This week was what I call a lull week: the week after my semester ends but before the semester begins. That means I had a bit more flexibility and I spent it well. I created a brand new summer reading guide with 100 children’s literature books I think every teacher (and adult!) should have on their summer TBR list. It’s almost ready to share! In the meantime, here are two books I read this week, a cool new way to track my reading and a plan to have the best summer yet.

What I'm Reading:

I read two books this week. The first was a personal development book that has my brain reeling…in a good way. The second was a delightful adult fiction book I received from a friend in our ‘pay a book forward’ exchange inside my Get Lit(erate) community. I loved every page of them both.

You, Happier by Daniel G. Amen

You, Happier has indeed made me happier. Not only did I read the book, but I learned my brain type (I’m a 9), completed EVERY recommended exercise, started a wellness journal to keep track of all my new brain-boosting routines, bought the supplements just right for me and am already seeing results. And I’m not done. I’m now diving into Dr. Amen’s backlist of books and even signed up for his online courses. I’ve been struggling a bit as we transition back to living through a pandemic and this has given me the tools I need to take 100% responsibility for how I feel and how I want to show up for my family for many, mean years to come. Please read this book. 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

They are not for everyone, but I do love reading stories where I have a hunch about how everything will work out in the end. And this book gave me exactly that. Poppy and Alex are complete opposites, but long-time best friends, who vacation together every summer. Until one vacation changed it all. Weaving between vacations past and present, readers learn what makes both Poppy and Alex tick, what they really want out of life and if the risk to get it is worth taking. This is the perfect book to get lost inside of.

What I'm Writing:

This week, I’m planning my summer! Armed with Sarah Hart Unger’s advice on her Best Laid Plans podcast and Gretchen Rubin’s tips on her recent Happier episode, I am well on my way to designing a summer I love. Here’s what I brainstormed in my notebook (and you should, too!)

  • the books I want to read
  • the family meals I want to have (notice I did not say cook! =)
  • the places I want to visit
  • the tasks I want to accomplish
  • the things I want to try
  • the ways I want to feel

For all of you spontaneous types, you might find planning for fun a bit over the top, but if I don’t plan it, I don’t do it. Planning helps me think intentionally about what I want my days to look like and then make sure I accomplish that…even if it is simply relaxing by the pool with a good book. 

Are you hoping to design your summer too? I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m offering a summer planning workshop inside Get Lit(erate) at the beginning of July to mindfully plan for a summer full of reading, writing, learning and loving the days we have. Join us!

What I'm Learning:

Did you know that I NEVER tracked my reading life until a few years ago? Never. I just didn’t see the point. I mean, I knew I read a lot and I enjoyed it, so why track it?

Well, tracking something means we give more attention to it. And giving more attention to the things we enjoy means we get to enjoy them more. 

Plus, I was always forgetting the titles I read and would stand there with a ‘Wait! The title will come to me!’ face when trying to share books with friends. 

So, I started tracking the books I read in my notebook: just a simple list of books. This helped, but I still had a hard time really remembering the books and more importantly, the lessons I knew they taught me. 

So, I started using Goodreads. This way, I could instantly pull up the app on my phone when trying to remember the title of a book and scroll my way through my ‘Read’ shelf. 

But that didn’t do the trick either. I really needed to BE with the book for a while so I could truly remember it later and hold onto the lessons I needed to learn from inside the pages. So, I started writing reviews of every book I read on Goodreads and eventually created my blog, A Lit Life, so I could better share those books with others. 

But Austin Kleon has me thinking I need to shake things up again with a book cluster map. A book cluster map is a graphic representation of the books you’ve read on the page with arrows and lines to represent not only the order you read them, but the connections you made between them. 

So, I gave it a try and made a cluster map of the books I’ve read recently in my notebook. AND I LOVED THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE. Here was a pencil sketch of my cluster map:

I highly recommend you give this a try! With just a few strokes of the pencil, we can go deeper into our reading life and the reading experience. Next? I plan to really bedazzle the experience with colorful pens, stickers, washi tape and more. Stay tuned!

What I'm Loving:

Ingrid Fetell Lee offers 10 steps to a fresh start. Her recommendations to bring home flowers and clean our desk were my favorite. These are ten things any of us can do at any time to bring us more joy. 

Roni Loren shared her summer reading book cart in her newsletter and now I want one. I mean, I really, really want one. But instead of a cart, I think I’ll get a fabric bin instead. And I’ll personalize it like this: Stephanie’s TBR. This will be my next purchase.

A book I REALLY enjoyed, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, is going to become a movie! I need a watch party with bookish friends for this. 

There you have it! I hope this inspires you to make space for more reading and writing in your own life. What are the highlights from your literate life this week?