Books To Read in 2022

At the end of the each year, I get really excited about what books I am going to read the next year. This year, I put the books I want to read the most in my book cart.  This year I am starting with 9 books in my book cart. 

Transcendent Kingdom:

I started listening to this one on audio, but there were so many things I wanted to underline and study, that I decided to order it from Book of the Month and read it in my hands. 

Pure: 

This book is about the Purity culture of the 90's and while I know it will be an emotional read, it's work I need to do. 

The Body Keeps Score:

This book is one that I have heard about everywhere, and I want to read it to learn more about the students I will be working with, as well as my children and family.  

It Didn't Start With You:
This book is about the cyclical nature of anxiety, depression, phobias, obsessive thoughts, etc. I am excited to learn more about the way these issues are passed on from generation to generation. 

I Am Hutterite:
I am looking forward to reading this book both because there are Hutterites near our community here, and also because in college I had a professor who studied the Hutterites and she was constantly telling us bits and pieces about their culture. 

Obsessed:

This is a YA memoir about a 15 year old girl with OCD.  I have some obsessive tendencies and am interested to read this one.

Remember: 
This book, written by neuroscientist Lisa Genova, teaches us how memories are made and how we retrieve them. I have Alzheimer's & dementia on both sides of my family, so I am fascinated to read this one. 

If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name:

This book is one I bought because it's about a small town in Alaska. It's actually the town that Parker from Gold Rush grew up in, which intrigues me even more. 

They Both Die At The End:

I bought this book strictly because of the title.  When Wyatt saw it when I brought it home, he laughed and said, "They gave it all away in the title." Haha. They sure did. 

That brings me to my Unread Shelf:

I have calculated my unread books, and added all of them into Book Buddy, which is the $5 app I use to scan all my books and keep track of what I own.  I have 156 books on this bookshelf. I would really like to get it to 100 by the end of 2022.  One of the ways I plan to do that is to find audiobooks of the books I have to get in even more reading time. Fingers crossed I can at least not add more.

Wish me luck.

Haha!

Books to Finish in 2022

I ended 2021 with a lot of books started or half finished. More than 15 to be exact. So my goal is to finish all these books by 2022.  Do you see any that you have read or want to read? What should I start with?

These bookmarks show where I am at in each book. 
2021 was definitely a "stop & start" reading year. 

 I think by the end of 2022 Carly will be a reader just like her mom,
and it has me so excited!!!

A Year In The Books, 2021

*** 

I ended up reading 60 books in 2021. 

I read 37 novels and listened to 23 audiobooks. 

I'm going to share a few lists here with you: 

Great on Audio:
Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkl
How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana White
Good Morning Monster by Catherine Gildiner

Church Books:
Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
Burnout by Emily Nagoski 
Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski
Cultish by Amanda Montell
You Are Your Own by Jamie Lee Finch

Five Star Reads of 2021:
*The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker*
The Push by Ashley Audrain
The Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany
The Woman In The Window by AJ Finn
Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
*How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana White*
Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein
*Alone by Megan Freeman*
*Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed*
*Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh*
*The Good House by Ann Leary*
*Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin*
*Pax by Sara Pennypacker*
What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer
*Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy*
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
*Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski*
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
*You Are Your Own by Jamie Lee Finch*

(* those with asterisks are the top ten 
5-star reads that I would recommend reading)

Best Book:
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy 
(fiction)
You Are Your Own by Jamie Lee Finch 
(nonfiction)

Honorable Mentions:
Coming Clean & Burnout
both by Emily Nagoski

***

You know how I love to talk books, so let me know:

What was your best book of 2021?
What was the audiobook that you enjoyed most?
How many five star reads did you have this year?

Word of the Year :: Be Present:: 2022

I feel like the last two years have been hard enough on all of us, and I want this year to be gentle with myself. So my only goal or resolution for the new year is "Be present." I feel like this will help me be a better mother, wife and friend, and will also be good for my ongoing therapy in landing in my body and listening to what I need. 

Years ago (I think Wyatt was a baby) I remember doing the Gretchen Rubin challenge for a year of intentional living while reading The Happiness Project, and in July I did "Be Present" and it has stuck with me all these years later as one of the best months of my life. 

I specifically remember going to Cougar to swim with my sister's family and my sister-in-law's family and just being so in the moment. I remember the color of the grass, the feel of the sun on my skin. I remember catching salamanders with the twins and changing Wyatt's diaper on my giant blue striped beach towel. That experiment of purposely just being where I was, was life changing. 

So my hope is that because of this goal or intention, I will remember vividly so many more moments of 2022 than I would otherwise. Especially with how fast time seems to be going now that my kids are older. I want to live in and cherish these days, not let them slip through my hands like grains of sand.  

In an effort to be more present, I've also taken a social media break. I haven't set an amount of time, but I am enjoying the break thus far.  It has helped me be undistracted during bedtime with Carly in particular, which she loves.  So there you have it, my super simple plan to make 2022 a great year. 

What about you? Do you have any goals, intentions or resolutions for the new year?

Around Here: *Bonus Week* 2021

 {December 26-January 1st}

**I like to write my blog posts starting on
Sunday and ending on Saturday weekly.
So this year, I ended up with an "extra" week
to write about for 2021. 
So here's my bonus week post!

Comparing... Carly's pencil posture with my little brother's.  Carly holds hers in a quite specific, odd way.  Her kindergarten teacher isn't worried, but I am curious about it. And when I saw a video of my brother drawing, I noticed a similarity. 

Deciding... to get a puppy!!! What?!?  We saw the litter up for adoption, and talked about it... then we sent all the kids outside to go play and decided that we really wanted to go for it.  So I filled out the (pages long) application and we started talking about which puppy we wanted from the litter. 

Smiling... when I realized that the cinnamon roll the boys saved for me for the day after Christmas was the one that had a heart at the center. (See last week's blog post for the whole story)

Undecorating... for Christmas and wanting to remember the special Christmas decorations that Carly's classmate Shaurya made for her. The cutest little santa, stockings and elves. So sweet. I start out hating taking Christmas down every year, but by the end I am so happy because the house feels new and fresh (and always bigger) and the job is done, which always feels great. 

Caretaking... our little sweetheart as she woke up with a high fever (102.5) and a terrible headache.  I was lucky to get her in quickly where she was diagnosed with a sinus infection (everything else came back negative- COVID, strep and influenza) and we were given antibiotics.  She was not a fan of the amoxicillin, but she did great taking it twice a day everyday.  It took about three days for her to start feeling better, though, poor thing. 

Reading... The Holiday Swap and surprising myself with how much I loved it.  I also listened to Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (my second time with that book) and Cultish by Amanda Montell (a fascinating look at the language of cults). 
I ended the year with 60 books, fairly respectable, I think, and spent some time sorting through my TBR bookshelf as well.  I am hoping to read more next year, but specifically more from my Unread Shelf.  What about you? Any reading goals for 2022? You know I want to know!

Squeezing... in as many snuggles as humanly possible over the last few days of break. Carly being sick really lead to lots of couch blanket snugs.

Transferring... birthdays from my 2021 calendar to my 2022 calendar. That's always one of my favorite Type A things to do. Haha! 

Watching... Carly interact with Josh's dad and just melting. She is so sweet with him, hugging and touching him, and this day she shared all her Christmas toys with him, showing him each little thing. I just love her heart. 
I also melted with she fell asleep in Josh's arms on the couch one afternoon while she was still recuperating from her sinus infection. 

Rocking... Carly myself a few nights, as that's all she wanted- to be in my arms as she drifted off.  And let me tell you, now that all three of my boys are past the point of me being able to hold them, I am going to rock that girl every time she asks.  You just don't get these days back. 

Shopping... for all the puppy stuff in PINK for our newest addition in preparation for her arrival. It was so fun to pick out stuff for her and envision her in our home. 

Sending... the twins off with my mom to Wenatchee for a few days of cousin/grandma/grandpa time and feeling like our house was suddenly so big and so quiet. Ha! They had a great time, and I was happy for them to get that special time. 

Letting... Logan go bowling with a friend and her friends, which felt like a big parenting step. There were no grown ups, I just had to trust that he was going to be where he was supposed to be, and do what he was supposed to do.  All went well except the time he couldn't hear his phone ring and I was (shocker) worried. Hah! This whole "kids going out into the world" thing is going to take some getting used to. 

Meeting... our puppy! (and some of her siblings) It was so fun to see the different ones (we got to see one brother, Zane; and sisters Gypsy and Nala) but we all fell hard for tiny little Mila (her given name) and knew she was the one for us. I filled out the paperwork after she and Grady met and proved they could get along (I had no doubt Grady would do great and he didn't let me down) and then we started the two hour drive home from Cashmere, WA.  
We all laughed when Logan was talking about the dogs he saw roaming around their property in the trees.  (It was an orchard, covered in snow)  He goes, "It was just so random to see these dogs running through this apple forest." Oh.my.gosh. We laughed so hard and swore as a family that none of us will ever call it an orchard again. #appleforestforever

Naming... the little sweetheart after hours of debating.  We settled on Piper and it fits her so well.  She is just adorable and playful and loves to be with people. We think she's going to fit in our fam just perfectly.

Comparing... Grady when we got him to Grady now and HOLY MOLY he grew! Hahah!

Not Wanting... to share my failure with you just to show reality. Haha!  But even though I don't want to share it, I will.  I started my daily gratitude journal at the start of 2021 with all the enthusiasm of someone at the new year convinced that this year will be different, better.  I made it pretty far, but gave up the last six to eight weeks... I just got tired of keeping it up.  So if you have things you also didn't do all year, you're not alone. 

Enjoying... my Christmas card door so much that I am not taking it down. Maybe in February I will, but not yet. I love seeing all those smiling faces, lovely families, and kind words when I go to leave my house. 

Setting... a simple goal for 2022, "Be present" that I will write more about in an upcoming post.  What I can promise you is that I did not set any diet goals or weight loss goals because 95% of diets fail, and I know I need to do something deeper within myself to address the issues I have going on there. I'll keep you posted as I figure things out on this journey. 

***

Wanting to get stronger in 2022.

I think this challenge will be helpful!

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