I hope you all had a nice weekend. We took advantage of the nice early morning temperatures to go for some neighborhood walks. I try not to read too many news stories on the weekend but it’s hard not to notice what is going on with the wildfires in the West Coas. For all of you out there, please stay safe. I just think isn’t the pandemic enough? I feel like we all need a break.

I still feel like my reading concentration is totally off although I finally finished a book this weekend but I think I’ll be lucky if I read 50 books this year.

What has been helping me a lot though is crafting, especially journaling. Last fall I signed up for the Wanderlust eCourse and because I had been so busy with work and just getting used to our new normal, I kept putting it off. It is a self-guided art journaling course with chats, assignments, and videos from 27 different teachers. The course is meant as a year long project but I’m just now getting started and I am having a blast! I’m loving this so much that I’ve already signed up for Wanderlust 2021.

I’ve actually been lucky to have met some of these teachers in person at different retreats throughout the years. So if you are at all interested in something like this I would highly recommend it.

Although I am not too thrilled with this little two page spread because my colors were a bit brighter than I intended,  I did use something that was very meaningful to me and that’s the main image (which I found online) of the Hotel Ancira in Monterrey, Mexico. This historic hotel was were my dad first worked when he started his career as a chef. I remember he used to take me there when I was little so we could go pick up his paycheck. And, underneath all the painting, stenciling, and scribbles is actually some journaling about some of my most important relationships.

So, if you love to write and journal and have thought about expressing yourself in different ways, do give art journaling a try. There are no rules, just a lot of freedom and play.

Now, off to do a bit of reading before bed time. Have a great week ahead!

I’m excited to show you some recent book arrivals. Two of these are from my purchase during Independent Bookstore Day and the other two are ARCs from Soho Crime.

Death of a Telenovela Star by Teresa Dovalpage. A cruise, a soap opera star and a handsome actor you would think this is going to be all romance but then a murder takes place. As someone who does watch telenovelas this should be fun. In my defense, I watch telenovelas because my mom enjoys them. Ok, sometimes I too enjoy the cheesy, over the top drama.

The Opium Prince by Jasmine Aimaq. Born to an American mother and a late Afghan war hero-turned-magnate, Daniel Sajadi has spent his life navigating a complex identity. After years in Los Angeles, he is returning home to Kabul for the first time as the head of a US foreign aid agency dedicated to staunching the growth of the poppy fields in Fever Valley that feed the world’s opiate epidemic.

My next two books were purchases from Bookshop.org. These are not necessarily recently published books but they are authors I’ve been meaning to read.

The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli. An artist couple set out with their two children on a road trip from New York to Arizona in the heat of summer. As the family travels west, the bonds between them begin to fray: a fracture is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet.

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, Translated by Lisa Dillman. Yuri Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back.

Let me know if you’ve heard of these or if you’ve read any of these. Would love to hear your thoughts. And, have you received any new books in your mailbox?