…and then I read a pitiful amount in February

So January was a resounding success in the realm of reading, though admittedly not so much in the realm of writing. February was pretty much a failure in both areas. In contrast to January’s eight books, in February I finished one book. Just one, which I had started in January. Oh, and I read three issues of National Geographic after they all arrived on the same day (apparently this happens when you renew a subscription after it has already expired).

The book I finished is The Fever by Thomas Fenske (aka That Crazy Cookbook Guy). I really enjoyed this book – it was perfect bedtime reading for me. For most of the book, I looked forward to happily reading a chapter or two before bed every night and heading off to sleep. Closer to the end, though, I did stay up way too late reading… I’ll leave it at that for now and actually post a real review soon.

In the meantime, sorry for my absence and I’m sorry to all of you authors who are waiting for those promised reviews. They are coming!

I read a lot in January!

So, at the end of 2015 I did a wrap-up post where I listed all 26 books I read last year. As part of that 26, I had read only one full book and finished another during January – Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace by Leon Panetta and The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse by Art and Laraine Bennett (both were excellent, by the way).

By comparison, this January I read (or finished) eight books and two short stories, and I’m in the midst of several others that I started. Here’s a list of what I’ve read, with ratings and links back to my reviews (if I’ve done them). I do plan to review almost all of the rest. I received several of the as-yet-unreviewed books for free from the authors in exchange for reviews, so they will definitely happen (hopefully soon). Oh, and this list does not include children’s books. I have yet to figure out a good way to keep track of those – we read too many!

1. The Elephants of Style : A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English by Bill Walsh – 4 star review here

2. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger; not yet reviewed but deserves 5 stars!

3. The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy by Patricia Loofbourrow – 3 star review here

4. Running Home by Lizzie Steel – 5 star review here

5. Jungle Eyes (Jungle Eyes Trilogy) (Volume 1) by Lindsay Marie Miller – 3 star review here

6. Cape May by Holly Caster; not yet reviewed

7. Crossroads: Women Coming of Age in Today’s Uganda editing by Christopher Conte; not yet reviewed

8. Laudato Si — On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis; not yet reviewed. Truthfully, I’m not planning to “review” this in the traditional sense because it’s a Papal Encyclical, and therefore an authoritative teaching of the Magisterium of the Church.  As a Catholic, I have the responsibility to give the work an “assent of faith.”  (For more, see this article at Our Sunday Visitor, which states in reference to encyclicals: “Catholics of good will everywhere are obliged to acknowledge their apostolic authority and strive to humbly assent to their teaching.”) I may very well write a post discussing it, though, and highlighting what I learned and how I find myself applying it to my own life.

Short stories include Written On The Apple Tree: A Mystery Psychological Suspense (Tales of the Unexpected Series Book 4) (3 star review here) and Sweet Justice: A Mystery Psychological Suspense (Tales of the Unexpected Book 2) (no review planned), both by Ann Girdharry.

I am currently reading City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II’s Kraków by George Wiegel, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and The Fever by Thomas Fenske.

Clearly I’ve had a lot more time to read than to write, but that sort of comes with the mom territory. I read almost every night before going to sleep, but I only write reviews on preschool days because I’m too tired to write anything coherent at the end of the day. “Winter Storm Jonas/The Blizzard of 2016” kind of put a dent in my writing time since school was cancelled for a loooong time. We’re back now, so hopefully I’ll get some of those missing reviews up soon! Oh, and clean my house, right? 🙂

 

Munchkin Monday: Are You My Mother?

 

One night last week, my two year old wouldn’t go to sleep. To prevent her from waking up her very tired four year old sister (with whom she shares a room), I took her into my room, brought a stack of books, and snuggled and read with her for a bit. It didn’t help with bedtime, but it was really nice, and it gave me a chance to pick out some books we hadn’t read in awhile.

One of those books was Are You My Mother? (Beginner Books) by P.D. Eastman. We got this book as a baby shower gift before our oldest was born, so I’ve read it bunches of times over the past four and a half years and even heard it at a few library or bookstore story times. Basically, it’s the story of a baby bird who goes looking for his mother, as she wasn’t in the nest when he hatched because she was out getting food for him. He encounters other animals as well as cars, boats, etc., asking each, “Are you my mother?” before he reunites with his mother in the nest. I have to say that until this week, I was generally indifferent to it. I thought it was a good enough story, and fun to read every once in awhile, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. Actually, I think I had an annoying association in my mind from a Barnes and Noble story time I went to a few years ago – every time I read the book, I pictured the woman from the story time and heard the story in her voice. Annoying. Plus, I thought it was awkward to read with a lot of repetition and an irritating lack of contractions.

In the past week, though, my opinion has changed a lot. My two year old LOVES it. She calls it “the bird book” and asks for me to read it on a daily basis. She even “read” it to her dad today 🙂 Reading it with her has reminded me of how into the story my four year old was when she was younger. There is something really appealing to little ones about the story – they get emotionally invested in the baby bird’s quest for his mother, and it’s really endearing.

Outside of the story line, I hadn’t realized what a great book this is for new readers. My four year old can read – though not unexpected from her, it’s pretty amazing. It just blew me away to hear her read the majority of the story aloud just the other night. Listening to her and helping her with new words, I realized how wonderful the aforementioned “annoying” repetition and lack of contractions actually are for her. This may seem obvious to some of you, but hey, I’m new at this.

Anyway, I highly recommend Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. It’s a great story for little ones as young as two, and it’s a good one to pull out for those preschoolers or kindergartners learning to read. So, five stars!

Buy the book: Are You My Mother? (Beginner Books)

Rating: 5 stars!