Last week I shared my intentions for 2021 along with my plan to make smaller, short-term goals to keep myself on track. Given how January has looked so far, I couldn’t be happier that I let myself start small this year. I very much plan to build on each of these, but small steps that are easy to stick to have helped me begin building the momentum I need to have a great and productive year.

Be Present. Through self-reflection I know that I have had trouble being present because I’ve always been looking to the next thing to make me happy. So I’ve written myself a very simple SMART goal to help me stay in the moment each day. For the month of January, journal everyday. That’s it. That’s the goal. My action plan is to use guided journal prompts so I can’t use the excuse of not having anything to write about. My contingency plan is that I have my journal out in plain sight so I can’t ignore it. And I add “journal” as a to-do item to my daily list every morning. Hoping to build on this practice throughout the year, but starting small for now.

Focus on the essential. As I said last week, I have wasted money on trying to find things that would be the perfect “fix” for different parts of my life. Namely – skin care, hair care, clothing, and home decor. So my January goal is to not spend money on any of those things through the end of the month and to use what I already have. Action planning for this was pretty easy since it’s more about not doing than doing. Contingency planning was a little more involved. I took inventory of what I have in closets and drawers so I’m not tempted to buy something I already have. For home decor, if I start to feel the need to get a new blanket or throw pillow to “spruce things up” I will shop the house instead. Even just moving something from the guest room to the living room or the living room to the office scratches that new decor itch for me.

Stay Connected. After the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, getting time alone in January can often feel like a welcome respite. However, I know that if I let things drop this month, I’ll never get back the momentum of staying in touch with people more regularly. So this month the goal is to have at least two video calls with friends. So far I’ve had one and I have another one on the books before the end of the month! Even just an hour of talking to a person face-to-face can do wonders for my sanity. Action planning for this month was easy, one call was scheduled by someone else and the other is a meeting of a small book club that we’ve been talking about for awhile. So it was a simple as picking a date and putting it on the calendar.

Activate inner SJW. This one feels trickier because I’m still trying to make a plan of action for myself. But over the weekend I realized that if I want to use my voice more, especially on social media, I need to just practice the act of using social media instead of passively consuming it. So my goal for January is to share the things that resonate with me. I follow a lot of really well informed people who articulate social and political issues much better than I can. I often like posts or even save them for future reference, but this month I’m going to start sharing them on my instagram stories! Simple actions to start with, but again, hoping to build on it in the coming year.

I have a few others that I’m working on as well…walk for at least 1 mile every day, write 500 words every week day, read 5 books this month, and keep my inbox under control! But that’s it! Moving the small stones so I can work step by step to move mountains.

Wednesday morning I published my blog post about having tentative hope in 2021 and setting bigger overarching intentions for the year. Wednesday afternoon there was a riot and attempted coup at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. As I watched the news and scrolled through social media, I felt angry, frustrated, helpless and overwhelmed. Both because of the blatant disregard for our democracy by these so-called ‘patriots’ being fueled by our president AND at the stark discrepancy at how law enforcement showed up vs how they showed up for the planned BLM protest.

Then I started seeing people equate the attempted coup with the protests from last summer. Even without talking about the police response, these events are light years away from each other. On one hand, you have a group of people who have been continuously oppressed by systems that are part of the DNA of America who are marching because they see their brothers and sisters unjustly dying every day. On the other hand you have a privileged group (white males) who can’t accept that they didn’t get their way in a free and fair election and are trying to force an overthrow of our democracy. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME! The actions that happened on Wednesday is not “just as bad” as the protests…they are WAY WORSE.

As I continue to process everything that has happened and my reactions to it, I realize that I want to do more than I have been. I’ve spent a lot of time reading about white supremacy and anti-racism, but I haven’t taken much action. Wednesday reinforced for me that while I’m sitting here reading and learning…the other side is taking action. And I can’t sit in idle complicity anymore.

Every intention that I had set for the year was internally focused. Being present, focusing on the essential, and staying connected. But what about taking action and making an impact? I don’t know specifically what that will look like yet, but I want to speak my intention into existence today.

I know one thing I want to do is to use my voice more. I’m pretty candid about my feelings with my close friends and family. Most of them have sat through a rant or two of mine. But I always hesitate to put those thoughts into writing – whether on this blog or on social media. I want to change that this year and be more courageous about speaking up in uncomfortable situations.

In addition to speaking up more I will be researching places and organizations to give to financially as well as volunteering my time. I’m not exactly sure what other directions this will take, but I know I want to do more. I want to activate my inner social justice warrior this year and try to make a difference.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I love the beginning of a new year. The idea of starting over fresh is just appealing to me. Growing up, making New Year’s resolutions felt like a fun game. I saw this reflected in my niece and nephew when we asked them what their resolutions were for 2021. They included things like “see if my new RC car can jump off the roof” and “try a new hairstyle.” But they also had more realistic and practical goals like “read 50 books” and “score a goal in soccer.” It was fun to listen to them and see them get excited about all the possibilities that 2021 can bring.

I think this year it’s a little harder for us as adults to get into making resolutions. Almost everything we planned for on January 1st of 2020 ended up cancelled or put on hold indefinitely. For most of us, our year in reality looked nothing like the one we had hoped for. But I do think there is hope for 2021 being different, albeit a tentative hope. I keep seeing a meme circulated that says something to the effect of don’t declare 2021 as ‘your year’ and tread softly so we don’t scare it. I get the sentiment and the humor, but it also makes me sad that as much as people are cheering the end of 2020, there seems to be little celebration about the beginning of 2021.

As much as I’m cautious, I also want to be optimistic. The past few years have been difficult for me personally, however I feel like I’ve actually turned a corner on a few things. And I don’t want to put that progress and momentum on hold just because I’m unsure what this year is going to look like. So instead of making ‘resolutions’ this year, I want to set intentions. And then I’ll set short-term goals that fall under these intentions, re-evaluating on a more frequent basis to adjust for all those unknown external factors that are sure to come.

• Be present: the past few years have been a challenge for me on this front because I was so frequently unhappy in my personal circumstances. I was always looking forward to getting home from a business trip or being done with a big project launch or even just getting through the work day. I’ve recently realized how much that stripped me from finding joy in my current surroundings and I’m looking forward to practicing being present.
• Focus on the essential: I can’t tell you how much money and effort I’ve spent over the past decade searching for the perfect face cream that would dramatically change my skin. The perfect dress that would make me look 10 lbs smaller. The perfect gadget that would simplify my life. The perfect workout gear that would make me actually want to go for a run. This year I want to stop searching for the perfect [insert object here] and focus on what is essential. And I’ve also finally accepted the fact that no pair of leggings exists in the world that is going to make me want to run.
• Stay connected: I grew up moving around a lot. And then I moved around a lot during the beginning of my adult life as well. It was harder then than it is now to keep in touch with people and I just kind of accepted that I would lose all my friends every time I moved. As long distance communication got easier, I didn’t change that mindset at all. People say to live with no regrets but the regret that I don’t think I’ll ever shake is all the wonderful relationships I let go of over the years. Being cut off from almost all face-to-face interaction last year showed me how easy it really is to text or call or FaceTime people. It can be an hour, 5 minutes, or even just a 30 second text message. But it takes effort to stay connected and I am determined to do that this year.

So that is how I am approaching my growth and development for the year of 2021. The next step is to create those SMART goals and, as I said before, I plan to keep them focused on the short-term so I can shift as things inevitably change this year.

I hope your New Year feels shiny, bright, and hopeful (even if it’s tentative!)

The end of 2020 is almost here and we made it! And we’ve learned some pretty significant lessons this year that can be carried over to put us in a better position to face the new unknowns of next year. I know everyone has been affected by this in different ways, but I think most people can agree that it made our senses grow sharper, as Yeats says above. It feels a little like the idea that when we lose one sense, the others become more acute. So as I’ve lost the hustle and bustle of what my life used to be, I’ve been able to look around and realize the magical simple joys in life a little more.

For starters, staying at home all the time has given me a much better appreciation for my house. When made the purchase 5 years ago, I remember thinking of it as a 3-5 year starter home. This gave me a mentality of “waiting for the next house” in terms of decorating or settling. This changed pretty quickly this year when everything shut down and we were stuck inside 95% of the time. At that point I started noticing things that made the house feel temporary and started to make little changes. I hung artwork on the walls in our home office. I rearranged things in our bedroom to help with the cluttered feel. I started purging things that weren’t sparking joy. And then in the midst of that, I quit my job. Which, let’s be real, puts buying a new house much further down the road at this point. But I had already started making this one feel more permanent. And it made that loss of “future house” feel less like a loss and more like an opportunity to enjoy this home for longer.

I’d say the second thing that has brought me joy this year is our little menagerie. If I haven’t mentioned it before, my husband and I have a dog, two cats, a ball python, a leopard gecko, and five chickens. I have always loved our furry, fluffy, and scaley animals, but I’ve never spent as much time with them as I have this year. In the absence of co-workers, I chat with my cat Portia as she snuggles in my lap. And her brother Buzz always tries to make an appearance when I’m on video chats. And on nice days I work with the window open and hear the chickens clucking away in the backyard. As for Bette Davis, the gecko, and Shep, the python, I am now the primary one to feed them every week! These sweet animals have given me much needed companionship and variety in an otherwise lonely and monotonous year.

Third, the relationships in my life have brought me so much joy this year. I’m a textbook introvert, I will always opt for being by myself if give the choice. A full week in a highly populated office setting would absolutely wear me out. But being forced to be apart from people I care about gave me a new found appreciation for the people in my life. Tyler and I navigated the change and figured out a balance that worked for us being in the house together full time. I cherish every moment I get to spend with my parents. And with Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime…I’ve had more good conversations with friends near and far than I ever have! Whereas I used to rely solely on text to reach out to people, because talking seemed to exhausting, I now will schedule a video call just to say hi. I’ve been diligent in maintaining physical distance with people…but I wouldn’t say it’s been social distance. I feel closer to those in my social circle after this year.

So yes, it was a hard year. And I’m not trying to sugarcoat anything that happened over the past 10 months. But my goal for the end of this year is to try and focus on those joyful moments and memories as much as possible. History will ensure we remember the difficult times we endured this year, but it’s up to us to remember the happy and magical things in our lives.

For the past several weeks I’ve walked through the five steps I think are key for setting goals.

• Step 1 – A Little Self-Reflection: Where are you right now and how did you get here?
• Step 2 – Define Your Motivation: What is your deep down motivation to make a change?
• Step 3 – Write Your Goal: Craft your goal using SMART criteria
• Step 4 – Action Planning: What practical steps to you need to take to be successful?
• Step 5 – Contingencies: What obstacles might get in your way of success and how can you prepare to overcome them?

But what if you have a huge goal in mind that doesn’t quite breakdown very well into these steps? Should you just abandon those Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) and only go after smaller changes? Absolutely not!

The last company I worked for had a great way of thinking about big goals vs smaller ones. Every year teams would go through the process of writing their multi-year objectives, or re-evaluating what was written the previous year. These multi-year goals were always written as stretch goals and as such, would take more than one calendar year to accomplish. Next these big goals would be broken down into yearly goals and then further broken into quarterly action plans. Did this take a lot of time? Sure did. But it was worth the effort. Everything was designed so that it all worked together within the overarching corporate strategy. Since you are just one person, the process may not need to be quite so complex. But I think the same principles can apply.

BHAGs can be written in a less-detailed and more broad overarching way. While I encourage goals to be detailed and specific, a BHAG might be something more like “Buy a house.” I think it still helps to be time-bound, but it can be more vague. “Buy a house in the next 3-5 years.”

Now, there are a lot of things that need to happen between now and buying a house. Maybe you need to pay off that credit card debt and build up your credit score, or you want to save more towards a substantial down payment. Or you need to figure out your long-term career goals so you know where you want to settle down. Each of these then can become a SMART goal with an action plan. Figure out what you need to do right now, walk through your goal-setting process, and then next year start again with self-reflection in the context of your BHAG. What were you able to accomplish? What obstacles got in the way? Was your goal the right size or was it too easy? Too difficult? Then make your next set of goals to keep you on track towards buying a house in 2-4 years!

Big goals can be scary and daunting. So instead of focusing on the big hairy thing at the end of the road, just focus on taking the next right step.

So hopefully you’ve finished your holiday gift shopping by now. But if you haven’t, I have a few ideas for last minute gifts that are actually meaningful…and don’t involve kidnapping!

• Homemade meal delivery: Commit to making 1 homemade meal per month and delivering it to your friends doorstep. Either schedule the day ahead of time or plan to make something freezer friendly that they can heat up after a busy day.
• Houseplants: I really think anyone would be happy to get a plant as a gift! If you aren’t sure if the gift recipient has a green thumb, opt for something like a succulent, snake plant, or pothos which are all pretty low maintenance.
• Gift cards: A lot of people see gift cards as impersonal, but I think matching the right gift card to the right person can be a great gift. For example, if someone I know loves makeup and skincare I wouldn’t try to pick something out for them, I would get them a Sephora or Ulta gift card so they could pick exactly what they want. I remember being a kid who loved reading and a bookstore gift card was like gold to me. The option to wander through the store and pick exactly what I wanted to read was both an experience and a gift.
• Build your own gift basket: Pancake mix, coffee, maple syrup, a fun spatula in a mixing bowl for a breakfast themed gift basket. Or make a game night basket with microwave popcorn, hot chocolate, a cozy blanket and a board game.
• Fancy salt or spices: As someone who loves cooking, I can’t tell you how much I love getting fancy ingredients as gifts. I’ve gotten spice kits from Penzey’s or flavored salts. And I’ve used every last bit of them!

Things I don’t recommend unless you know the person well:

• Alcohol: The holidays can be an especially difficult time for people who don’t drink as indulging becomes the norm. And because you can’t always be sure of the internal battles people are facing, best to avoid this potential landmine.
• Perishable food: It’s the holidays, people are likely going to have limited space in their fridges and freezers. Try not to gift something that will just end up being a burden. If there’s a really great frozen treat you want to share…consider sending a gift card for the amount and a picture of the treat. Then they can order it when it works best for them.
• Public experiences: This year everyone has different comfort levels about going out into the world. Any other year I’d say gifting experiences is a great idea, but don’t give someone a membership to a museum if you don’t know that they’ll feel comfortable using it in the first half of 2021.
• Home decor items: Home decor is a super personal thing for most people. Even if we find something that we know would go perfectly in someone’s home…they might already have it exactly how they want it. And then they might feel guilty for not displaying the item you gave. Or worse, think that they have to bring it out every time you come over!
• A bunch of little things: Sometimes when we can’t think of a gift, we find ourselves in the bargain section of Target picking out a bunch of little things just so we have something to give. I think most adults would rather not get more stuff that they have to find room for in their homes. But that could just be me!

Even when we carefully craft action plans, things will come up that threaten to derail our progress. But I’d argue an action plan is still worth the effort AND we can further shrink the likelihood of failure by thinking through potential obstacles and contingencies. The way I differentiate this from writing your action plan is that your action plan should outline the things you know you will need to do to succeed. The contingency plan should only address things that might impede you. So while obstacles are inevitable, we don’t know exactly what we will face in a given year.

The way I like to go about this is to write out If/Then statements. The first part of this exercise is really fun for all my worst-case-scenario thinkers out there. In the “If” column write out everything that could go wrong or prevent you from accomplishing your goal. Be realistic for most of these, but also feel free to get outlandish. I’ll tell you…I did this exercise at the beginning of 2020 with a group of women and not a single one wrote “If a global pandemic shuts everything down…” so I will no longer criticize someone for using their imagination!

Once you have your obstacles written down, take time to go back through each one and write the “Then” part of your statement. For example, my goal is to finish writing 20,000 words in the next few weeks. So I might write “If my computer breaks and I can’t afford a new one, then I’ll write with pen and paper.” Or “If I break all my fingers at once, then I’ll use my voice memos to capture my ideas.”

Let’s revisit the goal of getting out of debt.

• If I lose my job, then we will re-evaluate our budget and savings goals to prioritize credit card payments.
• If my partner doesn’t stick to the budget, then we will have a conversation to identify ways to cut down on spending, ie: a cash “allowance”.
• If we have an emergency with a huge bill come up, then we will call the hospital/gas company/insurance company to negotiate a lower bill and payment schedule to avoid putting it on the credit card.

Some of these If/Then statements might seem a little vague, but that’s okay. The idea here is to make a plan for initial next steps in case one of these obstacles arises. Solutions will be fluid and circumstantial, so it’s okay to not have every twist and turn mapped out ahead of time. What we are trying to avoid is losing all the momentum that you’ve gained along the way. Imagine if I really did break all my fingers at once. The easiest thing to do in that situation would be to completely break down and give up if all I’ve thought about is how to write. But if I start off with the small little contingency of voice memos then I might actually keep going.

It is also important to remember that you aren’t going to be able to think through every potential scenario (see: global pandemic). But if we go through the practice of identifying our If/Then statements, when something truly unexpected is thrown at us we have already exercised the skill of coming up with a solution by thinking through other pathways to success.

Next week we’ll wrap up this series by talking about those Big Hairy Audacious Goals (or BHAGs) that might not fit into this goal-setting framework.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about why holiday traditions are important to us and how this year is going to look different without some of them. I know a lot of us rely on certain traditions to get us into the holiday spirit and without them we might be feeling a little less than holly jolly right now. So I put together a list of things I’m planning to do in December to make sure things stay merry and bright!

• A festive morning beverage! I happen to LOVE eggnog lattes, so I bought a carton of eggnog and have been putting a splash in my coffee instead of creamer. If you are a tea drinker, think about switching to something with peppermint or cinnamon.
• Get winter plants for inside! Some people love to get live poinsettias to decorate, but the past several years I’ve gotten an amaryllis bulb. Watching it grow and flower brings me so much joy when everything outside is dead and dreary. (Please note: poinsettia, amaryllis, and paper whites are all toxic to pets…so be aware!)
• Put out your favorite Christmas decorations. If you aren’t quite in the mood…don’t feel like you have to put out all of your decorations right now. Pick and choose the ones that you like the most and just stick with those for now. You might decide to go back and get the rest of your decorations or you might end up keeping things small this year. Just because other people are going big doesn’t mean you have to.
• Read a Christmas book! Christmas movies are great, but they only last so long. Books can be enjoyed over several days or weeks! I found this list from The Oprah Magazine recently and there’s a few I’m going to hunt down this month, like Mr. Dickens and His Carol and Christmas in London.
• But also…watch all my favorite Christmas movies. I mean, of course I’m going to watch White Christmas and Muppet Christmas Carol and Love Actually and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and The Holiday and A Christmas Story and Elf and…I won’t keep going.
• Do a Christmas puzzle. I have been doing a lot of puzzles this year while being stuck at home. They are such a great way to keep your hands busy and also challenge your mind. I grew up in a household where Springbok Christmas puzzles reigned supreme, but recently I’ve been enjoying Galison puzzles as well.
• Wear a holiday mask. Seriously, if we are wearing them anyway why not make it festive? Throw on a candy cane mask and some jingle bell earrings for your weekly grocery run!
• Try out a new holiday recipe. Or ask your family members for their classic recipes and recreate traditional meals yourself. I’m going to try my hand at homemade eggnog this year. And maybe a bouche de noel!
• Take time for daily reflection. If advent devotionals are your thing, prioritize that time every day. Or spend time journaling about something that brings you joy. Talk about your favorite childhood holiday memories. Just do something that reminds you of what gives this season deeper meaning in your life.
• Give yourself something to look forward to. If your favorite things about this year aren’t happening (fancy work parties, school concerts, church pageants, breakfasts with Santa, traveling back home, big family dinners, etc…) put something on the calendar that you can get excited about. It could be a night that you plan to decorate gingerbread houses with your spouse or a family game night with your immediate household or a fancy meal where you dress up and drink cocktails at home. Or maybe you need something small every day…don’t underestimate a good chocolate advent calendar!

In a year where every week seems to bleed into the next and it’s hard to keep track of what day it is…making this season merry and bright might take a little extra effort. But if you make it, I think it can be as joyous as you want.

Usually people stop the goal setting process once they’ve written down their goal. You think “There! I’ve done it! And now I’ll just make it happen…” But the truth is that isn’t how these things actually work. In order to achieve your goal, you have to plan out your steps towards success. Sometimes you are able to quickly identify the steps you need to take. Other times you have to be more deliberate with your action planning.

If you want to understand the importance of action planning, think about someone who has a goal of running a marathon. They have a well written SMART goal that says “I will run the 2021 Denver Marathon in under 3½ hours.” This goal is specific, measurable, achievable (depending on the person!), relevant and time-bound. But they can’t just stop there! They’ll never get to the point of being able to run 26.2 miles in under 3½ hours without having a solid step-by-step plan in place. This is where training schedules come into play for them, as well as creating a support system for the day of the race.

The same concept should be applied to your own SMART goal, even if it isn’t running a marathon. Let’s say you want to reduce your credit card debt by 50% in the next 6 months. Your action plan should take into consideration which credit card bill you are going to tackle first, how much you will pay off each month, and what actions you need to take in your budget to ensure you have that amount available each month. Without a solid action plan to pay off the debt, it’s unlikely going to just happen.

If I take my goal of writing 20,000 words in 6 weeks, my action plan will include the following:

• I will write about 500 words per day or 3,500 words per week. (I tend to break steps down by weeks vs. days because some days I’ll write more than others. And I still want to feel successful even if I take a day off.)
• Since it takes me about an hour to write 500 words, I will set aside 1 hour per day dedicated to writing. I also know I do better getting it all out at once rather than breaking it into smaller chunks throughout the day.
• My creativity and motivation seem to be highest in the morning, so I’ll schedule my writing time before lunch.
• I will set my devices to airplane mode and do not disturb so I can focus on the tasks at hand.

These are small, actionable steps that I can take to set myself up for success. I’ve thought about how to pace myself towards my goal, what time of day is best for me, and how to minimize distractions. Your goal might have more or less action steps. It might look more like a schedule where you start off easy and work towards more difficult actions, like you would while training for a marathon. Or it might just be a way to hold yourself accountable to the daily changes you want to make. If you are looking to spend less money, you might have an action plan of only going out to eat once a week or making your coffee at home instead of buying a latte every day.

At the end of this step you should have several actionable steps written out that you can use to keep yourself accountable for tracking towards success. As your work through this you might start to ask “What happens if things get off track?” Well…we’ll talk about that next week when we look closer at anticipating obstacles and contingencies.

November Book Report is here! I read five books this month and I loved them all! To be honest, they were all pretty substantial and if I was still working a full time job on someone else’s schedule I probably would have only finished 1 or 2 of these. But I’ve been making reading a priority because I firmly believe that reading makes you a better writer. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions or recommendations for what I should read in December!

Before You Were Ours by Lisa Wingate – Oh my…this is the book I’ve been waiting for recently. It sucked me in from the get go and transported me into another world. It is a gripping story based on the true story of Georgia Tann who kidnapped poor children and sold them to wealthy families under the guise of adoption. The story has two story lines to follow, one present day and another set in 1939. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to put this down as you become more and more invested in these characters and how their lives intertwine.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – In contrast to last month’s Me and White Supremacy which was an intense journey of self-reflection, So You Want to Talk About Race feels a little more like an academic look on systemic racism in America. The author, Ijeoma Oluo, still keeps the book engaging with personal anecdotes so it doesn’t veer into textbook territory, but she cites many facts throughout the book to support her arguments and positions. She discusses everything from police brutality to why you shouldn’t touch a black woman’s hair. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is just getting started on their journey to understanding systemic racism and what BIPOC face day in and day out.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng – By the same author of Little Fires Everywhere, this book is just as twisty and character driven. It revolves around the death of a sixteen year old girl and dives into the stories of her family both leading up to her death and the aftermath. It is beautifully written and truly captivating in it’s exploration of generational trauma and familial relationships. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for something more on the literary side.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – I am secretly a huge fan of fantasy and sci-fi books! I guess not so secretly anymore… But I picked this book up after I saw it recommended by someone I follow on Instagram. It’s the first of three books and I was super disappointed that I didn’t already have the next two immediately available when I finished it. This book is not for everyone. I wouldn’t even say it’s for all fans of fantasy. There is a ton of world building going on in this novel. There are lots of tedious descriptions, references to in-world history, and places where you have to keep reading even though you haven’t gotten all the background yet. But I absolutely loved it. The setting is a land where earthquakes and tectonic shifts are a regular occurrence. There is a group of people who have power to control the earth’s movement, but their power is dangerous so they are highly controlled and exploited for their usefulness. It explores themes of cultural conflict and systemic oppression. I really can’t wait to read the next books in the series!

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – This book is just pure art. The descriptions are so rich that you really can picture yourself walking through each scene with the characters. The Dutch House itself acts as a passive character, creating conflict and resolution while remaining a stoic and stable fixture through the years. It is another book that explores complex family dynamics and generational trauma, but it a more removed way than Everything I Never Told You. Elevated literature if you a looking for a book your college professor might have assigned. It would be a lot of fun to analyze and critique in a classroom setting.