adequately point me to the truth that good and evil live inside of everyone. Love and hate. And that God lives inside of everything, too. Holiness is everywhere.

4. Paper Towns by John Green
I have studied this book from a writers perspective simply because I am enamored by the way that John Green moves a story along. He foreshadows in ways that aren’t obvious but are still memorable. And he captures feeling perfectly. John Green is getting a lot of attention for his latest book, The Fault in Our Stars, and it’s wonderful! But my first choice is still Paper Towns. Not to mention, after the introduction in that book, it’s impossible to not keep reading. 

5. The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
My friend Emily sent me this book because she is a genius. The Maytrees can be a challenge to follow at times but this was one of the first books to send me through the wringer–emotionally. Well, as an adult anyway. It isn’t easy to create something so stylized and shocking all at once. I’m just going to use this phrase and hate myself for it later: a must-read!!

6. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
This was the first book to ever give me The Feels. The illustrations are perfect and haunting and hopeful. As young adults, my dear, dear friend Tamra Sue Miller used to pile us all around the bed and read it to us during sleepovers. It didn’t matter if we were all young cynics, we were enraptured and sleepy and together. 

7. The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner
It is brilliant the way that he uses the stream-of-consciousness technique to move this story along. I’m not going to say that this was an easy read. Not at all. By the time I was finished, I felt like I’d run a marathon with my mind. But it was incredible. He moves the story along using the first-person perspective of several different characters–including someone who is mentally handicapped. I don’t care if William Faulkner later admitted to just writing it for the money, it made a lasting impression on me. 

8. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Probably one of the first books to ever push me towards feminism. I know, I know, any normal, thinking, intelligent person is a feminist by default but for some reason we are taught to think that feminism bad (for inexplicable reasons but still, you know, reasons). So I should say that this was one of the first works of fiction to help me to realize that I was a feminist. This is a story about a woman, my friend. A woman just trying to live a life. Pretty much a woman who is just like you but who has a few different life experiences. That’s what I’ll say about that. And, yes, if you think you’re not a feminist a little part of me sees you a little dumber than I did before. So just don’t tell me, please. 

9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky
I love this book so much that I taught a class on it in college. I love this book so much that the very first time that I read it, I finished it, immediately missed Charlie, and then opened it up to read again from the beginning. Charlie does, in this book, what a lot of the internet does. He gives you an opportunity to say, “Oh my god, I thought I was the only one who felt things like that.” Perks goes into your secret mind. 

10. Hard Laughter by Anne Lamott
This was Annie’s very first novel–and it was basically a novelization of her father’s death. Having experienced the death of a parent as a very young adult, I was happy to have found this. She does such a good job, in everything she writes, of relating to me (I’m sure she does is specifically for me on purpose). The main character in this book is so different from me but that doesn’t even matter because, in true Lamott fashion, this book has me constantly putting down the book to have a private moment to say, “Gah! Me, too!”

Obviously, there’s a theme amongst most of these books. That is the idea that, essentially, we’re all the same. We’re all in this together and we’re not all so different. I think that’s powerful and important and it’s what I look for, every day, in life in general.

So how about you? What are some books that have made a lasting impression on you, in no particular order?

Full disclosure, I posted this whole post without even double checking it for spelling or formatting errors. It’s pretty unlike me but, hey, it happened. 

 

 

It’s funny because Halloween is the October-est day of October and then the very next day is November. Which has an entirely different vibe all together.

There’s autumn and then there’s November. Which brings with it a whole different kind of Autumn. October is about instagramming your shoes in the leaves and Pumpkin Spice Lattes. But November is about buckling down and turning your heart, maybe, a little bit away from just yourself and more towards the others who are around you. Cuddle Puddles and blankets and time to bust out that coat (though I’ll put that off for as long as possible because I really hate the bulk).

Currently Reading: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. Good for anyone who needs to feel completely inspired and torn apart all at once.
Just finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I’m a real sucker for memoirs. I really, really don’t know how to feel after finishing this one. It was a quick read and thoroughly interesting. But heartbreaking–and not in a terribly redeeming way. Though it could just be my current life-phase that’s reading it in that way. Other people who have read The Glass Castle, what do you think? How did you feel?
Excited to start reading: Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott. For such a fan of Annie, I really should have read this by now. I am ready and hungry for the food that she serves up to my soul.

Currently Listening to:
Over the Rhine: Meet Me at the Edge of The World . This album released in September. I bought it straight away but a lot of the time, Over the Rhine is pretty seasonal for me. And this time of year it’s perfect. I like to put it on when I’m doing yoga or in the kitchen making soup (both highly meditative practices). Ryan introduced me to Over The Rhine a few years ago and I was a quick convert. It shouldn’t be uncommon to find thoughtful, quality lyrics alongside beautiful music but lately it kind of is. A couple of favorite songs from this record, All Over Ohio “Love–let it be not just a feeling/ but the broken beauty/ of what we choose to do”, and Baby if This is Nowhere, “Baby, if this is Nowhere/ How sweet it is to find/ Now that we are finally here/ Nowhere suits me fine.”  Over The Rhine makes me want to move to the country, quit my day job, and start a prolific garden.
Also listening to the You Made it Weird podcast–it’s updated once a week and it’s a really long show (usually around two hours). But I like it because aside from the fact that Pete Holmes and his guests are both funny–but then they get really real. You know how sometimes you sit back and think, “it’s been a while since I’ve had a real, good, hearty conversation”. Well this is that kind of conversation. And you get to just overhear it. Recently, Pete interviewed June Dianne Raphael and it was so touching and raw. One of my most favorites. The Horatio Sanz interview was excellent as well.  It’s really a rare occasion when I’ll finish an episode of this podcast and not feel somehow stirred or compelled or thoughtful.

Currently watching: Pretty much only Parenthood. There are other things that happen to the TV in my presence (Master Chef Junior and the usual Comedy Central news shows) but Parenthood is the only thing on TV that I’m setting aside actual time for. You know, due to all those other things that I’m flooding my brain with.  Where my Parenthood Junkies at?!

Other favorites:
The other night, Ryan and I made Reubens and that’s just comfort food at it’s absolute best.
My friend Lacey started up this new, incredible studio space/ store called Hatch Studios in Hutchinson, KS just a few months ago. I mean, I LOVE THAT but what I wanted to say was that I bought some delicious artisan, patchouli soap from there and I friggin love it.  Also, in a few weeks they’re going to be hosting a paint-along class that I really want to go to and if you want to come with me, I would love that. This is me–inviting the entire internet.
These leggings.

XOXO
-Lib

I turned thirty last week. I think I’ve been excited about being thirty since I was a teenager. Thirty-year-olds always seemed to have their ish together. By thirty, you have a job you like, a house that you like with people inside that you like and/ or have created. You’re financially stable and know who you are. You know, you just HAVE everything all put together at thirty. I mean, in recent years I learned that this stuff is stuff that you have to work for and accumulate. It doesn’t just show up wrapped in a birthday box. So, when I woke up last Monday and felt just like I did the night before–it wasn’t exactly a disappointment but I have been taking a look at my surroundings a bit more. I have been working on my insides a little more. I’m taking more of an active role in who it is that I am becoming. Because we’re always still becoming.

The weekend before my birthday, we had a party. We had out of town guests. We traveled around. We killed time. There were horrendous disappointments along with the incredible good times. It was, as I have learned, what real life always is. It was just real life.

I’m going to take a cue from my internet crush, Joy The Baker, and make a list of things that I have learned in my thirty years on this planet. I mean, what is all this worth if we never learn anything? So here’s a long list. I’ll try not to be wordy. If I feel the need to keep writing and writing, I’ll just go ahead and try to devote an entire blog post to the topic because you and I both know that I’ll talk for days.

 

1. I am in charge of my own happiness. No one on this whole planet owes me a good time–that’s my job.

2. Leggings are pants, okay? Sometimes, anyway. Sometimes they are pants.

3. Listen to people because you want to learn about them. Not because you want to figure out how to categorize them.

4. Avocado + toast

5. You know what your spirit requires for rejuvenation. Chase that.

6. Facebook is not real life. But also, it kind of is a little bit, too. We’re all better people on the internet (except when we’re trolls).

7. Crockpots are not reserved for people who have their ish together. You deserve hot soup after work.

8. Someone’s not treating you extra-super-awesome today? Continue with the assumption that their dog just died.

9. Read. Even if it’s not a great, brilliant work of literature. Just read because it makes you think and when you think, you learn.

10. Do what works for you. The “right way” isn’t always the right way.

11. It’s okay that you don’t like Jell-O. Do not be shamed.

12. Never forget to change all of your internet passwords. Just go to that right now. We’ll wait. …

13. There are no guilty pleasures. You like what you like and that’s who you are. So what if you like to listen to Taylor Swift in the bathtub with a can of Cheez Whiz? No one has so few problems going on in their life that this is open for discussion. You do you (see Number 5).

14. No one ever regretted how much they didn’t drink last night. Just chew on that a little bit.

15. There is nothing like witnessing someone that you love doing what they love.

16. When you’re running low on funds, buy potatoes and eggs. Your options are limitless.

17. Take people at face value whether they want you to or not. You will always come out on top.

18. Never post anything on the internet after 11:00 pm. No exceptions.

19. Eat less sugar.

20. No one is responsible for your feelings and you are not responsible for theirs.

21. But still, take care of each other because we’re all that we have.

22. If your rent is paid but your bank account is in the single digits–you’re fine for now.

23. Everything can be a taco.

24. Someone has always got it better or worse than you. Your experience/ feeling/ knowledge is valid regardless.

25. Be real friends with people. They’re family, too.

26. SAY “thank you”.

27. You don’t really have to sift flour. Just whisk it. It’s the same.

28. Eat something green every day.

29. If you’re having trouble getting a hold of the situation, just focus on one true thing. Truth is truth whether you believe it or not.

30. You will never be 23 ever again and we’re all thankful for that.