Pregnancy Hibernation and Reading Slump Problems

I went through this too a lesser degree when I was pregnant with The Toddler. Back then it was mostly just a reading slump, since I was working and hibernating wasn't an option. The reading slump was...Extensive. The only things I wanted to read were The Cat Who... books, Spiderwick, and Redwall, and that is literally all I read for over two years. TWO YEARS.

This time I'm in full on hibernation mode and I can feel the slump coming. I'm 200 pages in to A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas and I just can't seem to get into it but I picked up The Cat Who Robbed a Bank and I can't seem to put it down. I'm avoiding leaving the house unless it involves a drive-thru or a bookstore, even though we just bought a new (to us) car so that I'm not stuck at home all day. It's like I just want to be home, and be comfortable, and cozy, and not have to deal with people.

I don't know is pregnancy hibernation is actually a thing or not, but it's pretty real for me. We've had someone at our house almost constantly since we moved in, it seems, and I'm to the point where I just can't stand it anymore. I want to be alone and not have anyone here for anything for like a week, I need some recharging time and I need it fast. But I've also got some reading goals to achieve this year and I do not want another two year reading slump. I need a plan to keep myself from falling into that 'comfort reading' thing that led to the slump last time.

So the plan is as follows, and I'm making this up as I go along so bear with me;

1. Stay home - No leaving the house except grocery shopping and doctors appointments.

2. Read the 'comfort reading books' - That's right. I'm going to read them.

3. Limit the 'comfort reading' - I can easily read one Cat Who... book a day. I can read 3 Cat Who books, then I have to read one other book.

My reading will be slow for a while, and interspersed with lots of Cat Who books. I've read the whole series more times than I can count, and I will probably read them 2-3 times in the next few months but I'm okay with that. So that's the plan for now! Happy reading!

March Wrap-Up and Spring Reads

It's hard to think that March is over already! It seems like it went by so quickly. So much happened with our house selling, and inspections, and paperwork, it seemed like I had almost no time to read! However I got in a lot more reading than I did in February and made quite a bit of progress with the RMSC.

I read a total of nine books in March, compared to only three in February. Six of the nine books count for the RMSC!
1. The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley (Review)
2. Bookish by Olivia Long
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4. Bury the Hatchet (Tulsa Thunderbirds #1) by Catherine Gayle
5. Last Play by Taylor Hart
6. Naughty Professor by S.J. Bishop and Jeni Brown
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Mary Boleyn; Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir
9. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Those six books put me at 9 out of 25 for the RMSC. Which means I've caught up (since I was behind one book at the end of February) and if I read 2 books a month for the RMSC I will meet the goal of 25!

Reading Habits

Last month I was out of my favorite tea and I'm still out. Finding time to go to the tea shop has been harder than I thought it would be and I just found out my favorite tea shop is closing. The owner is retiring to spend time with her granddaughter, which is nice for her but now I'm scrambling for tea! I've been drinking a different tea and its working out well, except for I'm almost out of that tea too. However, I did find a coffee that I *love* and its from Starbucks! But its pre-ground and sold in bags at my grocery store so I can get it at a decent price. I've still been going to Biggby to read at least once a week, I usually get in some good reading time there. I have a new found love for shortbread cookies in the last month. I think it's because the tea I've been drinking is a Scottish tea and it goes so perfectly with the shortbread.

Goals for March

-Read 2 and a half books for the RMSC (exceeded!)

-Buy some coffee and tea (I bought coffee but tea is still lacking)

-Buy a toddler-proof bookmark ( I bought one and The Toddler stole it from the kitchen table and I haven't seen it since)

Goals for April

-Find the bookmark I bought last month

-Find my reading glasses (stolen by The Toddler also)

-Eat more baby carrots and less shortbread cookies

-Read 2 books for the RMSC

Spring Reading

It's hard for me to make a list of books I'm going to read, generally because I choose what to read by how I'm feeling. However, I can kind of give a general idea of the kinds of things I'm feeling like reading right now. 

I'm thinking a lot of Kindle books are going to happen this spring, for several reasons. First, we're moving. The books are getting packed first, and will probably not be the first thing that gets unpacked. The Kindle will be accessible when my physical books are not. Secondly, time. Most of the books on my Kindle are romance, and most of those are on the short side. They'll be easy quick reads when I'm stressed out from packing/unpacking. Third, content. I know that moving will probably not be easy with my anxiety and reading something heavy, or dark, or that I will have to work to get into won't really work or me. Most of the romance novels I have waiting for me are pretty light and that is exactly what I'm going to need. 

However, one exception to the fluff books will be, without a doubt, A Court of Wings and Ruin! I'm so beyond excited for this book. I haven't been waiting this anxiously for a book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For Deathly Hallows I went to a midnight release party at Borders, and spent the next 24 hours doing nothing but reading, drinking coffee, and eating lunchables. For A Court of Wings and Ruin there are no release party's, at least none that I know of, and with The Toddler needing to actually sleep at night I probably couldn't go to one anyways. But I have preordered and it should get delivered on release day! So unless our actual moving day happens to be May 2nd, I will be spending that day and night and probably the next day, absolutely devouring A Court of Wings and Ruin. I'm still suffering the book hangover from A Court of Mist and Fury, I can't get into anything right now, even the books I'm currently reading I just want to put them down and go pick up Mist and Fury again. I need A Court of Wings and Ruin, like yesterday. 

I'm trying to decide on a few books to keep out of the boxes just so I have some options. I'll probably keep 3 or 4 out. I'm going to keep going with Deadhouse Gates and Outlander. I've got to read Big Little Lies for the book club meeting on the 28th. I'm thinking I'll also keep out The Perfect Girl and Throne of Glass, so that's a total of five. I guess five isn't bad. 

I'm really looking forward to April. There's going to be a lot of changes in the next two months but I can't wait to do a post (or four) on the book organization process in the new house! It's going to be a fun month! Happy reading!

Reading Habits Post #1: My Usual Reading Routine

I say 'usual reading routine' but I mean that very loosely. Sometimes the whole routine just can't happen. Sometimes it's just reading a few pages while I stand in the kitchen waiting for water to boil or the oven timer to go off so I can take out dinner. So I guess this is more like my 'ideal reading routine'.
This is what I do when I get an hour or so to dedicate to reading. Usually that's at night after everyone else is in bed, sometimes nap times but that's usually
when I clean. Or scroll through Pinterest. Some of these habits are good and some are not so good. I'm going to do this as a series so I can work on changing the bad habits into good ones, and hopefully being more intentional with my reading time in order to get the most out of it.

Step 1- Boil water. Of course this step only applies if I'm making coffee or tea. When I know I've got a bit of time to sit down and read I'll fill the kettle and get it on the stove first.

Step 2-Comfy clothes. I prefer pj pants, but leggings or yoga pants work too. No bra. I can't really relax with a bra on. Over-sized t-shirt, usually The Husbands.


Step 3: Prepare the beverage. Back in the kitchen, I get out my mug and select a tea flavor or prep the french press. Measure proper amount of tea leaves into the tea ball and usually by then the water is boiling. Pour water, insert tea ball, or put the lid on the french press for coffee, Steep/brew for proper amount of time, usually 3-4 minutes.

Step 4: While hot beverage of choice is brewing, select the snack(s). I usually go for fruit (frozen fruit is the best) or cookies. Honestly, fruit is the healthier choice, but if there are cookies in the house, I'm eating cookies.

Step 5: Sit and read. I have an armchair in the living/play room that is supposed to be my 'reading chair' but  it doesn't have an ottoman for my feet, and all the warm blankies are in the family room, so I usually end up reading on the couch. I leave the TV off, but my computer is usually close by. I read for a bit, look at Facebook a bit, read some more, check out Pinterest for a bit. You get the idea...

So, habits I want to change;
1. Computer use while reading. This is a bad one, since it's really easy to get sucked into Youtube, or Pinterest and waste all my reading time.
2. Snacks. Snacking by itself is not a problem, I want to make better snack choices. Less cookies, more fruit.
3. Cleaning before reading. This mostly applies to my 'middle of the day' reading during nap time. I tend to put off dishes and things in order to read, then I'm rushing to get things done at the end of the day, and cleaning from Monday spills over too Tuesday and then I've got double the work to do and before I know it I'm totally overwhelmed with my house and The Husband is eating dinner off one of The Toddlers plastic pink plates because all the others are dirty.

It doesn't seem like a lot of things to change, but this is stuff that I, personally, struggle with. I hate cleaning, and I love food and the internet so I've got my work cut out for me. I look at all of this as a way of becoming more mindful and fully enjoy something (reading) that I already know I love.

February Wrap-up

 

It's March! I wanted to start doing a wrap-up post at the end of every month, just to recap what books I read in the last month, progress on the RMSC, and reading habits/issues that I'm noticing. 

So February. It wasn't my most prolific reading month. I read three books, only one of those counted for the RMSC. 

1. The Yellow Wallpaper (Gilman)

2. Detroit; An American Autopsy (LeDuff)

3. Gardens of the Moon (Erikson) -This one counted for the RMSC

As far as the RMSC goes...

I've read 3 books out of the goal of 25, which puts me one book behind. As of now I need to read 2.2 books a month in order to finish on time. Realistically, if I can finish two books a month and get aout half way through a third book I should be okay. 

Habits-

I ran out of my favorite black tea about a week ago and then I ran out of my morning coffee three days ago. Lack of hot beverage has thrown me off and a shopping trip may be in order. I've been going to Biggby Coffee a couple of nights a week to get in some dedicated reading time and I've really enjoyed that, I call it my Mom-cation (mom+vacation). Also, I need a better bookmark. The Toddler loves to steal my bookmarks, so I'm always losing my place and can never find one when I need one.

Goals for March-

-Read 2 and a half books for the RMSC

-Buy some coffee and tea

-Buy a toddler-proof bookmark

That's it for February! Hopefully March brings a ton of good books and lots of reading time and coffee!

The Morning Routine That Wasn't Meant To Be and What I'm Reading Right Now

My 'morning reading routine' idea is pretty much out the window. The Husband's start time for work has changed so he doesn't leave the house until 8 AM and The Toddler has started waking up at 7 AM. So my hour, my one glorious hour, is gone. But on the bright side I've made a real effort to read in the small minutes I get though out the day. Nap time, when my mom comes over and is playing with The Toddler, when The Toddler accidentally closes the bathroom door and can't get in to watch me pee... And instead of watching tv in the evenings I've been reading. No more binge watching Gilmore Girls till 1 AM.

With all of that being said, here's what I've made progress on this week.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson - I made this book my priority this week. I've been reading snippets of the other books here and there, but this one, especially in the last few days, has been the book I pick up first. I've finally made it past the half way point and things are starting to come together and get really good. As Marguerite from Everafter said "I do love a good intrigue!" and this book is full of intrigue.

The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley - Slow progress on this one, mostly because I'm trying to finish Gardens of the Moon, but once I can give it my full attention it will be a fast read.

Mary Boleyn; Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir - This one is a library book so I'm trying to make steady progress with it so I can return it on time and also because I love it. I have an obsession with Tudor England and have for many years. Mary is such a misrepresented figure and I love that Weir is laying exactly what we know and don't know about her so clearly. The Other Boleyn Girl, one of my favorite books of all time, created a lot of misinformation about her in the name of plot and although it works in the novel it's good to see the truth about Mary's life and career at court.

I'm also adding another book to the DNF list this week.

Essentialism by Greg McKeown- This book was recommended on a podcast that I love, The Simple Show from The Art of Simple blog, However the more I read of it the more I felt it just didn't apply to my life. The book is about saying no to stuff that distracts you from your main purpose, from the things that make your life happy and your job worth doing, which is probably great for most people. But for me, a super introverted, stay-at-home mom, with no career besides raising my daughter to not be an asshole, it just wasn't for me. So, I put it on the DNF list and returned it to the library.

What I'm Reading Right Now and Updates on the Reading Routine

This last week or so has been a bit busy and I'm making slow progress but progress is progress. Right? So without further ado, here's what I'm reading right now.

Detroit; An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff- Finished! I actually read this in less than 24 hours. It was an interesting read but since I live within 20 minutes of most of the places he referenced it was a little unnerving. The writing style was not great in my opinion, some of it read like a 1940's crime novel. Full review is up on GoodReads!

The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley- Still at the beginning of this one but I love a good historical novel. I found this one in an issue of Bookmarks Magazine and its been on my TBR list for a while so I'm pretty excited to be reading it.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson-Still reading this one. It's good and I'm finally making some progress. I've been carrying it around the house with me since I usually just pick up the nearest book when I get a few minutes to read and I've finally hit 200 pages!

As far as the reading routine I posted about last week...That's not going so great. The plan was to use the hour between The Husband leaving for work and The Toddler waking up to read. I was going to start Monday. Well, Monday I forgot and watched Gilmore Girls instead. Tuesday The Husband had taken the day off for Valentines Day so there was no hour. I didn't even remember I was supposed to be starting a new routine this week until I put The Toddler down for her nap on Tuesday. This morning I forgot again and watched Gilmore Girls. So the new goal is to start tomorrow. I'm going to write myself a reminder on the fridge. I have a handy dandy dry erase board for stuff like that.

That's all I've got for right now. Hopefully I'll be reading some new books next week!

Morning Reading Routines and Genres I Used to Know

I don't currently have much of a morning routine. I get up with The Husband, make his breakfast, pack his lunch, and see him off too work, then I usually have in between thirty minutes and an hour to myself before The Toddler wakes up. The half-ish hour is usually spent scrolling through Pinterest. I feel like I waste that time, but the temptation of Pinterest is too much most mornings, when I'm still tired but don't have enough time to go back to sleep and don't really feel like doing anything else either.

Next week, I'm going to try something a bit different. I tried Fly Lady for a while last year and while the system as a whole didn't really work for me she has some good habits to get into, like getting dressed for the day. Fly Lady says to get dressed TO YOUR SHOES. LACE UP shoes. They have to be lace up shoes so you can't plop your butt on the couch and slip off your shoes at any point in the day, you have to go through the trouble of untying them. But that's crap. I don't like wearing shoes in my house. I like thick, warm, wool socks. So, when I get up I'm going to try and get dressed, even if its just leggings and a tee shirt, and brushing my hair and teeth and all that crap, so maybe I'll feel like doing something other than scrolling through Pinterest.

The goal is to schedule some morning reading time. With The Toddler being a toddler, and the house being shown all the time, and having to cook three meals a day, I've been having trouble finding the time to read during the day. In fact I can feel a very long reading slump coming on, so I figure if reading time is built in to my morning it will make things a bit easier and I can get back on track with my reading goals. And be dressed before 3 pm.

Along with finding time to read I've also been evaluating what I'm reading, and why it's not working for me.

Two of the books I stuck on the DNF list this week were romance novels. Until recently, like the last six months or so, I did NOT read romance. I'm not really an emotional person. It might seem like I am, with my anxiety issues and things, but I really can't deal with other peoples emotions. I mean, seriously, I barely understand my own emotions. If it's not a logical thing chances are I'm probably not going to get it, and romance novels are a LOT of emotions, and illogical decisions. I don't know why I've been drawn to them lately, and I have no problem admitting that I like them, however I think I overloaded on them. And if it doesn't have an actual plot or isn't well written, yea...I'm not reading crap.
The other book I'm having trouble getting through is Gardens of the Moon. I've heard great things about this book and what I've read so far I really like. I have no idea why I can't seem to really get into it. There was a time when all I read was Fantasy books, and now for some reason, I can't seem to get into them at all. I don't know if it's just not having time, or if my tastes in books are changing but I'm going to stick with this one a while longer.

I think knowing when to quit is really the key to things here. In the past, when I've not finished a book it usually lead to some sort of reading slump, which I'm actively trying to avoid. I'm hoping by stopping sooner, and not reading until I hate the idea of picking up another book, I can avoid the slump.

Battle of the Bookshelves!

I currently have two bookshelves. Both are pretty old, they've been though at least two moves with us, and one has held up better than the other. The one that is in relatively good shape is from Big Lots (I think, it might be Target or K-Mart but I'm like 85% sure it's Big Lots). The other shelf is a Billy Bookcase from Ikea. We bought it from the 'As-Is' section, it has some damage to one of the sides but not damage that affects it's ability to hold books. It was cheap and I didn't care what it looked like since I figured it would always be next to another bookshelf or a wall or something and the damage would be nearly invisible. My point being, the Billy is wobbley.  Currently there are no books on it because A.) it was so wobbley I was afraid it would collapse and B,) We are trying to sell our house and our realtor said it would look like we were ready to move if we had some boxes sitting around, so I boxed up some books. Four rather large boxes of books. 

So I have a total of one (1) usable bookshelf. I also got a shit-ton of books for my birthday at the end of November and Christmas, plus I like to do a little retail therapy at the used books store once in a while. And I had birthday money to spend, and most of it went to books. All of this means one thing; I've got piles of books all over. Well, I did until today. The Toddler and I spent part of today reorganizing the one operational bookshelf to fit as many books as possible. It's not pretty, and there are book stacked almost to the ceiling but they are on the shelf. 

Here is the before picture...

 And the after...

It took a lot to get them all the fit. I spent most of the morning looking at blog posts with book organizing tips, which was a trial of my patience. I started on Pinterest, because I usually find the most awesome ideas on Pinterest, but apparently no one on Pinterest has many books, and if they do they are all covered in white craft paper so they all match, which would be infuriating if you actually wanted to read a book. 

Seriously, I tried to do 'Pinterest Pretty' bookshelves one time. I spent hours organizing all my books by color. When I was done I stepped back and took a look at, it was pretty. And it drove me nuts. They were out of order. I couldn't do it. So my pretty shelves lasted about 3 minutes. 

When I didn't find anything useful on Pinterest I switched to good old Google. I found a lot of tips I'd never thought of in all my years of shelving books. 

Tip #1- Put the heavier books on the bottom. You would think this would be a no brainer. It wasn't for me. For years I have been putting hardcovers on the top shelves. They're pretty and they look nice all stacked up, but they make much more sense on the bottom where they are less likely to fall.

Tip #2- Book Tetris. If you have an empty space find a book to fill it. Obviously I did that pretty well. 

Tip #3- Use the space above the shelf. Now to be fair to myself I was using the space above the shelf. For The Husbands collection of hardcover Stephen King books. Turns out those King books fit much better in a stack on the bottom shelf and I can fit an ass load of mass market paperbacks up there on the top. 

Now all the books (that aren't in boxes) are on the shelf. They are out of order and it's a little crazy making but I am happy I got them all to fit. Now, the boxed books are the problem. 

The Husband has been going back and forth on spending the money for new bookshelves. We are trying to move so he wants to wait till we're actually in a new house before we buy bookshelves so we can get them to fit wherever they're going to go in our new house. I get it. But I want my books out. So I've decided to try to repair the Billy myself. 

The backing came off a while back and from what I've been reading that is why it's so wobbley all the sudden. I found some instructions online for how to repair it with Gorilla Glue and nails and I'm going to give it a go tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some pretty pictures of all my books beautifully organized and not in boxes but we'll see how it goes. 

Reading Habits: A Mug of Something Warm

We are having some weird weather here. It snowed Monday night, about four inches, and it was beautiful. Then Tuesday the temperature went up to just above 32 degrees, it rained all day Tuesday and by Tuesday evening most of the snow was gone. But now the temperature has dipped back down again and all the water that had no where to go has frozen over everything. 

So all in all it's a cold, crappy, winter here. Which is perfect reading weather! When it's cold out there's nothing better that a blanket, a book, and a cup of something warm. I usually save my coffee/tea for The Toddler's nap time, when I'm actually alone and can sit down and enjoy it. I used to be a two-cups-a-day, don't-talk-to-me-till-I've-had-my-coffee, type of person, but in the last year that's changed. I don't know if it's just that I'm getting older or has to do with my anxiety or what, but I can't handle sugar first thing in the morning. I get all shaky and jittery, which is not an enjoyable thing, and I can't drink coffee without cream and sugar. So, when the house is quiet I boil some water and make some coffee or tea.

 I use a french press for my coffee because I recently discovered mold growing in my little 4 cup coffee machine and had to toss it. I already had the french press so I decided to use it instead of buying another coffee machine. I like that it's a more mindful process but it does require a higher quality coffee than a drip machine. I can't wait till my three pound can of coffee grounds from Costco is used up so I can buy a small bag of fresh ground coffee. The Costco coffee, though okay for a drip machine, kind of turns into mud in the french press, tasteless and bitter. I discovered the other day though that I can put hot chocolate mix into my coffee and it tastes almost like my favorite Starbucks drink! YAY! So now I do that most afternoons. I get to have a faux mocha latte and read a book. 

I also love tea! For a long time I loved the idea of tea but didn't really like tea itself. Of course I was only buying black tea bags from the grocery store and didn't know anything about proper brew times or anything like that. Now I buy loose leaf tea from a small, local, tea shop and it is infinitely better. My favorite tea for the morning is called Scottish Morn by Harney and Sons. It's a black tea and it's stronger than English Breakfast tea, but not as strong as coffee, and I drink it black in the morning. I like tea in the evening too. I love a blend called Heavenly Hazelnut. It's so cozy and has little bits of chocolate in it. I drink that one with a little milk and sugar in it but not much, the flavor is too good to cover up with a bunch of sugar. 

Honestly, I usually only get though half a mug of whatever I happen to be drinking. I usually get too involved in whatever I'm doing and forget about it, especially if I'm reading. But the mindfulness of brewing a cup of tea, of selecting my favorite mug and choosing a tea and preparing the teapot/infuser. I find it so calming after a day of constantly being needed and doing everything for other people, even though I love the people, that's why I do it all, but I need those few minutes for myself at the end of the day.