As the days pass and the winds blow the leaves to the ground, the year shifts from autumn towards winter. With change in mind, I’ve collected some resources around change, anger and some books and food to enjoy in this shifting season.
Thinking about change
This whole website deals with change in various forms. Here are two resources on how change happens, the stories we tell about historical change and change in the social justice sphere.
The Dawn of Everything – David Graeber and David Wengrow – I’ve finally started reading this and wanted to recommend it. If you haven’t got the time or desire to read, try this review and this set of overviews by the Museum of Care which was created by Graeber’s colleague and widow.
Interesting read on social change and work.
Thinking about anger
Work continues on my memoir project under the working title ‘Aa’ and a few resources I wanted to share on anger are here.
My piece on c-ptsd, adolescence and the early work of Stephen King
These videos and blog posts on anger by Tara Brach
And this 10 minute meditation practice for when you’re feeling angry.
Seasonal food
I’m trying to eat more seasonally as well as more plant based. I tried a recipe from Riverford and combined it with a black bean guacamole I had tried elsewhere.
Black bean guacamole – great as a dressing for roasted veg or other protein in a wrap or on a baked sweet potato.
Loose recipe:
One avocado chopped or mashed, half a red onion chopped, tin of black beans rinsed and some tomatoes, chopped. Combine, season and then add some lime juice, fresh chopped garlic and red chilli (to taste depending on preferred spice level).
Cauliflower wraps with black bean guacamole – a version of this https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/cauliflower-taco-bowls but in a wrap. Roast some chopped up cauli that has been tossed with salt, oil cumin, chilli and paprika at about 180C for 20mins or till tender and then add to a wrap with preferred toppings!
Also, try these leeks on toast from Hugh F-W and Jamie’s apple pie.
Memoir
Nothing inspires me to write more than reading stories of other writers. The library is a great place to pick up books we might not come across otherwise. I highly recommend these two memoirs.
Giving up the Ghost – Hilary Mantel
Beautifully written and insightful memoir. Highly recommend even if you don’t know her fiction writing.
On Writing – Stephen King
I re-read this most years. Great advice on writing but also a fascinating isnight into the upbringing and addictions dealt with by one of the most successful fiction writers in history.
Fiction reading
54 books and counting for the year to date…
A Place of Greater Safety – Hilary Mantel
I started this in mid October and was immediately drawn in. Wonderful writing and an amazing recreation of a vital time in history: the French Revolution.
Wolf Hall trilogy – Hilary Mantel
I re-read these books on Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII a year or so ago when Hilary Mantel died. A masterclass set of works that redefined writing and historical fiction forever. Also responsible for my ongoing crush on the man himself, Thomas Cromwell.
