My littlest guy has been under the weather this week, and needed lots of snuggle time with Mama, so I spent some extra time on the couch reading a book on the iPad. I still prefer to read books on paper, but this summer I checked out a couple ebooks from the library that weren’t available otherwise… and I didn’t hate it.

A couple years ago I read “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, and even though I wasn’t all that impressed with it, I decided to read her newest book, “Happier at Home,” this week. My opinions on the book are pretty neutral — I would neither encourage nor discourage someone who was considering reading it — but I did glean some quotes that were worth reading again. Maybe one of them will be meaningful to you too.

“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends.” [Samuel Johnson] (pg. 2)

“Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.” [William Butler Yeats] Research supports his observation: It’s not goal attainment, but the process of striving after goals — that is, growth — that brings happiness. (pg. 13)

I was made happier by my decision to bring paper plates, not home-baked muffins, to Eleanor’s start-of-school party, but “Keep it simple” wasn’t always the right response. Many things that boosted my happiness also added complexity to my life. Having children. Learning to post videos to my website. Going to an out-of-town wedding. Applied too broadly, my impulse to “Keep it simple” would impoverish me. (pg. 27)

I can build a happy life only on the foundation of my own nature. (pg. 38)

Happiness is not having less; happiness is not having more; happiness is wanting what I have. (pg. 58)

In every area of my life, I dislike the feeling of uncertainty or unfamiliarity. I love mastery. (pg. 81)

“Well, you might never like to drive,” she pointed out. “But that’s not the same as being afraid to drive.” This was a revelation. I’d expected that my driving lessons would help me to enjoy driving. After all, a lot of people love to drive. I wanted to love to drive. But maybe it wasn’t in my nature to love driving. Okay, fine. I didn’t have to love driving; I just had to be able to do it. The driving didn’t make me happier, but successfully taking steps to conquer my fear made me very happy. (pg. 82)

“Each time of life has its own kind of love,” wrote Tolstoy, and each time of life has its own kind of happiness. I wanted to appreciate this time of life, with our young children at home; I didn’t want it to slip past me, unrecognized and unremembered. (pg. 103)

“Let every one mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made.” [Thoreau] (pg. 128)

I’m very self-disciplined, and it’s an exceedingly helpful quality to possess. But at the same time, I see the risks of self-discipline; I’m very good at making myself do things that I don’t want to do, but sometimes I’m better off not doing those things at all. (pg. 143)

We’re more likely to hit a target by aiming at it than by ignoring it, and happiness is no different. (pg. 186)

At the library last week, I encouraged my two oldest kids to check out a biography as a way to expand their literary horizons just a bit. Their books on Tiger Woods and George Washington remain unread, but I finished reading Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different today over lunch. I’m not certain that these words originated with him, but in his commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, he told the graduates that “The journey is the reward.”

And indeed it is. It is so easy to get caught up in my to-do list, or in preparing for upcoming activities, and fail to consciously enjoy everyday life. If I’m focusing too much on the future, whether that is this evening, next month, or two years from now, I won’t be able to fully embrace this moment. My life right now is something I have been looking forward to for a long time, and I want to be sure to enjoy the journey.

(Photo by me, Rachel Swartley)

I love reading books to my children, and this one is a new favorite of mine.

“Toys Go Out” by Emily Jenkins is a delightful story about the adventures of a little girl’s toys — from the perspective of the toys. I discovered it recently when an acquaintance posted about the series on Facebook. I started reading it to my kids yesterday, and this afternoon we finished it. As I read, I actually laughed out loud a few times at what I was about to read, which made my kids very eager to hear what came next!

When we first meet the toys, they’re in a backpack that smells like a wet bathing suit, trying to figure out where they’re being taken. Their observations (and misunderstandings!) of the world they live in are amusing, and each of the toys have feelings and attitudes that children can identify with. Their conversation is clever and honest and just perfect for reading aloud.

Each of the six chapters has just one charming illustration by Paul Zelinsky. There are two other books in the series (“Toy Dance Party” and “Toys Come Home“), and today our children’s librarian happily ordered them at our request, since she doesn’t like having partial series of books. Aren’t libraries the best?!

My two oldest kids are in elementary school, and both of them enjoyed listening to “Toys Go Out.” What are your favorite read-aloud books? I’d love to hear your recommendations.

During our vacation in Chincoteague last week, I finished reading a book that I started a month ago. “The Creative Habit” was highly recommended by a creative blogger who inspires me, but I didn’t think it was all that great. Still, I gleaned some interesting quotes from the book that I wanted to share with you.

“Skill gives you the wherewithal to execute whatever occurs to you. Without it, you are just a font of unfulfilled ideas. Skill is how you close the gap between what you can see in your mind’s eye and what you can produce.”

“Too many people practice what they’re already good at and neglect the skills that need more work.”

“I cannot overstate how much a generous spirit contributes to good luck. Look at the luckiest people around you, the ones you envy, the ones who seem to have destiny falling habitually into their laps. What are they doing that singles them out? It isn’t dumb luck if it happens repeatedly. If they’re anything like the fortunate people I know, they’re prepared, they’re always working at their craft, they’re alert, they involve their friends in their work, and they tend to make others feel lucky to be around them.”

“A rut is the consequence of sticking to tried and tested methods that don’t take into account how you or the world has changed.”

“We get into ruts when we run with the first idea that pops into our head, not the last one.”

{all quotes are from “The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life” by Twyla Tharp}

I usually use an index card as a bookmark so I can scribble down the page number and a few words that really stand out to me as I read so I can go back later and write down the whole sentence or paragraph. I recently read “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything” by Ken Robinson, and these are some of the sections I wanted to remember and revisit.

“Imagination is not the same as creativity. Creativity takes the process of imagination to another level. My definition of creativity is ‘the process of having original ideas that have value.’ Imagination can be entirely internal. You could be imaginative all day long without anyone noticing. But you would never say that someone was creative if that person never did anything. To be creative you actually have to do something. It involves putting your imagination to work to make something new, to come up with new solutions to problems, even to think of new problems or questions. You can think of creativity as applied imagination.”

“Creativity involves several different processes that wind through each other. The first is generating new ideas, imagining different possibilities, considering alternative options. . . . The creative process also involves developing these ideas by judging which work best or feel right. . . . Overall, creative work is a delicate balance between generating ideas and sifting and refining them.”

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

“What we think of ourselves and of the world makes us who we are and what we can be.”

—

Perhaps these words captured my attention because I do more imagining than creating, even though I’m always more energized by creating than imagining. The internet provides endless inspiration and makes it easy for me to spend lots of time imagining, so I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head. But of course it’s only when I put those ideas into action that I actually create something. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve stockpiled plenty of inspiration and possibilities. Now it’s time to put my imagination to work.

What about you? Do you find yourself spending more time thinking rather than doing? What have you been imagining recently? I’d love to hear your ideas.

I know a book is a short, easy read when I start and finish the book in the same day AND reading is not the only thing I did that day. That day was today, and the book was “Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive” by Emily Colas.

Written by a woman with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, “Just Checking” is full of stories of how OCD manifested itself in her life and marriage. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and tells these short vignettes in an engaging, entertaining way. I bought the book last month at a used book sale at the Indian Valley Public Library, and since it was bag day and I bought 22 books for two bucks, it basically cost me about 10 cents. The book was enjoyable and even humorous, but given the topic, it was also kind of stressful, so I’m glad it didn’t take me long to read it!

Here are a few sentences that stood out to me that I jotted down as I read:

• “I possess an endless capacity to keep a worry alive.” (pg. 33)
• “When I can’t handle the world, I clean it.” (pg. 89)
• “But the startling realization I made as I was coming to my senses [via medication] was that life’s kind of a drag. There didn’t seem to be much to it. And my rituals had been a nice diversion.” (pg. 138)

This morning I paid two dollars for twenty-two books.

Our local library often has used book sales, and today’s was a bag sale, which means that I could stuff a plastic shopping bag full of books and pay only two bucks for the whole thing. I came away with 22 books, and my bag wasn’t even completely full.

Ten of the books were children’s books, but the other twelve were not. Here is the stack I’m most excited about.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom – The author shares life lessons he learned from his former professor who is dying. I feel like the only person who hasn’t read this.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer – I read part of this at Barnes and Noble several years ago, and have been wanting to read the whole thing ever since. It’s the story of a well-to-do young man who hitchhiked to Alaska and died of starvation in the wilderness.

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott – I’ve never read anything by Anne Lamott, but every time I read or hear a quote by her, I want to read her books.

Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner – I’ve actually already read this book, but I wanted to own it. I’ve heard her speak before, and also own another of her books, and she’s just as compelling in person as she is in writing. From the back cover: “The child of a Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Lauren F. winner chose to become an Orthodox Jew. But even as she was observing Sabbath rituals and studying Jewish law, Lauren was increasingly drawn to Christianity. Courageously leaving what she loved, she eventually converted. In Girl Meets God, this appealing woman takes us through a year in her Christian life as she attempts to reconcile both sides of her religious identity.”

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – I know absolutely nothing about this book except that someone recommended it to me once upon a time. (Katie, was it you?) So, from the back cover again: “January 1946: Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.”

Perplexing Lateral Thinking Puzzles by Paul Sloane & Des MacHale – A short description of a scenario is provided, and you have to figure out how to explain the missing details.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell – What’s worse than buying a book you’ve already read? Buying a book you already own! And I even knew that we already have it. I guess that shows just how much of a fan of Malcolm Gladwell I am. “The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” You’re welcome to borrow it; we have a spare copy.

Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive by Emily Colas – I just thought the title sounded interesting. When you’re shoving books in a bag for two bucks, the books start to feel like they’re free.

Marry Me! Courtships and Proposals of Legendary Couples by Wendy Goldberg and Betty Goodwin – The book tells the stories of 35 couples, including Martha Bernays & Sigmund Freud, Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz, Coretta Scott & Martin Luther King, Jr., Lisa Halaby & King Hussein I of Jordan, Hillary Rodham & Bill Clinton, and many others.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin – I followed the author’s blog for a short time several years ago while she was writing the book. Happiness seemed to be so unnatural for her, and she had to work so hard at being happy that she seemed stressed out by the pursuit of simple happiness. I didn’t find it inspiring at all, and stopped reading her blog. But recently I’ve happened to see a surprising number of positive responses to the book on the internet, so I thought I’d read at least some of it. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Food Made Fast: Weeknight by Williams-Sonoma – I don’t really need another cookbook, but I collect them like some people collect new music or whatever else inspires them. Lime shrimp with coconut rice? Yes, please.

Real Simple Solutions from the editors of Real Simple – Eye candy plus good ideas.

All that plus ten children’s books (including the pop-up book Dinner Time by Jan Pienkowski) for TWO BUCKS!