Worlds of Communication

I listened to this book on entirely by accident when I thought I was clicking to buy our selection for February. At first, as I listened while training for my ski marathon, I thought I had made a really stupid mistake. The book consisted entirely of letters written between an elderly woman and the authors of books she had read, family friends, and even complete strangers. Through all of these letters, we learn about a life fully lived and see human connection, attempts at understanding, intense challenges, and deep suffering. The longer I listened, the more I related to this elderly woman, who is attempting to reconnect with who she is and what she has experienced while rapidly going blind. She finds love, mends old relationships, faces her lifelong grief and regret, and discovers parts of herself she never knew existed. Not all the questions in this book are answered. Some of the letters are never sent. By the end, I was crying, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions as the secrets were unveiled. I could relate to the inability to face feelings of loss tangled with guilt, but I hope I never have to experience the full gravity of the specific loss and guilt she faced. On top of the lessons related to the human experience, the author also cites the works of and many more weaving elements of fiction into her realistic portrayal of one life interacting with and impacting the lives of others. Perfect for a month dedicated to .

I can’t believe it took me so long to try in . There are endless reasons NOT to go to : I pay for a monthly gym pass I don’t use enough; I have a two-year-old, a full-time job, and too many hobbies competing for my time; I’m not a fan of pushing my limits 100% of the time. But then I ran into an old contact who described the classes as “very chilI.” booked a free trial class, and the rest is history.

I was immediately surprised by how the trainers gave modifications for all of the intense or, let’s be honest, inaccessible exercises. For a pull-up, use a band. For a headstand push-up, use a box. The feedback the coaches gave about “taking the warm-up easy”, “resting when it’s time to rest”, or “being sure to make it to the end and not kill yourself too early” resonated with how I have done sports my whole life: I’m in it for the long haul. What I like most about the coaching is the feedback. They explain the goal of the exercise and what to focus on, and they check in with clear, simple instructions. I’m not always great at taking feedback, but by the time the third coach told me to bend my knees more on the rowing machine, it finally clicked.

I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all rainbows and butterflies there. I’ve done just about every sport that has been available to me (football, kickboxing, basketball, track, marathons), and I feel like I grew up in the weight room, but I’ve never felt like I was going to throw up like this or felt the burn after a 45-minute session. I bought a 20-class pass and, because of traveling, had to use about 10 sessions in two weeks. The first day I got back into it after vacation, I felt like I was going to throw up the entire afternoon. By the end of the week, I had blisters, and my blisters literally had blisters. At one point, I couldn’t walk down the stairs, which has only happened to me after running a marathon and a half 😅. But the fact that I found a place in 🇪🇪 where random strangers talk to me and support each other proves that there is something pretty special about it. If it involves sports, all the better.

This review was hard for me to write because I, too, have been silent when I should have spoken up. I, too, have probably been the white friend who failed to really try to understand the everyday microaggressions and, let’s be honest micro-injustices, my friends face. This silence allows these micro-interactions to turn into racial violence that our society still tries to dismiss, explain away, or even justify. This book addresses endemic racism in the U.S. through multiple lenses: the individual (white woman, white man, black woman, black man); family systems (racist or non-racist white parents, black grandmothers who have experienced trauma, black mothers dealing with loss, black parents working to help their struggling son); and society (police, protests, the media, the justice system).

The story follows two friends: Jen, who is white, married to a cop, and expecting her first child; and Riley, who is black and a single reporter. Riley ends up covering the shooting of a 14-year-old Black boy that Jen’s husband, Kevin, is involved in. While this is the thread of the book, the authors skillfully weave in elements from the girls’ childhoods through their college years to show how their friendship was maintained over time.

The book is suspenseful and cringy in all the right places. We don’t know if the 14-year-old boy will survive. We don’t know if the main character’s husband will be convicted or if he will side with his fellow police officers to maintain silence about the obvious mistake he and his partner made. When Jen finds out her husband shot someone, we are left to sit with her comment that “something happened to Kevin”. When Jen is accused of being racist she defends herself by saying “my best friend is black”. We know about how Jen witnessed Riley’s family being called the n word by her mom’s boyfriend and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

So when it comes to the obvious fact that an unarmed black boy who didn’t even come close to matching the description of the suspect the police were looking for was shot, a messed-up cognitive dissonance emerges, attempting to justify the action.

On a whim a couple of weeks ago, it crossed my mind to take out the skies I bought about five years ago from my colleague at . Before last month, I had gone a total of two times around . Sure I had been downhill skiing a few times and grew up water, skiing, but this was a whole new beast. It turns out that 🏃🏻‍♀️+💦🎿=⛷️ (kind of 😅), but with incredibly poor technique. Still, thanks to my amazing husband for buying me some ski lessons from a guy called .ee in (who also told me I needed to wax my skis 😅 and did it in place of one lesson) and for my superpower friends , , and for encouraging and inspiring me. Couldn’t have and wouldn’t have done it without you! I was on the fence until the very last day of cheaper registration and finally decided to go for the half (31k classic). I’ll have my ski coach know that by about kilometer 27 I think I was using the right hand-food technique 😂. I only fell about 5 times (thank you to the guy behind me on the climb making sure I didn’t slide all the way down 🫣) and managed to regain the feeling in my frozen hands after only a few K. Would highly recommend. My only regret is waiting 10 years after moving to 🇪🇪 to take part in this legendary race.

I am not a historian and only have my limited (although also quite direct and at times more personal or academic) experience with modern Russia. This book was tragic, depressing, and deeply ironic in the way it portrayed the way genuine hope for equality and modernity in society. Even though the book started in the early 1900s, we all know how it ends in 2026. I am not sure I needed to know how mothers, infants, and small children were ‘cared for’ in Gulags, how families were separated, how women were repeatedly r***d by powerful officials, or how women and men (married or not) were taxed 6% for not having children (miscarriages didn’t count). I did not need to learn new vocabulary like снохачество (r**e of a woman by her father in law), безпизорники (homeless children- specifically related to post revolutionary Russia since the Bolsheviks failed to recognize adoption) , or тоска, but I suppose the history is incomplete without these. These examples only scratch the surface of the deeply disturbing reality of this history we are still experiencing today. There were a few moments of inspiration and obvious figures to admire. Possibly the most inspiring and reframing part of the book and history it represents was the story of Raisa Gorbacheva. When American First Lady Barbara Bush was selected to give a commencement speech at in 1990, there were student protests against her speaking. The protests claimed that Mrs. Bush was a poor example of a female leader since she embodied traditional gender roles and was selected as a speaker based on her husband’s success. As a result, Barbara Bush asked Raisa Gorbacheva, a symbol of a politically active and present woman in the Soviet Union, to speak. Although there were glimmers of similar stories of success before this, the dominate narrative is one of failed after failed attempt for change. More recent examples including the women who lead the campaign in the Kremlin to decriminalize domestic violence, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights (Maria Lvova-Belova) responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children, and Yulia Navalnaya, wife of the late Alexei Navalny, who attempted to oppose Putin.

Another original lifetime goal I had was to become a yoga teacher. I just sat with this idea for years until the right opportunity jumped at me. Before university at , I don’t think I had ever taken a yoga class. Maybe I had followed some videos on my own, but the university instructors and easy (although not inexpensive) access to the gym made it a no-brainer.
As I began to work and study abroad from 2011-2013 through , and so on, I began fitting into my everyday life here and there, whether it was for myself, to do with friends, or for kids at the English camps I worked at in Russia and Spain.
Fast forward to 2020, and I found myself stuck (in a good way!) in 🇪🇪. I began to transition away from my life as a teacher at and towards my life as an academic with remote work in . In the middle of this transition, I reached out to to see about a yoga teacher training advertised for summer 2021. The rest is history. I did a four-week in summer 2021 and did my morning modified primary series every morning for six months. Many mornings I went to the park to do it outside or offered donation-based classes in the park for a very few who attended. This was followed shortly by three 50-hour trainings focusing on yin yoga, restorative yoga, and rocket yoga 🚀.
I began teaching at and used yoga as a tool through my experience and to share as a .postpartum.athlete .
Yes, this all escalated quite quickly to me teaching Rocket yoga 2-3 times a week while six months pregnant. Now in 2025, I have a new job in a new office in , where I share the space with two amazing yoga studios. and . I have not entirely quit my day job to become a yogi, but I am so honored to share the space and keep the option open to continue teaching.

I didn’t plan to read another book about 🏃🏻‍♀️, but I had this random free audiobook on that I downloaded months ago. I too, like the author, “would be happy if running and I grow old together” and believe “there may be a logic to it.” This book was about more than just running, and if it had not been for the narration, it would have easily been a 5/5. I am embarrassed to say that before reading this book I didn’t know who was, but I will definitely find his other books to read. At first, while listening to the book, I was put off by the chipper American voice narration, and I would have been much more moved by this book if it had been narrated by the Japanese author. Don’t get me wrong, the narration was excellent, but (if I’m allowed to say it) it felt inauthentic in a book that had so much to say about one individual (the author)’s perspective on life.

The book took me on a journey with the author through his early years in business to becoming a successful novelist and lifelong runner. He ran a jazz bar, understanding if just 1/10 people liked his business, it would succeed. Later, he applied the same logic to his books. He completely shut the business completely to dive into the art of – a decision many thought questionable. Going from a profession where he was on his feet all day to sitting and writing for hours naturally pushed him into running. I highly valued his view that he “never tells others to run” because he understands that his lifestyle demanded it of him.

Beyond writing about the mundane experiences of the people he saw every day on his run (including girls with “proud ponytails” and “aggressive strides,” which I found humorous), the author speaks about running as a relationship with life. He shares how he “stops every day at a point where he feels like he can keep going (running and writing).” He claims the key ingredients needed to be a novelist (and running?) are talent, focus, and .

I liked a main message of the book: “to grasp something of value sometimes you have to perform seemingly inefficient acts”. I hope I can also: “one by one face the tasks as best I can.”

This one is from the original book on the “Things I Should Not Do” from 5 years ago. I joined the cross-country team in high school because it was the only fall sport available to me. I had played football 🏈 in junior high and decided I didn’t want to continue—probably being crushed— as a lineman in high school. Running around in circles seemed like a better option for a fall sport. I was diagnosed with “sports-induced asthma” at some point and remember having near panic attacks while running. The 2–3 mile cross-country distances at that time were hard, if not nearly impossible. Fast forward to 2020, and I was supposed to run my first full marathon at the which was canceled due to COVID. After that, I unintentionally took a hiatus from running. Then, in fall 2022, I decided to run three back-to-back (including the ) within the span of a month and a half. Despite conventional wisdom about the number of marathons a person should run in a year—let alone a month—I felt great doing this. I was greatly inspired by my former colleague .muttik , who was training for 100K (yes— 100K!). Years of training up—from my panic attacks in cross country, to my first 10K in in 2015 in 🇪🇪 and eight half marathons in between—made it fun and easy. Still, every time I find myself struggling to motivate myself to go outside for even for a short, easy, run I remind myself how incredibly ridiculous it is to run around in the same circles day after day, and year after year, and then pay money to publicly torture myself alongside thousands of other insane people. A few years ago, when I read some old journal entries from high school, I saw a goal I had long forgotten: to run a marathon. Even then, as I huffed and puffed through cross-country training and struggled even running 1—3 miles, I thought it was a great idea to run 26 miles. In 2025, I joined the run club started by the legendary and now help keep it going while she’s away. Inspired, I ran the half and the full at the . The lesson here is simple: running is dangerously addictive.

Book 3: “I never thought being a parent would be this weird”, yet I found myself reading a self-help book. Luckily, this book reassured me I am not alone. It seems that throughout every part of this journey, as soon as I figure out one step or solve a problem, it becomes irrelevant and I have new steps to make and challenges to face: I figured out how to get a baby to sleep, but then I need to figure out how to get a toddler to eat 😅. I learned how to organize my time around transporting a toddler to childcare and spending time together, but then struggled to sleep myself. Every day is a new negotiation. After reading the book I look at every day as a new game. Now I am having more fun playing around with some solutions and ideas I have learned in this book through the extremely relatable tales of different parents. It is not a quick fix for all the daily negotiations I am losing currently (getting dressed to go outside, standing up to get off the bus, eating just one bite of chicken, going to sleep) but it has definitely encouraged me to look at it with a bit more humor and fun in mind. I like that this book was narrated by the authors .forparents on and that they had a very modest approach to giving advice. No one is perfect and we are all figuring it out as we go. Sometimes sharing strategies and learning a different perspective just helps along the way. Highly recommend for anyone who works with or has kids. Even if everything is going perfect for you (in that case teach me!) there are so many fun ideas here for how play with kids in every stage of the day.

Every Monday that I manage to win the work-life-balance negotiation in favor of singing, I find myself sitting relatively quietly at the back left of the first soprano section of the . Half a year after I auditioned and I can’t even remember what pushed me to go there in the first place. I do know I sang in a choir throughout my childhood. I vividly remember singing the song “Baby Mine” from Dumbo in a solo singing contest when I was 12, forgetting the words, and still getting a first place (for context these competitions are not about beating others but based on a scale) probably because the judge felt bad for me.
Waiting for the audition for the choir was quite nerve-wracking and I was even a bit disappointed the audition was not harder. How do they know I can actually read music?! As soon as I made it into the choir, I discovered the uniform was a stripy shirt and dark blue pants. Conveniently, all of my blue pants disappeared around the same time (most likely accidentally donated to a second hand store). So by the time our Christmas concert (and my first concert) rolled around I was so proud I figured out a long dark pant solution. I was not so proud to discover that the instructions had been to dress festive and I had shown up dressed like a sailor. Luckily I had time to go home and change. For the next concert a week or so ago I double checked I was supposed to wear the blue pants and striped shirt only to show up and see everyone had a long sleeved striped shirt. Obviously they do….luckily a dear alto had an extra one I could borrow. So it goes. Every Monday I sit in the back listening as best I can. It turns out we don’t follow the repeat in this song or sing four pages of that one. The things I should have known weeks ago but discover when someone tells me. It’s funny. I know I could ask. People are so helpful, but it’s pretty hard to ask about an unknown, unknown which is obvious to everyone. So in the meantime I’ll just keep singing, listening, and learning until they yank me off the stage with a hooked cane. 🎶

And review #2. Not surprising it’s a running 🏃🏻‍♂️ book by florisgierman host of . As someone who listens to a lot of running podcasts, I feel like I had heard many of the stories and tips from the speakers, but it was still nice to have them combined in one relatively short book. While I really liked the easy-going tone of the book and decided to read it precisely because of the approach to running, I feel the books references to the magic goal of the 3 hour marathon mark just don’t speak to all types of runners. I was hooked by the forward where the author encouraged runners to: “Begin where you are. Keep your hearts wide open and trust the path that call to you. Let wonder and joy lead the way” and dedicated the book to his two daughters.
I replaced the unobtainable (for me currently) 3 hour marathon time with my own time and stayed encouraged. There were honestly many easy and validating tips about running slower, heart rate training, nutrition, glucose, and so on. My clear goals after reading this book are to get a complete blood test and blood sugar monitor. I know where I am at with sleep and miles, but I don’t always know what is best for my body at different stages of life or training. Overall I liked the practical tips and reminders that “Basebuikding is not a step backwards but a reset”. It is a great reminder for a runner and anyone during winter ❄️.