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Advice / Succeeding at Work / Break Room

4 Great Reads for Your Commute This Week

Need a break from your regular reading? Listen to an NPR story about a town without cell phones, or learn to be creative like one of my favorite artists, painter Flora Bowley. If that doesn’t thrill you, head out west with famed environmental writer Edward Abbey, or explore yoga with new mom Claire Dederer.

On Your Kindle

Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, by Claire Dederer 

I just reviewed Claire Dederer’s motherhood memoir, Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, for Where is My Guru. Even if you can’t do triangle pose, you’ll love Dederer’s funny take on the trials of modern parenthood. If you’ve ever agonized over breastfeeding or the global economics of shopping at Baby Gap, this is the book for you.

On Your Smartphone

Couch Chats with Alena Hennesey,” Flora Bowley

I love the paintings of artist Flora Bowley, so I was excited to see this interview series featuring her work. Bowley paints beautiful large-scale canvases with layers of patterns and designs. In this talk with collaborator and friend Alena Hennesey, Bowley talks about how she came to teach workshops in exciting locations like Bali.

On a Podcast

Enter the Quiet Zone: Where Cell Service, WiFi are Banned,” NPR

Feeling overwhelmed by technology? Escape to the West Virginia town that the iPhone forgot. Because of an unusual satellite clearance rule, residents in this “quiet zone” cannot use cell phones or Wi-Fi to protect the reception for a large satellite. As a result, this rural area is still served by pay phones and dial-up internet service. Vacation here and you’ll be blissfully free of text messages, push notifications, and tweets.

Old School

Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, by Edward Abbey

First published in 1968, Abbey’s chronicle of life as a park ranger in the Moab desert is both beloved and controversial. Abbey is known for his sometimes-cantankerous views, but loves the wilderness. He writes of being alone: “I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty still embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation.”

Photo courtesy of Mo Riza.