A Day in The Life: Maternity Leave

Trish from Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity is hosting the Day in the Life event again, where we record a typical day and share it with one another.  This was one of the highlights of my blogging life last year, so I’m back to participate again.

I recorded the happenings of Wednesday, March 16, 2016.  I’m currently on maternity leave with my 7 week old baby, Malcolm, and also have a newly 3 year old (her birthday was Sunday), Lydia.

3:40am- Malcolm stirs, I go heat up bottle and change his diaper
3:50am- feed Malcolm
4:06am- put him back in his crib with a pacifier and some white noise, I have to get up to put the paci back in his mouth a couple times
4:12am- I go back to sleep
5:50am- Lydia wakes up and comes into my room, I walk her back to bed
7:23am- Lydia is up again, this time I let her in my bed for wake up cuddles
7:36am- I get up, feed the dogs and let them outside, I make Lydia breakfast (frozen waffles), and heat up a bottle for Malcolm who is now waking up
7:46am- I settle Lydia down for breakfast in the living room with an episode of Doc McStuffins, I ask Zack (husband) to get Malcolm up and change his diaper
7:50am- feed Malcolm
8:11am- take Lydia to her room to get her dressed, she is stalling so it takes a while
8:27am- Lydia is finally dressed, I change Malcolm’s diaper and put Lydia’s hair up

8:35am- put on another episode of TV for Lydia and help her get her shoes on
8:50am- Lydia and Zack are off to school/work, Malcolm starts getting sleepy, so I settle on couch with him and a paci and play on my phone while he falls asleep
9:03am- put Malcolm in his swing, so I can grab coffee and a bowl of Cheerios, I eat breakfast while reading (Wild by Cheryl Strayed)
9:21am- put away some laundry
9:31am- Malcolm wakes, but is quiet, so I put white noise on and grab a shower
9:47am- he is fussing when I get out, I give him paci and that helps for now
9:54am- never mind, he’s back to fussing, so I put him on his playmat (which he loves) so I can finish getting ready
10:00am- we play together- he is having fun, cooing too himself and looking in the mirror

10:10am- he is getting tired of playing, so I change his diaper and get him dressed, get the diaper bag ready so we can go out
10:23am- feed Malcolm a bottle and watch the end of an episode of Melrose Place
10:48am- get ready to go
10:54am- we are on our way, Malcolm’s quiet so I put on my audiobook (rereading Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid)
11:10am- we reach the chiropractor and I get adjusted
11:23am- head to Target, pick up a few items I missed at the store yesterday
11:52am- text my mom to ask if she wants to walk later, head out and remember I have a book on hold at the library for Lydia
12:10pm- stop at the library to pick up the held book
12:15pm- go home
12:23pm- we get home! Malcolm has slept most of our outing! I make myself some lunch, turn on the air conditioner, pray Malcolm stays asleep so I can eat
12:37pm- I eat lunch and read some more Wild
1:01pm- Malcolm is stirring, I reheat a cup of coffee, warm his bottle and change his diaper
1:10pm- bottle time and another episode of Melrose Place
1:30pm- Malcolm falls asleep, I trim his nails, then play on phone and watch TV while he sleeps on my chest

2:00pm- put him in his swing so I can attempt to do some chores, unload dishwasher, start cleaning guest bathroom
2:30pm- Malcolm fussing, I change his diaper, he’s still fussy, give him paci and put on Hey Jude (which is the song that magically calms him down almost immediately)
2:49pm- he falls into a light sleep on my chest, so I play on my phone and put more Beatles music on
2:54pm- he’s awake, but quiet, my mom texts to say she’s ready to walk, I tell her to come on over
3:10pm- my mom arrives, she and Malcolm play while I finish cleaning the bathroom, then she feeds him and we chat
4:10pm- my mom and I take Malcolm in the stroller for a walk, he is quiet and awake, while my mom and I chat
4:50pm- we get home, I feed the dogs, Malcolm fusses and I give him a paci, my mom and I talk a little more
5:11pm- my mom leaves, Malcolm is sleeping, so I put him in his swing and pick up a little bit
5:18pm- Lydia and Zack are home, I get Lydia out of the car at her request, Lydia comes in and finds the book I got her at the library and asks Zack to read it to her, I check my email on my phone and see something I need to follow up with on the computer, deal with that and also find a promo email for a free Hello Fresh box, so I sign up for that (we’d been talking about renewing our subscription to one of those meal in a box services so this was good timing!)
5:45pm- we decide on sandwiches for dinner, Zack goes and gets sandwich stuff on the table
5:50pm- Malcolm starts fussing, I grab him, have Lydia wash her hands, and we sit down to eat, I rock Malcolm and eat one handed with him snoozing on my chest
6:30pm- Lydia and Zack serve us ice cream for dessert, Malcolm wakes up, gets hungry, and I realize he ate an extra bottle at some point that day and we’re all out, Zack goes to the kitchen to make bottles and I entertain the kids with songs
6:57pm- I give Lydia a bath while Zack feeds Malcolm, Lydia and I listen to Frozen songs, brush and floss her teeth, put on her pajamas

7:53pm- Zack puts Malcolm in his swing asleep and goes to read to Lydia and tuck her in, I clean up dinner, load the dishwasher, and prep coffee for the morning, the hot water is running low so I decide to save hand washing dishes for a little later
8:10pm- I put on my pajamas and send texts to my dad and sister regarding plans for Lydia’s birthday on Sunday
8:25pm- I go back to the kitchen to wash bottles, Malcolm wakes up, but Zack gets him
8:50pm- I sit on couch with the husband and a beer, Malcolm is restlessly sleeping, Zack puts on the first episode of Master of None (we just decided to get with the times and are on a free Netflix trial), he’s already seen it, so he leaves the room
9:23pm- the first episode is over and I want to watch rest with Zack, so I play on my phone for a bit
9:39pm- Zack comes back in the room and we browse Netflix for a while
10:10pm- Malcolm wakes up, I change his diaper, find out he’s had a diaper leak so I change his clothes
10:25pm- Zack feeds Malcolm while we watch Brooklyn 99
10:50pm- I talk a little with Zack and go get ready for bed, while Zack gets Malcolm ready for bed and they go out to relax together in living room
11:07pm- I settle in bed with Wild, intending to read for just a couple minutes, but get caught up in it
11:33pm- I finally turn the lights out and go to sleep

 

2015 End of Year Survey

As always, thank you to Jamie of the Perpetual Page-Turner for creating this survey and link-up.  It is an annual tradition for me to fill it out– one of the only posts I manage to consistently put together every year and I love having them to look back on!

 

Number Of Books You Read:

81

Number of Re-Reads:

7

Genre You Read The Most From:

chick lit (of course)

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

I think I gotta go with Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith.  Just so, so, so good.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer… it sounded so up my alley, got tons of rave reviews, but was one of the worst books I read this year.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White– I never expected to like Kiersten White’s books as much as I do.  I was really surprised that this managed to be more than just fluffy, stereotypical YA paranormal romance.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Hmm.  Maybe the Cormoran Strike series, since I’m sort of obsessed with it?  I also completely nailed it by giving The Martian to my dad without having read it first… he has been talking about it all year!

 5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Best series started: probably the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben
Best sequel: Career of Evil, duh
Best series ender: Hmm, I finished out two series this year– His Fair Assassins and Paranormalcy– both Mortal Heart and Endlessly were my least favorite books in their series, so I guess a tie between them?

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

This one’s tough for me this year… I discovered some great new-to-me authors, but not really any that have set me on a mission to read their entire backlists OR ones that don’t have backlists.  I guess I will go with Harlan Coben since I binge-read the Myron Bolitar series this year.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I’m going to have to go with Brown Girl Dreaming.  I don’t usually read memoir, middle grade, or poetry and this was a really beautiful book.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I hate to put Career of Evil down as the answer for every question, but… it was all these things.

 9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Unsticky because I have reread it annually since discovering it in 2013 and I have been itching for it to be 2016 so I can read it for a fourth time.  And while there are books I read this year that I’d like to reread, I don’t know that I will get back to any of them in 2016.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

 

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Krystal Weedon from The Casual Vacancy or Cormoran Strike from Career of Evil.  That Rowling, man, she writes some good characters.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

It would either be Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson or The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien… wowsers, such good writing in both of those.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

I’m going to go with Bottled Up by Suzanne Barston.  It was just the right book for me to read at the right time and helped me process the guilt and disappointment of not being able to breastfeed that I’ve been dealing with for almost 3 years now.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which has been on my TBR since 2011 and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien because I know I bought it after reading about it in one of my grad school classes in like 2009 or 2010.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015

“I take a sip of my beer, and it’s– I mean, it’s just astonishingly disgusting. I don’t think I was expecting it to taste like ice cream, but holy fucking hell. People lie and get fake IDs and sneak into bars, and for this? I honestly think I’d rather make out with Bieber. The dog. Or Justin. Anyways, it really makes you worry about all the hype surrounding sex.”  —Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“How can I explain to anyone that stories are like air to me, I breathe them in and let them out over and over again.” —Brown Girl Dreaming

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Neither of these is a traditional novel, but hey, I guess that’s why they are shortest and longest.

Shortest: Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl (61 page novella)
Longest: Blankets by Craig Thompson (592 page graphic novel)

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Three Simple Rules by Nikki Sloane… I don’t really read erotic romance and kind of stumbled upon this one accidentally and maybe I’m a bit prudish, but the things I went along with in this book sort of surprised me.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Well, I have to admit to shipping Strike and Robin pretty hard after finishing Career of Evil.  I realize this might be entirely futile, but I don’t even care.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I would have to say Simon’s relationships with his parents and sisters in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.  It’s so rare to see healthy and well-developed family relationships in YA and, at least for me, those were some of the most significant and longest-lasting relationships of my teen years.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Besides Career of Evil, of course?  It would probably have to be Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid… she pulled off a story I don’t think most authors could.

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

I only read The DUFF because friends gave it good reviews and it was actually really really good.  I wish it had been around when I was a teen.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

Oh gosh, that’d have to be Reiner Kulti from Kulti by Mariana Zapata.  I really love grumpy, damaged, arrogant love interests.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

I’m usually bad about reading debuts, but I actually read four 2015 debuts this year, which I’m pretty sure is an improvement on previous years.  My favorite was probably Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Martian by Andy Weir had a very memorable and unique setting (Mars) and the setting played a huge part in the plot of the story.  I also want to highlight Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin in this category because her book was set in Fort Worth and was just the truest depiction of North Texas I have ever read.  And I can’t forget The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth– the Montana setting in that one was spectacular and I am a huge sucker for Western settings.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White… those books were all just cute and fun and fluffy.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

I never remember which books made me cry, though I know I cried at multiple books this year.  I am pretty sure Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid made me cry.  And if it didn’t, I’m just heartless.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Well, according to Goodreads, the least popular book I read this year was Bottled Up by Suzanne Barston.  That’s totally a niche read, but very worthwhile if breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding is a topic you care at all about.  For something I think that would appeal more widely, If You Lived Here, You’d be Home Now by Claire LaZebnik is a backlist title that I haven’t seen much of anything about (would never have found it if it wasn’t the favorite of a blogger friend) and it was one of the best books I read this year.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Nine Uses for an Ex-Boyfriend by Sarra Manning.  I really love Sarra Manning for being willing to portray messy, flawed people, but in this one there was so much back and forth and the main character is a total pushover.  I was totally exhausted after finishing it.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson had a really unique writing style that I enjoyed.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

That would have to be Missoula by Jon Krakauer.  It was rather infuriating to see how women who report rape are treated by the criminal justice system and perhaps it was even more infuriating to see how the accused rapists were not only allowed to get away with their crimes, but actually received more sympathy and support than their alleged victims.

 

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

I am actually not sure about this… keeping up with other blogs hasn’t happened the way I hoped it would in 2015.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

I’m going to have to go with my review of Bottled Up.  That was a deeply personal post to write, but I think it is the review that I have put the most into in all of my time blogging.

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

Most of my non-review posts this year were update type of posts or challenge-related, which are kind of boring to share, so I’ll just skip this category.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I participated in a blogging event back in March called Day in the Life, where we all posted a run-down of an ordinary day in our lives.  That was one of the most fun blogging events I’ve ever participated in and it was fascinating to see how varied everyone’s day-to-day lives were.  I hope that this event will be repeated again in the future… I think it’s a good exercise to see how life looks for yourself at a certain point and to see what goes on in the busy lives of others.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?

Probably completing the 2015 Read Harder Challenge… I didn’t really think I’d be able to commit to a challenge like that and I did and really challenged myself to read some stuff outside my comfort zone.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

This kind of surprises me, but it was my Top Ten Tuesday post about Diverse Books.  This was something I tried to more actively focus on this year, so I’m glad to see people enjoyed my recommendations.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

So, apparently my mini-reviews of books in verse only got one view?  I mean, it isn’t a spectacular feat of reviewing by any means, but those are a couple of diverse book picks that I’d highly recommend, so maybe check it out if you are looking for a novel in verse/diverse book to spice up your reading life!

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Ummm, my library implemented auto-renewals on books checked out without holds on them and I have been taking advantage of this to keep books out from the library way too long.  So, I discovered a way to be lazy and avoid monthly trips to the library?

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I had two reading goals for the year– to read 60 books as part of the Goodreads challenge and to complete the Book Riot Read Harder challenge.  I completed both of these goals by mid-October!  So,it was a very successful year in terms of goal-setting!

 

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

I have been auto-filling this with Rebecca the last few years, but I actually read that one this year.  How about The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee?  That or The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?

Taylor Jenkins Reid has a new book coming out this summer called One True Loves.  That promises to be a good one.

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

I actually have no 2016 debuts on my TBR yet, so… I guess I’ll wait until more reviews come in before deciding on this category.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?

*crosses fingers for another Cormoran Strike novel in 2016*

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

Well, 2016 is already looking like it will be a crazy year… I start a new job on January 4 and am expecting a baby towards the end of January, so… I am just hoping to read some good books this year, stretch myself some, but mostly just to have fun with it all and do what I can/want to do.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Not applicable.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Read in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme brought to you by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish (the button also belongs to them).  This week’s theme is the Top Ten Books I read in 2015.

I am a little late in posting this, but I LOVE doing these lists so I can look back on them.  End of year posts are my favorites!  Anyways, here’s my top 10 favorite books of the year…

 

            

1. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith– I love love love this series and this was the best book of it so far.  Strike and Robin are just the best and this book was so much about developing them as characters and exploring the dynamics of their relationship as they begin moving toward friendship… or more.

2. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling– Yeah, yeah, J.K. Rowling makes the list twice.  No surprise there.  This was such a thoughtful and touching book, a study of real, flawed characters from different walks of life who are all struggling in their own ways.  And more than that, it explores the social safety net and the motives/mindframes of those who wish to dismantle it and those who desperately need it in order to survive.

3. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien– This is a collection of beautifully-written interconnected short stories about the Vietnam War.  I can’t believe it took me until this year to read this one.

4. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson– See all those awards on the cover of this one?  Yeah, they are well-deserved.  This was beautiful and touching and a lovely memoir set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement.

 

        

5. If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now by Claire LaZebnik– I read some really great chick lit this year and this was one of my favorites.  There was subtle and smart character development, a sweet and easy romance, and the exploration of multiple relationships (family, friends, parent-child, romance).

6. Why Can’t I Be You by Allie Larkin– This has a bit of a Hollywood-style plot– Jenny is on a business trip and gets mistaken for her doppelganger, Jessie, and gets caught up pretending to be Jessie, mostly because Jessie has awesome friends and Jenny is kind of alone in her life.  But somehow this crazy plot WORKS and has realistic consequences.  Also, Allie Larkin writes love interests who love dogs.  You can’t go wrong with that.

7. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios– I read this book fast, finding it impossible to put down.  I just loved the gritty realness of it, which is sort of rare for YA romance (though I might classify this as NA, which has its fair share of gritty romance).

       

8. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid– This book tells the story of Hannah Martin in two different timelines, each based on a differing decision she makes one night at a bar.  This was a really interesting twist on chick lit and Reid has a talent for telling stories in ways that just wouldn’t work for other authors.

9. Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center– This was a really insightful book about a woman who is trying to find happiness for herself after a whole lot of heartbreak in her life.  She decides to do this through an intense, extreme wilderness survival course and learns a lot about herself and the nature of happiness along the way.  It especially resonated with me because its main message is that in spite of the bad things in life, there are always little reasons to find to be happy and that is one of life’s lessons I need drilled into me time and again.

10. Kulti by Mariana Zapata– This is one of the best genre romances I’ve read in ages.  I loved the hero, Kulti, because he’s that arrogant, brooding, sexy man with a dark past that I am always into.  The heroine was a professional soccer player and that was interesting.  There was a ton of chemistry and once the story got rolling, I could not put this book down.

 

What were your favorite books this year?

Career of Evil- Robert Galbraith

This is the third book in the Cormoran Strike series, so there are probably spoilers in here for the previous two.  If that is a thing you care about.

THIS BOOK. SO SO SO GOOD.

Strike and Robin are back, keeping busy with some surveillance cases. One day, Robin receive a woman’s severed leg in the post and it is clear this killer has a personal ax to grind with Strike and has his sights set on Robin as his next victim. Strike is quick to identify three likely suspects from his past and when the police don’t take his leads seriously enough, he and Robin do some investigating on the side, of course. All the while, the killer is keeping busy, stalking Robin and killing and dismembering his way across London.

Plot-wise, this wasn’t my favorite mystery in this series. There are several chapters told from the killer’s POV that read like textbook serial killer behavior. He’s misogynistic. He puts on a pretty face to his girlfriend. His thirst to kill ramps up over time and he gets clumsier and more desperate as he seeks that kill-high more and more frequently. All of that felt very done before, not to say that the killer wasn’t super creepy. It was kind of interesting to see the killer’s POV in the story, but again, it’s been done before and I guess evil serial killer is just not compelling enough for me any more (I guess I’ve read too much serial killer stuff).

In addition to the somewhat tired feel of the killer, there are three clear and obvious suspects from the start. While they are all horrible men and I never was certain who was the killer, I was almost able to pull all the pieces together. Galbraith/Rowling is very good at not constructing a mystery in which the answer is obvious to the reader, leaving enough out of the text to leave you wondering and pursuing the truth, but there was such a limited suspect pool for whom we all get extended backstories, it would be impossible to not come up with a theory that touches on the actual solution to the mystery. All that to say, I still cared about the mystery and the killer was dangerous and there were some seriously scary parts with him in them, but really, this book was more about the Strike-Robin dynamic than anything.

There is a serious amount of character and relationship development with Strike and Robin in this installment and Strike and Robin are what make this series as good as it is. The more Rowling that I read, the more I realize that her strength lies in the development of characters, something that was apparent in The Casual Vacancy, but is especially satisfying in the Cormoran Strike series. Robin is amazingly likeable– smart, strong, principled, and wickedly talented at detective work. And I have a weak spot for Strike– he’s exactly the kind of gruff, intelligent hero I can’t get enough of and his interactions with Robin are always the highlight of these books. I was kind of blown away by how much I liked seeing the two of them together in this book– there were a lot more opportunities for a new kind of intimacy to develop in their relationship. This book is the first time that Strike and Robin really acknowledge that they are friends and confidantes, that their relationship is more than strictly professional, and that there might even be more than platonic feelings between them.  I don’t want to say too much, but this is the first time I’ve really seen Rowling write sexual tension and go figure, she’s amazing at it.

The final chapter left me with my mouth hanging open. I have no idea what actually happened there and I’m sure it will be at least another year before I can find out. More Strike, more Robin, an actual answer to what the heck that last sentence meant–gah, I can’t wait. These books are some of my favorites. Basically, everyone needs to read them and love them as much as I do.

Where I’m At: December 2015

I want to try a new thing for me.  I’ve seen these sorts of “what’s up with me right now” posts around and it just seems that that would be an easier way for me to get some thoughts onto a page than anything more coherently organized.

Books:

I’m reading, but I am going through another one of my low points with books (I get these every few months) where I just don’t know what to read, am prioritizing other things over reading, and just kind of slow down in terms of excitement about what I’m reading.  In September and October, I went on a rash of REALLY great books and reading non-stop and man, it is hard to return to the average after all that.

Currently I’m reading Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos and I don’t really know how I feel about it.  It’s a slow read for me, has taken a while to get into, but I’m like 80 pages from the end and actually finally starting to care where things go.  My hold of Cinder came in from the library and I need to get to that soon because I fear it will expire before I can get to it.  I’m in between audiobooks, which is not actually something I want to be, but choosing my next book has been hard lately, so I am trying not to force myself into anything.

I did pick up a couple of Cyber Monday Kindle deals– Kristan Higgins’s If You Only Knew and Jesse Andrews’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  I bought them kind of intending to read them on maternity leave, but we’ll see how that pans out.

Blog:

It’s been really quiet here.  I keep starting posts and then never finishing them and letting them sit in drafts until they go stale.  I haven’t been feeling the urge to write reviews and my inability to finish a post has even extended to posts with prompts (e.g. Top Ten Tuesday, surveys, etc.).  Basically, I’ve hit a bit of a blogging slump that I can’t seem to break out of completely.  I can’t get myself to compose a coherent review.  I try to write about the personal stuff bouncing around in my head, but it never feels right.

I have seen some of the end of year surveys that I LOVE to do come out, so I will maybe, hopefully get some of those drafted.  I love going back and reflecting on my year of reading, so I hope to do at least a couple of these.  They are fun to look back on, to see how my reading has changed over the years.  Also, I am hoping this grab bag sort of post gets me somewhat more motivated.

The Small Child:

Lydia is now on the downhill side of 2.5 years old and so far I’m liking 2.5 better than just plain 2, which means I pretty much always add the half to her age when I talk about her.  She talks constantly and if she’s not talking, she’s probably singing.  It’s kind of interesting when your kid is big enough to have a conversation with.  It’s also kind of boring because our conversations go in circles of her asking me the same questions over and over and me getting flummoxed on how to explain that we might not get to make snow angels like the little kid in her book because it doesn’t snow here every year.  (Her response to that was that it would snow at school and she could make snow angels with her friends.)

While she is mostly delightful to be around, she is testing the limits of my (already pretty short) patience in some respects.  It’s impossible to get her dressed in under 10 20 minutes.  I need to readjust my expectations here and try some new things in the mornings and evenings and find a more positive way to deal with stalling other than just saying the same thing over and over again until I go crazy.  Patience.  Time.  I need more of both.

Baby:

Well, I’m now 32 weeks pregnant and things are going pretty much as one would expect.  The chiropractor has been a miracle worker and my back/hips feel tolerable to good most days.  I sleep erratically.  I’m hot.  I get heartburn.  I’m tired.  But everything seems to be within normal ranges.  There still feels like a ton of prep work to do to be ready for the baby’s arrival, but the husband and I both have time off for the holidays coming up and I’m hoping that actually can be used productively.

Unfortunately, I’ve had some anxieties niggling at me the last couple days.  I went in for my usual OB appointment Tuesday and got scheduled for 4 ultrasounds in the next 6 weeks.  Due to complications in my last pregnancy (IUGR/low birthweight baby/low amniotic fluid), they want to keep a close eye on the end of this pregnancy to make sure the same problems don’t repeat themselves.  That, combined with the fact that I measured “a little small” on fundal height (a measurement the midwife reminded me doesn’t actually mean much), has landed me in a sea of anxieties, anxieties I know won’t be quelled until I have a healthy and growing baby in my arms.  My daughter was born at 37 weeks by induction due to the fact she’d pretty much stopped growing in utero.  I knew that was a possibility this go around, too, but mostly I’ve been finding myself imagining going into labor on my own and having that happen closer to 40 weeks.  I hadn’t realized that those hopes would make me feel disappointed at the idea of having a repeat experience of last time.  I have been trying to put it all in perspective and to remind myself that the worry is unfounded at this point, but that is so hard.  I know if I get news in my ultrasound next week that growth is not on track or amniotic fluid is low, it will just prompt a period of wait-and-see as it will be way too soon to induce.  I also know that if everything looks good next week, I’ll feel some relief, but also be left in a holding pattern because we won’t know we’re in the clear until I go into labor on my own.  They’ll just keep checking until I deliver, making sure no problems present themselves.  I’m trying to be optimistic, but I also need to be realistic.  It just basically hit me this week, I could be having a baby in about a month and I need to get stuff done NOW (buy diapers, wash clothes, set up the crib, etc.) and that I might not have time to do all the stuff I’d hoped (make freezer meals, deep clean the house, be able to work the busy first couple weeks of the semester, etc.).  In any case, I just need to keep up the hope that everything will be okay, if not what I’d expected.

Other Stuff:

I’ve been getting out for walks around campus on my lunch breaks as much as I can and that has become a real highlight of the day for me (it has also reduced my reading time, since that is primarily what I did on my lunch breaks in the past).  I’ve been staying up late talking to the husband about nothing in particular (and also baby names, since little dude is still nameless, oops).  I’ve been trying to watch at least the Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys football games on the weekend and keep falling asleep during the former (evening games are hard for me) and don’t know why I even both with the latter.  I am going to see Mockingjay Part 2 this weekend and that should be fun.  It’s also time to get the Christmas tree up this weekend and I’m hoping that Lydia will be able/excited to help me decorate.

 

Anyways, what are you all up to these days?  Hope your Decembers are feeling a little less stressful than mine has so far!

 

October 2015 Roundup

I know that every month seems to go by in a blur at this point in adulthood, but October especially seems to have flown by this year.  I again read like the wind this month, especially on audio, finishing FIVE audiobooks this month out of a total of nine books.  I had some mixed luck with my reading this month– several REALLY awesome, book-hangover-inducing reads and a couple total duds, not a whole lot of middle ground.  My most anticipated read of the year came out– Career of Evil— and was totally awesome, so yay for expectations lived up to!

Blogging… eh, I posted a couple reviews this month and half-drafted some other posts that never went anywhere and will most likely end up in the virtual trash can.  I am just kind of glad I got something up, as I’ve been feeling equal parts busy and lazy lately.

Oh, hey, guess I should mention that I completed the Read Harder Challenge finally!  Woo!  I might put together a quick wrap up post before the end of the year as kind of a review of what I learned/would I do it again/here’s what I read.

As for other life stuff, October involved a lot of family time, a couple rainy weekends, and trick-or-treating with the child for the first time.  The weather has been nice enough to get out and about and we’ve spent a lot of time at the park.  I am seriously sad to say goodbye to weeknights at the park, as it is just too dark by the time I get home now that DST has ended.

I’ve also kind of hit the hugely pregnant stage (earlier and bigger and badder than last pregnancy) and have been dealing with the discomforts that brings.  We are slowly getting ready for this baby to come, but I have high hopes to get everything major done before New Year’s, so I guess we need to pick up the pace.  This second pregnancy has been a whole other beast for me than the first.  I kind of feel like they’re going to hand me this kid in a couple months and I’m going to be like, wait, where did this come from?  But at the same time, I’m so uncomfortable most of the time that it’s impossible to forget there’s a little person waiting to join our family.  Mostly, I’m just glad I’m so much less anxious than I was the first time around.  I’ve learned the real time to panic is when the baby is actually here (ha!).

Anyways, on to book stuff again…

Books Read in October:

After You by Jojo Moyes (audiobook)

Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch

The Final Detail by Harlan Coben

Burned by Ellen Hopkins (audiobook)

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (reread, audiobook)

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (audiobook)

Kulti by Mariana Zapata (audiobook)

In the Works: I am sort of between books at the moment.  I started Gillian Flynn’s short story, “The Grownup,” last night and while it’s definitely something you could read in one sitting, I did not.  I think after that I’ll be reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which is loved by just about every reader I know and I somehow haven’t really had it on my radar.  It was on sale for Kindle, so yeah, time to get on it.  I’m stuck waiting for my next Audible credit and I don’t know what to spend it on quite yet, so no audiobook going right now.

I am hoping the rest of this month is very productive in terms of baby prep and just general pre-holiday craziness prep.  The only big plans are to do some furniture shuffling (I guess I’ll just be supervising this) and to go see the in-laws for Thanksgiving.  And hey, maybe I’ll actually blog a little bit, too.

How was your October?  Whatcha reading?

 

A Window Opens- Elisabeth Egan

Alice is a married mother of three in her late 30s, living in the New Jersey suburbs of NYC.  She works part-time at a women’s magazine writing the column on book recommendations and this gives her a nice balance between being present with her children, taking time for herself (spinning class! book club! wine with friends!), and remaining active in the career force.  But then, her husband, Nicholas, loses his job as a high-powered corporate attorney and decides to go into practice for himself.  In the meantime, Alice decides to take on a full-time job to support her family while Nicholas’s business gets off the ground.  She finds a well-paying job with Scroll, the latest innovation in bookstores.  Alice thinks she’ll be curating a collection of ebooks for customers to choose from in Scroll’s luxurious reading lounges, complete with free trade coffee and organic snacks.  But Alice is actually entering the retail world where customer demand and the dollar are the bottom lines.  Her job offers very little flexibility, includes a 90 minute one-way commute, and requires Alice to be hooked up to email and her phone all the time.  At first, she is thrilled to be taking on this new challenge, but real life soon gets in the way.  Her kids are handling things alright, but she is never quite satisfied to be spending so little time with them.  Her husband begins drinking more and more.  And on top of all that, her father’s cancer has returned and is not responding to radiation.  Alice tries to make her new job work alongside the personal interruptions, but she eventually finds that she is being made miserable trying to “have it all” and that the job she has put her life on the line for is making her miserable.

This is a very “ordinary life” sort of story– Alice deals with work details and raising a family and taking care of aging parents. I liked that and I liked Alice. She’s navigating through a lot of new things, but seems to remain down-to-earth and just… I dunno, seems like the kind of person I’d want to chat books or kids with. I like that Alice is thrown into the deep end with her new job and that she tries to make it work and is capable of doing work that is probably outside of her depth of experience when she comes in. There is some of the excitement of a new business venture in here and that is entertaining (until things take a dramatic turn that ruins the whole deal for Alice). I’m always down for stories about women finding themselves and making life work for them and this was no exception.

But there were three big things that bugged me about this story.  First, Alice’s husband’s drinking issue is never really tackled in a meaningful way.  He’s been getting black-out drunk in the afternoons for about a year and manages to turn this around just by wanting to quit?  To me, it sounded like he had addiction issues, which are unlikely to be solved by force of will.  I kind of feel this story would have worked without a drunk husband, so Egan needed to deal with this in a real way or leave it out.

Second, I’m a little uncertain how to take the ending of this story, where Alice figures out Scroll is not for her. It was the ending I was rooting for and absolutely appropriate for Alice’s situation, but I am kind of left hanging. I’m a working mom (granted in a more family-friendly environment) and it almost feels like a slap in the face to read a book about a working mom whose problems are all solved by her quitting her job and letting her husband’s business take the lead. I don’t know. Not every working mom has the luxury of quitting her well-paying job to “figure things out.” I think I’d have been more satisfied if this had ended with Alice finding a full-time job that gave her more flexibility to be present with her family, rather than having her return to part-time work and the vague possibility of a future business venture.  I just felt very uncomfortable about reading a book about “having it all” that settles firmly into the message that it can’t be done.  And sure, I think “having it all” is a problematic concept and that there is no realistic way to do everything you want in life (even without kids), but I think many mothers manage to find a balance they can live with, even with a full-time job.  It just really bugs me that Alice’s solution had to be exiting the traditional workforce, especially when all her children are in school full days.

Finally, I think a lot of my dislike about the ending of this book has to do with my discomfort with the socioeconomic background of the characters in this book. I just felt vaguely unsettled that money is never a REAL problem for Alice, that she can afford the babysitter, the house with the perfect location, the new work wardrobe, the lessons and activities for the kids, etc. without breaking a sweat. She lives in a rarefied world (one where she inherits money from her father’s death, even)– not the world most of us would find ourselves in if our partners lost their jobs and went into business for themselves.  I always feel a little uncomfortable with these stories of women for whom money is no big deal, particularly ones that strive for as much realism as this one did.

Anyways, despite the fact that had some rather major issues with this book, I did enjoy it quite a bit.  I think Alice’s character won me over and that that made this book a lot more charming than it would have been had these issues been present in the story of a flatter character.  I’d definitely be willing to try more from this author, should she write another novel.  As for a recommendation, if Jennifer Close is your kind of chick lit, then I think Elisabeth Egan would be, too.  This is definitely for fans of that higher brow sort of chick lit– the kind with heavier issues and East Coast, privileged characters, where the drama of daily life outweighs romance or comedy.

The DUFF- Kody Keplinger

Bianca loves her best friends, but isn’t interested in dancing at the under-21 dance club in their home town.  While watching her friends have fun on the dance floor, notorious womanizer, Wesley, comes over and informs Bianca that of her friend group, she is the DUFF: the designated, ugly, fat friend.  This gets under Bianca’s skin because, like any high school student, she is a little bit insecure.  Anyways, things kind of blow up in Bianca’s home life and somehow she finds that her only way to deal with it is to find some moments of escape in sex.  With Wesley.  Wesley, who is actually a better listener and friend that Bianca gave him credit for.  But Bianca doesn’t believe in love in high school and certainly not in love with the guy who gets around the most out of their whole class.  So where on earth can this “relationship” take them?

I’d heard a lot of good things about this book, which is why I picked it up in the first place, but I still kind of feel surprised by how much I liked it.  The story reminded me of being in high school more than any other YA books I’ve read.  Bianca’s life is not just her parents getting divorced or her fooling around with Wesley.  She’s got schoolwork and friends.  She isn’t popular, but she’s not an outcast, even though she feels that way some of the time.  Mostly, she’s happy and comfortable with herself, but sometimes she wonders if she isn’t the DUFF and worries about what other people think about her.  Basically, she’s a normal teenager.  And a pretty likeable, interesting one, at that.  She is cynical, but smart and funny and loyal to her friends.  She doesn’t exactly have the best coping skills when it comes to some of the problems in her life, but she’s 16 and human and that makes sense.

As for the romantic plot, it’s nothing new,  just an enemies become lovers plot, but the depth of the characters, particularly Bianca, made for a fun romance.  I liked Wesley, sort of in spite of myself, and as much as I agreed with Bianca that he was probably bad news, I couldn’t help rooting for them to work it out, for Wesley to settle down on just one girl.  There is also a point where Bianca gets caught in sort of a love triangle, as Toby, the sweet, nerdy boy she has crushed on for 3 years, suddenly notices her and as she tries to disentagle herself from whatever is going on with Wesley.  I found that I liked Toby, too, and was kind of sad that there was so little chemistry between him and Bianca.  Also refreshing, plot-wise, is that teenagers have casual sex in this book and nothing bad happens.  It’s really not even a big deal.

I only had one complaint with this book and that is that the home stuff wrapped up a bit too easily.  Bianca’s father is a recovering alcoholic who has a relapse and even shows a violent temper as a drunk.  But he seems to bounce back to recovery pretty easily.  Bianca’s mother has been traveling across the country for years doing speaking events, but after she files for divorce, she suddenly seems to want to connect to and be present for the daughter she’s been ignoring and absent from for so long.  And Bianca accepts that.  These are all big things and the solutions seem a little more simple and drama-free than they’d actually be in real life.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and wish it had been around when I was a teenager.  There is something about the plot and characters that resonated strongly with me as an adult and would have had an even bigger impact on me as a teen.  I imagine this would have landed on my short stack of books that I reread for comfort from time to time.  As it stands, this was absolutely worth my time and I would recommend this as a YA book with appeal to both teens and adults.

 

September 2015 Roundup

September was an insanely good reading month for me.  I read 11 books… I haven’t come close to that in a very long time.  Most of that was due to the fact that I was on a major binge read of the Myron Bolitar series and those are snappy little mysteries that I just blew through.  I forgot how much fun it is to binge read a series… it’s SO nice to not have to think about what to read next and to not have to reacquaint yourself with the characters or overarching plotlines.  Really, I should only ever read series back-to-back-to-back.

I also finished up 3 of my remaining Read Harder Challenge tasks (Sci-Fi, Author of the Opposite Sex, and Book Written before 1850) and only have 3 tasks left (all of which are toughies).  I might actually “win” this challenge after all!  And since I read at a ridiculous pace this month, the last book of September was my 60th book of the year, meaning I have completed my Goodreads challenge for the year, too.  This is actually the earliest I’ve ever finished up my book count goal, so I guess I grossly underestimated my reading speed this year.

Blogging didn’t quite go as I had hoped in September, but that is mostly because I became unexpectedly busy at work and because I read a bunch of books in genres that I don’t review very well (mystery, romance).  I keep hoping for more on this front, but hey, I do what I can.

Real life was lots of fun in September.  The weather was finally not blazing hot and I’ve been feeling more energetic, so one weekend we did a family trip to the zoo and another we stopped by the annual hot air balloon festival held in our town.  Both these things were tons of fun.  Lydia is at a great age to go out and do things with and we all seem a little happier getting out and about than being stuck inside all weekend.  I’ve also been doing prenatal yoga once a week with a friend who is also pregnant and that’s been a nice little me time to look forward to.  We’ve also been making some progress to getting the future nursery cleaned up.  Baby steps, but hey, it feels good to be doing something with it.

Books Read in September:

The Martian by Andy Weir (audiobook)

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

Drop Shot by Harlan Coben

Fade Away by Harlan Coben

Back Spin by Harlan Coben

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

One False Move by Harlan Coben

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Flirting with Disaster by Victoria Dahl

Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl (novella)

A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan (audiobook)

In the Works: I am currently reading Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch (which is not turning out to be my thing, really) and listening to After You by Jojo Moyes (which is so totally my thing that I kind of want to read/listen to it all at once).

I am looking forward to October, as the weather should finally settle into comfortable temperatures, my friend will be having her baby, and I might actually get to participate in the Readathon on October 17 for a few hours, at least.  I imagine we’ll try to get out for some more family fun time, but we’ll see how that pans out between a visit from my mother-in-law and a work trip for my husband, not to mention Halloween.

What’s new with you?  Read anything good lately?  Looking forward to October with hearts in your eyes like I am?

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten All-Time Favorite Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme brought to you by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish (the button also belongs to them).  This week’s theme is a FREEBIE and I totally meant to finish drafting this post of my top ten favorite authors back in April, but didn’t get a chance so now I am finally finishing it and putting it out there.

This is a hard/easy category.  I am pretty fickle and am always adding new-to-me authors to this list, so this is more like an all-time favorites as of right this minute.

1. J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith— Duh, Harry Potter.  But she mostly makes this list because of her Cormoran Strike books and The Casual Vacancy, all of which hooked me and wowed me and confirmed for me that Rowling is an awesome and multi-talented author.

2. Sarra Manning— I’m on a mission to read all of Sarra Manning’s books and have enjoyed the handful I’ve read so far, but mostly she is on this list because Unsticky has wormed its way into my soul and is one of my all-time favorite books.

3. Shirley Jackson— I’ve loved Shirley Jackson since I was a teenager reading “The Lottery” in school.  Back then, I made it my mission to read everything by her I could get my hands on and ended up reading most of her major works.  I found out a year or two ago that Penguin released some of her titles that I think were out of print for a while (at least they were never in stores/libraries in the late 90s/early 2000s), so I have been meaning to get back to reading her complete works.  I love that she does everyday creepiness so well.

4. Juliet Marillier— I discovered Marillier’s books last summer and I have slowly been making my way through her enormous backlist.  I love her strong female characters, her worldbuilding skills, and her beautiful writing.

5. Allie Larkin— Larkin is a rather new addition to this list, but I listened to both her books (Stay and Why Can’t I Be You) on audiobook earlier in the year and just devoured them.  I love her romantic interests (marriage-material kind of guys), the dogs that pepper her stories, and that there is some real depth to her stories and characters.  I wish she had a bigger backlist because these are the kind of stories I love reading.

6. Liane Moriarty— I actually just finished reading her entire backlist after getting hooked on her stuff with Big Little Lies and I have enjoyed all of her books.  They are addictive and funny, but also tend to explore serious issues and themes.  Smart stuff and her writing seems to get better as time goes on, so I am eagerly anticipating her future releases.

7. Rainbow Rowell— I have enjoyed all her books, although I am uncertain about even bothering with Carry On.  I like her quirky, but well-developed characters and that somehow her books feel like they are written for me.  I don’t know how to explain that other than I related so strongly to Lincoln in Attachments and to the sentiments about marriage in Landline.

8. Taylor Jenkins Reid— I just finished up the remaining 2 of her books I hadn’t read and I loved them.  Reid has the ability to tell unconventional love stories that are totally absorbing and her stories are just tight– I only ever have minor quibbles after completing them.

9. Kiersten White— If I want to read something that is fun and fluffy, but not at all vapid or dumb, I pick up a Kiersten White book.  I have been surprised by how much I enjoy her books, but they are the best kind of fluffy.

10. Janet Evanovich— Another fluff author that I apparently cannot get enough of.  She does sexual tension like no other (Stephanie-Ranger-Morelli is the best love triangle ever) and though I keep swearing I’ve overdone it with her books, I keep picking up more of them.  I like the over-the-top humor and action and, of course, the romantic tension.

Who are your favorite authors?  What topic did you pick this week?  I’d love to visit your post, so please leave me a comment/link and I will do my best to stop by your blog!