Tag: book club

My 35 Books of 2024

Posted on by Elise
Reading Vonnegut in Santa Barbara, in February 2024.

It feels like 2024 was the year of the divorce memoir, and a lot of them written by people in my age cohort, so I ended up reading a lot of stories of miserable marriages and disappointing partners. I know everyone was wild for All Fours, but I only liked it in bits because I found the main character really tough to relate to(?). Overall, I’m pleased that the vast majority of my reading was by women authors, but in 2025 I need to do some work on reading more fiction, again.

I did a lot of reading for work. I began hosting Forever35 and we are fortunate to have brilliant authors on as guests, so even in cases where I read 95% of their books, I did not list them on my annual reading because I am devoted to the honesty and accuracy of these lists.

Favorites: Girlhood, Yolk, What Looks Like Bravery, Thick, Margot’s Got Money Troubles, Big Fan, Heavy, I’m Glad My Mom Died, and Hollywood Con Queen.

Surprises: Britney Spears’ memoir was way better than I thought it would be. Anna K: A Love Story, which is a modern day retelling of Anna Karenina, was so much fun.

Discovery: I read a lot of books after meeting the author in person (what a privilege, I know) and a few that I learned about from my new friend, Traci Thomas, who hosts The Stacks podcast. She and I selected Interior Chinatown to read together for an episode of the podcast earlier in the year, and it was a delight to read and to gab about it after.

1 Better By Far Hazel Hayes
2 Entitled Kate Manne
3 From Strength to Strength Arthur Brooks
4 Body Work Melissa Febos
5 You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty Akawe Emezi
6 Interior Chinatown Charles Yu
7 Girlhood Melissa Febos
8 The Woman in Me Britney Spears
9 Splinters Leslie Jamison
10 Yolk Mary HK Choi
11 Hits, Flops and Other Ed Zwick
12 Anna K: A Love Story Jenny Lee
13 The 2 Hour Cocktail Party Nick Gray
14 Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus
15 Thanks for Waiting Doree Shafrir
16 How to Raise an Adult Julie Lythcott-Haims
17 I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself Glynnis MacNichol
18 Die Hot with a Vengeance: Essays on Vanity Sable Yong
19 Horse Barbie Geena Rocero
20 I Hope This Finds You Well Kate Baer
21 What Looks Like Bravery Laurel Braitman
22 Toward Eternity Anton Hur
23 Thick
Tressie McMillan Cottom
24 All Fours Miranda July
25 This American Ex Wife Lyz Lenz
26 Stay True Hua Hsu
27 More, Please Emma Specter
28 Margot’s Got Money Troubles Rupi Thorpe
29 Troubling A Star Madeleine L’Engle
30 Big Fan Alexandra Romanoff
31 Hollywood Con Queen Scott Johnson
32 Heartburn Nora Ephron
33 I’m Glad My Mom Died Jeanette McCurdy
34 Heavy Kiese Laymon
35 Liars Sarah Manguso

If you’re interested in picking up any of these titles, a reminder that I have a page on Bookshop.org with my 2024 reads, and every book you purchase on Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores.

Previous Years in Reading

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

Resolutions for 2019

Posted on by Elise

“If nothing else, the routine of aspiration, disappointment, and rebirth gives him a sense of purpose. There is an essential reward in the circular struggle to create a better self, even if…we’re making up that better self as we go along.” —John Teti

Orchid buds. I won’t even try to keep alive an orchid this year. (Photo credit: Robert Mitchem)

When I reviewed how I did with last year’s intentions, I questioned whether I should even keep doing new year’s resolutions. I mean, so many hopes at the start of the year went by the wayside almost faster than I could say “Oh it’s February!”

We are nothing without some measure of hope, however, so here I am with a list of resolutions again.

Take a daily vitamin
This isn’t hard, but I still don’t do it. Having to put down any pill on the regular is a big mental block for me that must have something to do with my father being a pharmacist. You know how the rap on preacher’s kids is that they rebel? Well, pharmacist kids rebel by being anti-drug, I guess.

Get organized, aka, finish moving
There is still a garage full of boxes from the move that have yet to be dealt with, and this is what I’m tasking an organizer with once I hire one. Very excited to do this. If you’re interested, there is a whole association of professional organizers who can come and make sense of your stuff.

Look inward
For a good six years, I was almost nonstop giving myself over — literally — to other humans. No joke, between January 2012 and March 2018 I was either a) pregnant or b) nursing. During that time we also moved internationally, opened a new bureau, covered three countries with dominant languages I didn’t understand and criss-crossed East and Southeast Asia to chase the news. So often I felt disconnected from myself because I was just constantly onto what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. Now that I’m integrated again and in sunny California, I don’t even KNOW what I want to do next. So I shall devote time to being still and meditating so I can hear myself better. 

Learn to surf
Also file under: I live in Southern California now! Friend Nate at work has a live cam on his second monitor of all the beaches nearby so that when he sees really good surf he can escape early to hit the waves. I would really like to join him.

Learn to play the ukulele
We got Eva a ukulele for Christmas, which I am more into than she is, so I’m going to go ahead and teach myself by watching YouTube instructional videos and THEN teach Eva. I think this is doable, but then again I always think resolutions are doable at the beginning of the year.

Blog at least four times a month
I’m glad this self-hosted blog is still around since letting Facebook “connect the world” or whatever has proven so pernicious. Last year my goal was five posts a month, which I only did for four months of the year. So I’m lowering the bar in hopes of actually passing it.

As for my 2018 list, I added the final progress report to last year’s resolution post.

If you have any resolutions of your own that might be worth adding, leave them in the comments. And look, if things don’t get to a great start in 2019 we have about a month to screw up until we can claim the Lunar New Year as a fresher fresh start.

YEAR END UPDATE, December 2019

Take a daily vitamin

Success. Thanks to aggressively tracking whether I took a vitamin each day, I did accomplish this more than 330 days of the year.

Get organized, aka, finish moving

Success. I hired a garage organizer who came over and basically do the job for me, with my oversight.

Look inward
In progress, but I can check this off as something I did this year. I deliberately spent a lot more time alone, more time meditating, and regularly went to see my LA therapist, Bobbie. My friends and I refer to her as “Bobby with an i” for some reason, even though her name actually ends in an “ie.” I spent a lot of time exploring through her and through my journalism how to be a better human — trying to analyze myself in context to improve my relationships (with others and communities), to be less of a slave to my emotions and mainly, to figure out what it is I want in this back half of my thirties, back in America and in late capitalism.

Learn to surf
Failed. I blame losing the use of my right arm/shoulder for three months and lacking full rotation for the entire back half of the year. Does it count that my daughter, the first grader, popped up on a board on her second try and continues to go surfing with a coach? Kidding, I know it doesn’t count.

Learn to play the ukulele
Failed. I lost interest by the end of January. I have never liked stringed instruments, ever since violin lessons in elementary school.

Blog at least four times a month
50 percent success. Made or exceeded the goal in January, February, March, June, July and August. I was in a malaise for the fall, which I blame for not feeling like writing as much.