(Mostly) Vacation Reads

I read six books in January, most of which I finished the first week of the year while on vacation. I haven’t quite hit my stride for daily reading in real life, but I’m feeling positive about my efforts to recenter reading in my life while still creating space for other hobbies + my day job. Here’s what I read:

• You, Again by Kate Goldbeck - A modern retelling of my favorite movie of all time, When Harry Met Sally, featuring a bisexual protagonist and some straight sex that I clears throat surprisingly enjoyed - a lot.

• Against the Loveless World by Susan Albuwaha - This is one of my new favorite novels of all time. A beautiful, heartbreaking story about a displaced Palestinian woman growing up in Kuwait, exploring womanhood, sex work, survival, resilience and resistance. If you’re a fan of books like  Pachinko or just looking to center more Palestinian voices in your reading, highly, highly recommend. CW: rape, death, war

• Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar - This was a well-written and fascinating historical examination of freedom and resistance. It is a slim, historical narrative that follows a how an enslaved woman named Ona Judge escaped from George Washington and remained free before telling her story decades later. 

• Three Pianos: A Memoir by Andrew McMahon - I’ve been an Andrew McMahon stan since I was thirteen and this book only made me love him more. I honestly think even if you’re not a fan of his music, but are someone who likes reading musician memoirs, you may enjoy it. I learned so much more about him as a man, about music that has meant so much to me (like HE DUMPED KELLY and then wrote Everything in Transit about their breakup - shocking me because I always assume it was the other way around) and also really fascinating & heartbreaking to hear how he wrote such a healing, perfect album like The Glass Passenger when he himself was still processing cancer survivorship & feeling broken. The audio was SO transfixing - he reads it himself, and plays piano in the interlude chapters. Cannot recommend this enough.

• Come & Get It by Kiley Reid - I listened to this on audio. A lot of friends & reviewers didn’t like this as much as her smash debut Such a Fun Age so I went in with lowered expectations and was pleasantly surprised by this “dorm novel.” The narrator was great - I’m very picky about novels on audio, but it held my attention and I was invested in the characters, their mess, and a lot of moral gray and unethical decisions. I liked it, it was engaging and I also agree with people who were left wondering, “Well, what was the point of that?”

• Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - This was a fun heist novel featuring a bunch of Chinese and Chinese-American college students attempting to steal Chinese art back from museums that stole them from China. I’ll be honest - the writing bordered on melodramatic for me, and I think I would have loved it if I read it when I was a college student myself, but it was still a fun, entertaining read that also acknowledges ownership, appropriation and empire in the context of art.

Do yoga with me!

I’m thrilled to share that I have five free upcoming yoga classes! I’ll be doing my Seva, or service project, as my capstone for my yoga teacher training at Analog Market over the course of four Saturdays in February and March, as well as my community class co-taught by my brilliant classmate Sakina. The community class at Grace will also have a livestream option for my virtual community.

Analog Market is an incredible, community-oriented space with delicious Bump N Grind Coffee, tons of local businesses (including some I’ve highlighted here before!) and is the new full-time Montgomery County spot for the homies over at Loyalty Books. Space is limited for these classes, so please sign up soon (and join the waitlist if it’s full, since people often cancel!).

• Saturday, February 10, 9 AM at Analog Market - register here.

• Saturday, February 17, 9 AM at Analog Market - register here.

• Saturday, February 24, 9 AM at Analog Market - register here.

• Saturday, February 24, 2 PM at Grace Studios - save the date; registration link forthcoming! 

• Saturday, March 9, 9 AM at Analog Market - register here.

My goal as a teacher is to be fun and accessible to all bodies and backgrounds, particularly yoga beginners, so if you have no experience or have been previously intimidated, please know that you are welcome and I'd love to have you.

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