First book read to kickoff the Reading Challenges! A new year deserves a gentle start, right? So what better than to read something that makes you feel like you could have a glass of your favorite beverage and just enjoy something easy and light.
I’m serious. Life is short. Too short for such obvious anxiety.
(Translated freely from the Finnish edition of the book.)
Finnish edition of Paris for One and Other Stories
I wanted to read something that would switch off my brain in a good way and for that Paris For One and Other Stories worked well. 🙂
2020 has started and I wish you all a joyful year! Personally I am hoping that 2020 will bring better health as 2019 was a surprisingly bad year health-wise. As a result, my new year’s resolution is to put my well-being first and slow down to prevent breaking down.
And what’s the best way of slowing down? Reading! Except if you’re racing to complete a Reading Challenge, or TWO Reading Challenges like me this year. Yes, that’s right: I will try to handle two Reading Challenges, yikes.
It’s been a long year and even though my health has been bad for most of this year, at least I found some happiness with the many books I read. 🙂
I spent Christmas mostly eating and reading and I can finally say: yes, the Reading Challenge is complete! Yay! The goal was to read 50 books and match those books to 50 reading challenge prompts made by the Finnish Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries. I ended up reading 53 books which is much more than I thought I would end up with.
If I had to choose the top 5 books for this year, these would be the ones: 1. Becoming by Michelle Obama 2. Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster by David Attenborough 3. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez 4. Dear Girls by Ali Wong 5. Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
I’m just really happy to have read so many inspiring books this year. Reading really helped me get through this difficult year, that still affects my wellbeing. So what exactly did I read? There are some stats I can share!
Autumn has changed to winter here in Finland and even though it’s been all gloomy and rainy for most days, we did get a bit of snow here in the south too. It’s gone now but it was lovely while it lasted. 🙂
This is so much better than rain and dark, muddy ground in addition to the early darkness we get this time of the year.
November is hated by many, but I tend to enjoy it. It’s my birthday month, maybe that has something to do with it (making me more tolerant to dark and misery?) and of course it’s the season of hygge. The weather demands you to stay indoors and just enjoy being warm and cozy.
Talvikirja is a Finnish book about winter, and how to best enjoy the winter months. It’s a combination of beautiful photographs and tips for wintery things to do, recipes and just short tales of how the winter months are experienced by the authors.
It was sleeting a bit here in Southern Finland, so winter is definitely on its way. It’s getting darker and darker every day and soon we will have only limited hours of daylight time and that continues for a couple of months. It’s depressing to some, but for me this season has always been very cozy. I love early autumn’s colors and when that’s done I love the feeling of staying inside and doing things I enjoy with good conscience ,when the weather doesn’t favor going out. And of course, since I’m a Christmas person, I like the “preparation months” when it’s not yet hectic, and one can dream of a calm Christmas before the hassle really starts in December. 🙂
Ota aikalisä arjen kiireistä ja opettele nauttimaan vuoden pimeimmästä ajasta niin sisällä kuin ulkona.
Rough translation from Finnish: “Take a timeout from the everyday hustle and learn to enjoy the darkest time of the year both inside and outside.”
This book was very enjoyable to me and it very gently sets the mood for this season. This season is all about adjusting your attitude and making the best of the dark and cold months.
