• Home
  • About
    • Work with Me
  • Travel Planning & Itineraries
  • Destinations
    • England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Scotland
    • United States
    • Wales
  • Mental Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
Life Well Wandered

Life Well Wandered

2 February 2017 · Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Reading

Lifestyle

Share this post:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Email

I’ve written before about my journey with reading for pleasure. After years of reading heavy literature and philosophy and complicated scholarly articles, I naturally wasn’t too keen on reading for fun.

Recently, however, I’ve been reading a little and I’m really happy about that!

This post has affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

reading new books

Talking as Fast as I Can – Lauren Graham

I started off December by listening to Lauren Graham’s Talking as Fast as I Can. As a Gilmore Girls fanatic and a lover of Lauren Graham’s work in general, I was excited to hear her funny writing and learn about her experiences filming both eras of Gilmore Girls. While it wasn’t as long as I was hoping, I really enjoyed the book overall!

Favourite passage:

I still find that, in general, having a plan is, well, a good plan. But when my carefully laid plan laughed at me, rather than clutch at it too tightly I just made a new one, even if it was one that didn’t immediately make sense. In blindly trying a different path, I accidentally found one that worked better. So don’t let your plan have the last laugh, but laugh last when your plan laughs, and when your plan has the last laugh, laugh back, laughing!

Vous n’aurez pas ma haine – Antoine Leiris

I have been searching for this book for months! When I took my mom and brother to Albertine bookstore so they could see the painted ceiling, I looked again to no avail but as we were leaving I took one last lap and spotted it! Victory!

This book details the author’s experiences with his young son in the days after losing his wife in the Bataclan terrorist attacks. It is equally heartbreaking and moving. If you can read French, you need to read this book.

Favourite passage:

Alors non je ne vous ferai pas ce cadeau de vous haïr. Vous l’avez bien cherché pourtant mais répondre à la haine par la colère ce serait céder à la même ignorance qui a fait de vous ce que vous êtes. Vous voulez que j’aie peur, que je regarde mes concitoyens avec un œil méfiant, que je sacrifie ma liberté pour la sécurité. Perdu…Nous sommes deux, mon fils et moi, mais nous sommes plus forts que toutes les armées du monde…Car non, vous n’aurez pas sa haine non plus.

(Rough translation, by me): So I will not give you the gift of hating you. You have sought well, yet to respond to hate by anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are. You want me to be afraid, that I look at my fellow citizens with a suspicious eye, that I sacrifice my liberty for security. Lost…We are two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.

books to read

No Baggage: A Minimalist Tale of Love & Wandering – Clara Bensen

After a quarter life crisis and a bout of severe anxiety, Clara signs up for OKCupid and meets Jeff, who seems her exact opposite: spontaneous, energetic and outgoing. Very recently after meeting, she decides to join him on his annual summer trip—the only catch: no baggage, no plans, no reservations. The book follows Clara’s account of their journey and includes funny anecdotes, literary and historical references, and open discussion of her mental health.

See also  4 Apps That Have Changed My Life

I got the book because it sounded like a fun read and kept reading it because it really spoke to me on a mental health level. I annotated so much of this book, but I’ll spare you the vast majority of my favourite passages! Definitely check it out if you want to read about a cool travel experiment or about overcoming mental health problems.

Favourite passages:

Out of habit, I calculated a mental list of The Very Worst That Could Happen. There was a chance that we’d end up lost, exhausted, and temporary roofless, but were we courting imminent disaster by jumping on a random train? Not really.

Anxiety was a lens that reduced every aspect of my life to a series of deadly, worst case scenarios.

Life is about trust. Nothing happens until you take a step out. The universe gives nothing to those who do not trust.

I’d have saved myself some heartache if someone had informed me that life isn’t a linear, teleological climb that culminates in some final plateau. It tends to look a lot more like a rolling tumbleweed that gets blown off arroyo cliffs and trapped in barbed cow fences just as often as it rolls smoothly down the road.

To know myself was not just to know the sunny, sparkly bits but all the parts: shadowy corners gathering dust, private fears, old wounds clumsily bandaged but never treated. These sorts of wounds don’t fade over time. Pain is patient. Ignoring it in no way makes it done.

When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi

This book brought me to tears. Paul Kalanithi has been training for almost a decade to become a neurosurgeon when he finds out he has terminal lung cancer. The memoir that follows is touching and thought-provoking, covering everything from literature, medical school, life, death, and challenging decisions doctors make on a daily basis. It does delve a little deeply into literature and philosophy at times, but that itself captures Kalanithi’s path through life. Read if you can.

Favourite passages:

“Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.”

“What makes life meaningful enough to go on living?”

What have you been reading? Let me know in the comments below!

what I've been reading recently

You may also like

Share this post:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Email
Previous Post: « 2017 Goals
Next Post: Mantras for a Happy and Healthy 2017 »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Life Well Wandered

alex life well wandered

Welcome to my corner of the internet! Life Well Wandered is a travel blog where you'll find a little bit of everything. I love sharing itineraries from past trips, secret spots I've discovered on my travels, histories of places I find fascinating, and stories about my mental health.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Life Well Wandered

Search

What’s New

  • A Guide to Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds
  • The Real-Life Inspiration for Moria? Exploring St. Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold
  • A Lord of the Rings Guide to the Cotswolds: Places That Inspired Tolkien’s World
  • Day Trips from London: Stonehenge & Salisbury
  • Visiting Upper Slaughter in the Cotswolds: A Guide
Follow
college tourist

Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Please check our disclosure page for more information.

lifewellwandered

My favorite stop in Bruges was City Hall. Built in My favorite stop in Bruges was City Hall. Built in 1376, it is one of the oldest in the Low Countries and has been used as the seat of the city government for over 600 years. 🤓
Inside City Hall is the beautiful gothic hall. It was remodeled in the 19th century and decorated with beautiful murals and woodwork from floor to ceiling. The ceiling dates from 1385. The murals were painted in the 19th century and depict different people from Belgian history, including Jan Van Eyck, Brueghel, Rubens, and more. 😍 #lifewellwandered
If you fancy climbing up about 400 steps in a spir If you fancy climbing up about 400 steps in a spiral staircase, then consider visiting the Belfry in Bruges. From the top, you'll see just how beautiful Bruges is, with its winding streets and orange rooftops. 😍
Dating back to the 13th century, the Belfry is the most important tower in Bruges. At over 83 meters (272 feet) tall, it was an important status symbol in the Middle Ages. It formerly housed the treasury and city archives, as well as a market for the town. 🏰
At the top of the tower, you'll find a carillon—47 bells playable by hand with a keyboard—with bells ranging in weight from two pounds to 11,000 pounds. Historically, the bells were used not only to mark the passage of time but also to alert residents of fires, work hours, or important events. Today, if you visit at the top of the hour, you'll get to experience the ringing of the bells. 🛎 #lifewellwandered
In March of 2015, I began my biggest trip around E In March of 2015, I began my biggest trip around Europe to date. We had about 5 weeks off (during which we were supposed to be revising for exams) so my friend and I took the opportunity to see as much of Europe as possible while also getting to know each stop as well as possible. A hard balance to strike, but we did the best we could! 🇪🇺
Our first stop was Bruges. We visited on the day of a solar eclipse, but it was already cloudy and foggy so the lack of sunlight wasn’t noticed. We spent our day in Bruges wandering around the streets and eating waffles - not a bad start to a trip around Europe that would be characterized by eating and wandering! 🍽 #lifewellwandered
The last stop on my series of day trips around Eng The last stop on my series of day trips around England was Windsor. I had been close to Windsor once before but had yet to visit Windsor Castle or the town. Windsor Castle was overwhelming. 🏰
It is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, founded by William the Conqueror and the home of 39 monarchs. We spent hours walking around the various wings and exhibits, trying to absorb everything we could. Have you visited Windsor Castle before? 👑 #lifewellwandered
Bath is most famous for, well, its Roman baths. As Bath is most famous for, well, its Roman baths. As a Roman history nerd, Bath was on my to-visit list for ages and I spent my entire visit to the baths geeking out over all of the artifacts and ruins. 🤓
For thousands of years, 240,000 gallons of 115ºF water has risen into this spring, known as the Sacred Spring, daily. In Roman times, this phenomenon was believed to be the work of the Gods, so Romans built a temple dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a deity with healing powers, around the spring. Water from it feeds the Roman baths. 🛁 #lifewellwandered
Three churches have occupied the site of Bath Abbe Three churches have occupied the site of Bath Abbey since 757AD. There was first an Anglo-Saxon monastery, then a massive Norman cathedral (the foundations of which can be seen underground in one part of the Abbey) and then the present abbey church from the 1600s. ⛪️
The first King of England, King Edgar, was crowned here in 973 - his coronation set the precedent for the current coronation ceremony of all kings and queens of England. 👑 #lifewellwandered
I visited Winchester on what felt like the first w I visited Winchester on what felt like the first warm, sunny day in months. When you live in a place without regular sun, you always take advantage of beautiful days. Winchester made the perfect destination for a beautiful day spent walking around and exploring. 🤗
Winchester’s High Street is built along the original Roman street that led through the town. Today, it has buildings dating from the 16th century. The clock was presented after a visit from Queen Anne in 1713. 🕑 #lifewellwandered
Chances are, you’ve heard of the Knights of the Chances are, you’ve heard of the Knights of the Round Table. Did you know that the Round Table of King Arthur can be found in the Great Hall in Winchester? ⚔️
While this table was created around 1290, well after the death of King Arthur and his knights, it’s still impressive to visit. Weighing over one ton, it is thought to portray King Arthur on his throne surrounded by 24 places for his knights. King Henry VIII added a Tudor Rose during his reign. Swipe for a closer look at the table! 🤓 #lifewellwandered
In another edition of always visit the cathedral i In another edition of always visit the cathedral in the town you visit, I bring you Winchester Cathedral. One of the reasons why I chose to visit Winchester of all places was its connection to Jane Austen. Jane Austen spent the last weeks of her life in a house in Winchester and was laid to rest in its cathedral in 1817. ⛪️
Have you ever traveled somewhere because of a favorite author? 🤓 #lifewellwandered
Load More... Follow on Instagram
  • Home
  • About
  • Travel Planning & Itineraries
  • Destinations
  • Mental Health
  • Lifestyle

Copyright © 2023 · beloved theme by Restored 316