This Week In My Library 10.3.23

apples, poop stories, and old broadcasting shots

Life of a Bookman

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi thats me!!

Shhh, Adam. Let's hear from Eve: Myths, fables, and ancient allegories..we might know they're “fiction” but they still have a deep impact on society. In Cassandra Speaks, author Elizabeth Lesser examines the way women's shame and guilt are rooted in those stories. I'm obsessing over every page of this book. Because what WOULD our world look like if it was swayed by Eve's version of what happened with the serpent and the apple, or Pandora's hot take on why she opened that box (FYI it was a jar, but we translated it to English wrong).

I never finished: The Power by Naomi Alderman, which is a science fiction novel loved by so many. It sits near my desk and I've been meaning to finish it for like four years. Did other people love this? Should I just finish the dang thing? It's about what happens when women develop the ability to release electricity from their fingers, thereby becoming the physically dominant sex.

What I'm writing: POOP SCENES. That's right, That Novel has a riveting will she or won't she, shit-her-pants scene, which you better believe I knew how to get just right. Anyone who has ever heard about the time I climbed a mountain in Bali on my 26th birthday, only to have one torturous adventure down...well, you'll know where the inspiration came from when you read this one day.

Women’s Studies

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon: How hard is it to be nice to yourself? Well, if you're anything like me, certain situations can bring out quite the rough critic. I notice it the most in areas of my life that I feel like I'm trying the hardest to make change. Well, this super interesting podcast episode from Hidden Brain will teach you why being nice to yourself actually gets better results. Imagine that.

Speaking of working hard, anyone here intermittent fast? If you do, and you're a woman, holy buckets you're going to want to listen to this. My nutritionist had once told me that fasting can disrupt our hormones, but this conversation with the author of Fast Like a Girl really breaks down why and what to do instead.

Pass it On

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine: Before I got into the current version of my career, I'd always dreamed of a different one...as an on-air sports broadcaster. That dream came alive about 13 years ago this fall when I was host of a segment called The High School Road Tour on Fox Sports Southwest. And in the interest of remembering that there's many chapters of our lives, I give you this ridiculous proof. Remember, we get to change and evolve and become whomever we want to be. And we get to leave those versions of ourselves, too ;)

xx

Maxie