2018 Reading Goal: Mid-Way Check In

We are halfway through 2018 now, (I can't believe it!) and I wanted to check in with my yearly reading goal.  First, I am on Good Reads now, and I'd love to be friends on there. (Click the link to find my profile.)  It's fun to keep track of my goals and books I want to read in the future on there.  I feel so late to the party. Ha!  I am also listening to more audio books than ever, using the Overdrive app to check out books from my library and listen for free.  

I have discovered this year, however, that as I gave up nursing in January, I no longer have an interest in reading ebooks.  I far prefer "real" books.  I just love them most!  

So far this year, six months in, I have read 36 books.  My goal is 60, so I feel confident I will make my goal.  I want to share with you three books I think you should read, three I think you should listen to, and three that I think you should skip.   

Books to Read:
Brain on Fire
by Susannah Cahalan
This was an amazing (true) book about the author's experience with mental illness.  I told my mom it was like a medical edition of 20/20 in a novel.  The author got a sickness that caused her mental illness and the book follows her account of the doctors figuring out what went wrong and how to treat it.  I was spellbound and could not put the book down!

The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah
I also could not put down The Great Alone.  If you have ever said to me that you wished you had lived in Alaska, please read this book.  It's so good, and it gives a very accurate portrayal of life in rural Alaska.  The harshness and the beauty.  The desire for independence, and the need for community.  Gah, I just can't say enough- it was such a good book.  I underlined so many lines, and I felt like the entire book was a walk down memory lane to our time in the village.

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale might be one of my top five best reads ever.  It's one of the biggest books I've ever read, and I read it in record time. I found myself carrying it with me everywhere I went.  It's about two sisters torn apart during World War II.  It is, like The Great Alone, un-put-down-able.

Books to Listen to:
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel 
Station Eleven was amazing. I listened to it, and I found myself looking for chores around the house that I could do while listening. Laundry? Yes please. Dishes? Sure! Anything so I could listen for ten more minutes.  It's a story that takes place in a post-influenza world where the entire infrastructure sort of crumbles.  The whole story is so well written, I found myself completely riveted, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Uncommon Type
by Tom Hanks
This was an unexpected delight that I listened to on audio, and fell in love with.  It's a collection of short stories that had me smiling and feeling light hearted and happy.  It made me want to write more and read more and live more.  The best part was that it was read by Tom Hanks himself, so I could really hear him as he told the stories.  Hear his heart. It was a fantastic book.  Nothing deep, but exactly what I needed.

Force of Nature
by Jane Harper
Last year I listened to The Dry by Jane Harper and loved it. Force of Nature was no different. I found myself using any excuse to plug in my headphones and listen for ten more minutes here and there.  It was a very good book, with many twists and turns and and an ending I did not see coming.  I highly recommend it!

Books to Skip:
Every Note Played
by Lisa Genova
Every Note Played is a book I had highly anticipated after loving every single other book by Genova (Love Anthony, Left Neglected, Still Alice, and Inside The OBriens), but it fell way, way short.  I hated all the characters in this book and felt the whole book was short on feeling.  The entire read left me feeling disappointed and let down.  My suggestion? Don't waste your time.

Happier At Home
by Gretchen Rubin
After having this book on my shelf for literally years (it came to Alaska and back with me!) I have to say I was sorely disappointed by it.  I had loved The Happiness Project and Better Than Before, and was enthused by the idea (as a homemaker) of a happiness project that focused solely on the home.  Instead what I got was a hodgepodge of random goals that Gretchen worked on for a year to make herself happier.  None of which seemed directly related to the home except for "Create a Shrine" which lead to some controversy on our Inspired Readers Book Club page and left us all feeling a bit confused about how we felt about our belongings. 
The book was good in that it did inspire us to look at our homes and our lives to find areas where we could improve our happiness, but it did not inspire me the way her previous books have.  My two cents? Skip it.

Cold Tangerines
by Shauna Niequist
This was a book club pick that I liked in the beginning, but by the middle felt like an uninspired collection of blog posts someone threw together and called a book.  There was nothing cohesive about them, and the author seemed kind of self important or whiny... It just wasn't the book for me right now.

***

So now it's July, and I'm currently reading five books, which is ridiculous, 

but it's summer time and the living is good. :)

I'm reading The Book of Essie; Four Seasons In Rome; Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine; This Is How It Always Is; and The Stranger In The Woods.  I am excited to wrap all of those up and start some of the new ones I got at Powell's and from my Book of the Month subscription which is the coolest thing ever-- You get to choose a new hardback book every month for only $14.99, and you can add an additional book for only $9.99! Such a good deal for new hardbacks.

What are you reading currently? What's been super good? What's been awful?

I'd really love to know what you're reading and what's waiting on your bookshelf.

***

{Books} June 2018

The Queen of Hearts
by Kimmery Martin
The Queen of Hearts is like ER or Grey's Anatomy in a book.  It's about two doctors, best friends, and the secret that lingers between them.  It's a great read, one I very much enjoyed reading, especially because they also had families and I always enjoy reading about home life. 

The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware
I listened to The Woman in Cabin 10 on audio. It was so good, I could not stop listening.  It was a heart pounding book that kept me on the edge of my seat, dying to know what was going to happen next.

Seizures & Epilepsy in Childhood: A Guide for Parents
Seizures & Epilepsy is a book that I have been working my way through for a long time.  It's a heavy read, with lots of medical jargon, but one that is super helpful for parents of kids with epilepsy.  It helped me understand what's going on with Logan so much more than before. Currently we are trying to figure out if his seizures are absent seizures or complex partial seizures, which both look the same if you're not paying really close attention.  Knowing which type it is will better inform the doctor in the event that his current medication doesn't stop his seizures fully.   

Mrs. Fletcher
by Tom Perrotta
Mrs. Fletcher was an audio book I listened to, and it was quite risque. About a mother whose only son went off to college, she found herself quite lonely and up for anything when it came to company and relationships.  While it was entertaining, it was not necessarily a book I would normally have read. 

Siblings Without Rivalry
Siblings Without Rivalry was an easy read, with totally doable advice, which I will be doing a blog post about this month.  I was feeling at my wit's end toward the end of the school year and finally pulled this book off my bookshelf.  As the mom of three boys close in age, my main takeaway was "Don't compare in any way."  It has helped me to stop comparing the boys and let them each be their own, individual self which will help strengthen their relationship because it will decrease the amount of competition they feel amongst themselves.  Highly recommend it.

I'll Be Your Blue Sky
by Marisa de los Santos
I have loved many of de los Santos' books.  My favorite is Belong To Me.  I'll Be Your Blue Sky was good (a girl is having cold feet before her wedding and meets an old woman who gives her advice, and later her beach house!), but the writing was "meh".  It just didn't jump out and grab and me, and I didn't find myself wanting to stay up late and keep reading, which (to me) is the sign of a really good book. 

The Sweetness At The Bottom of The Pie
by Alan Bradley
I listened to this on audio, choosing it based solely on the name, having no idea what it was about, and found myself in love with the main character, a young girl named Flavia who ends up solving a crime.  I can't believe how much I enjoyed this story and how I can't wait to read the next book in the series.  If you are looking for a delightful, entertaining story that keeps things light (well, it was about murder... but the little girl is hilarious!) this might be the book for you! 

Tell Me More
by Kelly Corrigan
I have to admit, I was disappointed by Tell Me More.  It was kind of a downer, and a little bit of an "obvious" book to me.  The book is a collection of 12 things that the author is learning to say more of, including "no" and "I love you", and it just didn't speak to me the way it seems to have spoken to many others whom I know have read and loved it.  I adored Corrigan's book The Middle Place, so I expected myself to also love this one, but it just wasn't so. 

{January 2018}

{February 2018}

{March 2018}

{April 2018}

{May 2018}

***

June Tally: 8

2018 Tally: 36

Yearly Goal: 36/60

{Books} May 2018

Brain on Fire
by Susannah Cahalan
This was an amazing (true) book about the author's experience with mental illness.  I told my mom it was like a medical edition of 20/20 in a novel.  She got a sickness that caused her mental illness and the book follows her account of the doctors figuring out what went wrong and how to treat it.  I was spellbound and could not put the book down!

One Thousand Gifts
by Ann Voskamp
This was my second time reading through One Thousand Gifts, and I think I officially have something underlined on every page now.  This book is a religious writing, about finding God in the small things, through gratitude.  My favorite quote this time through: "This is the trust I lack: to know that if disaster strikes, He carries me even there." I just love Ann's writing. It's like poetry to me.

Force of Nature
by Jane Harper
Last year I listened to The Dry by Jane Harper and loved it. Force of Nature was no different. I found myself using any excuse to plug in my headphones and listen for ten more minutes here and there.  It was a very good book, with many twists and turns and and ending I did not see coming.  I highly recommend it!

{January 2018}

{February 2018}

{March 2018}

{April 2018}

***

May Tally: 3

2018 Tally: 28

Yearly Goal: 28/60

{Books} April 2018

The Untethered Soul
by Michael Singer
I listened to The Untethered Soul on audio after listening to his Super Soul Sunday podcast with Oprah.  I enjoyed the audio version, but honestly I wish I had the actual book.  I think it's one I would highlight and refer back to constantly.  My main takeaway from the book is to stay open and stay happy.  I don't want to close or become bitter, and I don't want my happiness to be conditional. So I am striving, despite whatever life throws my way, to stay open & happy.  It is my resistance to life's events that causes stress.  My mantra currently is, "It is what it is."  I'm certainly not perfect, but I'm happier than I've been.  Progress, not perfection.

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
I listened to To Kill a Mockingbird on audio in preparation for reading Go Set A Watchman which I found at Goodwill!  I first read To Kill a Mockingbird over a decade ago, and loved it.  I felt the same way this time.  Such a good story!  Now I need to get on with reading Go Set A Watchman!

Of Mice & Men
by John Steinbeck
Of Mice & Men is one of those books that everyone talks about and after hearing about it so many times, I added it to my "to be read" list.  I listened to it on audio, and I will be completely honest- there came a point in the book where I sort of guessed what would happen at the end, and I was very (very!) tempted to stop listening! ha! I'm such a wimp!  Very good book and one that stayed with me for a long time after I finished it.

Marcelo in the Real World
by Francisco X. Stork
The first book I read by Francisco X. Stork was The Memory of Light, and it was such an amazingly well written book about depression, despite being a YA novel, that I knew I wanted to read everything else he had written.  So in April I found Marcelo in the Real World on audio and gave it a listen.  Just like The Memory of Light, it was incredibly well written.  Marcelo in the Real World is about an autistic boy trying his hand at making it away from his special school per his dad's request.  The book is so good, and I was rooting so much for Marcelo.

{January 2018}

{February 2018}

{March 2018}

***

April Tally: 4

2018 Tally: 25

Yearly Goal: 25/60

{Books} February 2018

Turtles All The Way Down
by John Green

This book is a YA that I could not put down.  It's about a young woman with health anxiety, and I can't even put into words all the ways I could relate to her. If you wonder how it feels to suffer hypochondria (or if you ever wanted to climb inside my mind during a bout of health anxiety) read this book! I listened to it and I got through it so quick!  


Grief Cottage
by Gail Godwin

Grief Cottage was a bit slow in the beginning, but I enjoyed the winding tale of the story.  Sometimes I need a slower paced book, and this one hit the spot.  The main character is a boy whose single mom dies in a car accident at the beginning of the book, and how he deals with that loss as he moves in with a recluse aunt.  It's a good read, but not necessarily a page turner. 


Happier At Home
by Gretchen Rubin

After having this book on my shelf for literally years (it came to Alaska and back with me!) I have to say I was sorely disappointed by it.  I had loved The Happiness Project and Better Than Before, and was enthused by the idea (as a homemaker) of a happiness project that focused solely on the home.  Instead what I got was a hodgepodge of random goals that Gretchen worked on for a year to make herself happier.  None of which seemed directly related to the home except for "Create a Shrine" which lead to some controversy on our Inspired Readers Book Club page and left us all feeling a bit confused about how we felt about our belongings. 
The book was good in that it did inspire us to look at our homes and our lives to find areas where we could improve our happiness, but it did not inspire me the way her previous books have.  My two cents? Skip it.


Purple Hibiscus
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus was like Grief Cottage in that it was not a page turner, but more of a long, winding story.  I enjoyed the story and found myself rooting for the main character to find her voice, but I don't know that I would read it again or recommend that anyone else read it. The ending left me feeling really down, honestly, for quite a few days, and I didn't love that. 


The Wisdom of Sundays
by Oprah Winfrey

The Wisdom of Sundays, which I borrowed from my library on Overdrive (it's an app you can download on your phone for free & use to borrow ebooks & audiobooks from your library) was awesome.  It was like listening to multiple podcast interviews with Oprah and several of her favorite guests.  I myself had multiple aha! moments that I had to sit down and journal about, and it felt so good to spend some time each day listening, working on personal development.  I highly recommend it. 

***

February Tally: 5

2018 Tally: 10

Yearly Goal: 10/60