Having a good morning routine is very important for me. The idea of work being the first thing I have to actively sit down and start in the morning stresses me out. I’m a huge believer in having a good work life balance but I’m also a pessimist or as optimists would say, a realist, so I’m very well aware that achieving good work life balance is very rare. If you spend your work looking forward to coming home and settling down doing something you love, you’re going to do it with half as much passion or effort than if you did it in the morning. When you come home from work or school in the evening, you’re going to be tired from the day, stuck doing residual work or school stuff, or prioritizing getting ready for the next day.
Taking the time to do what you love in the morning ensures that you’re committing to to start the day by doing something you love. You’ll be able to go into work much more calmly and ready to tackle the day.
I used to be really good at making time for myself in the morning but I fell out of my routine. The past week, I started to wake up a bit earlier, make myself a cup of tea, and pop open a non-fiction book. Even if I didn’t wake up super early, I made sure to read at least five pages before running out the door.
I like to prioritize reading non-fiction in the morning because it’s the genre that’s often neglected in my reading. I own a ton of self-care and other various non-fiction books and slowly working my way through them in the morning not only gives me a serotonin kick because I’m reading but also because I’m being productive and learning something new.
Today, I thought I’d share a couple of non-fiction books that are on my morning TBR. On my list, we have some generic non-fiction, a memoir, a couple of self help books because boy do I need some help, and a short story collection.
A collection of essays about the joys and struggles of being alone by 22 literary writers including: Lev Grossman, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lena Dunham, Jesmyn Ward, Yiyun Li, and Anthony Doerr.
If you’re feeling lonely or if you’ve ever felt unseen, if you’re emboldened by solitude or secretly longing for it: Welcome to The Lonely Stories. This cathartic collection of personal essays illuminates what the experience of being alone is like for all of us.
I’m very single and also live alone, both of which I’m fine with. But being alone and living alone often times has sent me in an introspective deep dive about how singular I feel when life and everyone I know and care about is moving fast around me in orbits I just don’t relate to. While there’s definitely beauty and peace in being alone, it’s also well, a bit lonely at times. I can’t wait to read this short story collection and see if I find something I can relate to.
This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men—and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life.
Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things—and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. How can you “love your body” when every magazine cover has ten diet tips for becoming “your best self”? How do you “lean in” at work when you’re already operating at 110 percent and aren’t recognized for it? How can you live happily and healthily in a sexist world that is constantly telling you you’re too fat, too needy, too noisy, and too selfish?
I desperately need to pick this book up. I’m openly acknowledging that I’m dealing with burnout from May and it’s now almost July yet still doing absolutely nothing to get out of it. This is a pretty short book so I’m hoping that the authors will throw in some thoughts and quotes that I can resonate with and force me to fix myself.
Tabitha Carvan was a new mother, at home with two young children, when she fell for the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. You know the guy: strange name, alien face, made Sherlock so sexy that it became one of the most streamed shows in the world? The force of her fixation took everyone–especially Carvan herself–by surprise. But what she slowly realized was that her preoccupation was not about Benedict Cumberbatch at all, as dashing as he might be. It was about finally feeling passionate about something, anything, again at a point in her life when she had lost touch with her own identity and sense of self.
This book is a book that’s very not much about Benedict Cumberbatch, or so the title is telling me. It’s about accepting one’s desire to pursue and devote themselves to a passion, no matter how silly it may seem. I have started this book and I’ve got to say, while this book is an exploration on accepting one’s passion, there’s many Benedict Cumberbatch facts and metaphors.
Drawing on firsthand accounts of the Belgica’s voyage and exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton tells the tale of its long, isolated imprisonment on the ice–a story that NASA studies today in its research on isolation for missions to Mars. In vivid, hair-raising prose, Sancton recounts the myriad forces that drove these men right up to and over the brink of madness.
I am so excited for this book. I started this a while ago but the tiny words got to me and I set it aside. But the time’s come for me to pick it back up again because there’s something so scary and thrilling to read about experiences like this. Especially knowing that NASA has studied this case in preparation for Mars exploration.
Selma Blair has played many archetypal roles: Gullible ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Fire-starter in Hellboy. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Face of Chanel. Cover model. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best for being one thing: a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Selma Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.
I’ve already started this book and it’s amazing. If you’re trying to pick out one easy to read book from this list that. you can lose yourself in, this is the book for you. This book is a memoir on growing up and how the littlest things such as your childhood nickname can shape you into the person you grow into. It’s gripping, a bit devastating, but unputdownable.