My 2021 "Raves & Faves"

The Library system I work for has a "Raves and Faves" category of books. These are books that have been published prior to the current year, which staff have found meaningful, a "good read," and would recommend for a book club or to a customer.

Following are the titles I submitted:

Youth Fiction

• We Are Not From Here, by Sanchez, Jenny Torres pub May 19, 2020

• Brave New Girl, by Vincent, Rachel pub May 09, 2017

Adult Fiction

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by Schwab, V.E. pub Oct 06, 2020

• In Five Years, by Serle, Rebecca pub Mar 10, 2020

• What's Left of Me Is Yours, by Scott, Stephanie pub Apr 21, 2020

• When I Was You, by Garza, Amber pub Aug 25, 2020

• The Matchmaker's List, by Lalli, Sonya pub Jan 22, 2019

• The Dilemma, by Paris, B.A.  pub 2019

• The Farm, by Ramos, Joanne pub May 07, 2019

Non-Fiction

• Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, by Acho, Emmanuel pub Nov 10, 2020

• The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done, by Adachi, Kendra pub Aug 11, 2020

• You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters, by Murphy, Kate pub Jan 07, 2020

• How to Cook: Building Blocks and 100 Simple Recipes for a Lifetime of Meals, by Acheson, Hugh pub Oct. 20 2020

• Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life, by Kondo, Marie pub Apr 07, 2020

• The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously, by Clark, Liesl pub Apr 14, 2020

• Project 333: The Minimalist Fashion Challenge That Proves Less Really Is So Much More, by Carver, Courtney pub Mar 03, 2020

• Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus, by McCormack, Joseph pub Nov 26, 2019

• Happier Human: 53 Science-Backed Habits to Increase Your Happiness, by Scott, S.J. pub Feb. 27 2019

• 24/6 : the power of unplugging one day a week, by Shlain, Tiffany pub Sep 24, 2019

• Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear, by Sheridan, Richard pub Dec 04, 2018

• Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, by Vanderkam, Laura pub May 29, 2018

What's on your "Raves & Faves" book list?

Aspirational Self

As a Librarian, one of my "job hazards" is my never-ending "to be read" (TBR) list. Recommendations from colleagues, friends, and customers get on the list. And I feel it's my duty to add books of various genres from new book lists. At the beginning of this year I compiled my TBR lists from my two library accounts (where I work and where I live) and Goodreads and narrowed it down to 111 titles.

Since January I have read (including those I abandoned) 70 books and am currently reading 4 so I am probably on track to finish 98 by the end of the year.

One of the books I'm currently reading is "Organized Enough: The Anti-Perfectionist's Guide to Getting—and Staying—Organized," by Helen Amanda Sullivan. Chapter 5 is called "Who Are You Now? or, Will You Really Use That Bread Maker?" It speaks about our aspirational selves - the people we think we want to be, the ones we keep stuff around for that we don't actually use.

It made me think about my aspirational self as a Librarian. Could I be a Librarian who didn't feel compelled to always be reading? To always be adding so many titles to my TBR list that I would need an extra lifetime to finish them? 

What I've noticed is that even when I have guilt-free time to read (meaning the laundry and administrative tasks at home are done), I don't dive into my TBR pile. Could it be that the pile is for my aspirational self and that maybe I don't want to read so much? 

Does that mess with my identity as a Librarian? Or as an intellectual? Or as a "productive" person? Reading is generally not seen as a waste of time (though some genres are vilified), whereas watching a movie or sitting and staring at the trees might be.

I'm going to try to keep letting go of collecting things for my aspiration self - including books. Although they are on loan and theoretically not taking up permanent space in my home, in reality they are permanent guests with their own shelves. I feel guilty for having them here instead of letting them be discovered by someone else in the Library, I feel badly for ignoring them.

So... time to send them back. This is the pile (minus two on lettering) currently taking up space in my mind. The Bible on top is a Catholic Bible because I want to read the Apocrypha books, I have already read the whole Protestant Bible.

I am going to narrow it down to three. Wish me luck!

333 update - one year later (Oct 2021)

In October 2020 I started my "333" project. The project involves wearing just 33 items for 3 months, with the goal of reducing decision fatigue about what to wear.

Season 1: October-December

Season 2: January-March

Season 3: April-June

Season 4: July-September

I found this very freeing. When clothing no longer sparked joy, I passed it along to someone else - knowing that opened up a spot for something else. I didn't buy anything to replace it, I just knew that I wouldn't miss it.

I found that two pairs of dress pants and five or six dress shirts were plenty for work. 

I wore my favourite t-shirts, not worried about saving them for fear of them wearing out. If they wore out, which they didn't, I would have room for a different favourite shirt to enter the rotation.

I have to make some decisions about jewellery. I have far more than I could even put into rotation and I don't really care about wearing it.

I did miss having more variety of footwear so I should consider where I can let go of an item to add another pair of shoes.

This was a great exercise and one I plan to continue.