The Lazy Genius Podcast - #319 - 21 Books for Your Summer Reading

Episode Date: June 19, 2023

It’s already the middle of June, but there are still a solid eight weeks left of summer reading, and if you’re still on library hold lists for new releases or had great intentions about summer reading and have watched it fall to the wayside because you didn’t have a great book in hand, hopefully this episode will help! I’ve compiled a list of 21 books I’ve read over the past six summers, and they all feel like summer books. And they’re all backlist titles, so it shouldn’t be hard getting them immediately at the library or even at a used bookstore for cheap. They’re easy to find.   Helpful Companion Links Episode #267: Find Your Summer Reading Rhythm Episode #268: 10 Summer Reading Ideas for Your Kids Episode #213: Create a Summer Reading Club Episode #227: How to Know What to Read Next with our beloved book genius Anne Bogel Bonus episode: How I Read 120 Books This Year Check out the books that made my summer reading list here Sign up for the Latest Lazy Listens email. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links) 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

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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 there, you are listening 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. Today is episode 319, 21 books for your summer reading. It is already the middle of June, but there are still like a solid eight weeks left of summer reading. And if you're still on a like library hold lists for new releases or you had great intentions about summer reading and you have watched it full to the wayside because you just didn't have.

a great book in your hands. Hopefully this episode will help. I've compiled a list of 21 books that I have read over the past six summers. Like I read them in the summer. And they all feel like summer books. And they're all backlist titles. So it should not be hard to get them immediately at the library or even at a used bookstore for cheap. They're easy to find. I'm going to share the books in the order of the summers. I read them, a little chronological action. And I will try and give you like some good book words to help you know if they're a good pick for you. In fact, we have done a lot of reading episodes over the years, a lot of which are meant to help you figure out your reading style and the type of books that are best for you. So we'll have a link to maybe even a playlist of some of those,

since there are a few of our favorite reading episodes, including 267, find your summer reading rhythm. That could be really helpful because we're in summer and you might need a rhythm. 268 is 10 summer reading ideas for your kids. 213. Create a summer reading club. 227, how to know what to read next with our beloved book genius, Ann Bogle. And the bonus episode from this past December, how I read 120 books this year. Y'all, I'm on track to read more than that in 2023, which is absolutely bonkers. Figuring out how to add reading to your life and the right kind of reading, it is one of my favorite things to do for myself.

and here with you. So all that said, if you need help on, you know, reading rhythms and stuff, I got you. And if you need specific titles that are easy to come by, I've got that too in this episode today. So let's start with two books that I read in the summer of 2017 that feel like great summer reads. The first is a study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. Cavallaro, Cavalero. And I still remember the feelings I had reading this book. It was such a fun. exciting, like quirky read. It's about the teen descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. You guys, amazing. Jamie Watson is the great, great, great, great grandson of John Watson, and Charlotte Holmes is the great, great, great granddaughter of Sherlock. They connect

when someone they both know dies under suspicious circumstances. And of course, it's like so fun to see the next version of the crime fighting Holmes and Watson duo. It is such a blast. I don't remember it being too objectionable in any way either. Like, technically, it's a YA novel and a really great one. I honestly still think about it six years later. Like I do. I'm just like, man, that was such a good book. So that's a study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavalaro. The other great summer book I read in 2017 was Jane Steele by Lindsay Fay. The book asks the question, what if Jane Eyre was a serial killer? Something we have all wondered, right? This is such a fun, smart read, and it pays homage to the classic without disrespecting it. I did wonder if I would be

annoyed by like the loose retelling because I love Jane Eyre so much. But Jane Steele felt like a separate story seen through like a very snarky mirror. It is fabulous, surprisingly fun. Plus the covers will be great if you end up finding a physical copy somewhere. So I will say if you tend to be tender about classic retellings, just skip it. You know, know yourself. It's okay. So that is Jane Steele by Lindsay Faye. Next up is the summer of 2018. And I pulled three novels from that summer that I read that all feel like summer, but they're, they are very different from each other. The first is The Hazelwood by Melissa Albert. Also a fantastic cover. If you have been around a while, you know my love for this book.

It is the story of 17 year old Alice, whose grandmother, was the author of some cult favorite fairy tales. Well, the fairy tale characters, many of them super dark, start to show up in Alice's real life. And when Alice's mother goes missing, presumably at the hands of some of these characters, she's got to figure out why and find her mom. It is so weird and amazing.

This book was actually one of the first to really get me into dark fairy tales. I love dark fairy tales. And I have not really read one that I actively disliked in quite a while. Like it is a favorite subgenre of mine for sure. So if you don't mind like a little bit of spooky, because there's a little bit of spooky. Give this a try. It's so great. That's The Hazelwood by Melissa Albert.

The second book from my 2018 summer and the fourth on our list is The Likeness by Tana French. This was my first Tana French novel and probably still my favorite. I've actually read it twice, which is unheard of for me. it's the story of a detective who has a shocking likeness, hence the title, to a dead girl in the woods. So she actually becomes that girl, like going undercover in this girl's actual life to find the killer. It's so good. Plus, Tana French is not gruesome. Her crime writing, it's not cozy, by Eddie Strach.

It's not, they're not cozy murders, not cozy mysteries. But it's more like psychological and fascinating. There's very little gore or things to. be, you know, overtly grossed out by. So that is the likeness by Tana French. Love that book so much. And then the final 2018 book is one that still makes me laugh when I think about how obsessed I was with it. And that is the book, Seabiscuit? I can't. Yeah, Seabiscuit, like the horse by Laura Hillenbrand. This book is an actual doorstop. It is enormous. And I do not read enormous books. It is not my vibe. It's also about horse racing, which is also not my vibe. Like, I don't have any interest in

horse racing whatsoever. I don't even remember why I picked this book up, honestly. Like, it defies logic. I think I probably heard it was good. It was like a classic. It was probably a dollar at a book sale. I don't know. But I started reading it one day in the summer of 2018 and I could not put that puppy down. It just grabbed me so hard and would not let go. I loved it so much. I did not skim a lick of it. Like I read every word. Now, I would say if you enjoy history, you will love this book, but I do not enjoy history. And I also love this book. Like it was, it was a fabulous reading experience minus the hand cramps because it was so hard to hold because again, it is enormous. And it's still a mystery to me. It's a mystery to me while I read it and loved it. But I did.

So there you go. That is C-Biscuit by Laura Hillen Brand. We'll be right back. 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 Dacher 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. So over the years, my reading has increased in like amount. And things really took a turn in that in 2019.

I think this was when I really identified that reading was my hobby. I love doing it more than just about anything. So I started reading more because I gave myself permission to read more. And in the summer of 2019, there are four books that felt perfectly suited for summer reading that I will share with you now in a summer. in a summer that was full of more books than normal. The first book is, I think is almost a perfect novel. That is The Lost Man by Jane Harper.

The Lost Man is a story about a set of brothers in the Australian Outback. One is estranged from the family, but he comes back when another brother is found dead. It's a bummer of a reason to come back to your estranged family. But there you go. Jane Harper writes settings, especially like these dry Australian environments, like they are another character.

She is a master. She's a master of that. And this feels like the perfect novel to me because honestly the mastery of a number of things, the setting. The story itself, which is compelling,

but not forced. The pace, which moves a really great clip, but it doesn't feel like it's rushing. The characters, they are so believable and complex in a way that makes you immediately care for them.

And it's just so well written with a fantastic ending. I mean, it is it's still a favorite novel ever because of just how perfect it is now granted that is my opinion but i remember talking to jamy golden one of the hosts of the pop cast which is my favorite podcast she reads a ton of books and she also loves this book for the same reason like we were both like yeah it's like it's like practically the perfect novel i don't even understand it's just like weirdly perfect and so good in the summer because it's like hot australian desert you know what i'm

saying so it's it's a great book that is the lost man by jane harper okay i gotta speed up we have a lot of books left next is a short history of a girl next door a short history of the girl next door by jared wreck now i've never saw this on bookstagram i picked this up at the library because i love the cover it is about matt and tabby childhood best friends who live across the street from each other but then when they become teenagers matt uh matt realizes he loves tabby but tabby is into somebody else it is sweet It's heartbreaking. So relatable. It has like rainbow row vibes.

It's so good. So that's a short history of the girl next door by Jared Rek. Next from the summer of 2019 is the book of Speculation by Erica Swiler. I am just going to read you the online synopsis because it's perfect. It's better than anything I could ever say about this book. Here we go. Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead.

His mother, a circus mermaid. You know how much I love circuses. His mother, a circus mermaid, who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His young sister, Anola, ran off six years ago, and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation,

like not opening it. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s who reports strange and magical things including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of mermaids and Simon's family have drowned, always on July 24th, which is only weeks away. As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book? And can he get to the heart of the mystery and time to save Anola. In the tradition of Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants,

Aaron Morgansterns the Night Circus, one of my favorite books, and Elizabeth Costava's the historian, the book of Speculation, with two-color illustrations by the author, is Erica Swiler's moving debut novel about the power of books, family and magic. I mean, is that that perfection? I love this book. It was so good. It was a little sadder than I expected, but so good. So that's it. That's the book of speculation by Erica Swiler. The final book from the summer of 2019 was Recursion by Blake Crouch. I love all Blake Crouch books. I think this one is maybe my favorite. What's wild? I don't even remember what it's about. I don't remember. But I remember how it made me feel. Isn't that how all books go? So there is a, I know there's a detective and a scientist. They're trying to figure out why there is

an epidemic of people who are driven mad by memories that are not their memories. that's all I remember. Blake Crouch is a master of the sci-fi thriller, and I loved this book. But frankly, any Blake Crouch is a great choice for the summer. Dark Matter was also really good. I mean, all Blake Crouch is great. But that is recursion by Blake Crouch. Okay.

In the summer of 2020, I launched the lazy genius way into the world during a pandemic. So when I look back on that summer, reading was sparse. It was very sparse. But there was one book that stands out as a fantastic summer read, and that is Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno Garcia. This book was hot during that summer. And I think for good reason, it is for sure a gothic novel, like super moody, set in this old house that's a character all its own. Noemi is the main character, and she is tough and smart and a debutante and kind of an unlikely

heroine in the setting. so her cousin writes her this unhinged letter saying she's in danger the cousin's like i'm in danger in this crazy house so noemi goes to this creepy mansion where her cousin lives with her weird husband and tries to figure out what's going on it's so creepy and so weird and so awesome i mean it is the definition of a gothic novel if you like those i will say it is hit or miss people either love it or hate it there's not i have not heard personally a lot of middle ground around mexican gothic but if you love it, it's also being made into a series. We'll see if that sticks because of the writer's strike.

But it's a very cinematic, compelling book. Super weird. I loved it, which is great that I loved it since it was one of the only books I read that whole summer. So that is Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno Marino Garcia. Okay. Now, 2021 was a different story. I have seven books from that summer.

that are still some of my favorite books. Not just summer reads. Like, favor across the board. So great. And I read so many more than seven. Like these are just like the top seven of an incredibly, uh,

vibrant summer of reading in 2021. The first, oh, we were in a pandemic. That's why. Okay. The first is Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. I love Wendell Berry.

Wendell Berry is a treasure. His book, J. Brough, is one of my favorite books of all times. and Hannah Coulter is like touching that book. They're so close in terms of favorites. It is a quiet, beautiful novel about a woman who takes care of her family on a farm. I am so bad at describing Liddell Berry novels because I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to explain to you how this small like little book full of these little moments

in this fictional woman's life will change you as a person. But it does. It's just what happens. So accept it. I love this in the summer too because of how much of the story takes place outside. It is just a treasure. It's a treasure. So that is Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.

Next is love lettering by Kate Claiborne. This is not going to change your life, but it's super fun. It's a rom-com. I imagined Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling being the leads. That was the correct choice. But Emma, we're going to use the actual actors' names, not the character's names, because I don't remember the character's names. Emma is a hand.

letterer in New York City, mostly doing like rich people's wedding invitations, but she also has this skill where she knows how long a marriage is going to last based on the invitation. So she makes this cavalier choice in the beginning of the book in one particular invitation to include like almost a word of warning in the invitation and then the groom, Ryan Gosling, sees it, sees the warning. And when his marriage does indeed fall apart a year later, he goes to find Emma, the calligrapher, to find out how she knew. And of course, you know, by that time, she has her own issues. So she's trying to figure out.

And they go on a journey together to, like, figure out their stuff. It is an enemies to lovers trope, which is my favorite. It's my favorite of the rom-com tropes, holy moly. It's a really good book, y'all. It's like a solid summer choice that you won't have to wait on a list for, the library, you know? It's like solid. It's good. So that's love lettering by Kate Claiborne.

Next is the seven and a half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. this one took me a minute to get into because I didn't quite understand what was happening. But I'll tell you what's happening now so that you go in reading it like, oh, I get it. The main character, Aden, he's at this fancy house with all these fancy people at a fancy party. And he keeps repeating the same day over and over again in order to find the killer of Evelyn Hartcastle, who's another person at this house. It is a locked room mystery, which I love a locked room mystery. that is something Agatha Christie perfected where all the people involved in the story are there.

So somebody there has to be the killer. That's why I love the movie, Gosford Park. It's a locked room mystery in like a down abbey upstairs downstairs sort of setting. That's such a good movie. But I love a locked room mystery. And this is a really good one. Super creative, a little magical because of the whole like time travel thing. It's really fun.

So that is the seven and a half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. next from that summer was Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reed. I adored that book. Oh my gosh. Taylor Jenkins Reed is at the top of her game. And this is my favorite of hers by like a significant margin, I think. And I love her other stuff. But Malibu Rising, it is about four siblings in California who are at their annual epic beach party that they host in their fancy house because the oldest sister is like a model, model actress. I don't remember. I think she was a model. but all kinds of family drama just explodes at this party. I loved, loved the main character, Nina. I related to her a lot and their family situation. So it just, it felt like oddly personal to me. This book made me cry.

Like I cried during this book. I laughed. I gasped. I did all kinds of things. It was so perfectly read in the summer too because it takes place over one day in a California summer. It's just really, really good. So that is Malibu Rising by 20.

Taylor Jenkins read. We'll be right back. All right. Three more from the summer of 2021, which I think, I think that must have been my best reading season maybe ever, maybe? Like all home runs, all bangers. So good. Okay. I read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir this summer, which was the summer it came out, this book. And it was the most fun, delightful reading experience about aliens that a human could ever have. It was alive and so sparkly. I loved it. I think people who don't like sci-fi would love this book. What's fun is when I read it,

it had already been optioned for a movie, like at the gate, and Ryan Gosling is cast as the lead already. He was then and he still is. Now, I don't know where this movie is in development, and again, the writer's strike could impact that timeline, but I imagined Ryan Gosling is the lead because he was already cast as I read it.

And he is perfectly cast, perfectly. Like, this was, part of what made the reading experience so good was how much he added to the character on the page. Like just imagining him saying the words. It was excellent, an excellent book. I love that book with my whole heart. I kind of want to read it again now. Like, it's so good. So that's Project Tell Mary by Andy Weir. Another book that's great to read again because of the twists is Who Maude Dixon by Alexandra Andrews. This is about a woman down on her luck, sad after a breakup, who gets a job working for a reclusive author, Maude Dixon.

I cannot remember who I cast in this story, but I know Jennifer Lawrence was one of the people. I think she was Maude. And then the woman who works for her was Anya Taylor Joy. Is that right? Or maybe Jennifer Lawrence was the girl who works and Kate Winslet was Maude. That would also be a good call. I remember the ages being like a little murky of these characters. But Jennifer Lawrence is in this book.

I put her in this book somewhere. Anyway, all that to say, this book was a true. trip. It was so good. It was a wild ride. A thriller, for sure. Summer Page Turner, you know, if you didn't read it then and you like that kind of book, you like like a psychological thriller. Give it a try now. So good. That's Who Is Maude Dixon by Alexandra Andrews. My final book from the perfect reading summer of 2021 was The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. This is technically middle grade, I think. Like it's great for kids. kids over 10. But it is one of my favorite novels of all time. It just hit me at the right time and

place. The story is about a young boy named David whose mom has died and books are his only companion. He finds himself inside these stories suddenly and experiences grief, like processes his grief as he tries to save himself and others and fight evil people and is it real and is it not It is just beautiful and heartbreaking and human, so well written. I wept at the end. Wept like a daggone baby. I was like, oh my gosh, it just took me out. My sister apparently had told me to read this book for years.

And for whatever reason, it just did not connect to my brain and I didn't read it. I didn't even remember she told me. Like, I took a really long time to read this book. So when I did read it and I was like, have you read the book of laws things? she practically yelled at me. Yes, I've been telling you to read this for forever. So if you like the same books that I do, particularly books like The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman and the Night Circus by Aaron Morganstern, I think you'll love this. It's really special. So that is the book of Lost Things by John Connolly. And now this brings us to last summer, the summer of 2022, where four of the

books I read were really solid, solid summer picks. A couple of them top reads of like, all the whole year. So first is remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It is still a top selling book over a year later. Like people are still reading this thing like crazy, thousands and thousands of copies a week. I listened to it on audio because the narrator is Marin, Ireland, who is my favorite audiobook narrator probably, like of all of them. Now, I really like this book. I liked it. I didn't love it. But I'm not surprised by that because it's not in the dead center of books I usually love. It's a lot about character. And while I like characters and how they interact, like it matters to have characters that you care about, I prefer a plot. I like plot

and story more. And the story was great, but it was a supporting role in the reading experience. The characters are where this book shines. And it shines really well. So I should. I should. share it even though I just liked it because so many people love it. And I can see why. I can see why. If you like a character-driven novel, I cannot imagine you not liking this book, if not loving it. It's really excellent. It's, you know, still selling for a reason. So that is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Next, one Italian summer by Rebecca Searle. Surly. Probably not Surly, right? That would be great if your last name was Surly. And then maybe you have like a really sweet disposition. It's fine. Okay. I listen to this one too on audio. It was narrated perfectly by Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls. She nailed it. In fact,

I think, if I remember correctly, this book opens with a Gilmore Girls quote, I think. So that was like a fun little beginning to have Lauren Graham read that. Anyway, this is a perfect summer book. I mean, the word summer is literally in the title. It is about a woman. who lost her mother, who was her most, like, formative, favorite relationship, and she cannot cope. So she pushes her husband away. She wonders what her life means anymore. And she travels alone to Italy. She and her mom were supposed to take this trip to Italy together, but her mom died.

So she went alone. And a day into her trip, she meets a woman who looks a lot like her mom. And it turns out it is her mom. like at her age, like as her peer. It is so stunning. It's a beautiful story about relationships and grief and finding joy in life. What's funny is I did not have to look this book up to remind myself of the story, which I sometimes have to do from time to time.

Like, this story is burned into my brain in the best way. It's just, it's set up so well. I can see the Italian seaside. The story is so vivid and really enjoyable. So that one was a winner for sure. Again, that's one Italian summer by Rebecca, not surly. Next up is Taste by Tanley Stanley Stanley Tucci, the Tuch. Listen to this one on audio, please, so you can hear him read it.

Like, that is a given. It is clever. That man can drop an F-bomb out of nowhere, like cool rain on a hot day. He describes spaghetti. Like, no human should be able to describe spaghetti. He tells the story of his family in such a profanely. Boundly Beautiful Way. It is just such a good book. And if you haven't listened to it or read it yet, this summer is a great time to do it. I think because he talks about setting so much,

and because Italian food especially, it feels more like summery and outdoors, this just fits in the summer months. So that is Taste by Stanley Tucci. And finally, from the summer of 2022, book lovers by Emily Henry. I have read all Emily Henry books and booklovers. Frankly, I don't know how anything would ever be better to me. Like, I mean, I love Emily Henry's writing and stories. And even if I don't love one of her books, like it's still great. Like a bad Emily Henry book is still a really great book.

But book lovers is top tier, like top of my mountain. I think it's my favorite rom-com ever. I think that's a safe assumption. it is just so stinking good. I imagined Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds as the main characters, and that tracked super well. So Blake is a, again, I don't know the character's names. Blake is a stereotypical, like, New York power girlfriend.

She's the person that the boyfriend dumps when he goes home to his family's Christmas tree farm or whatever, and he meets the sweet country girl in an apron and he dumps his main New York girlfriend. She's the main New York girlfriend. This is an enemies to love her story, which I already said is my favorite. So Blake is a literary agent who goes to a little town to be with her sister and loosen up after her breakup and like live all of the like small town rom-com tropes. And while she's there in town, also in town, is an editor who she hates. But they have to work together on a project because of course they do.

And then of course they fall in love. But the journey to get there is so good. I really hope that I did not give book lovers away to anybody to read because I seriously want to go grab it right now and start reading it again. Like it is just sharp as a samurai sword. It is so dagging good and perfect in the summer. I mean that rom-coms are and this is I think the best one. So that is book lovers by Emily Henry. Okay, that's 20 books.

My 21st book, because I promised you 21 books, my 21st book is my favorite novel of the year so far. I think, I think, at least in the top three. And I read it in April, which was not summer, but like, I'm going to make it a perfect summer read for anybody who wants it. And it is called Hidden Pictures by Jason Reckalock. I don't know how to say that. But he's a very good writer. It's a story that takes place during a summer, very appropriate, in a fancy house with a fancy family.

So Mallory is the main character. She has just gotten out of rehab. She is looking for a job, which is hard to find, just coming out of rehab. and she gets this job as a nanny for this rich family and this rich house. And she stays in the guest house on the property, which has creepy vibes. But the kids she's taken care of, likes to draw. But sometimes this kid draws really scary pictures. And you need to get the physical copy of this book because it has the pictures in it,

like it has the drawings in it. But the story is Mallory trying to figure out what is hidden. in these pictures. It's so good. It is the perfect amount of like creepy and exciting. It's heartfelt. It's really interesting. It's just great. I loved it. I loved it. So that is Hidden Pictures by Jason Reck-a-Lock. Okay. We will have all of these titles linked up for you in the show notes. I hope that you are excited about at least one book from this list so you can quickly get your next summer read and like get back into that rhythm. And don't forget about the links to those summer reading podcast episodes if you need a little extra help there too. Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week.

This week, it's Michelle Ishkai. I know I'm saying that wrong, Michelle. But on the chance I'm right. I love that you're, it sounds like ice chai. Ice chide? Moving on. Michelle writes this. I have two rings I always wear. And at home, they go directly on a decorative ring holder when I take them off. But when I'm traveling, it was more of a problem. I tried my makeup back. I tried my makeup back. a little compartment in my luggage, but I hated rummaging through to find them and also hated that second of panic when I didn't see them immediately. So now I keep them on until I'm ready to charge my phone and then I string them on the cord and then plug it in. Presto, no rummaging and no panic because I see them right away. That first morning when I put them on, I thought, no, I really am a

lazy genius. Thanks for everything. Michelle, this is so great. First, what a great tip. And I want to highlight something in particular here. Remember a couple of weeks ago in our office hours episode where I talked about solving annoying problems instead of overwhelming ones? This is a great example. Finding a place for your rings while traveling where you don't forget them is for sure an annoying problem. It isn't overwhelming at all, but it is worth paying attention to. I think the more we kindly solve annoying problems, the fewer overwhelming problems will actually have. Or at least they won't feel as overwhelming because we've learned to make things smaller and solve what's actually solvable. So thank you for this idea, Michelle. But more for the reminder to think like a

lazy genius for even the tiniest of things. And congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. All right, all thanks so much for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra. 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, 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.