Little Pieces of Hope

From the moment the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus to be a pandemic in March of 2020, Todd Doughty started making lists of things that made him happy. Doughty went on to add playlists, essays, quotes, and prompts. It is a book full of things that cheered Doughty up. It just might cheer you up, too.

Happy-making things in a difficult world that I liked:

Seeing Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in person at the Art Institute of Chicago.

A bookmark.

Ribsy. Sounder. Old Dan and Little Ann.

The New York Public Library

The National Spelling Bee

Little Free Libraries

The thirteenth-century soaring stained-glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris

Your grandmother's recipe box

Manual typewriters

Julia Child's recipe for beef bourguignon

Sit in a hammock

Rocking the baby to sleep and then sitting together a little while longer