I’ve had “develop a yoga practice” and “practice meditation” on my resolutions lists for the last several years and never really made much progress with either. It’s partially laziness and partially intimidation – both practices seem simple, but are actually much more difficult to master than they appear. But many of the books I’ve read on distraction and productivity suggest that mindfulness can be helpful in those areas.

Around the new year, as I was trying to settle on my word and plans for the year, a friend made a general recommendation of Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy. She said it was perfect for fans of Brené Brown and people working to develop a yoga or meditation practice — it didn’t take much convincing after that for me to pick it up.

Presence isn’t specifically about yoga or meditation, but Cuddy does mention both of those practices in the context of how they help individuals develop mindfulness and confidence. The book is an engaging and optimistic look at the links between our mind and our bodies, and the ways we can use that connection to be more confident and centered during challenging moments.

First, I think it’s important to share what Cuddy means when she talks about having presence – it’s specific, but also not quite the definition you have in mind:

Presence, as I meant it throughout these pages, is the state of being attuned to and able to comfortably express our true thoughts, feelings, values, and potential. … Presence emerges when we feel personally powerful, which allows us to be acutely attuned to our most sincere selves. In this psychological state, we are able to maintain presence even in the very stressful situations that typically make us feel distracted and powerless. When we feel present, our speech, facial expressions, postures, and movements align. They synchronize and focus. And that internal convergence, that harmony, is palpable and resonant – because it’s real. It’s what makes us compelling. We are no longer fighting ourselves; we are being ourselves. Our search for presence isn’t about finding charisma or extroversion or carefully managing the impression we’re making on other people. It’s about the honest, powerful connection that we create internally, with ourselves.

That sounds huge, but Cuddy is quick to point two important things: presence can (and often does) come moment-to-moment rather than being a constant state, and we can achieve moments presence like you can achieve many things, through small, consistent tweaks to our body language, behavior and mindset.

After setting that stage, Cuddy goes on to explore the different elements of presence, how to develop personal power, and how our body language shapes the way we think in many different ways. It’s this last element of the book – “fake it until you become it” – that I think has resonated with many people, especially those who know Cuddy first through her 2012 TED Talk on how body language can help shape who you are.

Given the buzz around this book related to the TED Talk, I assumed it would be a lot more about the physical aspects of presence, like the benefit of power poses. But the book actually takes quite a long time to get there, focusing first on the importance of finding your authentic self, the damage caused by imposter syndrome, and developing personal power in order to have control over our own states and behaviors. I thought those discussions – particularly those on the importance of openness and kindness in developing personal presence – were really fascinating, and make the book worth reading even if you’re familiar with the TED Talk.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and feel like it’s one I want to buy multiple copies of to hand out to friends who are preparing for big and exciting challenges. Doing a power pose won’t make imposter syndrome go away, but taking a few minutes to stand like Wonder Woman or take a few deep breaths may help you feel like you’ve put your best self forward in that moment, which is really all you can hope to achieve.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links through Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of those links, I will receive a small commission.

Briefly | It’s been an unexpected couple of weeks! The last week of January, I was out of town for a few days at the Minnesota Newspaper Association Convention. While in the Twin Cities, I started to have some car troubles that, unfortunately, seem to have gotten worse. I’m dropping it off for a diagnosis tomorrow, but it looks like my plan to buy a new car is accelerated — maybe to this week when I go to see Newsies with my sister on Wednesday!

Reading | Being out of town last weekend really cut into my reading time. I did stay up well past my bedtime finishing The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry, a YA book that I saw described as Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife. I have complicated thoughts about it. I also finished Stars Above by Marisa Meyer, a collection of short stories set in the Lunar Chronicles universe (delightful).

I’m not sure what’s on for today — I’m just a few chapters into both The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell (nonfiction about NASA’s Voyager missions). But I might skip both and jump into The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee (the buzz on this one is so, so good).

Watching | The Magicians, a SyFy series based on Lev Grossman’s awesome Magicians trilogy, started this week. The first three episodes were great — I’m totally on board with some changes they’ve made to characters and timeline and excited to see what’s next.

Listening | I finally finished Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes on my drive home last Sunday. I started out pretty lukewarm on the book, but the last several chapters were really great.

Making | I’m seriously considering making this Granite Cape from All About Ami. I love the way it drapes and I think it looks pretty simple. I just need to decide on a color!

Blogging | The last couple weeks, I pulled some fun nonfiction from my bookshelves, shared some thoughts on Girl Through Glass and Read Bottom Up, reviewed my January reading and plans for February, and recommended some nonfiction if you loved The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Promoting | I’m likely biased because it’s about my state, but this essay from the Star Tribune about how great Minnesotans are when it snows is lovely.

Hating | The car trouble has been a little frustrating. I did have plans to purchase a new car pretty soon, but I was hoping this one would stay in good shape so I could sell it to my brother. We’ll see what the mechanic says tomorrow.

Loving | I’m addicted to a new Spotify playlist, Ultimate Covers. Anything with an acoustic version of “Pony” is bound to be delightful.

Anticipating | It’s going to be such a big week. The Super Bowl is tonight. My car issues (hopefully) get figured out tomorrow. We’re going to Newsies on Wednesday. And I might get a new car. Whew!

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links through Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of those links, I will receive a small commission.

My first novel of 2016 set the year off on such a good foot – I absolutely loved The Turner House by Angela Flournoy. The Turner House is a big family story, set in a crumbling black neighborhood in Detroit. Patriarch Francis Turner has died and his wife, Viola, is getting too old to manage the family home. When she moves in with their eldest son, Cha-Cha, the other 12 Turner siblings gather to try and decide what to do about the house. The decision is complicated by the national housing crisis – the house is worth just a fraction of the mortgage.

The Turner’s story is told in two threads: the year 2008, when the Turner children are debating the future of the Yarrow Street house, and the year 1944, when Francis Turner first migrates north to Detroit looking for a better life for himself, Viola, and Cha-Cha. These two threads come together to give such depth and life to these characters, the book really is hard to put down.

I want to recommend one book for each of the periods The Turner House addresses, contemporary Detroit and Detroit in the middle of the Great Migration.

A lot has been written about the problems currently facing Detroit, but one of my favorites is Detroit: An American Autopsy. In the book, journalist Charlie LeDuff returns to Detroit, ostensibly to look for clues that will bring to list his family’s troubled past. As he explores, LeDuff also offers a reporter’s take on the problems of this failing city – corruption, a stagnant economy, racism and a host of other ills.

What I liked about the book is that LeDuff clearly still feels affection for his city and the people who are working – despite astronomical odds – to try and make it better. I listened to this as an audiobook, which LeDuff narrates, and you can hear his outrage in every story he reports. It’s a really interesting mashup of memoir and journalism that I think gives a strong overview of how Detroit failed and what it might mean for other great American cities.

For a more historical look at Detroit and the impact of the Great Migration on it and other northern cities, I can’t recommend Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration highly enough. The Great Migration refers to a period between about 1915 and 1970 when almost six million African Americans migrated from the South to escape Jim Crow and look for opportunities in cities like Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Detroit. Wilkerson breaks down this enormous story by focusing on three people whose stories help illustrate the whole, making the book both personal and broad.

What’s especially great about this book is that Wilkerson is able to show how problems facing American cities today can be traced back to responses to the Great Migration – Detroit didn’t become one of the most racially segregated cities in the country by accident, and this book gives some good, concrete history on this shift. I read this book five years ago, and still find myself thinking back to parts of it as I read today. It’s a chunkster of a book, but absolutely worth a read.

This post originally appeared on Book Riot. 

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links through Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of those links, I will receive a small commission.

And just like that, January is gone! The first month of the year always feels like a mess to me – I get jazzed for the beginning of the year and start in on my “resolutions,” of sorts, then get everything blown up again when I’m away from home for a couple of long weekends. It feels like a victory to get to the end of the month feeling optimistic about the rest of the year.

Which is not to say it was a bad month. On the contrary, I had a really good January. And good life events were punctuated by several really good books. Here’s what made it to my reading pile in January:

• The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (fiction)
• The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau (nonfiction)
• Girl Through Glass by Sari Wilson (fiction)
• Citizen by Claudia Rankine (nonfiction/poetry)
• Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham (fiction)
• Presence by Amy Cuddy (nonfiction)
• The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry (YA fiction)
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (memoir)

Overall, I’d say that represents a balanced month – a nice split between fiction and nonfiction and a good representation of different authors and cultures. Five of these books technically count for #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks in that they’re books I own, but two were books that I purchased and read this month, and one was a digital audio book… so really, just two books off the toppling TBR shelves.

The really exciting thing about my reading month is that I have/had things I would like to say about nearly all of them (even Citizen, although it’s so smart and so much has been written already I’m not sure I even have anything to add). All I need to do is sit down and commit to writing the rest of those thoughts down so I can share them (the eternal struggle)!

A Look to February

I’ve already done a little bit of previewing my February reading – I already shared some books to look for in February as well as some of the fun nonfiction on my shelves that I’d love to read soon. Who knows which of those books will make it into my brain this month.

I’m planning to continue with the enjoyable, frustrating slog that is Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow as part of the #HamAlong (I like the book, it’s just so long and so daunting). I’m also hoping to dig into that fun nonfiction and catch up with some January releases I didn’t quite check off the list.

Most importantly: If you’re a book blogger, make sure that you have Book Blogger Appreciation Week (Feb. 15 – 19) marked on your calendar. This awesome event, first organized by Amy (My Friend Amy), is being brought back by several of my favorite bloggers – Ana (Things Mean A Lot), Jenny (Reading the End), Heather (Capricious Reader), and Andi (Estella’s Revenge). It’s such a great positive, community-building event that I know is going to be awesome. Expect to see several posts around here that week.

February can often be a draining month – it’s still winter and the beginning of spring is still out of sight – but I’m going into it feeling more chipper and excited than usual.

How was your January reading? What are you excited to read in February?

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links through Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of those links, I will receive a small commission.