Hi, happy new year, and welcome back to On the Brookeshelf! On the Brookeshelf is a monthly* digest of the best content I’m consuming, products I’m trying, and trips I’m planning, so you can skip to the good parts.

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Let’s get into it.

*I’m going to be switching up the cadence of this newsletter to weekly, as of next week. The first issue of each month will be slightly longer with monthly highlights and longer-form stories, while the other three issues of each month will be short & sweet and content/recommendation focused. If you have feedback on the new format, please let me know! DM me in Instagram, TikTok or Twitter. 

🌟 Top 3 of the month

1. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell Format: Novel (Historical) Time commitment: 1 weekWhy bother: A historically (mostly) true story retold in a captivating format. I love books and series that teach history this way. Reads like fiction, but the core facts of the story are real. This one follows the incredible story of Lucrezia de Medici, who is married off at age 15 to a, shall we say, complicated character. Excellent writing that had me hooked from the very first page.

2. Arnold on Netflix Format: Docuseries Time commitment: 3x 1 hour episodes Why bother: In this docuseries, Arnold talks at length about the feeling of never being satisfied – that with each of his accomplishments came a fleeting sense of pride and then, almost immediately, a yearning for the next hill to climb. This is an idea that I’ve seen show up in biographies of successful people across geographies and centuries, often articulated in slightly different ways but honing in on the same core point: attaining the highest level of success requires that a person is never really satisfied with anything they accomplish or have in their life. Does this mean that in order to be ultra successful, you effectively forego happiness? I’ve met people like this in my life, including some that are quite close to me. It is a sad truth but I’ve found this to be generally true.Outside of prompting philosophical quandaries like this one, this series is also just entertaining. The three episodes cover the three arenas Arnold has risen in throughout his life: body building, acting and politics.

3. None of this is True by Lisa Howell Format: Novel (Suspense) Time commitment: 1 week Why bother: This is a total fun/beach read and a real page turner that kept me on my toes and left me guessing until the very last chapter. If you liked “Gone Girl”, this might be a good one for you.

📰 A few interesting stories

• Amanda Goetz shared an excellent summary of her new year planning process in her newsletter Life’s a Game. This was in the December 14, 2023 issue titled “Your 2024 Game Plan”. Highly recommend checking it out. She also wrote an abridged version on Twitter/X which you can skim here.

• Tough time to be an airplane. You’ve probably heard about the back-to-back commercial aircraft fiascos in Japan and the US (a collision that engulfed the plane in flames and killed five people, and a door flying off of an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight, respectively) and may be wondering how you can ever fly again. As someone who spends more time than most on airplanes, this ramp up of random freak accidents in the sky certainly gave me pause. Not enough to stop taking flights, though. If there is any silver lining to these traumatic events, it is resting assured that our pilots and cabin crew seem to be some of the calmest and most impressive people under pressure. Here is the incredibly leveled audio of the pilot on the Alaska Airlines flight and an account of how all 367 passengers and 12 crew miraculously disembarked from the flaming aircraft in Tokyo.

• The Travis/Taylor coverage continues and honestly I am obsessed. It is both hilarious and so empowering to me how Taylor Swift has the power to not only uplift entire economies but also get an entire demographic watching football for the first time in their lives. She really is the GOAT.

• A tech employee filmed herself getting laid off and then went viral and the response from the internet was largely supportive. Separately, a company called Kyte Baby which sells baby clothing came under fire after denying an employee’s request to work remotely while her infant was in the NICU, and later firing her. The internet went wild, with calls across the board to boycott the company. Both examples seem to reflect a larger trend: we expect more, philosophically and morally from our employers than our parents probably ever would have dreamed of. It seems like we’re undergoing a pretty massive paradigm shift. Employees are in many ways even more powerful than employers these days, thanks to the court of public opinion (ie the internet).

• This article about a study seeming to indicate that certain organisms can problem-solve and store memories without a brain really blew my mind.

🛍️ New product haul

What I’m loving, and what I’m leaving. 

Loving:

• OURA Sleep tracking ring – The OURA ring is a smart ring (like a smart watch, but worn on your finger) that focuses primarily on sleep data, although in my case, I bought it specifically for cycle tracking, following the OURA X Natural Cycles partnership announcement. ICYMI, Natural Cycles is an FDA-approved birth control app that allows women to prevent pregnancy without the use of hormones by accurately tracking her cycle based off of precise daily temperature measurements. I’ve been using it for a few years now. Pre-OURA, that meant taking my temperature with a basal thermometer every morning.The OURA x Natural Cycles partnership is big news because the OURA ring automatically tracks your temperature, so wearing the ring to bed removes the need to take your temperature in the morning. This may sound like a small thing, but the thermometer reading usually takes about 60 seconds and needs to be done before you get out of bed, which became quite annoying after some time. It is also easy to forget to take the reading before jumping up to brush your teeth and start your day. I’m now one month into using the OURA ring and I can confirm that it works ingeniously for cycle tracking. On top of that, I’ve been surprised at how much I have enjoyed and learned from its other features too. I have a wealth of data now on my sleeping patters and what tends to impact the quality of my sleep. It also tracks activity, similar to an Apple Watch or a FitBit, but the emphasis is not on calories burned, but rather an overall “activity score” which is meant to tie back to sleep readiness and general wellbeing, letting you know when it’s a good day to push it in your workout and when it’s a good day to rest. I love this more balanced approach as it seems to emphasize being connected to your body rather than focusing blindly on calorie burn. All in all, I would definitely recommend this as a general wellness and sleep tracker, and especially so if you are a woman considering (or already trying) a non-hormonal approach to birth control. The best part is that both the OURA ring and Natural Cycles are FSA/HSA eligible, so if I are in the US and have FSA/HSA dollars to use, you can claim a reimbursement on either or both. Some additional discounts for you:

  • Use this link to get $40 off of your OURA ring <3 

  • Use this link for 20% of your Natural Cycles membership and a free basal thermometer (note: if you get the OURA ring, you don’t need a basal thermometer, but you may choose to trial NC first)

• LARQ bacteria-killing water bottle: I never travel without this. I’ve been using these for a while now (I actually backed them on Kickstarter back in 2018) but my love for these was rekindled on my current trip in Thailand. LARQ has created a bottle that kills 99%+ of bacteria using UV technology. You just need to charge the cap of the water bottle, fill it up, press a button, wait about 60 seconds, and suddenly you have potable water. These are great for travel in general and also for hikes where you may be filling up in streams or other natural water sources. As someone who has suffered the ill effects of consuming bad water overseas, this bottle is my peace of mind on the road. You can get one on Amazon here or direct through their site, they come in lots of colors, I love the powder blue.

• Nanopresso portable espresso maker: I bought this a few years ago but got so many comments on my recent trek in Chiang Mai that I figured it deserved a spot on this month’s product haul, if only for my new readers (hi!) Nanopresso has created a truly delightful manual espresso maker. It’s compact, easy-to-pack, quick to use, and amazingly very very good. The espresso comes out with a nice layer of crema and the parts are easy to clean. It’s so good that one of the guys I met on my trip bought one on Amazon right there on the spot after giving it a go. Now you can too :) PS they have a manual and an automatic version, I recommend the manual version because while it takes a bit of effort, it is reliable! The automatic one requires a power source as it is electronic, so it leaves more room for error.

• Touchland hand sanitizer: My fiancé’s sister in law put one of these in my Christmas gift. The innovation is so subtle but I just love the shape of these (flat and super easy to fit inside my fanny pack) and the fruity scents. Also a fan favorite in Thailand, I got so many comments on this. I recommend grabbing this 3-pack so you can try a few different scents.

• iPad: Kind of a mainstream one but worth a review as I was super on the fence about buying one. I ended up buying mine second hand, with both the regular flip cover and the Apple Magic Keyboard attachment. All in with accessories, I paid about $550 USD and now that I’ve been using it for a few months, I can say that was a real steal. It truly acts as a substitute for a personal laptop, particularly when paired with a Magic Mouse. I’ve started traveling with this instead of my laptop and it works great. The best part is that it is compact and easy to bring along in a small personal item, and can be used as a laptop or a portable TV for long plane (or TukTuk) rides. Oh, the mighty power of a hotspot.

Leaving:

• Kindle. I have tried to get into this format for reading over and over again, as it is so much more practical while traveling than fitting multiple books in luggage when space is precious. My qualms, however, are two-fold: (1) I just don’t seem to process information as quickly from a screen, and (2) A kindle can lose battery leaving you book-less!!! To that end, I’m back on paper copies, as impractical as they may be.

Things I’m trying this month: 

• In terms of rituals, I had my first facial in more than 10 years recently and I was blown away at how my skin glowed after. I’m investing in regular treatments to see what the impacts are (roughly monthly, switching between Dermaplaning and Hydrafacial). I’ll report back in a few months, right now (two months in) I have noticed that I definitely have fewer breakouts than I have in the last 6 months or so.

• No new gadgets on my radar at the moment. Let me know if there is something I should be trying!

🛫 One last thing

2023 was a year of growth and new chapters. 2024 is my year of exploration. I am currently on a sabbatical investing in and executing on a few key personal and professional projects. I’m excited to share more with you here along the way.

I kicked off 2024 with quality family time in the US and a two-week solo trip through Thailand and Cambodia. I’m now back in Dubai, getting ready to hit the ground running on everything Q1 has in store.

As we get ready to wrap the first month of the year, take a moment to reflect on your intention(s) for this quarter. What do you want to prioritize? What are you investing in? What are you letting go of?

I find it helpful to put things into focus area categories: adventure, career growth, relationships, fitness. What is calling to you? What can you afford to put on the back burner?

When I first arrived in Thailand, I found myself trying to put multiple things first: prioritizing adventure and trying to also make meaningful strides on a new business. I had to take a step back to realize that in trying to prioritize both things, I was doing neither well. I wasn’t fully present and was turning down invitations to get out and do things in order to get work done. At the same time, I wasn’t fully focused on work as I was trying to get out for hikes and temple tours throughout the day. Context switching between carefree adventure mode and focused work mode was costing me time and energy. I made the decision in that moment to prioritize adventure for the two weeks that I was in Southeast Asia, and then go all-in on business and career work when I arrived back in Dubai. This allowed me to have a truly re-energizing two weeks. Now I am sat at a coffee shop back in Dubai with a clear mindset, ready to tackle new projects.

This week, ask yourself what your #1 priority is, then sideline anything that gets in the way of that thing.

And with that – have an amazing start to 2024. This is YOUR YEAR! See you next week.

Thank you for being here <3

Brooke

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