what we're reading this winter

this winter hasn’t exactly been filled with glorious winter sports. instead we’ve been cozying up with some slower activities and enjoying the low winter light curled up with some good reads after our work days.

Here’s are some of our team’s picks to get you through February:

Mallory:

• In The Company of Women by Grace Bonney- a gorgeous collection of inspiring stories of creative women making art. I keep it on my bookshelf in my office and flip through it often.
• Secret of the Gnomes by Wil Huygen + Rien Poortvliet - a quirky illustrated tale of Scandinavian gnomes with plenty of fun things to look at. I had a copy as a kid and recently found it in a local bookstore to my delight!
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: a stunningly beautiful listen (I listen on my commutes), imparting the lessons of indigenous plant wisdom and how they relate to our lives and connections to the world around us. A moving read to be savored in small bites - there will be tears.

Sarah:

• A Natureza da Mordida" (The Nature of the Bite) by Carla Madeira - It’s a Brazilian novel that centers on the friendship of two women - one old and one young. What I love most about Bia and Olivia’s relationship is the difference in their perspectives, because of their age gap. Bia is older and sometimes forgets what are were talking about, and there are moments when she doesn’t even recognize Olivia. Yet Olivia remains incredibly patient and gentle. She has her whole life ahead of her, full of energy and light, and that brightness warms Bia’s days like a sun. The author is from my home town and her writing is very poetic!

Lauren:

• Cowboys are my Weakness by Pam Houston - I’m at a point in life where coming-of-age reads are teaching me many life lessons. I loved the way this book explored human relationships and compiled stories of independent young women through out the West. Pam brings you through a series of short stories of women in male dominated areas (whitewater rafting, hunting, fishing) and shares their struggles in these professions/activities. Finding myself in these hobbies it was comforting to hear her perspective. My favorite quote from her. "I wanted her to see that the only life worth living is a life full of love; that loss is always part of the equation; that love and loss conjoined are the best opportunity we get to live fully, to be our strongest, our most compassionate, our most graceful selves.”
• Just Kids by Patti Smith. It is a stream of conciousness from her time living in the Chelsea hotel in the late 60's and 70's. I enjoy that it reads like a diary and does a great job of immersing the reader in a world I know nothing about. My favorite line so far is "We learned we wanted too much. We could only give from the perspective of who we were and what we had." It has intrigued me to learn more about this time and the art that came from it.

Lainie:

• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert- Such a comforting book about living creatively and actually following your passions. I revisit it whenever I need to open myself back up and let more creativity in.
• Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson - I love astronomy, and this is such an engaging way to get a simple grasp on really complex topics. Favorite quote: “We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out—and we have only just begun.”
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck - The best book I’ve ever read. It pushed me to dive deeper into Steinbeck’s work, and I’ve started reading all of his shorter stories this year.