What I Learned: 24 New Things

Happy Epiphany! Normally if I was home, I would be celebrating this day with a run that used to be the number of kilometers as a friend's age (who is now in his 60s or maybe 70s!), so today I will do the same, but probably many less miles than normal! So, happy birthday John! Today I will run your age in km, drop the zero! 

Every year I like to make a list of the things that I learned over the year or the new things I discovered and for the last few years I have made it a list of the number of things corresponding to the number of the year. (*Side note: last year one of them was "overnight bikepacking." My how things have changed!) So this year I will give you 24 things that are new to me this year, in no particular order! 

1. New to me states. This year, I visited three new to me states, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan. I really enjoyed all of them, and their specific beauty, as well as the people that I met in each of them. I still have a few left on my list to visit, but I am now up to 43 states visited so far! 

Montana

Wisconsin

Michigan

2. Sleeping with strangers. On my bike trip, I stayed with hosts through the Warmshowers network, which is a network of people willing to host a dirty cyclist and sometimes even feed and entertain them. I met a lot of very nice people through this, but I will admit to being a bit nervous the first time I did it. Luckily everyone was super nice, I got to learn about the local culture, and hear stories of their time on the road (most of them are also cyclists). 

3. Bike maintenance. Over the last year, I fixed about a dozen flat tires. However, this was already something that I knew how to do. What I did not know how to do and am now good at was how to assess certain problems, like adjusting my derailleur, changing my brake pads or replacing my chain. These were not the most exciting new things to learn but they did come in handy! 

Fixing a flat

4. Bike terms. Before this trip, I called the thingy on the back of the bike with all of the teeth on it that the chain goes around a "sprocket." Folks, it is not called a sprocket; it is a cassette. There is also a crank, a bottom bracket, and many other things on the bike that I learned about, sometimes the hard way (I had to replace my bottom bracket, which cost me an arm and a leg!) 

5. Native lands. I rode through so many different native lands, and many of them have information about the tribes there. I enjoyed learning more about the natives and first nations as I pedaled through. 

Map found in Nova Scotia, with my lines of where I went

6. Fun with AI. As you know from some of my posts, I have been playing around with AI a little this year. The best thing so far has been a table of places I could run or hike near my Airbnb with mileage and possible lunch options on the route. I have not tested it out yet by running there or trying the food, but it is a fun way to get some ideas. I am also enjoying making pictures, like this one below! 

7. Pronunciation. After reading Kae and Julie's blogs for a long time and completely pronouncing their family member's names wrong, I finally met them in person and learned how to do it right! Kae's husband is E-van, not I-van and Julie's daughter is May-ah, not My-ah. So now you know. (PS I also pronounced Hermione wrong for a long time in my head, and finally heard it said out loud and was surprised!) 

8. How to use a GoPro. I bought a GoPro in 2023 with the intention of using it for hiking and biking adventures and the first time I used it, I filmed my lap and handlebars for several videos without realizing it. I have gotten a little bit better at it since then, but still find out new things, like last week I found out that there is an "action" mode that I have never used. Oops. 

9. Too many things about computers. You were all there with me when I bought a new laptop and learned way too many things about RAM and GB and graphics cards. Something I have not told you though is that Costco has a 30 day price match policy, so I checked the price and it had gone down $300, and Costco adjusted it for me! 

10. How to ride a bike in the snow. This is not very fun and I do not really want to do it if I don't have to, unless maybe I got a fat bike. However, it was beautiful, even though I suffered! 

Near Burney, CA

11. Video calls make everything better. When I arrived home after being gone for nine months and saw my Mom in person for the first time, it did not feel like I had been away so long. We have a weekly video call and it really made it feel like we had been seeing each other the entire time. I almost forgot that I had not hugged her in nine months! 

12. Any coffee is good coffee. I already knew that I could pretty much drink anything due to camping and drinking a lot of instant coffee. However, in the last year, I have had instant, drip, filter, French press, Nespresso, espresso, Tim's, Starbucks, gas station coffee, Kurig...and more! And sometimes an instant coffee and powdered creamer latte on the side of a trail in the rain can be the best coffee you have ever had! 

Coffee with ice cream in it! 

13. More exercise is better for stomach issues. During my cycling times, I did not really have any issues with bloating! However, once I stopped, sometimes my tummy got a little sad. I think that burning more calories really helped the food to not just settle in the tummy and fester, and I felt so much better when I was active. 

14. People are wonderful. I already knew this, but had a great time meeting up with people for walks before leaving the Bay Area, and then meeting so many people along the way! This just cemented the fact that I do actually like people and that people are good! Sometimes the news or social media makes me feel otherwise, and we all need a reminder that there are good people out there! 

15. Dogs are okay too. I would not call myself a dog person, but I did have dogs growing up and I did love them. Of course, my Dad trained them and so they were well behaved dogs. I have realized recently that I don't dislike dogs, but I do not really enjoy badly behaved dogs, or their human owners. There is nothing worse than being on a leashed running trail and having an unleashed dog run up to you and jump on you while the human tells you that "he's friendly!" However, I have been with some pretty good dogs in the last year and they have warmed my heart (even Jelly, the crazy Cavapoo, has calmed down a little and now we are better friends). 

My brother's dog, Freddy

16. But cats are still better. Sorry dog lovers! I still like cats better. As a pet sitter, cats are so much easier. You can leave the house all day and come back and they are fine. You don't have to walk them; they are often not as needy. However, I did love getting out twice a day with the dogs! But cats are just so much more chill. 

Volunteering with J at Petco

17. Verbal journalling. Since I was riding, I often would use the Recorder app on my phone to record audio while I was riding. I tried to do this every day if I could, and would sometimes also record notes for other people and would send them a voice note of what was going on. This saved me having to rewrite it later after I was done riding. Also my app also transcribes and so later if I do want to write a journal, it will be very helpful. I feel like it was like my one line a day journal essentially and sometimes I would talk for a half an hour and sometimes only five minutes. However, I have started to go back and listen to them and it is very fun to hear how I felt nine months ago when I was just starting out. 

18. BC has free established camping. In British Columbia, if the provinical park campground is not yet open for the season, you can duck under or around the gate and camp there. Also, there are sites called Recreation sites, that are often free and first come first served. However, some of the rec sites are $10 or $20, depending on where you are. 

Sunshine Coast

Chain Lakes

19. People in Ontario have a stronger "Canadian" accent. I kind of knew this, as one of my good friends grew up in Toronto and she says "so-rry" instead of "sari" like we say in California. I also noticed more "ehs" in Ontario than I did in other places. I could be biased though, as the west coast Canadians sound a lot like Californians, so maybe I just did not notice their accent as much. 

20. Routing and rerouting. I did a lot of routing and rerouting on the fly for the bike trip. Even though I know how to map, and do it a lot for hiking trips, this really put me in the deep end of bicycle route planning that I had not really been in before. It probably also taught me that I do not need to prepare ahead of time for EVERYTHING, as often that was not a choice and I turned out okay. 

21. I can live with just my phone. I was without a laptop for a while and although I do not love it, I can do it if I need to. Isn't that funny though, as there have been so many trips in the past where I did not have a computer, and even ones before that where I did not have a phone, and all of them were just fine (remember mapquest? Or having to ask for directions? In French?) It also maked me really happy to have my laptop back when I finally got it. I defintely took it for granted before! 

22. Toilets and hot water are awesome. Speaking of taking for granted, I knew this before but let me say it again, having a toilet and a hot shower is priceless! 

Even this is better than digging a hole

23. New to me Provinces. I had been to Ontario to see Niagara Falls when I was younger, but had never really strayed into the rest of the province, so I will call this a "new" one, and also I made it across New Brunswick (but did not stay the night so I will not count it) and into Nova Scotia! I also explored Quebec a little more, and stayed in Montreal for a couple of weeks! Overall I am happy with the time I spent in Canada and can't wait to go back for more! 

24. How to sell a house. It feels like that was a long time ago, but it was only last year that I sold my house. I am so happy with the realtor that I picked, as I basically got rid of all of my stuff, quit my job, and left, and he did everything to prep the house for sale, including working with all of the contractors, plumbers, inspectors and electricians! I just wrote the checks and he did everything. It was actually not that bad in the end. 

And there you have it! I learned a lot more things, and definitely saw more new places than I could list here, but all in all, I say 2024 was a good year for new things! 

What new things did you learn or do in 2024? 

Best of 2024: Books

Happy New Year! According to Goodreads, I read 173 books in 2024 and DNFed 27, which comes out to roughly 70,300 pages. Here are a few stats.  

Breakdown by star rating:
5 stars (loved/it was great): 8 (4%)
4 stars (liked a lot/it was good): 82 (41%)
3 stars (liked a little/it was okay): 68 (34%)
2 stars (barely liked/it was not that good): 15 (7.5%)
1 star (it sucked but I finished it): 0 (0%)
0 stars (DNF): 27 (13.5%)

Average rating including DNFs: 3.01
Average excluding DNFs: 3.48

As you can see, this year if it sucked, I did not finish it, which contributed to a high amount of DNFs compared to most years in the past. Also four stars was my most common rating, but still there were enough threes and twos that the average was not that great. 

You can find a list of all of my favorites from prior years on my bookshelf page or on Goodreads. 

My two favorite books this year were: 

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown: As a California native, we heard about the Donner party a lot! Any time we cross over Donner pass, we think of how they had to eat each other to stay alive. Any time we pass by Donner lake, we stop at the plaque and read about their struggles. I have heard it a million times. However, the author has a way of telling a story that just resounded with me. I really enjoyed this book (side note, see below for another one of my favorites by him) and the way he detailed the struggles of the Donner party. 

The Mountains Sing by Phan Quế Mai Nguyễn: This book tells the story of the Vietnam war and more, as seen from the point of view of a Vietnamese native. It is a multigenerational story and starts with the mother in the early 1900s and details the conflicts within both the country and the family as time goes by. Another book by the same author, Dust Child, was a four star read for me but didn't quite make the top cut.

The following books (in no particular order) were all five star reads: 

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patty Callahan Henry: A teenaged girl loses her sister during the evacuation of the children of London during WWII and she is traumatized for life. Then, as she is reading a manuscript for her job in editing, she reads a story that only her and her sister would know. This sparks a renewed search for her sister and we go through twists and turns to find out whether or not her beloved sister is still alive. 

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Who doesn't love a good thriller. I am constantly entertained by this author, and this book was no exception. It is the story of a true crime podcaster who interviews an interesting women, who later turns into a liability and the podcaster becomes the subject of her own podcast. Twists and turns at every corner make this an entertaining read. 

The Women by Kristen Hannah: I probably don't need to say much as this was a hot book this year, but I enjoyed learning more about the women who went to Vietnam to serve in the war. Also the story of how they were treated when they returned, as well as the mental struggles they had in both places were heartbreaking. 

Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown: If you have not heard about the Nisei soldiers, you have to read this book. This details the struggles that the first generation Japanese Americans had when they went off to fight in WWII against the Japanese. Many of them were sent on fool's errands, and they were treated badly by their own countrymen (Americans) even though they were fighting alongside them. 

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: I already did a write up on this, but in case you missed it, the book goes into some of the issues that the younger generations are having due to the amount of screen time they are using, as well as the platforms and apps that they are using on their phones/screens. 

The Wedding People by Alison Espach: Here is another book that will probably be a best of book on many people's lists. A woman goes to a hotel to kill herself and realized that there is a week long wedding party taking place at the same hotel. She is understandably annoyed, but things take a turn and the end is not what you think it will be. 

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The following (in no particular order) were at the top of my four star reads for the year: 

Outlander (#1, #2, #3) by Diane Gabaldon: Men in kilts, romance, war. Need I say more? 

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker: A 16 year old goes missing, and a television network decides to make a reality show about trying to find her. It is written in interview form, which I liked, and also keeps you guessing what really happened until the very end. 

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford: Basically the Great British Bake Off, as told from a very lovable older woman's perspective. However, we do find out that more lies beneath the surface than expected. 

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell: Basically the Great British Bake Off, but with murder. 

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger: A high profile townsman is murdered, a Native American man is blamed, and the sherrif has to sort it all out. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters: A four year old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from a Maine berrry field, and her family searches for her for years. Cut to the future, when a girl named Norma grows up in Maine and doesn't feel like she quite fits in. The author does a great job of detailing the trauma involved, as well as the struggles and love that bring the whole thing together in the end. 

All My Rage by Saaba Tahir: Told from the perspective of a young Pakistani boy whose family moved to America to open a motel, it is a tale of struggles and family and love and regrets. 

Never by Ken Follet: What would it be like if WWIII was on our hands? Follet does a good job of creating an event that many may be dreading. Also there is a woman president. Yay. 

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall: Stories about the taboo subject of abortion and how girls would have to sneak around to try to get someone to help them in their time of need. Alongside this, we also have children that were taken from their parents by force at birth and the stories of trying to figure out later what had happened in those desperate times. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: A wealthy teenager goes missing at summer camp, but the kicker is that she is not only the daugher of the camp owners, but her little brother went missing from nearly the same spot many years ago. We spend our time trying to figure out who took her or whether or not she has been killed, and of course there is a twist at the end. 

What was your favorite book of 2024? Do you mostly read audio, eBook or paper books? 

Best of 2024: Travel

I hope that everyone is having a great holiday week! It is that time of year again; let the round ups begin! Here are a few of my favorite places from my travels this year, in no particular order! 

Marquette, Michigan. This is a cute little town in the Upper Penninsula right near Lake Superior. They have a fun little farmers market, good bike paths and a good bakery. What more could you ask for? 

Lake Superior, Marquette

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta. Although I have been here before, I liked it then and I liked it again! This is a beautiful park in the Canadian Rockies and is not quite as busy as Banff or Jasper, so is quite a treat! It has beautiful views of lakes and mountains and often you will see wildlife here (we saw a grizzly bear!) 

Day One of the Tour Divide

Icefields Parkway, Alberta. Yup, two Canadian places in one! It was cold and rainy when I was here, but it was still very beautiful! I also saw several bears here too and had fun camping in some very pretty locations. 

Waterfowl Lake, Banff NP

Crooked River, Oregon. As I passed people fishing and sitting next to their camper reading, I knew I wanted to eventually come back to this place again. It is dry and stark, but very beautiful all the same. 

Crooked River, Oregon

Bellingham, Washington. A fun town near water (I am seeing a theme here) with a Saturday market (another theme) and lots of good food, beer and places to walk. It checks a lot of boxes! 

I love a town that loves beer!

Nelson, BC. Another town near a lake with a nice walkable downtown and everything that you could possibly need nearby. There is hiking, skiing, water sports and more! Oh, and hamburgers and beer (another theme)! 

Nelson Post Office

Fernie, BC. A cute little ski town nestled in the heart of the Rockies. Also the downtown is walkable and the guys at the bike shop were very helpful. I am actually surprised this made the cut, as I actually passed through it twice and had to go to the bike shop both times! Booo! 

Downtown Fernie

Quebec City, QC. I also liked Montreal, but both cities have such a fun international flair and I enjoyed wandering, learning some history, and eating! 

La Fresque des Québécois

Colorado. Yup, the whole state. Actually, for the entire Tour Divide, Colorado was my favorite. I did not really stay in too many towns and a lot of the time I was riding as far as I could and spending most of my town time in grocery stores and crappy motels. However, even though it was hard, some of the climbs in Colorado were just beautiful, and were through forests full of trees, and I could feel the fresh air and I loved it. 

East San Juans, Colorado

Peggy's Cove, NS. The lighthouse here is one of Nova Scotia's most known and photographed lighthouses for a reason, as it sits on a rocky bluff and is surrounded by colorful houses and fishing bouys. Once again, places with water make the cut more often than not. 

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Obviously there were so many more places that I went this year that were beautiful, and where the people who I met were also great, and I could go on and on (as I sometimes do) but for now, I will leave you with these ten lovelies! 

Where was your favorite travel destination in 2024? Have you ever been to any of these places and if so, what did you think? 

By The Numbers: May

And just like that, May is gone. It treated me well, as in I probably got rained on a little at least 20 of the 31 days, but none of the rain was super heavy so I never had one of those cold and drenched miserable days, which is great! Also, I went swimming for the first time this year. Yay! Which is funny, as I have literally been waking up to temps around freezing most mornings recently. Here is a quick recap of the last month of travel, as well as the journey so far. All stats are up to and including May 31, 2024. *If you don't give a hoot about cycling, I have included some non-cycling stats at the bottom; feel free to go directly there! 

Kananaskis Trail/Hwy 40 is closed to cars until June! 

Mileage Stats (overall):

Total Days on Road: 69 *PS last month I miscounted. Oops. 

Total Days Ridden: 55

Total Miles: 2,690

Average Miles Per Day Ridden: 48.91 (vs 49.6 as of May 1; pretty steady!)

Total Hours (moving only): 329

Average (moving) Hours Per Day: 5:35 (vs. prior of 5:40) 

*like last time, I would say there are about two additional hours of drinking, eating, bathroom stops, sheltering from the rain, looking at maps, warming up by stopping for coffee and/or looking at mountains.

I am so happy to be on a dirt road!

Accommodation stats for May: 

Established Camp: 7 (↑ 75% from last month)

Friend: 2 (↓ 85% from last month)

Motel: 11 (↓ 15% from last month)

Warm Showers: 0 (↓ 100% from last month)

Wild Camp: 9 (↑ 13% from last month)

Verdict: Apparently, I know more people in CA, OR, WA and the west coast of Canada than I do in the interior! Also, I was on a lot of dirt and in more parks, so my camping as a whole increased over town stays. However, as you will see below, the lack of staying with friends/warm showers caused my costs to be higher this month. 

I had to stay an extra day in Fernie to get my bike fixed.

Budget stats for May: 

Accommodation: $1,093 (↑ from last month)

Dining Out: $246  (↑ from last month)

Groceries: $271  (↑ from last month)

Health: $234 (same - insurance premium)

Transportation: $0 (↓ from last month)

Phone: $81 (same - cell phone)

Entertainment: $274 (↑ from last month - bike repairs/camping supplies/bear spray/satellite messenger)

Misc.: $78  (↑ from last month - VPN, credit card fees, gifts)

Shopping: $120 (unfortunately, a new category, 100% increase from last month)

Total Spent: $2,405 ( (↑ 35% from last month, which was $1,767)

Verdict: Uh oh. Although this is still not super high and is still less than half of what I was spending at home, as I mentioned last month, my thought was that I would shoot for about $2,000 per month. However, I did know that I might have to tweak it a little as I got more knowledge about what I was actually spending. 

The main culprit is the cost of accommodation, which was about 35% higher than last month. I would say that I maybe stayed in more motels, but as we see from the accommodation stats, that was not true; they just cost more. I crossed the border into Canada at the end of April, so once again, I am going to blame Canada (so sorry)! Also dining out and groceries are both about 25% higher. I also had to buy a few things along the road:  a new pillow, some new dry bags, camping fuel, memory cards and a new charger. This inflated my entertainment cost quite a bit and added a whole new category of Shopping. Some of these costs, although not necessarily recurring, will probably be replaced by something else, so maybe $2,500 is a more realistic goal. We will see. 

Also, in the question form (P.S. You can still ask questions here), Nicole asked, "How long will you be biking for? How many kilometres do you bike a day on these adventures?" Well, as I mentioned above, my average is currently about 49 miles / 78 km, but my longest day so far for this trip was about 70 miles / 112 km. My shortest day was a day with my Dad, where we biked around Vancouver, and that was 20 miles / 32 km. I think for him it was his longest day ever, and he was very glad to get his butt off the bike, literally. 

As for how long I will be biking for, I hope to get to the East Coast before the snow starts to fly. If I am tired by then, I will fly or take the train home; if not, who knows, maybe I will bike home. That is way too far in the future to decide at this point. So, to answer your question, somewhere between October and December most likely. After that, I think I will do some international (non-North American) travel, probably without the bike, but who knows. My friend Dr. G asked if I planned on doing any international cycling and I my answer to this question is yes, but I do not know if it will be right after this trip or if I will need a break from Bob for a while. Europe has a whole network of cycling routes called the EuroVelo and I would love to spend some time exploring that at some point, plus there are many, many other routes on all of the continents that have piqued my interest. 

Speaking of international trips, one of my inspirations for this trip was from a woman named Lael Wilcox, who got the women's record for the Tour Divide race (Canada to Mexico) and won the TransAm (west coast to east coast of the US) race overall. She is currently (right now!) trying to set a world record for fastest round the world bike tour (18,000 miles). She is very inspiring and is so cheerful and she will even respond to your comments on Instagram. If you are interested, here is her Ted talk about the TransAm race and how she got her start, and here is her Instagram, where you can follow her RTW FKT attempt. 

And now, some non-cycling related stats! 

This month, instead of ice cream by the numbers, I am just going to show you my new favorite ice cream: Two Scoop Steve's in Yahk, BC. Since it was in the name, I got two scoops! Mint chip and butter pecan. It was delicious, and was even worth sitting in the spitting rain to order it and eat it. 

Favorite new town: Fernie, BC. Although it rained the entire time I was there, this little town is nestled in the mountains, has a cute little downtown and has any action sport you may like, like skiing, hiking, mountain biking etc. Plus they have everything you need, including three bike shops, within about a five block radius! *Runner up: Nelson, BC, which sits on a lake and really kind of reminded me of Tahoe a little bit. 

Favorite new lake: There have been so many, but I would probably have to say Kootenay Lake. Not only is it next to my runner up, Nelson, but it is huge, very beautiful, surrounded by mountains, and not even that cold! Also nearby there are hot springs, skiing, hiking, and beautiful vistas! PLUS, there is a free ferry, the longest free ferry in the world apparently! *Runner up: Okanagan, which has great vistas but not as many nice green trees. 

Kootenay Lake at Nelson

Favorite hamburger: Little did you know this would end up being a category, but if it's not an ice cream, it's a hamburger (or surprisingly, a GF pizza!). I think it is a toss up: the birthday wiener burger at Clyde's in Grand Forks was good, but the GF bun was a little odd and the fries were not super crisp. The Royale with Cheese at the Royal in Nelson was great, the GF bun was better and their poutine was also GF, but they really skimped on the fixings (the burger looked so sad, just meat and bun). 

The Royale, a sad little burger

Favorite book: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Facing The Mountain by Daniel James Brown. This one is near and dear to my heart, as it talks about the Nisei solders, the second generation Japanese Americans, who went to fight in WWII, even as their parents, the first generation, were imprisoned in internment camps in America. The reason it is so dear is that my good friend K's grandfather was one of them and I remember sitting with her grandma talking about being in the internment camps. Many of the Nisei died, as they were sent on suicide missions, but they were the unsung heroes (along with many others) of the war. However, we don't know much about them, and this book really can open people's eyes about some of the things they went through. 

Okay it's your turn!! What unexpected thing did you have to spend money on last month? Who is your real life hero or inspiration? What was your favorite book last month and why? 

Looking Back: Books + A Bonus Question or Two

Remember my lack of reading motivation in March? Well, in reading terms for me, April went in like a lamb and out like a lion. I know that is the wrong month or order or whatever but hey, I am going with it, and that is final. Due to having lots of time during the day to listen to audiobooks, I ended up reading 25 books in April, which I am pretty sure may be the most I have ever read in a month. Now, we all know that quantity is not quality, so here were my six favorites of the bunch. I will also tell you my one least favorite AND will answer a couple of your questions that you have submitted at the bottom of this post! 

The Women by Kristin Hannah (5 stars): I am sure most of you have already heard about this book, but if not, it is about the women serving in the Vietnam war, and some of the trials that they go through, both in the war and afterward. 

The Breaking Wave by Nevil Shute (4 stars): I totally crashed Jenny and Birchie's party of two for this book, and am glad that I did. It is a little dry at first, but it ramps up and ends up being fun. It's about an Australian man in WWII who goes through a lot and then tries to find his brother's old girlfriend to help tie up loose ends. Of course there are a few twists and turns along his search, but he ends up exactly where he needs to be. 

The Teacher by Freida McFadden (4 stars): Thrillers are my romance novel. Plop me down with a killer on the loose and a backstabbing wife and I am there. This one is about two teachers, the nice English teacher husband and the cold mean Math teacher wife. Throw in a misunderstood loner high school girl who has both of their classes and a crush on the Mr. and you have a good time for all! 

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (4 stars): While not my favorite of her books (that would be The Alice Network), once again Kate Quinn has told a good story. Set in 1906 San Francisco right before the big earthquake and fire that destroyed half of the city, this book is about vice, deceit and friendship. I learned a bit of history and also had an adventure along the way.  

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros (4 stars): This is my kind of romance novel. This is no Emily Henry fluff; this one has a backbone. About a couple who meets during the war and the woman's granddaughter who allows a writer to try to recreate the ending of the grandmother's unfinished story, it is a story of love during a difficult time, loss, and war. 

Holly by Stephen King (4 stars): I have always been a King fan, and am liking his non-horror books so far! This is another detective novel, where Holly tries to solve a case of a missing girl, and gets herself in deeper than she expected. It has a bit of a Hannibal Lecter element, and the audiobook even has a verbal author's note from King himself. The one thing that was a bit odd in this book was how you definitely realize, if you did not before, that King is a democrat and is not a fan of Trump! He makes that VERY clear, which I found interesting, as I don't remember any of his other books having a political element. 

Did not love: 

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: This book was TOO LONG!! It was a 30 hour audiobook (normal length is about 10 hours) and it goes through several generations of one family as well as having side stories about other characters. He also goes on and on about medical terms (like the bones in the foot for example). I know what a talus bone is! Move on! It could have been a good book at 300 pages, but 700+ is too much. 

Okay now onto a couple of your questions!

The number one question was...do I or will I get lonely? Short answer, no or I don't think so. First of all, I am a solo person, I love to read and am happy spending hours alone. One of my favorite things to do is to go on a 10 or 12 day hike in the literal middle of nowhere and camp on a mountain with nobody for miles around. 

However, I also am not adverse to talking to people at the bar when I stop for coffee, or at the gas station when I stop for a rest break. When you have a bike full of stuff, people talk to you unsolicited. Not only that, but there is a thing called Warm Showers, where people will host you for the night, and I have done this a few times and have had a blast. On top of that, I am staying with friends when and where I can, so I do have those times to fill in any gaps. So far, of my ~ month that I have been traveling, I have stayed with WS hosts two nights and with friends for thirteen nights, so basically about a third of the time! 

And to keep with the above theme, Nicole asked: Do you have a favourite book? When asked this question, for years I would say A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. My grandmother gave me a copy when I was small and I read it and re-read it over the years, always loving it again each time. I don't know if it is nostalgia or that it has just held up well, but my most recent reading last year did not disappoint! So I guess that is still my answer, although I have found several authors that usually come through, and actually two of them are in the list above!! I have found Kristin Hannah (in her more recent novels) and Kate Quinn to be two that I usually enjoy. 

Who is your favorite author? What good books did you read in April? Do you/would you get lonely if you travel alone? 

Best of 2023: Books

Happy New Year! According to Goodreads, I read 205 books in 2023, or roughly 70,000 pages. Here are a few stats.  

Breakdown by star rating: 

5 stars (loved/it was great): 14 (7%)

4 stars (liked a lot/it was good): 80 (39%)

3 stars (liked a little/it was okay): 75 (37%)

2 stars (barely liked/it was not that good): 23 (11%)

1 star (it sucked but I finished it): 0 (0%)

0 stars (DNF): 13 (6%)

Average rating including DNFs: 3.2

Average excluding DNFs: 3.4

Breakdown by type: 

Audiobook: 165 (81%) 

eBook: 27 (13%)

Paper Book: 13 (6%) (of these, 8 were from my own shelf)

Published in: 

2023: 63 (31%)

Other years: 142 (69%)

I guess the moral of the above stats is that if a book sucks, I just DNF it, rather than finishing it, hence the case of no one star ratings. Also this year my proportion of audiobooks read increased by about 6% over last year. My number of books read in total increased by about 29%. I would guess that much of this increase is due to the fact that I have been listening to less and less music and/or podcasts and leaning more towards listening to books. I still find the need to pump up a run from time to time with some Lil John, don't get me wrong, but I often stray more towards books. 

You can find a list of all of my favorites from prior years on my bookshelf page or on Goodreads. 

I am usually a little bit stingy with my five star ratings on Goodreads. However, this year I had fourteen books that I thought deserved that high rating! Here they are, in no particular order! 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. What can I say, this is a cute book. I did not hear all of the hype; I just picked it because it had a bright cover and came up on my list on Libby when I was searching for books. It is about the relationship between an old lady and an octopus and a younger, kind of troubled boy. I enjoyed the characters, the story was engaging but not too fluffy, and I was entertained throughout. 

Dinners With Ruth by Nina Totenberg. I do like RBG and enjoy learning more about her as well as hearing each different point of view from the different authors I have read. Nina was a reporter who became friends with Ruth despite their age difference. This book details their friendship as well as some of their accomplishments, especially geared toward equality for women. 

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama. In this novel, Obama talks about her relationships in life, but especially the ones with her mother and her kids. She has some words of wisdom like "start kind" which could be kind of corny coming from the wrong person but from her it makes sense. 

All The Broken Places by John Boyne. This book is about an elderly woman living in London. When a new family moves in downstairs from her, it brings up some memories of the past, which are mostly surrounding her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12 and the fact that her father was the commandant of one of the concentration camps during the war. It goes back and forth between the two time periods, weaving a story of guilt, complicity, grief and remorse and in the end, she has to decide whether or not to reveal some of her long kept secrets. 

Quit Like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen. Although I work in the finance industry, I enjoyed this book because it is written in a simple manner that anyone can understand. Shen talks about growing up in China where her family lived on pennies per day, to moving to the US where she learned how to invest so that she could quit work early and travel the world. Her plan is pretty simple and you may have heard it before but it is still a nice reminder that we can live more simply than we do and perhaps spend more time enjoying our lives now rather than always working so hard to make more money for the future. 

In Love by Amy Bloom. Get your tissues out for this one. This is not a spoiler, but this book is about a woman whose husband gets diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and he decides to die with dignity rather than living out his life with the disease. Obviously this is not an easy decision and Bloom goes through some of the struggles that they face as they work through the plan. 

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys. Although this is a YA book, it touches on something that we sometimes forget about here in the US, and that is the fact that as late as 1989, people in Romania were still under communist rule. The main character is a teenager who has normal teenage dreams but is held back by the government oppression and has to decide whether to do nothing or to fight back and risk the lives of his family. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This is not the first time I read this book and it will not be the last. It is about a girl in Brooklyn and her family struggling to survive as they go through life. Life is not easy, food is scarce, and some of the lessons are hard, but Francie and her family persevere. The reread was heighted even more by the discussion had as part of Engie's cool blogger book club. 

Good For a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleishman. I really enjoyed this inside peek into the world of elite running. Lauren not only talks about the difficulty of being a woman in a mostly male sport (or at least one where the males are more prized), but she also gets into some of the eating disorders that the young runners had and it was very eye opening. I also read The Longest Race by Kara Goucher (4.5 stars) and was appalled at some of the things that were done to some of the elite running women. 

The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin. This one is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Okay, maybe more like drugs, jail and redemption. I am not going to lie; I had no idea who this woman is, but she was the ghostwriter for Desmond Tutu's book and The Sun Always Shines, which I enjoyed. The first chapter had me railing against her, as she dragged her three year old from place to place in an effort to score drugs. I wanted to slap her! Then she gets arrested, and chronicles life in jail, which I found fascinating. When she finally gets out, it is a struggle to manage life, try to find a job, not break parole, find housing, and stay clean. She finally does all of this, becomes a successful writer and even gets to meet Oprah and the Dali Lama in the end! So yes, it is a feelgood "rags to riches" kind of story, but I enjoyed hearing the ins and outs and some of the struggles that people face in a world that I am not part of. 

A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney. Get your tissues out again; this is a father's heart wrenching story about his young son getting diagnosed with terminal cancer. I didn't really know who the author was, but he is a comedian and actor, and he does a good job of putting his emotions into this book but still making it light, if that even seems possible. 

Drowning by T.J. Newman. I know that I joined the momentum train on this book, but I found it was a fast, easy, entertaining read. Was it profound? No. Did it make my runs go by faster? Yes. A plane goes down over the ocean and it hits the water, bursts into flames and sinks. What happens to the passengers? Do they survive? And if so, how? Read on to find out. (P.S. I also read Falling but was not as enamored by that one). 

Go As A River by Shelley Read. This is a story of a girl growing up in Colorado in a farming town in the 40s. It goes through her life of love, her relationship with her family, the hardships of life at that time and her struggles to get by. There were some details in the story that sounded so real that I had to fact check and they were real! 

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. Birchie recommended this with the caveat that it was strange and she was not sure what to think of it at first. It was a thriller about a woman in her 40s who lacks the mental maturity of someone her age. When her father dies, she puts him out with the trash, just as he has told her to do. This gets the attention of the police and the surrounding community, as well as the media. Due to this she later gets some unwanted attention and finds out things about her past that she did not know about before. It's twisted and dark, but I enjoyed every minute of it. 

A couple of additional nearly five star reads were You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith, Kindred by Octavia Butler, I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, and The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. 

What was your favorite book of 2023? Do you mostly read audio, eBook or paper books? 

Looking Back: Books

The year is half over now and it is time for another book check in! Since I posted in February about the handful of good books that I had read so far, I have found a few more good ones! Without further ado, here are a few more of my favorites so far this year. 

All The Broken Places by John Boyne: I know I am not the first person to suggest this book, so I will not go into too much detail. It is about an elderly woman living in London. When a new family moves in downstairs from her, it brings up some memories of the past, which are mostly surrounding her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12 and the fact that her father was the commandant of one of the concentration camps during the war. It goes back and forth between the two time periods, weaving a story of guilt, complicity, grief and remorse and in the end, she has to decide whether or not to reveal some of her long kept secrets. 

Quit Like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen: Although I work in the finance industry, I enjoyed this book because it is written in a simple manner that anyone can understand. Shen talks about growing up in China where her family lived on pennies per day, to moving to the US where she learned how to invest so that she could quit work early and travel the world. Her plan is pretty simple and you may have heard it before but it is still a nice reminder that we can live more simply than we do and perhaps spend more time enjoying our lives now rather than always working so hard to make more money for the future. 

In Love by Amy Bloom: Get your tissues out for this one. This is not a spoiler, but this book is about a woman whose husband gets diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and he decides to die with dignity rather than living out his life with the disease. Obviously this is not an easy decision and Bloom goes through some of the struggles that they face as they work through the plan. 

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys: Although this is a YA book, it touches on something that we sometimes forget about here in the US, and that is the fact that as late as 1989, people in Romania were still under communist rule. The main character is a teenager who has normal teenage dreams but is held back by the government oppression and has to decide whether to do nothing or to fight back and risk the lives of his family. 

Kindred by Octavia Butler: This book took me by surprise. The author was recommended to me by a client who is very involved in minorities in the arts, and she said that Butler was the first published African American science fiction writer. I am not big into science fiction, but I thought I would give this book, written in 1979, a whirl, and I really enjoyed it. Yes, it involves time travel, but it is about a modern day African American woman who keeps getting sent back in time to the slavery days, and how she handles the differences between the two time periods. Apparently there is also a TV show, but I have not yet seen it. 

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks: I am a sucker for a thriller and this one was a fun one. A couple comes into therapy due to infidelity and the therapist has some unconventional ways to try to get them to work through their problems. In trying to get them to do so, she uncovers some secrets that she did not expect. I listened to this while backpacking and it kept me entertained over many miles. 

Some others that I gave four stars on Goodreads include: Hello Beautiful by Janet Napolitano, I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron, I Will Find You by Harlan Coben, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, A Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, and many more. You can find my entire list of 2023 books read and reviewed here on Goodreads. 

Have you read any of the above books? If so, what did you think? What has been your favorite book so far this year? 

Looking Back: Books

I am not going to lie; lately I have been unmotivated to read real books. It may be that the one I am reading is not really gripping me and so I keep finding better things to do than read it. However, I am still going strong with the audiobook game, and in the first two months of the year have read some good ones! Here are a few of my favorites so far. 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: What can I say; this is a cute book. I did not hear all of the hype. I just picked it because it had a bright cover and came up on my list on Libby when I was searching for books. It is about the relationship between an old lady and an octopus and a younger, kind of troubled boy. I enjoyed the characters, the story was engaging but not too fluffy, and I was entertained throughout. 

Dinners With Ruth by Nina Totenberg: I do like RBG and enjoy learning more about her as well as hearing each different point of view from the different authors I have read. Nina was a reporter who became friends with Ruth despite their age difference. This book details their friendship as well as some of their accomplishments, especially geared toward equality for women. 

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama: In this novel, Obama talks about her relationships in life, but especially the ones with her mother and her kids. She has some words of wisdom like "start kind" which could be kind of corny coming from the wrong person but from her it makes sense. 

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman: Once again, the story of the Thursday Murder Club participants did not disappoint. This is Osman's third in the series and you can't help but love the octogenarian citizen detectives. They are annoying at times but they get the job done! I was also happy that Bogdan is still around, as he was one of my (surprising) favorites in the first book. I listened to it on audio and I also enjoyed the interview with the author that was at the end. 

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult: This is a controversial book about LGBTQ, murder, and the controversies surrounding both. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can say that I always enjoy how much work Picoult puts into the research around the topics that she writes about. Most of them are controversial and she really digs in and gives readers insights that we may not have known about. I always learn something by reading her books and this one was no different. 

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McCallister: This book may not usually be my forte, as it involves time travel which is not the most realistic, but I actually enjoyed it. A woman sees her son commit a murder and then she wakes up the next day and it has not happened yet. As the book goes on she learns more and more about the situation and in the end she has to decide what she wants to do about it. I was entertained and did not really see the ending coming, which always makes it more fun. 

Have you read any of the above books? If so, what did you think? If not, what has been your favorite book so far this year? 

What I Learned: 22 New Things

Happy New Year! Each year, a goal of mine is to try new things! This can be going to a new place, trying a new restaurant or food or activity or learning something new. I don't really have a certain number in mind, but I thought it would be fun to talk about 22 of them, in honor of 2022. Here they are, mostly in the order that I did them.

1. Emigrant Wilderness in the snow: I usually go to Emigrant in the summer for hiking but this time we decided to go for some winter sports. We stayed near Pinecrest and spent one day skiing and one day snowshoeing and then one day taking a hike around the lake before going home. It was beautiful and we liked it so much we may go back this year and do a longer snowshoeing trip! 

2. I threw out all of my instruction manuals. I know this is not that exciting, but I finally decided that if I need to, I can look up product information or instructions online and I do not need to keep the heavy booklets for everything I have ever bought in my life. It freed up my file cabinet a lot and I have not even missed them! I did take photos of some of the more  pertinent details but otherwise I am basically manual-free! 

3. I added a few new travel destinations to my list, which also added a LOT of new things which I will not list separately. Austin: Texas BBQ, kayaking on Lady Bird lake and live music! Lost Coast trail: many miles of hiking in the sand, cool shells and creatures and the rising tide! Amsterdam: bikes and canals and legal drugs, oh my! Slovenia: this deserves a post of its own, but hiking and dragons and sausages abound! Mt. Hood: circumnavigation on the Timberline trail. Washington: Enchantments (a must see!) and section L of the Pacific Crest Trail (the most northern of the PCT). 

Lost Coast

4. I tried some new foods. Shakshuka. This is something that never appealed to me since it involves cooked tomatoes, which I did not really like as a kid. However, as an adult, and when REAL tomatoes are used, I realized that they can be pretty good actually! And this includes my favorite breakfast item, the egg! I would eat it again. Cioppino. Same story regarding the tomato, but this is also pretty good. I would still rather have a bowl of creamy New England clam chowder however. Homemade yogurt. This is so easy and so delicious; I actually prefer it to store bought and it is way cheaper. It does take about 24 hours to make yourself, but I think it is worth waiting for!  

Yogurt

5. FODMAP elimination diet. This deserves a post of its own, but the short of it is that I was having some gastric issues and was put on this diet which consists of several weeks of elimination and then several more of reintroduction. I am still not 100% sure what is ailing me, but have a better idea than I did a year ago. 

6. Ran through Harvard Yard. I have looked at Harvard from the other side of the Charles but had never been on campus. While visiting friends in Sommerville, I took a run and went and explored Harvard. What a beautiful place! I thoroughly enjoyed it and it also gave me a chance to go inside and use the bathroom! :) 

7. Participated in a 30 day fitness challenge. This was a good way to reset my fitness plan, which sometimes gets a little blah. I did this with a few friends and I don't think that any of us actually finished it, but it was really fun trying to! The issue for me was not the exercises themselves, but the regularity of doing it every day. I would find myself forgetting or while in bed at the end of the day realizing I had not done it so then I would tell myself that I would just do two of them the next day....etc. 

8. Chopped off and donated my hair. This is not a new thing but I did send it to a different charity than I normally do as I was told that Locks of Love, the one I have sent hair to before, actually sells their wigs! Shame on them! So this time I sent it to Wigs for Kids, which I was told does not profit from my donation. They make it really convenient too; you print out a barcode so you can track where it is in the process after you send it. 

9. Tried to sell shoes on Ebay. Total and complete failure. I started with only a few pairs but I did not even get a nibble. I even lowered the price, but still nothing. And then I lost hope and kind of gave up on that project. However, I have a bunch of barely or never worn shoes that I really did not want to just give away. Does anyone have any tips for me about this? 

10. Did an almond croissant challenge. While in Brooklyn, I tried all of the almond croissants at all of the bakeries within walking distance from my hotel. I tried about 7 or 8 different ones! Some of them were just meh, but there were a few that I liked and my favorite was from Julien. Shortly after this, I learned that wheat may be a contributor to tummy issues that I am having, so my croissant days may be limited, so I am glad that I lived it up while I could! 

11. Went camping at Lake Sonoma. This is so close to where I live, yet I had never gone camping at the lake until 2022. You do have to hike or boat in to some of the spots, but we did both and had a great time. Plus, you have to love the California coast, where you can camp outside in April and even get a little hot! 

12. Tried to summit Mt. Whitney in the snow. In April, my brother and I tried to summit Mt. Whitney but there was a late spring snowstorm and we decided to be safe rather than sorry and we turned around early. However, it was really beautiful to see some of the normally bare places covered with snow. 

Photo Rock

13. The year of the bike! In 2022, I waited until everyone who bought a bike during COVID got tired of it and then I bought a used stationary bike. I have used it a handful of times, but now that it is winter and raining, I think it will be getting more use soon. I also bought my first mountain bike and am still dialing in the adjustments and I can't wait to go out on my first ride! I also completed my longest bike ride ever (to date) of 42 miles, surpassing my 2013 record of 40 by two miles! 

14. Cowboy camped in the NV desert. On a road trip to Wyoming, we stopped outside of Reno and lay down by the side of the road under the stars! It was a little windy and dusty, but I actually slept great! 

Somewhere near Reno, NV

15. Backpacked in Grand Teton NP. Although permits were a little difficult to get (you have to get online on a certain day at a certain time and know exactly the dates you want and the campsites you want to stay at) once we were there, this was a great experience. It was beautiful and not as crowded as I expected and the views just kept on coming! I have been to Wyoming a few times and this park once before but I have never done any overnights and it did not disappoint! 

16. I got a new job. This probably deserves its own post, but basically my whole team went from one firm to another. We are still learning some of the rules and systems and things like that, but we are pretty satisfied with how the whole transition went overall. 

17. Summited Mt. Elbert. While not my first Colorado 14er, this is the second tallest mountain in the continental US and the highest in Colorado, so it was fun to check it off my list. Also it was fairly easy (as the 14ers in Colorado sometimes are) logistically. We were staying in Twin Lakes so I just hiked up to the top of the mountain and back down again to our AirBnB! Easy-peasy! 

The Collegiates as seen from the summit of Mt. Elbert

18. Discovered Octowordle. If you love Wordle, you will love Octowordle. You do not need to download an app and it is free and you can play games from the days before, so if you feel like more than one, you can have it! You have to solve eight Wordles at the same time and it is super fun. 

19. Got a bidet. I will not go into too much detail here but I bought a Tushy and I love it. The end. Seriously, it is easy to install and it does the job. 

My Tushy

20. Cross country backpacking Emigrant. I always wanted to do this cross country route near Cherry Creek in Emigrant but it was never on the way or convenient and we finally did it in October. It was great because the water was low so we could basically walk on the creek bed which made cross country travel very easy. Plus it was beautiful and we had the place all to ourselves since it was so late in the season. 

21. Went to a David Sedaris reading. I have never been to a book reading before and I do love listening to Sedaris books as he is a good narrator, so this was the best of both worlds! I also brought my brother and his girlfriend along, and although neither of them really have read Sedaris, they both enjoyed it. 

22. Finished my Death List. Maybe this needs a better name, but it is basically getting all of my "affairs" in order just in case something happens. I have had most things pretty dialed in (advanced directive, POA, beneficiaries) but wanted to put it all on one list so that people can access it easily. I started working on making a more detailed list last year when my grandmother died (nothing like a dose of reality to get you moving, eh?) as her list made it so easy to take care of her affairs after she passed. 

Wow, I did not mean to make the last one so dreary, but it is the most recent! Also, happily, I did a lot more than 22 new things in 2022, but I like the sound of 22 in 22 so I will leave it at that! Here's to many more new things in 2023! 

What new thing did you learn, place did you go or experience did you have in 2022?