Friday Four
1. I've taken the exclamation point off of my Friday Four. I'm still not feeling peppy enough to use exclamation points.
2. I'm generally doing pretty well. Still very busy with exhausting details in the aftermath of my dad's passing, but feeling a bit more like myself. I'm even going to go back to the gym today for the first time in months. I don't really care about the workout--my big challenge is to get in and out of there without crying (not that I mind crying, but really, do I have to do it at the gym?)
3. I've finally gotten back into reading. I had thought I had lost my ability to concentrate on books. It turned out I was trying to read the wrong books. I picked up WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Forman the other day--the day before yesterday, actually--and I'm on the last chapter. I'm really enjoying this book and it's even feeling a bit cathartic to me.
4. I do that often--pick up books where the characters deal with similar hardships as I'm going through at the moment. WHERE SHE WENT is the follow up to IF I STAY, where Mia lost her whole family in a car accident. When I had recently miscarried, I read plenty of novels about pregnancy. I think a lot of people would purposely avoid these types of books that hit too close to home, but I search them out and they really help me process.
This whole topic makes me think of the whole #YAsaves topic on Twitter (there's also a funny parody hashtag - #YAkills - which is quite fun to follow) and the Wall Street Journal articles/opinion pieces that sparked it. I can see that there are two sides to the story--it's too bad that edginess is seen sometimes as a marketing tool. But as for me, personally, I'm very glad I have books that deal with the harder stuff that I can read in the midst of the harder times of my life.
I'm not going to get into a big rant one way or the other. That's all I have to say on the topic, really, but I'd love to hear other thoughts too if you have them.
Happy weekend, everyone!
2. I'm generally doing pretty well. Still very busy with exhausting details in the aftermath of my dad's passing, but feeling a bit more like myself. I'm even going to go back to the gym today for the first time in months. I don't really care about the workout--my big challenge is to get in and out of there without crying (not that I mind crying, but really, do I have to do it at the gym?)
3. I've finally gotten back into reading. I had thought I had lost my ability to concentrate on books. It turned out I was trying to read the wrong books. I picked up WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Forman the other day--the day before yesterday, actually--and I'm on the last chapter. I'm really enjoying this book and it's even feeling a bit cathartic to me.
4. I do that often--pick up books where the characters deal with similar hardships as I'm going through at the moment. WHERE SHE WENT is the follow up to IF I STAY, where Mia lost her whole family in a car accident. When I had recently miscarried, I read plenty of novels about pregnancy. I think a lot of people would purposely avoid these types of books that hit too close to home, but I search them out and they really help me process.
This whole topic makes me think of the whole #YAsaves topic on Twitter (there's also a funny parody hashtag - #YAkills - which is quite fun to follow) and the Wall Street Journal articles/opinion pieces that sparked it. I can see that there are two sides to the story--it's too bad that edginess is seen sometimes as a marketing tool. But as for me, personally, I'm very glad I have books that deal with the harder stuff that I can read in the midst of the harder times of my life.
I'm not going to get into a big rant one way or the other. That's all I have to say on the topic, really, but I'd love to hear other thoughts too if you have them.
Happy weekend, everyone!