Good Books – Melissa Schlies

Three Fantastic Reads For the New Year

What do you do, when things change? As I’ve shared before, change is not my sweet spot. As much as I want adventure and new experiences, every fiber of my being calls out for routine. It longs for the status quo. Even change I want, can be a challenge. That is why, last week, when Tony and I stayed home for the holidays—for the first time ever—it was hard to settle. For a few days following Christmas, it took almost as much effort to rest as it would have to work. Sometimes, slowing down feels more difficult than speeding up. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-01-06T20:29:59+00:00January 7th, 2021|Categories: Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Start Here|2 Comments

Three of My Favorite Reads From 2020 & Why Not to Be Hard on Yourself

Ever feel like you’re not reading enough? Or, if it’s not reading, perhaps you feel like you’re not listening to educational podcasts, exercising, or cleaning your kitchen floor. For some reason, there are random things in my life I always feel I should be doing more often. And I have a feeling I’m not alone. We all have things we feel guilty about not doing. Or at least, we feel guilty for not doing them enough. Only, not reading more is not usually a problem for me. I am the type of person who could be accidentally locked in a [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-12-17T02:08:05+00:00December 17th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Balance, comparison, Good Books, Habit Making, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Routines|Comments Off

2020 Christmas Gift Guide

One December Saturday, when I was in ninth or tenth grade, my parents decided to take me and my sisters into Boston. Having both grown up just outside the city, they wanted to share a part of their childhood holiday experience with us. It’s still one of my favorite Christmas memories. Just as the sun began to fade that afternoon, we watched the Christmas lights begin to color the city streets. That day, we saw The Enchanted Village, found a place for lunch with the biggest slices of pizza I’d ever seen, and window shopped through downtown Boston, admiring all [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-11-23T19:03:36+00:00November 30th, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Good Books, gratitude, Holidays|Comments Off

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 2: Five Fantastic Fiction Books

Reading some books is like eating chips and salsa. In the same way you can’t stop taking another chip and another chip, you can’t stop flipping the pages. But when you’re through you don’t always feel completely satisfied. Sure it was fun, delicious even. Only something inside you, still feels a little hollow. Reading some books is like eating chips and salsa. In the same way you can’t stop taking another chip and another chip, you can’t stop flipping the pages. This is how I feel about a lot of beach reads. They are fantastic escapes for a few hours [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-08T13:32:42+00:00June 11th, 2020|Categories: Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

One of the most surprising side-effects of social distancing, for me, was not feeling compelled—or at times even able—to read. As someone who can, in some seasons, put away more than one book a week, you’d think I’d have been excited for all this extra time to bury my nose in some printed pages. Only often, I couldn’t read. My brain felt overwhelmed by all the information we were getting on a daily basis. My heart was heavy for all those who were suffering, from all we were collectively losing, and—I was missing time with my dad. For all these [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-07T23:09:31+00:00June 8th, 2020|Categories: Good Books, Mental Health, Routines, Self Care|Comments Off

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

If your friend called you in the middle of the night, upset, what would you do? Before getting up and driving over to their home, before making a plan on how best to help them— You’d listen, right? You’d ask them to take a deep breath, then to tell you what was wrong. You wouldn’t come over and fix the problem—because you don’t even know what the problem is yet. You wouldn’t tell them to call you in the morning; you care too much about them. You would listen. On Monday, I shared where I am at on my journey [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-03T22:46:38+00:00June 4th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Good Books, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Racism|Comments Off

Books To Help You on Your Creative Journey

I have a confession to make. In case I haven’t shared this before, I can be a little too independent in certain areas of my life. In some situations—even if I am a total newbie—I jump right in, assuming I will figure things out as I go. Of course, this doesn’t mean I don’t always do my fair share of internet surfing first. Before I baked my first loaf of whole wheat bread, I looked up at least a half a dozen recipes before landing on the one I wanted to try. And when it came to doing my first [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-19T18:33:42+00:00March 26th, 2020|Categories: Creativity, Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance, Preparation|Comments Off

Love: My Favorite Books From 2019

“Some books leave us free and some books make us free.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson Do you ever wish there was more time in a day just to read? I know I do. There always seems to be more work, laundry, or something to clean calling my name as soon as I sit down with a good book. It feels like all of life’s responsibilities call to me the loudest when I get quiet. While, if I get sucked into endlessly scrolling social media on my phone, everything else is strangely silent. How I wish it was the other way around. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-05T16:17:14+00:00December 5th, 2019|Categories: Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

My Favorite Thanksgiving Links

As I have shared before, hands down, fall is my favorite season. Give me the chunky sweaters, all the flannel, the apple picking, and the pumpkin flavored (almost) anything—I am here for it. And though many people may think Halloween is the best fall holiday, Thanksgiving is my favorite. Of course, it helps that I am not a costume person, and Thanksgiving involves baking (my happy place). But this Holiday that finds itself wedged in between Halloween and Christmas, offers many of us an extra long weekend, time with family or friends, and really good food. Also, for my family’s [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:14:54+00:00November 25th, 2019|Categories: Food, Good Books, podcasts I love, Preparation, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

Friends, it is hard to believe we are closing in on Thanksgiving already. A week from today, we will be with friends and family, eating turkey and pie. Then, a week from tomorrow, the countdown to Christmas will begin. For many of us, I know, our schedules have already begun to pick up before the Holidays. With all the busyness, in some ways, I felt a little crazy to talk about self care on the blog this month. But if you have stayed with me on this journey, I hope you have felt valued and maybe even, you’re taking me [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-11-20T20:02:50+00:00November 21st, 2019|Categories: Balance, discipline, Good Books, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Routines, Self Care, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Three Fantastic Reads For the New Year

Three of My Favorite Reads From 2020 & Why Not to Be Hard on Yourself

2020 Christmas Gift Guide

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 2: Five Fantastic Fiction Books

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

Books To Help You on Your Creative Journey

Love: My Favorite Books From 2019

My Favorite Thanksgiving Links

Love Learn Lead November 21, 2019

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