Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Nerd Alert!
The challenge:
To read as many books from my "to read" list in the next year. Two books a month would be great but time is not important as long as I finish them!
The rules:
- Pick at least one book per month.
- Read consciously. No flipping through pages or leaving books unfinished.
- Try to read at least 30 minutes every day.
- Share reviews or thoughts about the book being read.
- Have fun :)
If you'd like to read with me please let me know by leaving a comment below or emailing me at foxarrowdesign at gmail dot com. I would love love love to share this experience with others.
I'm also on Goodreads if you want to be friends! ;)
This is the list I will be reading through in no particular order:
Be inspired: It's time to get real with David Foster Wallace
For ages I've been weirdly attracted to David Foster Wallace's work but a little hesitant to get near his literary work because something in the way he conducted himself while alive made me believe that his witty and humorous style would not be appealing to me. Until a couple of days ago when I rediscovered and dusted my platonic attraction to all things DFW and decided to give it another go.
I decided I would ease into his work by starting with This Is Water
. A commencement speech he gave in 2005 that was greatly praised and later turned into almost a sort of quote book. Every sentence in the book is written in a different page. and even though it can be annoying at times, it also gives you the power to slow down, soak it in and think about the effect is has in your life.It was something so simple that actually changed my take on life and education a couple of years ago. I guess you can say that it woke me up from the stereotypical "life-without-school-is-no-life" mindset and allowed me to see that education is about awareness and life's colours about how you choose to see them. There's something so tragically beautiful about this speech that keeps me coming back for more. Maybe it has to do with how his life ended and his struggle to stay alive but maybe it has to do with the fact that he is so great at teaching us how to live a fulfilling life that he obviously couldn't follow his own example. Whatever it is, it sure is a great was to dive into this literary genius' work.
. A commencement speech he gave in 2005 that was greatly praised and later turned into almost a sort of quote book. Every sentence in the book is written in a different page. and even though it can be annoying at times, it also gives you the power to slow down, soak it in and think about the effect is has in your life.It was something so simple that actually changed my take on life and education a couple of years ago. I guess you can say that it woke me up from the stereotypical "life-without-school-is-no-life" mindset and allowed me to see that education is about awareness and life's colours about how you choose to see them. There's something so tragically beautiful about this speech that keeps me coming back for more. Maybe it has to do with how his life ended and his struggle to stay alive but maybe it has to do with the fact that he is so great at teaching us how to live a fulfilling life that he obviously couldn't follow his own example. Whatever it is, it sure is a great was to dive into this literary genius' work.
Have you ever read some of David Foster Wallace's work? If so which was your favorite and why?
I'm planning on reading some of his work in this order:
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
(Which I started last week and been eating up like crazy)
- Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
- The Broom of the System: A Novel
- Oblivion: Stories
and finally
- Infinite Jest
Please share this with friends! I think it's something worth getting out and if you want to know more about the genius behind this speech please visit His site.
*Some of these links may be affiliate but that by no means determines what goes on my posts.
I will never compromise quality of content for affiliates.
What I'm loving this week | one
*Photo source unknown
This is what's been inspiring me lately:
1. An easy How-To guide for being transformed by books. -Seriously take a look-
2. This lovely manifesto, because we all need to stand out sometimes.
3. The prettiest DIY project! Who knew Party Hat Necklaces where that easy to make?
4. This lovely lady and her gorgeous beauty blog that makes me want to get up and play with makeup.
5. Let's get real with our feelings. Love, relationships, self-worth and a lovely letter.
6. The always amazing Naomi Davis sharing a little bit of her days with her kiddos over at Small Fry Blog.
7. Oh Happy Day! has got to be one of my favorite blogs ever. I can't get enough.
8. A mouth watering feature of Call me Cupcake on Aileen's blog At Home With Love.
9. The most amazing corky house I've ever laid eyes on. Featured on my last post.
What's inspiring you this week friends? Please feel free to share your source of inspiration for this week on a comment below.
Happy weekend!
Daydreaming about: farming and simple living
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It's not a secret to anyone that knows me that I've been long dreaming about simple living. I'm one of those people that doesn't find city living fulfilling or exciting anymore and all I can think about all day is about dropping everything and running in the other direction. I know we've all had this I-want-to-have-fresh-eggs-and-milk-everyday dream at least once. But for many people it's just that; A distant dream that is likely not happening.
Now, I promise that I'm not one of those bratty bloggers that say they love country living but actually have no idea what farming actually entails. I promise I really am interested in breeding and raising chickens, pigs, cows, bees and maybe sheeps or goats. I promise I really do know all the hard work that a farm demands and the sacrifices that you have to make in order to have dinner in your table (and your animals alive!). I promise I don't mind moving away from the comfort of fast food, groserie stores and waving vacations goodbye. I promise I actually dream about sleeping next to a pregnant cow waiting for her to deliver.
I learned all of this by reading tons (seriously, a lot!!) of books about sustainable living. My curiosity started out by wanting to know how could I plant and maintain a herb garden in a teeny tiny city apartment. I learned so many things and a new world was opened to me. My curiosity then lead me to discover the amazing ways of farming. I started following bloggers like Kate from The Longest Acres and Home Sweet Homestead to get a little more insight into their lives. It is great because they both share something that text books don't: Passion.
There are some books that I hold dear to my heart though, and I wanted to share them with you. The ones that taught me most of what I know about it. The ones that make my heart yearn for a small piece of land for me and my family every day and the ones that keep inspiring me to go for it!
ONE: I guess this book became a staple of modern farming because Julia Rothman is just that good. Her funny quirky illustrations give so much insight and make it so much fun to learn! When you go through the pages you don't see it as something you'll get bored of. Im a hyper-visual learner and it's been great getting to know farm animals and plants without reading loooooong boring texts.
TWO: I LOVE Chris Gleason and the fact that he shares over 21 awesome projects to build around your garden or piece of land in this book. There's everything you might need, from the basic projects to get started in gardening to super advanced greenhouses and chicken coops. He is super informative and makes it really easy to understand.
THREE: Again, big fan of this book and of Chris Gleason in general. He explains EVERYTHING that there is to know about chicken coops. The best fit for a different kinds of chicken, and what needs to do when they start growing in number! This books makes me anxious and excited to start raising and caring for chickens.
FOUR: The bible of alternate natural sustainable living! Seriously, it's so good! This book talks a lot about different strategies to plant, grow and live of different types of food that can be planted in your yard or farm. It is amazing to see how people tend to the earth as they produce food for themselves. Mark Shepard really teaches you how to stop killing everything that is alive in order for you to eat but instead teaches you to give back to the soil and nurture it to be fertile.
FIVE: This handbook gives excellent information and step-to-step instructions and beautiful illustrations to live a self-sustainable life on the suburbs. One of my all time favorite reads!
SIX: My personal favorite part of this book is all the amazing information about putting your produce to use. Making cheese and yogurt, planting and collecting and all the useful recipes.
That's it I hope you like them and please do share your favorite books on the subject with me. I'm always in the look for more!
*Photo by Home Sweet Homestead