The Lazy Genius Podcast - #122 - What I Hope to Read This Fall and Why

Episode Date: September 9, 2019

Today we’re talking about books! And based on your responses to the Latest Lazy Letter (which has tons of book and podcast recommendations), you love talking about them, too. I’m sharing what I learned from setting summer reading goals and how I plan to use that information as I head into the fall. Stuff Mentioned If you missed my episode on summer reading, listen to Summer Reading Plans 2019 to catch up before listening to my reflections here. Check out my Fall Reading Stack here. For reading on the go, I love using my Kindle Paperwhite. If I want to read in the margins of my day, it’s easy to grab it and read a few pages. If you’re on Instagram, I’d love for you to join me for an Instagram LIVE on Thursday around 12 or 12:15 p.m. EST. Get behind-the-scenes info and my latest book, podcast, and music recommendations by signing up for the Latest Lazy Letter, a newsletter I send out every month. Download a transcript of this episode. This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Defender. With the towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms and a waiting depth of 900 millimeters, the Defender 110 pushes what's possible. Learn more at landrover.ca. Amazon presents Laura versus fruit flies. Swarming your fruit and terrorizing your kitchen, these little freaks multiply at a rate that would make a rabbit say, yo. Chill.

But Laura shopped on Amazon and saved on cleaning spray, countertop wipes, and fly traps. Hey, fruit flies. Your baby boom ends here. Save the everyday with Amazon. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the lazy genius podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi, and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm so glad you're here because today we're talking about books.

I love talking about books. and based on how much you guys respond to other episodes and posts about books, and especially replies I get to my latest lazy letter, which has tons about books, you like it too. So in this episode, I want to quickly share what I hope to read this fall and why. And we'll start by looking back at the summer. In episode 110 called Summer Reading Plans, I shared my three desires for reading this past summer. First, I wanted to read books during my free time instead of doing anything else. Second, I wanted to have daily family reading time, where we all sat around reading silently, but together in the same room. And third, I wanted to read a chapter book aloud to my boys. Quick recap, the first one went great

until I hit a rut in all four books I was reading. I was reading four at a time. I share specifics of that in the most recent latest lazy letter, but once I hit the rut, I lost momentum and I stopped reading. I stopped reading in my free time. To be honest, I'm still trying to get it back. But I'm also rethinking what that actually means for the fall. But more on that in a minute. The second goal of family reading time, y'all, I think we did it three times. My kids read. I read. We all read. We all did during the summer. But we didn't have a set time like I wanted to. And you know what? It was okay. No harm done. I kind of learned that like I don't need idyllic reading moments in order for reading to still happen in my house. Ideal isn't necessary. And then that ties into

how the third goal of reading a book aloud to my boys went. Not great. I read maybe four chapters of a Harry Potter book and they just lost steam so fast. When I picked it up, they kind of whined and asked to read something else on their own. So I quickly realized two things. One, just because they didn't want it this summer doesn't mean they never will. It's super fine that they weren't into it. And then two, I'd rather them read what they want and like it than read what I want. and not like it. So in summary, my summer reading plans were a poorly built house of cards. Does that mean my goals were wrong? Absolutely not. It means only that they didn't have the lifespan I thought they would. They helped me be thoughtful about reading in our house, which I would rather do

and fail than not do at all, because reading matters to me and to the culture of our family. So with all those lessons learned from the summer, I am moving into the fall with a loose grip and an eager attitude, especially with my kids. For my own personal reading, though, I learned some specific lessons that directly impact my goals for the fall. The first thing I learned, being excited about a book is important. That's kind of a no-brainer, but like, I need to want to pick it up or else I will not do that.

And again, that may be obvious, but some people can deal with the slog better than I can, but more often than not, I can't. I need to be interested. And with the energy of fall being more fast-paced than the summer anyway, that's even more true this season. Second thing I learned, I need a page turner in at least one place. So I mentioned that I was reading four books before. So I always have four things going. I have a physical like in my hand, nonfiction, a physical fiction, something on my paper white, which I adore, and then something on my phone for when I'm like in line somewhere. And I, I need a page turner in at least one of those places.

That's why I hit such a rut this summer. All four of my books stopped being interesting. And there were definitely no page turners at all. That's a really important lesson for me, specifically in how I read. I see that as true no matter the season. I just really like to be captivated. So that's the way it goes.

Number three, I need to stop putting limits on what I read and when I read it. So I went through a stage of reading nonfiction in the morning and then fiction the rest of the day, which I still kind of do. But there was a point before my rut where my nonfiction book was the page turner. But when it was 4.30 and I wanted to read a page or two in the middle of making dinner, I didn't feel like I could pick up the nonfiction book, even though it was the most interesting at the time just because of what time of day it was. No more. I'm going to read what I want what I want. Dang it. Aw isn't something we need to travel for.

It's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. All right, so number four of things I learned. Having a reading queue is great, but it works best if it's uninterrupted. I had a summer stack that I was so excited to read. The genres were varied.

I was excited about all of them. Then I got a slew of library holds in over a couple of weeks. I picked up a couple of titles randomly at the library. I enjoyed all of them. I mean, that's what's funny about it. But it took away the power of the summer stack. it made it less important somehow and it kind of interrupted like the reading zone of those books that were chosen together like they were kind of all chosen to be read together and I interrupted it.

So for the fall, I'm going to steer clear of the library just for a season and just read what's on my shelf. And finally fifth, momentum is good, but it's okay not to have it. Because I share what I read with you in the latest lazy letter, I will sometimes put unnecessary pressure on myself to read a lot so I could share a lot of titles with you. But for the month of August, I think I read three books. For me, that's not a lot. And yet it is still a lot. That's a book every 10 days. Like while on earth what I see that is discouraging, you know, no one is setting reading requirements on me but me. So since I'm a boss of me, I'm not going to be so locked into reading momentum. We ebb and flow and that's fine. I love to read. I love to

read and I would rather keep it up than let it go. But if I go through ruts, I'm still a reader and everything will be fine. So based on those five lessons, here are my three goals for my reading this fall. First, I'll read what I want when I want. I already said that. I still love saying it. I am the boss. Two, I'm going to take a break from the library. I will still be a faithful library supporter with my kids and all of my book finds. I feel like I've given them a wing. But, for my own reading, I'm going to stick with what I already have for the next few months and save the library for later. And then three, I'm not going to worry about reading a certain number of books. I just want to read something every day. If I read even one page of any book once a day, that's great with me.

So those three goals aren't even really goals. I'm basically taking like all the parameters off my reading to make sure I keep enjoying it rather than being at its mercy for some weird reason. I'm really excited about my fall reading because of these three intentions. and because of my fall reading stack. I will have a post on the website so you can see what those books are. You can check a link in the show notes for that, but these are the titles I'm planning on reading this fall. In the Woods by Tana French.

I've only read one of her books, the likeness, but it was so my scene, such a Paige Turner, mystery, thriller, detective, British situation. I loved it, and I want more of those. Next is The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. You might remember this for my summer stack. I didn't read it, but it is the perfect kind of feel-good book to keep me reading this fall. At least I hope so.

Next is Jabber Crow by Wendell Berry. I really like Wendell Berry, but I haven't read any of his fiction yet. He feels like such a fall author, so I'm looking forward to this one. Another page turner on my shelf is a reread, actually, which I don't often do. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. I loved this book when I read it a year or two ago. and since it's short and awesome, I mean, it's so tiny, it could be a really great shot in the arm if I need to look forward to picking up a book. A nonfiction title I'm excited to read is called The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.

It's about how our bodies hold on to trauma, and I'm very intrigued by it. I hope to learn a lot from it. Obviously not super light reading, but I like to learn a lot from my nonfiction. Next is I Remember Nothing, which is a short collection of essays by Norfolk. I'm hoping for some Hollywood fun in this one, but it's another short, interesting read. It feels great for early fall, especially. And then finally, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I put this on my list after hearing about it on Ann Bogle's podcast. What should I read next? And while it's not my usual affair, I think I'm going to love it based on her description. I remember reading Seabiscuit a couple of years ago and being oddly obsessed with it. I mean,

it is a huge doorstop of a book about horse racing, about one horse. And I was riveted. So I think somehow, like how the real story was told in such a captivating way, it read like page turning fiction. I think this book, The Boys in the Boat, about an Olympic rowing team, it could be the same. It could be really awesome. I'm strangely excited about this one too. And that's the list. I think that's what is that six books? I am genuinely excited to read all of them, which is why I'm going to stick with this list until I've read them all or quit them because they weren't right for me right now. It has me excited about how reading will fit into my life this fall, which is the whole point. If you have a fall reading stack or maybe just some reading

thoughts or goals that you want to share with me and the rest of the community, tag me on Instagram at the lazy genius and then use the hashtag lazy genius fall stack so we can all see what everyone is reading. And if you want reviews of these books as I read them, you can subscribe to my VIP list. You'll get my monthly latest lazy letter with all things books and recommendations and other stuff I don't share anywhere else. Okay, friends, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be live on Instagram this Thursday, around 12 or 1215, and you can check the post Thursday morning for a set time. Join me there with your own fall reading recommendations. We'll all read together.

Thanks for being here. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next week. Have you ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life? Because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it.

You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but There is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.