Pixel Thoughts has been around for a while, and it’s pretty simple. You type out your worry, and it floats off into space while you’re reminded of how we’re insignificant. Which is true, but didn’t make my worries go away, even though I appreciated the perspective reminder.

But now it’s an app. You can still use the general version, but you can now personalize the messaging to your worry. You can turn on “auto” and allow it to choose what it thinks will be the best message, or tailor the message to one of acceptance or “this too shall pass.” You can choose how long you’d like the message to run (30 seconds to 3 minutes), and choose gentle music to play in the background. Or leave it random. It’s really up to you.

I found it went from a nice idea to a brilliant meditation tool. It has yet to say anything earth-shattering, but having what I sense to be true reinforced in a message has a calming effect. Yes, my brain knows that this worry is based on fear vs. fact, but having the app gently point that out and reframing the worry instead of asking my brain to come up with the same emotional response feels like having a little invisible friend supporting you for a minute.

If you like it, you may also like trying his other tool, which has you breathing with other people in the world at the same time. I found it oddly emotional.

If you get the app, get the correct one. The real one is made by Marc B. There are a bunch of fake knockoffs that look the same, but I have no clue what they do with your data.

Sometimes when I sit down to read, I open an app to check something quickly before I get started, or I Google something that has been on my mind so I can put it to rest and enjoy the book, and then I look up and a half hour of rabbit-hole scrolling has passed.

It happens.

Naomi Alderman, creator of Zombies, Run! and writer of numerous books, has started a Couch to 5K program for reading. She writes, “The whole point of Couch to 5k is that it picks an amount which is doable for a lot of people and tells you how to go from ‘I can’t do that yet’ to ‘now I can do it’!”

I keep seeing the program pop up in newsletters and on blogs, which makes me happy. I’m not happy because we need it, but because people clearly want to get back into reading. They want to concentrate again. They want to get lost in a story.

I love that she meets people where they are with the amount of time they have.

Passing this along in case anyone needs help bringing balance to screen time and reading time.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Did you know that Merriam-Webster (the dictionary people) has games? Like a lot of games, if you also count all of the games at Encyclopedia Britannica because they’re part of the same company? And some of them are a lot of fun?

I particularly like Tagline. And I thought I would like Victordle, where you play against other people in solving Wordle first, except the first person I paired with guessed it in one try, which made me think it was rigged. I tried again, and we worked together to get to the correct word.

Take a look at the long list on the left sidebar.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from July.

Chosen Family (Madeleine Gray): I’ll start by saying that I related to this book A LOT. It dredged up a lot of feelings, in a good way. There is catharsis, but if I have a complaint about the book, it’s that she takes you past the point where you need the catharsis. Which means you read a big section of the book feeling unease instead of release. And when you get to the moment of catharsis, you take with you feelings that I don’t think she intended you to have about the characters. I am glad I read this book. I am glad I own this book and can read it again. But I wish it had been less “hurt people hurt people” and more cycle breaking.

The Shampoo Effect (Jenny Jackson): 4.5 stars rounded up. The writing is great, and I wanted to spend time with all the characters. There is not really a plot. But maybe look at it as hanging out with friends at the beach more than a cohesive story. Totally enjoyable, whether you’re reading it at home or on a beach yourself.

The Artful Anna Harris (Tracy Maton): The first half was a nice thriller but I didn’t get the big deal. People were raving about this book, but it felt pretty standard. And then the switch. The second half was a wild ride, and I totally understood the praise. Very well done.

Ungodly Rich (Katharine McGee): Fun and fluffy with all the usual Katharine McGee characters — it was Thousandth Floor or American Royals but with Greek gods. It ends with a cliffhanger, so I’m hoping there’s another book in the future. It’s a good vacation read, fast-moving and easy to keep the pantheon in your head.

Pagans (James Alistair Henry): What a great story and world. I am so bummed that it will be a year until book two, but this one was so good that I’ll pre-order it. The world took work to sort out in my brain, but I enjoyed doing that work. Entertaining, educating, and thought provoking.

Alan Opts Out (Courtney Maum): This was a joyful ride, and the ending was superb. (Lenny, obviously, but I’m talking about those last few lines.) My heart hurt sometimes for Vivian, but I loved how she grew and changed AND stayed the same. Great story.

What did you read last month?

A few weeks ago, I was in Cornwall. You know, the place that just experienced a 95% solar eclipse. It wouldn’t have been difficult to get to Spain from there or somewhere else that was in the 100% covered path.

I know I wasn’t going to hang out there for an additional six weeks, and we couldn’t move the trip because it aligned with the twins’ programs this summer. Plus, while I technically knew about this eclipse because after the last solar eclipse (my niece and I looked up all the upcoming solar eclipses and said we should all go to Spain for this eclipse), I didn’t remember there was going to be an eclipse until the BBC started posting on Wednesday about how Cornwall (remember, that place I just was) was experiencing a 95% solar eclipse.

I need to write these things down.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

It has been two months since Slaying, Blogging, Whatever’s father died, and she reflects on the time between that loss and now. She writes: “It feels bizarre how time goes slow/fast through our lives … A little over two months ago I was on the most strange and sad and nice road trip with my brother to North Carolina.” Time moves strangely with grief. Sending a hug.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ also reflects on the time between her husband’s death and now. She explains: “I’ve always said writing helps. And it really does. But in the absolute depths of grief, writing has been, and still is, too hard.” Everything reminds her of her husband — she carries 40 years of memories with her as she moves through her day — and holding it together takes a toll. Sending peace of heart.

The roundup to the Roundup: Missed the eclipse. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 7 – 14) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.