What I Read from April to June 2021

I know I owe three months worth of articles but I also know that I don’t have the patience and the heart to cheat myself by cramming everything in one post.

Let me list what transpired in three months:

WorkRereading Harry Potter 5 and 6Reading and reviewing ARCs for The Write Reads’ Ultimate Blog TourProfessional education

Please find below the reviews I posted for the magnificent books I received from the blog tour:

Now that those four book reviews are out of the way, here are the few articles I managed to squeeze in:

Anne Lamott’s Wondrous Letter to Children About Books as Antidotes to Isolation, Portals to Perspective, and Crucibles of Self-Discovery (Brain Pickings)

What it is about: It is a very short epistle with some notes from the domain owner about the importance of reading.

What I think about it: It’s not a secret that the cheapest ticket to a different world one can have access to is a story, be it a short one or a thick novel, digital or paperback. As any other ticket one pays for, it has to be used.

Kierkegaard on Our Greatest Source of Unhappiness (Brain Pickings)

What it is about: Simply put, the greatest source of unhappiness is escapism. Some people escape to the wonderful promises of what will be (hope) and others retreat to the what was (memories).

What I think about it: Escapism is a coping mechanism that almost everyone has. By Kierkegaard’s examples though, I can say the saddest individuals are those who have lost hope in their future aspirations or those who are stuck in their regrets and can’t move on. Take my words with a grain of salt as I am not a philosopher.

How to Use Parkinson’s Law to your Advantage (Lifehack)

What it is about: This article talks about how to allot enough time for a task depending on the effort it needs.

What I think about it: As this article was recommended by a colleague, I couldn’t help but associate it to work-related tasks and not the personal ones I try to get through in order to call myself productive. Working in the tech industry, where ‘sprint’ and ‘timeline’ are common jargons, helps bring the idea close to home. Employees must aim for efficiency now more than ever. Perhaps telecommuting or the quarantines have made some complacent with the “I have more time now” idea. Well, we have more time to put this Parkinson’s Law to practice.

By and large, changing the title of this series and the overall format proved to be helpful though not an excuse to skip my monthly updates.

What are you reading these days?