On the Docket

Even in California, February can be brutal. But it's also a great time to hunker down with some stuff (and loved ones, and cabin-feverish pets), cooking cozy meals, and getting caught up in stories.

WINTER OLYMPICS                                                                                                                After casually flipping on the Olympics after many years of sparse, nonexistent, or Summer Games–only viewing, I have been entranced by the Pyeongchang games. There's a sport where you cross-country ski and have to shoot at a target? Tell me more!

BERLIN BABYLON                                                                                                                    This 16-episode German series, available on Netflix, is so so good. Deep dark noir with a dizzying amount of characters and plots, all set in late-1920s Berlin. It's based on a series of books, though from cursory internet sleuthing it looks like only two have been translated so far. Bonus: Brian Ferry singing in the awesome nightclub.

THE MAGICIANS                                                                                                                    Another book-to-series series, this one's just plain fun. I picked up the first of Lev Grossman's trilogy about two years after they were the hot thing and, if memory serves, after being slightly traumatized by Donna Tartt's The Secret History. The connection is tenuous (school setting, precocious characters), but I fell for it immediately and tore through all three books. The series is in its third season, which so far has been a magical ride.  

How to Read More... and Why

photo NYPL archive

Happy New Year! (And happy new website.)

Though I've stopped making formal resolutions, a new year is a great time to reflect. It all comes down to one question: What do you want? Sub-question: What nourishes you? Books have always been my deep well for inspiration, knowledge, and connection. I've worked hard on developing my reading habits and breadth; like any new habit, it takes consistency. But it also takes a commitment to have more fun reading!

Here are some tips if you'd like to read more this, or any, year: 

• Start using (or get back to) your local library. If you haven't been there for a while, you'll be pleasantly surprised: request and renew online, download ebooks and audiobooks, get to know your community.

• Read book reviews & solicit recommendations. Fiction? Nonfiction? Classics? There are so many books, and chances are, there are a few readers in your life that would love to share. Keep a running list, or toggle over to your library account and request the titles that sing to you. A few suggested review sources: NYTimes Book Review, Literary Hub, NPR Book Reviews, LA Review of Books, Granta, BBC Culture - Books.

• Browse without destination. There is something magical about walking into a bookstore, library, or someone's home, looking through the shelves, and paying attention when that tiny voice tugs at your sleeve.

• Keep track. The delightful book My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues makes an excellent case for logging what you've read. I started up with Goodreads several years ago to do the same; looking back, I can see the ebb and flow of my own history reflected in reading (check out my shelves here).

• Set reading goals. Another thing that Goodreads is good for: start off the year with a reading challenge, one that is a slight stretch from your current habits.

• Set aside time (know thyself). Do you have time during your commute for audiobooks or Kindle? Can you wind down reading in bed without immediately dozing? Can you read in small spurts or do you need solid chunks of time? Know yourself, and pick times accordingly.

• Abandon books you're not loving. This is maybe the most important tip: do not, under any circumstances, try to slog through a book you're not enjoying. This might mean that it's the wrong time for that particular book, or that it's just plain wrong for you. Don't waste time (unless you secretly enjoy hate-reading sometimes, which I do).