8 Recent Reads I Loved vol. 2

Hi friends!

As many of you know the time leading up to when Jay was born aka the whole entire month of September seemed to stretch on forever for me. I was ready for him to arrive and with prodromal labor I wasn’t quite sure when he would make his appearance. Of course he waited until the absolute last day of the month which gave me plenty of time to find ways to keep my mind busy. One of my favorite past times is reading which I know is no surprise to you since I talk about reading all the time here (I even have a whole page on here dedicated to books!) but in the month of September I set a new record for myself and read 5 full books. FIVE. Obviously I needed the distraction! So I’m coming at you with another recent reads post and trust me these are all fantastic and worth your time. Don’t forget to hop over to GoodReads and follow my reading list, because I don’t share everything I read on here and it can be really tough to choose. But never fear I’m already halfway into another book post… there’s always more good things to read!

Mom Genes – By Abigail Tucker

Jon actually purchased this book for me for Mother’s Day last May and at first I didn’t really understand why he did. After several months of reading (it has a lot of content I wanted to digest after reading), and after having Jon read it, I’m so glad he bought it for us. This is one of those books that you have to be patient with because it contains so much information you need to take a break to process what you are learning. It also helped me understand myself as a mom and my own mom more than I could have imagined. The basis of the book is talking about the biology behind moms and why we are the way we are. That we truly can’t control many of the biological reactions that happen in order for us to become moms. Truly a fascinating read that was so appropriate for me to read while pregnant.

The Dollhouse- By Fiona Davis

Fiona Davis is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors. She is so inventive in how she connects different timelines and characters while progressing all of their stories at once. “The Dollhouse” is based in New York City at two different times and somehow the women featured in these two times are connected by a mystery that unfolds as the book progresses. It was a fast and enjoyable read that made old New York City glamour come to life.

The Lost Apothecary – By Sarah Penner

I found this book on a random reading list and I had literally no idea what I was getting into when I picked it up. It took me all of about five minutes to get hooked and from then on I was totally captivated. Sarah Penner does a fantastic job of keeping the line of reality and what might be possible very blurry. The story features the unlikely friendship of an old apothecary and a young girl who didn’t realize they needed each other. The two main characters inevitably find themselves in a twisted predicament that binds them together and truly seems impossible for them to overcome. Do they? Well that’s up to you to find out…

The Defined Dish: Whole30 Endorsed, Healthy and Wholesome Weeknight Recipes – By Alex Snodgrass

This book was a gift from my sisters and another one that took me a while to get through. I am the worst when it comes to trying to process information I read. I love to take my time and spread it out over small doses to be sure I can absorb all the information. “The Defined Dish” is a recipe book so it was fairly easy to read through a section or two but then I wanted to try all the recipes which is where I had to slow myself down. I loved how easy yet complex the food is and Alex is a wonderful story teller and cooking instructor. This is a great read for someone who wants to shake up their weeknight meals like we do.

Birth Story Pregnancy guidebook + journal: A 42-week Discovery into Your Pregnancy – By Heidi Synderburn

This book is a super special one for me because it was written by my Doula and friend Heidi. It’s the most comprehensive and least scary maternity book I have ever read. Yes I am biased because I know the author but also I am being totally honest. Most pregnancy books are scary and don’t tell you everything you need to know. This book is broken into one week chapters so you can read it all at once or do like I did and read a chapter a week all the way through your pregnancy. Each chapter features a birth story that Heidi attended along with helpful information to guide you towards birth. Her goal is to help you not only feel prepared for birth but not fearful of it. Birth can be really scary, especially for someone who hasn’t done it before and Heidi takes those fears and replaces them with excitement. Highly recommend reading this book instead all the other maternity books on the market.

The Girl in the Mirror – By Rose Carlyle

“The Girl in the Mirror” is one of those books that I stayed up way too late reading and then when it finished I immediately felt like I needed to talk about it with someone. It was compelling, bewildering, terrifying, and thrilling all at once. It had me asking “Is this possible?” and saying “No way” all throughout. Its the perfect book club book or “buy a copy and share with all your friends” book. Go read it so we can talk about it, please!

The Masterpiece – By Fiona Davis

Fiona Davis did it again! Another split time line story based in New York City featuring the glamorous world of art and two women. I learned so much but also found myself appreciating aspects of New York I had never really considered before. Centered around Grand Central Terminal there were so many bits of history and information sprinkled into the story that I kept pausing my reading to go look up what they were talking about. I felt like the story ended too quickly for me and I wanted to keep living with the wonderful women who’s story was being told.

The Great Alone – By Kristin Hannah

I am forever a sucker for a good Alaskan adventure story and this was definitely no exception. Kristin Hannah who also wrote “Firefly Lane” is a fantastic author who gives her audience just enough but never everything. She is so good at helping her readers become totally invested in the long term journey of the characters while making you feel like you truly are right next to them seeing this through their perspective. “The Great Alone” is about Leni and her unconventional childhood in the 70’s with her Vietnam veteran father and her ever faithful mom as they start their lives over in the wilderness of the Alaskan bush. This is one of those books that satisfies the romance and the adventure lovers.

Have you read anything interesting lately? What should I add to my list?!

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Halloween Books for Young Kids

Boo! Happy October! How fun is it to get into the seasons and holidays with young kids? I love experiencing each holiday through my kids eyes and making little fun seasonal changes to our house and routine. We usually put out a few small Halloween decorations that the kids can touch and move (I learned a long time ago not to use anything too fragile or special with all young kids). I also have a small collection of books to make bed time reading a little more exciting for each holiday. It’s a fun way to shake things up and teach the kids about the upcoming celebration.

This year on the blog I am going to do a series that will feature our favorite kids books for the upcoming holiday at the beginning of October, November, and December. So to celebrate the beginning of October and the arrival of the official Halloween season, here are some Halloween Books for Young Kids!

Room on the Broom By Julia Donaldson, Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

This book has been around for a while, but with the release of a Netflix short movie a few years ago it has made a major comeback in popularity. We actually have two different copies of this book and I haven’t gotten rid of one because each time one kid starts reading it another wants to as well. They absolutely love this story and honestly so do I. The premise of the book is a sweet little witch who keeps adding to her little crew of friends. She cares for each one she finds and the message is just too cute. Highly recommend!

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween By Alice Schertle, Illustrated by Jill McElmurry

We first bought this book when Emily was little and every year I keep waiting for her to grow out of it, but she gets just as excited to see it again and again. It’s a lift the flap that includes animals, costumes, and some fun little rhymes. I don’t know that I can think of Halloween and not say “Beep Beep Boo!” anymore thanks to this book.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything By Linda D. Williams, Illustrated by Megan Lloyd

This was our new addition to our collection last year and at first I was a little wary our kids would be scared when reading it. Turns out they actually love it. The rhymes and rhythms that come from the story along with the hilarious story line are entertaining to read over and over.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever By Steven Kroll

This story is great for your slightly older kids that have the attention span for a longer story and love a little mix up. The two main characters take care of the same pumpkin and it ends up being the biggest pumpkin ever! They use team work to each accomplish their goal and its a great example of the benefits of working together.

The Mouse in the Hammock, a Halloween Tale By Bethany Brevard

Every year we try to find one new book to add to our collection, and this year it is “The Mouse in the Hammock” which was just released this year. I love the repetition of directions in this book that the kids can catch on to and move to the words of the story. Its about a little mouse looking for the perfect Halloween costume while also discovering how grateful he is for the light!

Honorable mentions:

Halloween with my unicorn By Hanona Ras

Our kids LOVE to color, so finding a seasonally relevant coloring book particularly one that also includes unicorns is a major win. Add in some extra Halloween stickers that I saved from last year and this is going to be a big success. If they don’t fill the entire book this year, I will save it in our Halloween bin for next year- if the kids are willing to part with it! I will say this book ha a watermark in each picture and I’m not sure why. Wouldn’t recommend if this is something that will bother you!

Fancy Nancy’s Haunted Mansion: A Reusable Sticker Book for Halloween By Jane O’Connor Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser 

Last year’s activity book was a Fancy Nancy Halloween story with re-usable stickers and I’m happy to report that it survived to be able to reuse for this year too! Reusable stickers can be really hit and miss but this book was a big hit last year and looks like it will be again this year!

Are there any Halloween books that you would recommend? Did your parents do anything special with books for the seasons or holidays when you were little?

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Finding time to read as a busy mom

What a week! As it turns out, Maggie wasn’t teething after all but sick, so that’s been fun. We ended up at the doctor and confirmed it is just a summer cold yesterday and thankfully she is on the upswing. Although I had to take a late night Walgreens trip in my jammies last night to find a cough remedy to help her sleep. Sick kids can take up not only extra physical effort but also added mental worry and feeling bad for them can be so exhausting. Along with all of that excitement Jon and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. He took the day off so we could spend some time together but our actual alone date time was only about an hour and fifteen minutes out for a quick dinner. It was a ton of fun to be out by ourselves and at one point we both thought we had forgotten something but realized it was just that weird feeling you get when you don’t have any kids with you. Here’s the only picture we took to commemorate the occasion and I took it while Jon was washing dishes because it was our only chance.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the message was that “we all have choices in what we prioritize. We may think we don’t have time for something but it’s possible that we just are prioritizing the wrong thing “. So when I talk to people about how much I love to read and they “can’t imagine how I have time to read” I usually have the same answer. Do I have tons of time to read? No. Do I deliberately choose to read at certain times and prioritize it over other things? Yes.

As a mom there are plenty of moments to find times to read, it just takes effort. Instead of spending time watching TV or scrolling I will purposely pick up a book. My two older kids do not nap and do not enjoy quiet time alone, so more often than not when I am resting they are around and watching and I want to set a good example for them by not always have my attention on my phone. Even something as simple as leaving a book in the bathroom instead of using your phone can be a deliberate and impactful choice

Here are a few of the ways I find or make time to read:

Before the kids wake up:

My kids tend to be night owls which actually works to my advantage in the mornings. If I’m not going to an early morning bootcamp I will try to be up before the kids are to grab a cup of coffee, a comfy spot, and my book. I love the quiet that comes early in the morning and that feeling of accomplishing something before my day has even started.

After bedtime:

Ok this one can be a little bit more tricky for me as I get closer and closer to my due date because I tend to start falling asleep if I relax too much. Thankfully my kids seem to know exactly when I’m about to doze and happen to need something at that moment. Regardless instead of watching TV, books are a super helpful choice to keep the house quiet in the hopes that maybe our kids will fall asleep early. I also try to have most of my evening chores completed before putting the kids in bed so once they are down I can have time as well. Does that work all the time? Of course not, but it’s a good goal to have.

Reading on a device:

This was a major game changer for me. When I started using the library app and borrowing books on my phone or iPad I was able to kick my reading habit into high gear. I love the feeling of holding a good book and turning the pages but my phone is typically within reach which means I am able to read in small doses. This goes against what I said earlier about always being locked into my technology so I will purposely tell the kids I am looking at my phone to read. (I doubt this makes much of a difference to them, but it makes me feel better) Reading on a device absolutely has its downsides, but the ability to be able to read in a waiting room, during a swim lesson, or even just different locations inside our house without always carting around a book is very helpful. It also gives me access to far more books than I would otherwise have and falls into our essentialist mindset because we aren’t collecting too too many books. (We still have plenty though) I think that because I always have my phone with me -which means my book is nearby as well- I am more inclined to pick it up because it isn’t something else to keep track of inside my house. There’s already plenty of other stuff that keeps my hands busy so sometimes having a book lying around doesn’t help.

Play time/Quiet time:

As kiddos get older I find that I don’t need to full on entertain them as much throughout the day. I am present and available but not in “camp counselor mommy” mode all the time particularly when Maggie is napping. So when Maggie goes down for a nap, the older kids have one rule- “Don’t wake Maggie up”. They tend to find some random activity that engages them for a while and allows me to slip in some time to rest and read. I also love seeing how interested they are in teaching Maggie new things and having time together without me involved so I take those chances to sit nearby and turn a few pages.

Reading while they read:

Monkey see, monkey do. There are times where my kids will all sit down and flip through the pages of a book together or make a big pile of books that they read to each other. Don’t be fooled into thinking this happens often but when it does, I am right there with them. It’s fun to read alongside the kids and I try not to miss those opportunities.

Baby feeding time:

If you are a breastfeeding or pumping mom, the time you spend nursing your baby or pumping to feed your baby can easily be spent reading. I wouldn’t suggest anything too dense because chances are you’re probably exhausted as it is and don’t need more reasons to fall asleep sitting up, but a cute romance novel might be just the thing to entertain you during a middle of the night nursing/pumping session!

Find a way to be accountable:

A few years ago I set a New Years goal to read 20 books in a year. It sounded like a lot at the time but I ended up meeting that goal before the year was half over. Some of the books I read were super easy romance novels that could be read in a day or two and that evened out the more dense materials that took longer to read. The next year and ever since my goal has been 30 books a year. Thats a lot of books and I will be the first to admit it but a year is also a long time. I use a Goodreads account to track everything I’ve read (they even have an option to set your yearly challenge) and keep a list of books I’m interested in reading. I also write the title of every book I read in a list at the back of my journal, so double the lists. For a while I joined an online book club but it wasn’t the same as an in person book club. I found myself not enjoying having to buy a certain book each month for it to end up on a shelf at the end and would instead love to find a library book club where we could all borrow the same book without having to purchase and read once. I’m more motivated to finish something if I know someone else is waiting to read it next, so I’m trying to borrow books from other people or time out reading with a friend to be able to discuss. There are plenty of ways to keep yourself accountable (maybe a book club with a deadline works for you!) and sometimes its just a matter of finding which works best to keep you focused. My main motivator is that 30 books in a year goal.

Books have always been a comfort to me. I know this isn’t how everyone feels but to me when I sit down with a book it’s almost the same feeling as putting on my favorite comfy sweats and sweatshirt. As a kid my parents found that one of the best ways to punish me was to take my book away. Reading is how I learn, how I transport my mind to new places, how I find new things to talk about with friends and family, how I escape, and what I enjoy. As a mom we give so much of ourselves to our kids and for me keeping a good reading habit helps me feel like me.

Are you a book worm too? What are ways you find time to read?

8 Recent Reads I’ve Loved

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Hi there! I know many people pass the time with Netflix or TV but I am a total book lover. I have been such a bookworm my whole life that when I was a kid my parents would take my current book away as punishment. I fill any free time I can snuggled up on the couch with a good book, so grab a mug and a comfy couch spot, here are 8 books I’ve read recently and loved.

The Rose Code By Kate Quinn

Anything Kate Quinn has written I have read and loved. Sometimes I think I should have lived during WWI/WWII because I am so fascinated by everything about that era. All of Kate’s books are about women working during the wars and making massive contributions to the war efforts that sometimes no one knows about.

“The Rose Code” focuses on women code breakers and leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat the majority of the book. It was one I read in about two days despite it being very long. I stayed up late and woke up early just to find out what happened to these ladies and how their journey panned out. The best part of the book is that at the end Kate gives you all the historical comparisons she used to tell you which parts are actually based off of real people!

Firefly Lane By Kristen Hannah

“Firefly Lane” is one of those books you fall into and never want to come out of. It’s the story of two best friends and spans over the course of decades in their lives. You feel like you know them as your own best friends and have lived so much of their lives with them the way that Kristin tells their story. I fell so deeply into this book that it had me in tears several times throughout the book. At one point my husband asked me why I would keep reading a book that kept me feeling so emotional and my response was “I just can’t stop loving this journey”.

Fly Away By Kristen Hannah

“Fly Away” is the next book in the “Firefly lane collection” and it was just as compelling as the first. Without giving too much of the story away I will say that by the end of the first book I was ready to jump into the second because I didn’t want the story to end. It feels right to be able to continue with these characters and delve deeper into their lives for longer than just one book.

Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity By Diane Boden

I think “Minimalist Moms” is going to be my new gift to give to all expecting mothers. Whenever you hear the word minimalism you immediately equate it to a single guy living in a studio apartment with one fork and one shirt. If you have kids minimalism is just not a concept that seems reachable, but Diane presents it as a totally acceptable and normal part of parenthood.

She details everything you could imagine when it comes to managing all the “stuff” that comes along with kids and gives you permission to fall away from what mainstream organizations make you feel is necessary to purchase before having a baby. She also touches on topics that expand away from just “kid stuff”. Talking about minimalistic schedules, mental clutter, and a big one for me- holiday decor. I couldn’t share this book fast enough after I finished reading it, and have also become a huge fan of Diane’s podcast as well.

Cradling Time: Poems on Motherhood By Erika Lynn

A friend of mine gifted me this book for Mother’s day and it was one I never would have picked up by myself. I have always thought of poems as something I was made to learn about in high school English class and never considered it would be interesting reading as an adult. Each page of this book is written in poem format but tells the story of a mother from conception and pregnancy all the way through her child no longer being baby. When she gave it to me, my friend said “it’s a book about everything you are experiencing as a parent right now” and she was so right. The author Erika wonderfully describes the overwhelming roller coaster of joy, fear, and frustrations that all come from motherhood and I had not read a book in a long time that made me feel so understood.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster By Jon Krakauer

I have always been really curious about what it would be like to attempt to climb Mt. Everest and after reading “Into Thin Air” Jon Krakauer painted a clear enough picture for me that I don’t have that desire any more. His detail oriented description of his death defying journey made it clear that Everest is one adventure I am ok to only read about. Krakauer was one of the fortunate members of his team to survive an unthinkable tragedy that is almost unbelievable but the only reason it is believable is the immense detail he is able to provide. Grab a blanket because this book will make you cold!

The Push: A Novel By Ashley Audrain

“The Push” was one of those books I literally kept saying ‘no way’ out loud as I was reading it. A chilling, thriller that explores motherhood and some of its darker places while also bringing to light some very scary realities. I was hooked from the very beginning and could never tell what was going to happen next. This is the perfect rainy weekend read or a super captivating summer beach read, either way just make sure you plan for plenty of time to be consumed by this story because you will want to know how it ends.

Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff By Myquillyn Smith

I found Myquillyn (aka “The Nester”)’s work through my mother in law who purchased her first book “The Nesting Place” for me. Myquillyn’s voice resonated so deeply with me I immediately purchased her other two books, one of which was “Cozy Minimalist Home”. I was intrigued by the seemingly oxymoronic title of the book not fully appreciating that minimalism and cozy can go together. Again when we hear the word minimalism we rarely associate the lifestyle as cozy, more like stark, bare, and empty. Well I was wrong!

“Cozy Minimalism” teaches you to quiet your home by emptying your space completely and then adding in decor in a certain order to prevent over-decorating and continuing the trend of being a “stuff manager”. It helps you create beautiful comfortable places to live without feeling closed in by too many things around you. Myquillyn proves that sometimes opposites really do blend and the minimalist lifestyle can be cozy. I’ve used her methods as we settle into our new house and have found them to be especially helpful in slowing myself down to not over fluff any spaces.

What are some good books that you have read recently? Are we friends on Goodreads yet?

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