Best Reads of 2023

 My Goodreads goal for the year was 100 books. With about a week left of the year, I'm sitting at 80. Not too shabby. I decided to dig into my ratings of these 80 books and post some of my favorites here.

These reviews are meant to be vague--I don't want to spoil anything!

The First Book of the Year

The first book I read this year was All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle. A lonely older man in London, cut off from his community after the death of his wife, sets out to create new friendships in order to impress his soon-to-visit daughter. 

But instead of finding the people to fill the roles he's made up for her in their weekly phone calls, he finds friendship and love in unlikely places--a young single mum and her toddler daughter, a delivery driver, and more. 

Filled with humor, and empathy for the lonely people of the world, Hubert's story was both heartbreaking and delightful. There are a few heart-rending twists in the story, so have a hanky handy. I gave this five stars on Goodreads.

The One that Everyone Read

I usually prefer to read on paper or Kindle, not listen to audiobooks, simply because I get distracted with audiobooks. Disclaimer: I fully believe that audiobooks qualify as reading; it's just not a form of reading that is best for my style of retaining information, unless I'm in the car, or on a long flight, as I was for much of my listening to this book.

Hoooboy, where to even start? If you've read Spare by Prince Harry, you can understand my plight. I like Harry and Meghan. I admire how they've stepped away from the nonsense to protect themselves and their children. And Harry's story, while shocking, isn't truly surprising in the long run.

This book is filled with lots of juicy insider bits, but it's also a story of a man who grew up in a fishbowl while navigating childhood, puberty, adolescent shenanigans, and the death of a beloved mother who adored him.

My friend Sarah originally thought it a bit odd that a now thirty-something man refers to his mother as Mummy still, but I don't. When my mom got cancer, I was 39; and suddenly, I was thinking of her as "Mommy" and "Mama." Since she died, I have a tendency to think of her as "Mama" a lot. It's like that little Meg inside me has come forward to loudly protest losing her mommy. It doesn't surprise me that a guy whose mom died when he was just a boy would be stuck on "Mummy." 

I gave this one four stars. It was very engaging, but a bit long. 

The One That Made Me Laugh and Cry

I had been meaning to read The Guncle by Steven Rowley for a while, and finally got to it on my summer break. 

I was expecting a light-hearted and silly romp...and yes, there is some of that. But this book is also a study in deep grief and how we keep living after losing someone who is so very important to us. 

Rowley does a brilliant job of exploring how loss affects us, and how we act out, shut ourselves off, and everything else. I laughed at the silly parts, of course, but this book also made me cry--in a good way. Truly a lovely, lovely story. 

Sarah has informed me that a sequel is coming in 2024. Sign me up! 

The First in a Series I Can't Wait to Devour

A book that brings together some of Jane Austen's most beloved characters after their happily-ever-afters? And the death of one of the most hated cads in Austenland? Yes, please. Oh, and we're adding children of these beloved characters as the intrepid investigators? Tell me more.

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray, and its sequel The Late Mrs. Willoughby, are delightful. Written with a splash of Austen-esque language, and featuring a neurodivergent character in the lead, with a sympathetic love interest, these stories give us a new twist on the many Austen-inspired books out there. A third book, The Perils of Lady Catherine DeBourgh, is set to be released in 2024. I can't wait.

The Airport Purchase

I purchased The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune at the Lisbon airport on a layover on the way home from Barcelona. I had finished listening to the audio of Spare, and needed something for the long flight back to San Francisco.

This book is absolutely charming. There are magical beings, a spot of romance, and plenty of wry British humor. 

The YA Romance 

Talia Hibbert's Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute checks a lot of my boxes:

• Smart heroine who takes no crap
• Smart hero who the heroine really...wants...to...hate.
• A very real, very empathetic depiction of anxiety and OCD
• A best-friends-to-enemies-to-friends-again-to-in-love plot
• Plenty of humor

I gave this one five stars on Goodreads. I tend to enjoy a lot of YA anyway, but this one was above and beyond. 

The Best Autobiography

While Spare was juicy, it doesn't hold a candle to what Jennette McCurdy gave us with I'm Glad My Mom Died. Yes, the title is shocking. The cover photo, too. But that is nothing compared to McCurdy's life of growing up with the Stage Mom From Hell. 

Forced to diet recklessly, sexually abused in the name of "health," and gaslit for years, McCurdy has had to do a lot of work in her adult life to undo the damage her mother caused. Yet, she still loved her mom, and she still reckons with missing her. The story is heartbreaking, and be warned, the talk of her eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia) are absolutely graphic and harrowing. This book is not for anyone who struggles with depictions of eating disorders. 

Still, it's an important autobiography. McCurdy has worked hard to carve out a place in the world where she feels comfortable, healthy, and happy. And while her story is absolutely shocking, she tells it with a twist of wry sarcasm that makes it slightly more bearable. She's done the work and she continues to do the work to heal. I can't say I "enjoyed" this book, but I appreciate it.

The Classics

I made it a summer break mission to read some classics I had not read in my school days. Books I read included:

• The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway): Four stars--very gripping, a bit tedious in parts, but I suppose being at sea with a massive fish would be tedious, too.
• The Maltese Falcon (Dashiel Hammett): Four stars--a really great detective novel. I watched the movie years ago.
• The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros): Five stars--it was not what I expected, with it's short, choppy chapters, but I really loved the depiction of growing up Latino in Chicago.
• Maus--Volumes 1 and 2 (Art Spiegelman): Five stars for both--brutal, but brilliant. 
• A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf): Four stars--this one was bearable. I also attempted To the Lighthouse and had to stop. Just as I couldn't stand Mrs. Dalloway when I read it in college, I couldn't stand Lighthouse. I am just not a fan of Woolf's fiction. 
• The Alchemist (Paolo Coelho): Five stars--people seem to either love or hate this book. The people who love it often seem to see it as some sort of guide to life. The people who hate it see it that way too. I didn't read it that way. I simply read it as a fun adventure story, and not a parable. As a fun story, I loved it.
• Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury): Three stars--well-written? Yes. Thought-provoking? For sure. Timely? Absolutely. And neither hugely engaging nor totally boring for me. A sold three stars.
• And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie): Five stars--this was a re-read for me. I read it in high school and loved it. I thought I remembered it well, but on this re-read, I realized I'd forgotten a lot of details. Ms. Christie was a fabulous writer. A goal for 2024 is to read more of her works (I've also read Murder on the Orient Express but haven't delved deeper into her prolific list of books). I'd also like to read some biographies about her.

What were some of YOUR favorite books this year? Please feel free to comment. 😀

Moments 2023

With only 15 days left of December, here we come crashing into 2024...twenty years after the year that I started a Little Pink Blog and then moved to England to teach. God, I was so young.

Where the hell does twenty years go, anyway? 

But here I am, still having Wild and Absolutely True Adventures. The coming year already promises to be a fantastic travel year--I'll be spending my February break in Prague, Czech Republic. Then in June, I'm making a long-time Bucket List item happen--I am going to Australia!! 

🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳

Yup, Australia!! Fiji Airways had a sale going on, and through Expedia, I got a fantastic deal on round-trip airfare and hotel right in the heart of Sydney. It will be a quick jaunt--just a week, but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

But this post is about 2023! It was a pretty good travel year, too, adding Spain (as a grownup who can remember) and Mexico to my list of places I've been. I visited Summer in Phoenix for a couple days of my Thanksgiving break, too.

And, of course, I had those normal moments that prove extraordinary.

After the Storm

And...before yet more. California had a very stormy winter, and well-above-average rainfall. Part of the fallout of an early January storm was the sad loss of one of the grand old oak trees in the park across from my condo.

But there were blessings, too. A few months later, I would go for walks in that very park and marvel at the tall grass, so green well into the months where usually things start to yellow. There were wildflowers everywhere. California will always be one dry winter away from drought conditions...but this winter was abundant.

The First Daffodils

There is nothing that makes me quite the same type of happy that I feel when I see my first daffodils. Those sweet little faces peeking out of my water-logged late winter garden are a reminder that spring is coming. And gosh, they make me think of England. 

These two little beauties were the first of the year in my garden. They were perfect. 

A Moment of Clarity

Last December, after several months of thinking about it, I finally asked my primary physician if I could have a hearing test. "I just feel like I miss a lot when people are talking to me," I told her, before adding that both my mother and grandmother wore hearing aids in their later years. Oh, and I'm a musician. She agreed a test was in order, so off I went, a few weeks later, to the audiologist.

The tests were a bit more intensive than your usual "raise-your-hand-when-you-hear-a-beep." (Not that they were difficult or stressful--I was actually really happy to be exploring my hearing.) Turns out I have very healthy ears--no obstructions--but I do, indeed, have hearing loss. Some of it is genetic, and some of it is environmental. 

So 2023 was a year in which I embarked on a new adventure with hearing aids. They're virtually invisible to others when I wear them, and all these months later, I'm still "learning" them and how/when I need to adjust. Here's the great part: I hear everything so much more clearly. Here's the bad part: I hear everything so much more clearly. When you work with fidgety children, sensory overload is not far behind. 

Remembering Mama

At some point in early spring, I was at Dad's house and he mentioned that Mom's rose bushes were blooming. I stepped out to the back yard to see, and got a picture of one of her perfect little roses. She loved her roses, and her garden. Most of the garden is no longer--Dad didn't have the energy or passion to maintain what she loved so--but her rosebushes remain.

We hit five years in June. It doesn't hurt quite so much as it used to, but of course I miss her still. 

A New Classroom

At first, I was kind of dismayed to get assigned to a portable classroom. But the space is really working for me, and after having seven different "home bases" in eight-and-a-half years at this school, I'm hoping this one sticks. I even have my own water cooler, provided by the school, for those of us in the portables to use. I drink a lot of water, so this saves me a lot of trips to the office. 

I also did some light begging last year, and my boss agreed to the purchase of about seven grand worth of Orff instruments for my program. They are beautiful, and the kids love them. I also asked for stools and a large round rug so that I could eliminate most tables from my room. It looks like a proper Music room now!

A Beautiful Moment

I made a bigger effort this year to go to Music Circus shows, starting with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. I enjoyed all of the shows I saw (Beautiful, The Music Man, Ragtime), but Beautiful in particular was...well, beautiful. Carole King was a prolific songwriter before she ever became a recording artist, and the woman who played her in the show was incredible. 

More important, however, was seeing so many Sacramentans supporting the arts. The arts scene here is improving, and it makes my little music nerd heart happy.

A Moment of Zen

In June, a couple days after school got out, I hopped in Sarah's car with her and our friend Debbie, and we drove to Long Beach to catch a Royal Caribbean weekend booze cruise to Ensenada and back. It would be my very first visit to Mexico in 45 years of life, most of which has been in Mexico's next-door neighbor, California. 

Like, my home state owes so much of its heritage to Mexico, and I had never made it there. It would become my 17th country (18th if you count the ten minutes I stood on the tarmac of the Lisbon airport in February, and the fact that my passport was stamped there, not in Spain).

It was on our slow cruise Saturday day at sea, after a somewhat stressful school year had just closed, that I sat in our private casita on the pool deck and felt so relaxed. Should I have swim? Nah, a bit too chilly for that. Should I have another daiquiri? Absolutely. Read my book? Yes please! Complimentary fruit plate? Gorgeous!

Say something about the kids who were running on the slippery pool deck despite the signs everywhere warning them not to?

Nope. Nope. Nope. As I said to Sarah, "This teacher is off-duty." 

A Moment (Many Moments) in an Egg

If there's anything I've learned, it's that the super-annoying phrase, "YOLO!!" is actually true. Seriously, you go around once. Don't wait for things to happen, make them happen. Fiji Airways is having a sale? Book that dream tip to Sydney. 

You want one of those hanging egg chairs? Don't wait for the maybe-in-a-couple-years-I'll-sell-this-condo-and-buy-a-place-with-a-bigger-patio, buy it now. So I did. I bought my egg chair, and then I proceeded to spend a large chunk of my summer vacation in it. I read books, I played on my phone. I sipped cold brews and I sat until the heat of the day drove me back inside. I watched hummingbirds zoom above me to the feeder, completely unconcerned by the lump of melted Meg happily rocking in her egg chair. 

It made me sad to bring the cushion in for the winter, but we're expecting another rainy one. 

A Moment to Stop and Appreciate the Beauty

My condo complex isn't particularly fancy--it's a solid middle-class place with the typical ridiculous HOA (the meetings are...spicy). It has its ups and downs, but I love my little home, and I can't complain too much. 

But every fall, for a few too-short weeks, these trees in front of one of the buildings catch fire. As I drive in, and get out of my car (I was standing next to it to take this picture), I can't help but notice that Mother Nature is asking me to take a moment--just a quick one--to stop after a busy day at work and just bask in what she provides. 

Then I trudge up the stairs to my unit, grumbling about how the landscaping in front of my building needs some attention, damn it, and god, I'm tired, and why wouldn't that kid listen today?! 

A Proud, Non-Impostor Moment

Thirty-five years of studying music, one BA in Music Education, and twenty years of teaching experience, and sometimes I still get a smidge of impostor syndrome.

Then I remind myself that hey, I know music. I really know music. And I know how to teach it. I've devoted most of my life to this pursuit. I am passionate about it. 

In October 2022, my school district had a "Con" (they called it that) of sorts, where anyone could volunteer to teach an hour-long class. Everyone has to attend, and everyone has to attend (or teach) three classes. That first year, I ignored the request, but when I attended that first Con, I realized something was missing: anything to do with the Arts.

I vowed to change that, and this year, when the email came out, I filled out the Google Form proposing a course called "Music for Engagement and Learning," designed to help non-musicians incorporate music into their classrooms. Elementary classroom teacher? I gotchu. High school social studies? I gotchutoo.

I spent a lot of personal time working on my presentation. I included a Music Break in which I made everyone (including my PE teacher colleague Kevin, who took my course to provide moral support) sing a song, so that I could show them how I teach simple songs to younger students. 

For starters, my class was one of the first ones to completely fill up. And while a good number of my own colleagues took it, there were many from other campuses, as well. The day of, I snapped a quick picture of me in my school shirt. My presentation went very well, and the feedback I received was all positive. We had fun in there, and I think I provided my district colleagues with ideas and resources they can take back to their classroom immediately. A few days later, one of my GIS colleagues told me she was already using one of my suggested sites in her Kindergarten classroom. 

Imposter? Not me!

A Moment the Kid is Proud of the Parent

For the time I spend with him (lunch or brunch almost every weekend, occasional day trips together, I don't have many pics of my Dad, and I really need to rectify that.

Dad is 80 now, but he's still living independently and doing the things he likes. He's very active in the veterans group in his community, and very proud, every year, to be part of the Veterans Day ceremony. This year, he did the Two Bell Salute for every member of their group who passed away in the last year. 

Whether you're a dove or a hawk, it can't be denied that our service members give so much to protect American interests. My dad served with honor and distinction for twenty-one years in the Air Force, and he is proud of the things he accomplished. 

Growing up in a military family has definitely influenced how I navigate the world, and nothing makes this daughter prouder than seeing her Dad representing our country, still. 

A Moment of Awe (and a Bonus Moment of Connection to My History)

In February, I returned to the second country I had been to in my life--Spain. Dad's Air Force career took us there briefly when I was a toddler, and I celebrated my 2nd birthday in Zaragosa. I have zero memories of that time in my life (not surprising), so when Summer and I booked a February break trip to Barcelona, I told her I would definitely be making the two-hour train ride to Zaragosa for a day. 

"I would love to have you come along, but if you're not interested, I totally understand. But I will go without you, just FYI." 

"Oh, I'm interested! It will be fun to see a different part of Spain besides Barcelona!"

So after moments of awe in Barcelona--La Sagrada Familia, and so much more--we took a quick day trip to Zaragosa, that city I once lived in, but have no recollection of.

It was wonderful. 

While Barcelona is an international port city, full of tourists from many lands, Zaragosa is quintessentially Spanish. In Barcelona, world languages from far and wide float around you as you explore. There are shops and restaurants from the US and the UK, and plenty to cater to the varied tastes of tourists. 

In Zaragosa, you're simply in Spain. Summer and I spoke our halting American Spanish ("Hablamos el espanol de Mexico!"), delighting the cab drivers we rode with, and people who served us coffee when we arrived. After consulting Google Translate, I managed to tell one cab driver, "Viví en Zaragosa cuando era bebé." He grinned at my image in his rear view and told me he hoped I would enjoy my visit. 

And did I! Summer and I agreed that Zaragosa was perfectly lovely and charming. We visted Al Jaferia, a Muslim medieval fortress, before heading to the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, a large and incredibly beautiful cathedral beside the Ebro River. We walked across the bridge (picture above) to lunch outside in the sunshine, in the European style. That is, unrushed, unbothered, happily hogging a table for a couple of hours. By the time we started, it was siesta, and unlike Barcelona, where places stay open to appease tourists, Zaragosa shuts down. We wandered empty streets, stopped for ice cream at one open place, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Around 4:30, stores slowly started opening back up, so we did a bit of souvenir shopping. 

And in truly Spanish style, we arrived back in Barcelona just in time for a 9:00 dinner on Las Ramblas, right by our hotel. 

A Dude Moment

Thousands of 'em, actually. This year, my amazing little dudes, Archie and Popcorn, turned eight (*sob* time flies). They are healthy--down about two pounds each on their recent vet visit thanks to a better diet--and still the sweetest and happiest little guys. 

Every day they make me smile. From their white tippy-toes to their pink noses, they are the softest, cutest ginger boys. Friends and colleagues alike tell me they delight in the pictures I post of them. I like to think their personalities shine through. And I never get tired of watching their sibling bond.

A few days ago, we marked seven years since I adopted them. Here's to many more years of good health and happiness for The Boyz.

More Musical Moments of Joy

Aside from Prague and Sydney in 2024, I'll be traveling a bit to see Keane again. They're going to be touring all over the world, and I have tickets to see them in Berkeley (my "home" show), San Diego (Summer's going to drive over from Phoenix), and Atlanta, Georgia. Why Atlanta? 

Because after thirteen years of friendship, two visits (one in California, one in New York City), and even attending Mumford and Sons together, it turns out that my best Keane friend, Maayan, and I have never actually seen Keane together. In a phone chat, she said, "I guess I'll buy two tickets to their Atlanta show, but I'll have to find someone to go with me."

"You're taking me."

"WHAT?!?!"

"Buy 'em. I'll Venmo you. And next year, I'm flying to fucking Atlanta to see Keane with you."

But anyway, in the absence of Keane in this calendar year, this year I got to see another favorite: Trombone Shorty. His shows are just so happy. There's nothing like live music. AI will never be able to replicate what human beings can do with music. Never.

A Moment to Look Forward

There's no picture for this section. I'm writing this at my home computer, wearing snuggly pajamas and sporting a serious head of couch hair. 

I look forward to some really great moments in the year ahead--my 18th and 19th countries, and my third continent! I'll also be adding a state to the twenty-something I've seen (Georgia). Three Keane shows, two with dear friends, one on my own (but are you ever truly alone when you are experiencing live music?). 

One big hope is that I can plan a trip-within-a-trip, and fly from Sydney to Alice Springs for an overnight. Alice Springs is home to a well-known kangaroo sanctuary that gives sunset tours--did you know kangaroos are nocturnal? I follow them on Instagram, and honestly, nothing will make me happier on that trip than having a chance to see the place in person, and maybe even hold a joey.

After the new year, I want to sit down with my mortgage broker and talk about interest rates and what might be possible in the next year or two with looking for my "forever home" (or as forever as a Cooper can get, we're kinda known for our wanderlust). I love my condo, but it's always been my starter home. I want a bigger kitchen, a garage, and maybe a couple hundred more square feet. I'd love a townhome-type place. 

But then, there's my travel fund to consider, too. 😏