Happy Friday! This week was filled with work, school & kid activities, long walks, Pumpkin Spice, news of the engagement heard around the world, and The Summer I Turned Pretty episode we were all waiting for. So exciting!
Today I’m diving into Emily Henry’s latest book with a full ranking of all her novels, sharing a minor shift in my walking routine, spotlighting what my second grader is reading, and reflecting on real-life analog friendships.
Review: Great Big Beautiful Life
On Sunday I finished reading Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. In this enemies to lovers romance, Alice and Hayden are competing against each other to write the story of Margaret Ives, reclusive heiress. Out of all the EmHen books I’ve read, this wasn’t my favorite, however, I still give it four stars! It’s based on some of the most famous families – Hearst, Kennedy, Pulitzer. I’ve also read that she was inspired by Rebekah Harkness, the subject of Taylor Swift’s song “last great american dynasty.”
I finished the first few hundred pages on a single flight and then slowly read the last few hundred over the course of the next week via e-reader and audio. As always, Julia Whelan, is a great narrator!
Ranking Emily Henry’s Books
I started reading Emily Henry’s books in 2022 and now I’ve read all of her most recent works. My favorites in order:
People We Meet on Vacation is at the top of my list. It’s a great story, but I also made some book club besties when we bonded over it – and that’s hard to beat! In the novel, Poppy and Alex have been friends for 10 years and always take a summer trip together, until one summer they have a falling out.
Stubborn Goals, Flexible Methods
You know I have a goal to walk 1000 miles this year. If I walk every day, it’s about 2.74 miles per day, which is completely doable considering my daily walking routine of about 3 miles. However, a few weeks ago I went out of town and fell behind on my mileage goal progress. I was still walking, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with my mileage target. I made up about 3 miles when I got home, but I was still behind. I didn’t want to keep feeling behind, so I just adjusted my daily mileage goal from then to the end of the year. Instead of 2.74 miles per day, now it’s 2.85 per day. This is one way to reframe a goal, spread it out over more time and still feel “caught up” daily. I’m still on track to reach 1000 miles by the end of the year. Win-win.
2nd Grade Library Check-Outs
Now that school is back in session, my son comes home each week with two new library books! I love to see what he selects. Often, he will read the books in the car on the way home from school and my bookish heart bursts with joy at his enthusiasm.
This week he chose the book, We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . .
He also checked out Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown. In this Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him.
Analog Friendship
Last week I mentioned that I was getting together with the very first mom-friend I made after my son was born. At this point, we’ve been friends for over 8 years! One thing that is unique about our relationship is that we aren’t connected at all on social media after all these years; most of our communication is done by texting very long messages every few months and sending holiday cards. I know texting isn’t “analog” but it does feel that way when I compare it to how closely I’m connected almost daily with most of my other long-distance friends.
We only had about two hours to catch-up and we talked about everything – family, work, hobbies. It’s a good reminder that sometimes it can be nice to share updates about life with someone who doesn’t already know about them via social media posts. But honestly, it takes two people who are willing to put forth that time and effort. Long distance friendships can be so hard and I know quick memes & messages via social media can keep us close, too. It’s a balance!
Over the long weekend, I’m hoping to finish Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid – so good, so far! If you are in the US, I hope you have a relaxing Labor Day weekend.
Questions for you:
- If you’re an Emily Henry fan, what’s your ranking of her books?
- Have you had to re-adjust your approach to a goal recently? What did you do?
Leave a comment