1–Traeger grills. I bought one for my husband’s 39th birthday, and we’ve used it a few times already. They are expensive, but are worth it as they make delicious food!
2–Self-playing piano/violins. The Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violin is amazing and there are only 69 left in the world. If you, like me are a fan of player pianos, this takes them to a whole other level. Thanks to Atlas Obscura for sharing this.
3–Scuba diving in Silfra. I am dying to go to Iceland. And watching this video of scuba diving (although the divers don’t look to be very experienced) in Silfra makes me want to go even more.
4–Summer road trips. I’ve really been enjoying Crystal Paine’s series on Money Saving Mom about her family’s east coast summer road trip. If you want to follow along, you can check out Day 1 here. Then there are links to each of the subsequent days.
5–Chasing Coral on Netflix. I stumbled across this, and was totally absorbed in it. As a scuba diver, I’m well aware of how fragile, but how important our coral reefs are. And I’ve also seen the news coverage of the bleaching of reefs, in particular the Great Barrier Reef in the Pacific Ocean, where 27% of the reef has now died. It’s incredibly sad, but also really, really bad for the ecosystem. Coral bleaching is caused by warming ocean temperatures (even just a 2 degree increase can cause it, but some of the temperatures at the Great Barrier Reef were up to 97 degrees). But my problem with the documentary is that they jump to the conclusion is that the only explanation for an ocean temperature increase is man-made pollution without any rationale for why that is the case. And the only solution that they have to the problem of increasing ocean temperatures is clean energy, which is at best a long-term solution, without even trying to identify any short-term options for reducing ocean temperatures.
. Definitely a great way to give it a shot and see if it’s worth it for you, and get it for free. And really, who doesn’t love free?!
by Jennifer Robson
last year, and loved it. This book doesn’t follow Lilly and Robbie, but instead follows Charlotte and Edward, minor characters from the previous book. So it’s not a true sequel, but more of a spin off. I loved this book as much as the previous, and now have the next entry in the series, Moonlight Over Paris, in my Kindle wish list. I picked this book, because I wanted to start out the year with a book that I knew that I’d love, as it looks as if some challenging reading lay ahead of me this year.
by Malcolm Gladwell
and 
, I was keen to read another of his books. This one did not disappoint. Generally speaking, the topic is how and why we make the snap or autopilot types decisions in our lives, why it sometimes makes sense to rely on these decisions, as well as how and why they lead us astray. Fascinating.
by Horst Christian
by Crystal Paine
by Vanessa Riley
by Lu Nei
to me. The story follows a young man looking for his place in the world in China in the 90s. It was sort of depressing, and introspective, and I didn’t like it. Until he started growing up, and whining less, and then the introspection didn’t bother me anymore because it felt refreshing and thoughtful. This book is one that I’m glad that I stuck with.
by James Snyder
by Jeff Shinbarger
by Michelle Cooper