[check out the tiger swimming!]
We traveled to Fairfax, VA to celebrate Uncle David's 30th birthday. Friday, we were able to visit the National Zoo before parks and museums shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our family has 6 members: Teacher Daddy, Dr. Mama, Big B, Little L, Super J & Sister CC.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Saturday, February 22, 2020
2020 February DITL: A Mama-and-CC Wednesday
While the boys are away on vacation, the girls had a quiet (but busy) day at home!
Thursday, January 23, 2020
2020 January DITL: Weekend Trip to MA
We made a weekend trip to Massachusetts to visit friends and celebrate a first birthday.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
2019 Reading List (Quarter 4, Oct-Dec)
I completely forgot to tally my final quarter reading list for 2019!
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Monday, November 11, 2019
2019 November DITL: Under Construction
We are in the middle of some home renovations this November! Can't wait to see how they all turn out.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 3 (July-Sept)
At the end of Quarter 2 in June, I had finished 28 books, between actual books, audiobooks, and books read to the boys.
Here's Quarter 3 which includes all the books read over the summer of 2019:
Actual books:
29. The Fiery Cross, Outlander #5, Diana Gabaldon-- I thought I would get back into reading this series and didn't remember I had previously read this one. Yeah... I'm taking another break.
30. Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten, Pamela Hicks-- About growing up in the British Royal Family during India's move toward independence.
31. Small Favor, Dresden Files #10, Jim Butcher-- Got this from the library for Jake, but ended up reading it myself
32. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones-- Got this from the library for Ben after we watched the movie and liked the storyline of the movie better (a first!)
33. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogene Hermes Gowar-- saw this on a recommended summer reading list in a magazine I picked up in the orthodontist waiting room. It was ok.
34. The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing your Home Goals, Clea Shearer-- I guess this woman and her partner have a successful organizing business and blog but I found the entire book very basic and without substance other than to shout "Look at us! we organized XX celebrity's closet and we took pictures!" After reading several home organization/cleaning/de-cluttering books over the past year or so on my de-cluttering mission, I learned nothing from this one.
35. The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, Heather B. Armstrong-- this is a mommy blogger who has been open with her struggles with anxiety and depression who went through an experimental clinical trial which decreased all brain activity in order to "reset" her treatment-resistant depression. I've read the actual clinical trial article and wanted to follow up with her personal narrative of the experience.
E-Books:
36. The Highlander Series, Karen Marie Moning-- downloaded this series to read during our trip to Idaho because I wanted to bring the lighter Nook rather than an actual book. Previously read, smutty smut with paranormal, time-traveling romance.
37. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead-- this book by Whitehead was on PBS's 100 Great American Books a few summers back. I had previously read The Underground Railroad by him and loved it. This one took me a bit longer to get into, but ended really well and stuck with me.
Books Read to Boys:
38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling-- my least favorite HP book! Not only did Rowling's editor fail her by not insisting she cut down on some of the extraneous fluff that extended the length of this volume to 800+ pages, but this book includes emo, adolescent Harry who whines and moans and complains that the adults are treating him like a whiny emo teenager. Ugh.
Audiobooks:
39. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith-- finally was able to download this classic book and listened to it during my commutes to work in September. I really enjoyed it.
At the end of Quarter 3
In 2016, I had read 28 books at this point
In 2017, I had read 35 books at this point
In 2018, I had read 59 books at this point (WOW, but then again I was in a forced confinement with infant CC who was nursing non-stop)
Here's Quarter 3 which includes all the books read over the summer of 2019:
Actual books:
29. The Fiery Cross, Outlander #5, Diana Gabaldon-- I thought I would get back into reading this series and didn't remember I had previously read this one. Yeah... I'm taking another break.
30. Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten, Pamela Hicks-- About growing up in the British Royal Family during India's move toward independence.
31. Small Favor, Dresden Files #10, Jim Butcher-- Got this from the library for Jake, but ended up reading it myself
32. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones-- Got this from the library for Ben after we watched the movie and liked the storyline of the movie better (a first!)
33. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogene Hermes Gowar-- saw this on a recommended summer reading list in a magazine I picked up in the orthodontist waiting room. It was ok.
34. The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing your Home Goals, Clea Shearer-- I guess this woman and her partner have a successful organizing business and blog but I found the entire book very basic and without substance other than to shout "Look at us! we organized XX celebrity's closet and we took pictures!" After reading several home organization/cleaning/de-cluttering books over the past year or so on my de-cluttering mission, I learned nothing from this one.
35. The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, Heather B. Armstrong-- this is a mommy blogger who has been open with her struggles with anxiety and depression who went through an experimental clinical trial which decreased all brain activity in order to "reset" her treatment-resistant depression. I've read the actual clinical trial article and wanted to follow up with her personal narrative of the experience.
E-Books:
36. The Highlander Series, Karen Marie Moning-- downloaded this series to read during our trip to Idaho because I wanted to bring the lighter Nook rather than an actual book. Previously read, smutty smut with paranormal, time-traveling romance.
37. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead-- this book by Whitehead was on PBS's 100 Great American Books a few summers back. I had previously read The Underground Railroad by him and loved it. This one took me a bit longer to get into, but ended really well and stuck with me.
Books Read to Boys:
38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling-- my least favorite HP book! Not only did Rowling's editor fail her by not insisting she cut down on some of the extraneous fluff that extended the length of this volume to 800+ pages, but this book includes emo, adolescent Harry who whines and moans and complains that the adults are treating him like a whiny emo teenager. Ugh.
Audiobooks:
39. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith-- finally was able to download this classic book and listened to it during my commutes to work in September. I really enjoyed it.
At the end of Quarter 3
In 2016, I had read 28 books at this point
In 2017, I had read 35 books at this point
In 2018, I had read 59 books at this point (WOW, but then again I was in a forced confinement with infant CC who was nursing non-stop)
Thursday, September 26, 2019
2019 September DITL: Another year at the ADK Balloon Festival!
We have been traveling to Glens Falls for the Adirondack Balloon Festival for seven years now! 2019 did not disappoint!
Sunday, July 7, 2019
2019 July DITL: Fourth of July Fun!
We spent the holiday with friends at Lake Bonaparte. It was a hot, sunny day-- perfect for swimming and water sports!
Sunday, June 30, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun)
At the end of March, I was up to 11 books read... here goes Quarter 2!
Actual Books
12. Breaking Free: How I Escaped my Father, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult, Rachel Jeffs-- why do I keep reading theses awful memoirs about people (usually women) growing up in terrible cults?
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, E.L. Konisberg-- B had to read this as part of his fourth grade "40 book challenge". It was an award winner, and he was giving me grief about finishing it, so I challenged him to a race to see who could finish first (he won).
14. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede-- J's annual middle school NYC trip was going to see "Come From Away", the musical based on these events which played out in a small Canadian island during the aftermath of 9/11. He wanted to read about the islanders and stranded passengers to get an idea of the story for the musical.
15. The Shelters of Stone, Jean Auel-- Book #5 in her series on Earth's Children. I think there might be one more?
16. Channel of Peace: Stranded on Gander on 9/11, Kevin Tuerff-- One of the passengers wrote a memoir of his experiences on Gander. While his story was one of the main plot lines for the musical, I found his memoir to be a bit over-the-top and trite ("as I was walking down the street, I was reminded of a song I used to listen to incessantly during middle school-- lyric, lyric, lyric")
17. Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart: How to Relate to Those who are Suffering, Kenneth C. Haugk-- copies of this book were donated to our church by a grief group I attended in the summer of 2017 and it's taken me this long to buckle down and read through it. Some good advice, mostly about making the person's grief about THEM and not about YOU.
18. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer-- about a 20-something who thought he could survive in the wilds of Alaska with only a 20-pound bag of rice, a shotgun, and no maps. He died.
19. Dinotopia, A Land Apart from Time, James Guernsey-- read this at my parents' house during a weekend visit. The illustrations are INCREDIBLE!
20. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, Kim John Payne-- recommended by a mom friend. It's the equivalent of Marie Kondo for your children's scheduling. Basically, we have overextended ourselves and our children through activities, toys, and electronics. Get rid of them all and let the kids be bored and use their imaginations!
21. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan-- I LOVED this and can't wait to get the next two in the series! I suppose I'll watch the movie too, eventually.
22. Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes-- another historical fiction/award winner B was supposed to finish for his 40 book challenge (he did read 34 out of 40 by the end of the year). I challenged him to another reading race and won this time. In fact, he never finished this before I had to bring it back to the library!
23. Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Anne Edwards-- reading about the childhood of Elizabeth and Margaret and their coming of age. Basically, Season 1 of The Crown.
Audiobooks
24. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan-- It was nice, about the stories connected to the bits of lost items found randomly on sidewalks. There was a ghost, of course, but all ended up well in the end.
25. I, Alex Cross, James Patterson-- this was a great audiobook to listen to during work commutes! It has enough intrigue and suspense to keep me awake and engaged, versus other audiobooks which make me drowsy.
26. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole-- recommended on a reading list I'm trying to complete. I honestly didn't think I could get through it at first. The main character, Ignatius, is a terrible human being and I hated him from the start. Then I was too far into it to stop, and just kept through until the end. I'm glad I listened to it.
27. All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr-- set in France during WWII, it follows a blind girl and her father, who is trying to hide a priceless diamond from the Nazis, and a young Nazi soldier who is interested in electronics and philosophy.
Books read to boys
28. The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1), Rick Riordan-- We had to take a break from Harry Potter, as it was getting a bit heavy for the boys. We switched over to the next series by Rick Riordan as a nice break.
To compare, at the end of:
2016-- I had finished 17 books
2017-- I had finished 25 books
2018-- I had finished 37 books (wow, 2018 was a stellar year for reading!)
Actual Books
12. Breaking Free: How I Escaped my Father, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult, Rachel Jeffs-- why do I keep reading theses awful memoirs about people (usually women) growing up in terrible cults?
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, E.L. Konisberg-- B had to read this as part of his fourth grade "40 book challenge". It was an award winner, and he was giving me grief about finishing it, so I challenged him to a race to see who could finish first (he won).
14. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede-- J's annual middle school NYC trip was going to see "Come From Away", the musical based on these events which played out in a small Canadian island during the aftermath of 9/11. He wanted to read about the islanders and stranded passengers to get an idea of the story for the musical.
15. The Shelters of Stone, Jean Auel-- Book #5 in her series on Earth's Children. I think there might be one more?
16. Channel of Peace: Stranded on Gander on 9/11, Kevin Tuerff-- One of the passengers wrote a memoir of his experiences on Gander. While his story was one of the main plot lines for the musical, I found his memoir to be a bit over-the-top and trite ("as I was walking down the street, I was reminded of a song I used to listen to incessantly during middle school-- lyric, lyric, lyric")
17. Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart: How to Relate to Those who are Suffering, Kenneth C. Haugk-- copies of this book were donated to our church by a grief group I attended in the summer of 2017 and it's taken me this long to buckle down and read through it. Some good advice, mostly about making the person's grief about THEM and not about YOU.
18. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer-- about a 20-something who thought he could survive in the wilds of Alaska with only a 20-pound bag of rice, a shotgun, and no maps. He died.
19. Dinotopia, A Land Apart from Time, James Guernsey-- read this at my parents' house during a weekend visit. The illustrations are INCREDIBLE!
20. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, Kim John Payne-- recommended by a mom friend. It's the equivalent of Marie Kondo for your children's scheduling. Basically, we have overextended ourselves and our children through activities, toys, and electronics. Get rid of them all and let the kids be bored and use their imaginations!
21. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan-- I LOVED this and can't wait to get the next two in the series! I suppose I'll watch the movie too, eventually.
22. Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes-- another historical fiction/award winner B was supposed to finish for his 40 book challenge (he did read 34 out of 40 by the end of the year). I challenged him to another reading race and won this time. In fact, he never finished this before I had to bring it back to the library!
23. Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Anne Edwards-- reading about the childhood of Elizabeth and Margaret and their coming of age. Basically, Season 1 of The Crown.
Audiobooks
24. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan-- It was nice, about the stories connected to the bits of lost items found randomly on sidewalks. There was a ghost, of course, but all ended up well in the end.
25. I, Alex Cross, James Patterson-- this was a great audiobook to listen to during work commutes! It has enough intrigue and suspense to keep me awake and engaged, versus other audiobooks which make me drowsy.
26. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole-- recommended on a reading list I'm trying to complete. I honestly didn't think I could get through it at first. The main character, Ignatius, is a terrible human being and I hated him from the start. Then I was too far into it to stop, and just kept through until the end. I'm glad I listened to it.
27. All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr-- set in France during WWII, it follows a blind girl and her father, who is trying to hide a priceless diamond from the Nazis, and a young Nazi soldier who is interested in electronics and philosophy.
Books read to boys
28. The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1), Rick Riordan-- We had to take a break from Harry Potter, as it was getting a bit heavy for the boys. We switched over to the next series by Rick Riordan as a nice break.
To compare, at the end of:
2016-- I had finished 17 books
2017-- I had finished 25 books
2018-- I had finished 37 books (wow, 2018 was a stellar year for reading!)
2019 June DITL: A First Birthday in the Life
It was a very Happy First Birthday for this rainbow girl!
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
2019 May DITL: A Sunny Weekend with Cousins
We spent the weekend playing with cousins at Lake Bonaparte and Carthage. Welcome, Spring!
Saturday, April 13, 2019
2019 April DITL: A Very VIP Day at Universal Studios, Orlando!
We spent the day having the time of our lives at Universal Studios, Orlando--
Thanks Nana and Grumpa!
Sunday, March 31, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 1 (Jan-Mar)
I discovered Goodreads in January as a place to store the list of all the books read or listened to, instead of hopping back and forth between the library's website, my phone, and trying to recall which of my own books I'd read! Now to organize them into categories...
Actual books
1. The Complete Book of Clean: Tips & Techniques for Your Home, Toni Hammersley-- started the year trying to make the most of my resolution to purge unused/unwanted things and to keep things clean and organized. She recommends daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each area of the house (kitchen, bath, bedroom) and I was pleased to see that I did most of the daily things on a daily basis! The weekly and monthly-- some of those seemed like overkill, but were useful to think about implementing on as as-needed basis.
2. The Mammoth Hunters, Jean Auel-- my grandmother purged her bookcases of books she didn't want or read any more, and these were in my bag. I've read the series before, so it was a nice light easy read. She does get a bit repetitive and her characters are frustrating in their emotional under-development, but you can't have everything! I'm always impressed by her level of detail and research into the ecosystem of the Ice Age-- from the plants to the animals, you can tell she spent a great deal of time learning about how they lived so many thousands of years ago.
3. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir, Kelle Hampton. I follow this woman's blog and have read the published story of her 2nd daughter's birth, so I thought... why not read her published memoir? It was... saccharine, written to highlight her previous struggles only to cast a rosy glow over her life now and was a bit one-dimensional.
4. The Complete Book of Home Organization, Toni Hammersley-- I actually wanted this one first, but it was on hold at the library, so I had to wait a while! By this point, my semester had picked up steam so I wasn't able to really dig in the way I wanted and implement some of her strategies to organize. I did snap some photos of pages that I thought were particularly useful but haven't used them yet!
5. The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll-- as long as I'm overhauling my life completely, why not also implement a new journaling method? I'm trying this out as a daily planner style journaling and it's helping me to keep on task and actually do the chores I usually avoid (see: calling to make/change appointments) and it's nice not to have to re-write my task list on a new scrap piece of paper once I get to work. It's also nice to have a page outlining the monthly or weekly upcoming events to help plan dinners and daycare drop-off/pick-up well in advance. The book itself was... ok, good for the parts that were about how to do/use the method, less useful for parts about his ADHD or how other people use the journaling method to create works of art. I mean, they're beautiful pages, but I can see how some would be overwhelmed comparing that level of artistry and detail and never attempt to use the method themselves. We'll see how it goes for the next month or so!
6. The Plains of Passage, Jean Auel-- the next book in the series. She is long-winded.
7. Seabiscuit: An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand-- picked this up at the townhouse at Mount Snow during our ski weekend and then finished it on a request from the library after we returned home. It was nice to read something I wouldn't have usually chosen.
Audiobooks from my commute
8. The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)-- a murder mystery solved by a protagonist who is a wounded war veteran with a surly attitude. I didn't know it was written by JK Rowling until about halfway through listening, and then some of the superfluous detail and emotional baggage of the characters made sense. I liked it, though, and would probably listen to another of these (this was the 2nd in the series).
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer-- chose this one because it popped up and was available when I needed a new audiobook. I liked the format-- all letters written between the characters, so you have to fill in the setting around them. I watched the movie on Netflix afterward and liked the book better!
10. The Mere Wife, Maria Dhavana Headley-- a current take on the classic Beowulf, told from the perspective of the mothers (Grendel's mother and the queen of the castle). Having never read Beowulf in high school, this was interesting but I doubt I'll take on the heavy lift of reading the original.
E-books
None for this quarter-- used paper copies only.
Books read to the boys
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling-- this mammoth book (750 pages!) took a long time to get through, reading 15-20 minutes each night. As I suspected, the dark ending left L very emotional, so we're taking a break from HP until probably this summer. They only get darker and scarier from here on out!
How am I doing compared to previous years? I copied this from last year's post at this time:
In 2017, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but I hadn't started listening to audiobooks during my commutes yet (only during long trips).
In 2016, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but that included through April because I forgot to tally in March.
In 2018, my Quarter 1 total was 14 (!), but I suspect that had a great deal to do with shorter books read (Jean Auel is very long!), or perhaps 2018 was an exceptionally good year for reading.
Actual books
1. The Complete Book of Clean: Tips & Techniques for Your Home, Toni Hammersley-- started the year trying to make the most of my resolution to purge unused/unwanted things and to keep things clean and organized. She recommends daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each area of the house (kitchen, bath, bedroom) and I was pleased to see that I did most of the daily things on a daily basis! The weekly and monthly-- some of those seemed like overkill, but were useful to think about implementing on as as-needed basis.
2. The Mammoth Hunters, Jean Auel-- my grandmother purged her bookcases of books she didn't want or read any more, and these were in my bag. I've read the series before, so it was a nice light easy read. She does get a bit repetitive and her characters are frustrating in their emotional under-development, but you can't have everything! I'm always impressed by her level of detail and research into the ecosystem of the Ice Age-- from the plants to the animals, you can tell she spent a great deal of time learning about how they lived so many thousands of years ago.
3. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir, Kelle Hampton. I follow this woman's blog and have read the published story of her 2nd daughter's birth, so I thought... why not read her published memoir? It was... saccharine, written to highlight her previous struggles only to cast a rosy glow over her life now and was a bit one-dimensional.
4. The Complete Book of Home Organization, Toni Hammersley-- I actually wanted this one first, but it was on hold at the library, so I had to wait a while! By this point, my semester had picked up steam so I wasn't able to really dig in the way I wanted and implement some of her strategies to organize. I did snap some photos of pages that I thought were particularly useful but haven't used them yet!
5. The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll-- as long as I'm overhauling my life completely, why not also implement a new journaling method? I'm trying this out as a daily planner style journaling and it's helping me to keep on task and actually do the chores I usually avoid (see: calling to make/change appointments) and it's nice not to have to re-write my task list on a new scrap piece of paper once I get to work. It's also nice to have a page outlining the monthly or weekly upcoming events to help plan dinners and daycare drop-off/pick-up well in advance. The book itself was... ok, good for the parts that were about how to do/use the method, less useful for parts about his ADHD or how other people use the journaling method to create works of art. I mean, they're beautiful pages, but I can see how some would be overwhelmed comparing that level of artistry and detail and never attempt to use the method themselves. We'll see how it goes for the next month or so!
6. The Plains of Passage, Jean Auel-- the next book in the series. She is long-winded.
7. Seabiscuit: An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand-- picked this up at the townhouse at Mount Snow during our ski weekend and then finished it on a request from the library after we returned home. It was nice to read something I wouldn't have usually chosen.
Audiobooks from my commute
8. The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)-- a murder mystery solved by a protagonist who is a wounded war veteran with a surly attitude. I didn't know it was written by JK Rowling until about halfway through listening, and then some of the superfluous detail and emotional baggage of the characters made sense. I liked it, though, and would probably listen to another of these (this was the 2nd in the series).
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer-- chose this one because it popped up and was available when I needed a new audiobook. I liked the format-- all letters written between the characters, so you have to fill in the setting around them. I watched the movie on Netflix afterward and liked the book better!
10. The Mere Wife, Maria Dhavana Headley-- a current take on the classic Beowulf, told from the perspective of the mothers (Grendel's mother and the queen of the castle). Having never read Beowulf in high school, this was interesting but I doubt I'll take on the heavy lift of reading the original.
E-books
None for this quarter-- used paper copies only.
Books read to the boys
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling-- this mammoth book (750 pages!) took a long time to get through, reading 15-20 minutes each night. As I suspected, the dark ending left L very emotional, so we're taking a break from HP until probably this summer. They only get darker and scarier from here on out!
How am I doing compared to previous years? I copied this from last year's post at this time:
In 2017, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but I hadn't started listening to audiobooks during my commutes yet (only during long trips).
In 2016, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but that included through April because I forgot to tally in March.
In 2018, my Quarter 1 total was 14 (!), but I suspect that had a great deal to do with shorter books read (Jean Auel is very long!), or perhaps 2018 was an exceptionally good year for reading.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
2019 March DITL: A Sunny Skiing Day at Snow Ridge
We spent the morning skiing with the big boys and the afternoon having fun with family! A great March day.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
2018 Reading List, Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec) and Final Tally
I felt my reading slowed down in the last quarter of the year. I was tired, I was back to work part-time, and there were other, more pressing things to do around the house! Still, I worked hard to get some reading done.
Audiobooks:
60. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; technically haven't finished this one, but it's 60+ hours long and TEDIOUS. I also watched the Part 1 of the movie made about it (with terrible reviews) on Amazon Prime and may just finish out by watching rather than listening.
61. Storm Front, Jim Butcher; Also about 30 min away from finishing, still in the hold queue to re-borrow. A magician who helps solve crimes in Chicago.
Books Read to the Boys:
62. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
63. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
E-books:
64. Perdita, Hilary Scharper; weird premise-- a child from Greek mythology who bears the "love that binds all things together" has attached itself to a woman who is now 110-ish years old and can't die until she passes the Greek myth baby onto another person (who presumably won't die?)
65. About Last Night, Ruthie Knox
Actual Books:
66. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon; This was really good!
67. Shine through, Tracey Newell; This was really not good
68. The boys from Brazil, Ira Levin; Genetic engineering written in 1960
69. Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan; photojournalist who went to war-torn places in the early 1990s
70. The complete works of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and short stories; I've been working on this huge book while staying at my parent's house for the past FOUR YEARS and I finally finished it this Christmas break.
In 2017, I finished with 55 total, so 2018 was a great success in terms of reading! Here's to another great year of reading and learning in 2019.
Audiobooks:
60. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; technically haven't finished this one, but it's 60+ hours long and TEDIOUS. I also watched the Part 1 of the movie made about it (with terrible reviews) on Amazon Prime and may just finish out by watching rather than listening.
61. Storm Front, Jim Butcher; Also about 30 min away from finishing, still in the hold queue to re-borrow. A magician who helps solve crimes in Chicago.
Books Read to the Boys:
62. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
63. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
E-books:
64. Perdita, Hilary Scharper; weird premise-- a child from Greek mythology who bears the "love that binds all things together" has attached itself to a woman who is now 110-ish years old and can't die until she passes the Greek myth baby onto another person (who presumably won't die?)
65. About Last Night, Ruthie Knox
Actual Books:
66. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon; This was really good!
67. Shine through, Tracey Newell; This was really not good
68. The boys from Brazil, Ira Levin; Genetic engineering written in 1960
69. Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan; photojournalist who went to war-torn places in the early 1990s
70. The complete works of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and short stories; I've been working on this huge book while staying at my parent's house for the past FOUR YEARS and I finally finished it this Christmas break.
In 2017, I finished with 55 total, so 2018 was a great success in terms of reading! Here's to another great year of reading and learning in 2019.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Saturday, November 17, 2018
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