January, January, that month had a thousand days…

F’real, how long was January??????? And now that we’re in the shortest month of the year, how long will THIS month be? Anyone have any idea?

I’m tired, boss.

But there have been some good things peeking around the edges here and there. A good doctor’s appointment with good test results. My kids being awesome. Work being fabulous, even though it’s been an absolutely wild month there as well. We have to take the little things where we can find them, right?

But more on all of that later. Let’s get this recap started, shall we?

Books I Read in January 2025

1. A Widow for One Year by John Irving

2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

3. Thirteen Never Changes by Budge Wilson (read out loud to my daughter)

4. Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More by Elaine St. James

5. The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Jolen (read out loud to my daughter)

6. Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin

7. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

8. Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood by Lonnie Mann

9. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

10. Mister Magic by Kiersten White 

11. County: Life, Death, and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital by David A. Ansell

12. Confessions of a Closet Catholic by Sarah Darer Littman (read out loud to my daughter)

13. In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honoré

14. Mennonite Valley Girl: A Wayward Coming of Age by Carla Funk

15. Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner

16. The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprint by Paul Greenberg

17. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine (read out loud to my daughter)

18. My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit 

Weird month for reading, kind of. I’m still reading a lot from my own shelves, so my picks seem super random a lot of the time, and honestly, it’s a lot of hit or miss. The John Irving was the WEIRDEST John Irving I’ve ever read. Stick with A Prayer for Owen Meany or The Cider House Rules. This one was full of weird sex stuff and was just bizarre. Wild Faith was a tough read with everything going on in the world right now, but my goodness, does Talia Lavin know how to write. The way she uses words is just incredible. If you’ve never read her nonfiction before, you really, really should. 

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books was an absolute delight. Every page was wonderful. It’s a bit of a modern-day fantasy (LOLSOB), about how things *could* be, how people *could* grow and learn and improve if they wanted to, but seriously. Five stars and exactly what I needed to read at that point in time. Don’t sleep on this one!

Eighteen books total. Eight fiction, ten nonfiction. One from my TBR, fourteen from my own shelves (one of these includes a kindle book, but I’m okay with that! Those need to be read as well!). Not bad! 

State of the Goodreads TBR

We’re up to 4 books this month! One, I’m working on and should finish this month; the other three don’t come out until February, March, and September, so, you know, nothing I can about those right now!

Books I Acquired in January 2025

My sister-in-law clued me in to an out-of-print cookbook called Cookmiser, which is a super frugal cooking book, including a method of making yeast bread that includes very little yeast, so I used an Amazon gift card to purchase a used copy for a little over six dollars. I also purchased used copies of a medical terminology book, and a pharmacology book, for future school stuff (and I’m already making use of them!).

My daughter and I cleared four bags of too-young-for-her or she’s-not-interested books off of one of our shelves, so not only do we have some space, but the Little Free Libraries in town will be super happy once the weather gets nice! : )

Bookish Things I Did in January 2024

I worked at the library. And it was a wild, wild, wild month there, lemme tell you.  Pretty sure that’s all I’ve got, though.

Current Podcast Love

Still listening to Big Mad True Crime. I took a break for a while and was enjoying Science Vs., which takes a hot topic (vaccines, abortion, the keto diet, chiropractic) and breaks down the science – or lack thereof – of whatever controversy there is surrounding this. It’s a fabulous podcast and I was truly enjoying it, but unfortunately, I had to stop, because it kept including Agent Orange’s voice in quotes from the news, and I just cannot. I’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard. So I switched back.

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

Lemme tell you, that pharmacology book I’m going through is NO JOKE. I’ve never read anything this difficult in my life. I’ve learned some really interesting things, and was able to warn my kid off a potential future drug interaction – nothing she’s on right, just a kind of, ‘Hey, if they try to prescribe you this, it’s contraindicated for this thing you take…’ so that’s cool. But WOOF.

Real Life Stuff

Seriously, how long was January??? A whole lot going on. I hope you’re taking care of yourself, what with *gestures broadly at everything*. It’s okay to take a step back, turn off the internet in whatever way you can, and just exist outside of all of that for a bit. Head out into nature, go sit in the library for a bit, close the laptop. Doesn’t mean the dumpster fire isn’t still burning, but give your nervous system a rest for a bit here and there.

Work is that place for me. The world doesn’t quite penetrate when I’m there, so it’s a nice break, even when things get hectic, as they’ve been doing. Last Saturday, there were just two of us running the department, and I swear, that library has never been so busy. Even with two of us working the front desk, we STILL had lines (and people were using the self checkout as well!). My coworker told me the only day that has been that busy was the day our new building opened, so you can get an idea of what it was like in there (the week before, I was covering that Saturday for a coworker as well, and children’s was seriously uncomfortably crowded. Turns out that’s because they had over 100 people show up for storytime!!!). I clocked over 14,000 steps that day and earned 342 Zone Minutes on my Fitbit, so, you know, it was a LOT (and, uh, we had an incident that involved the police having to come, because that’s how it is in public libraries). Still the greatest place I’ve ever worked!

Not much outside time this month due to weather and my work schedule, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to get back to the garden a few days in February- I did this morning! We do rewilding in the winter, which I really enjoy. It’s good for both my body and soul. 

I had my yearly checkup with my doctor this month. I had a bad cholesterol test years ago, before my daughter was born, and that’s been a concern to me ever since. But this time, my doctor actually called my blood test results ‘awesome,’ so that was nice! My total cholesterol is just five points over the threshold, but my doctor said it’s because my good cholesterol, which you want to be high, is so high! They want it to be at least 40; mine is 79, haha! I was thrilled with that. One less thing to worry about, you know?

So that’s that. Find joy in the little things when you can. And support the people in your community. We all need it now more than ever.

Wishing you a calmer (AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) February, with all the great reads you can imagine. Be well. : )

Summer break is HERE! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friends, this has been a month. We limped along to the end of school, everyone in the house got COVID (still not 100% sure where it came from), the weather yo-yo’ed like no one’s business, but happy days are here again, and I am so, so very glad. Technically, tomorrow is our last day of school, but we’re not doing anything super crazy intense right now, just a little bit of writing and lots of reading about cool stuff, as befitting the end of the year. I hope you’re all hanging in there as well.

Let’s get this recap started, shall we?

Books I Read in May of 2023

1. Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz (read out loud to my daughter)

2. Action Park by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen

3. Where the Jews Aren’t by Masha Gessen

4. Unfuck Your Habitat by Rachel Hoffman

5. Vincent’s Starry Night and Other Stories by Michael Bird

6. Fire and Rain by David Browne

7. The Giant Book of Tiny Homes by John Riha 

8. Overbooked by Elizabeth Becker

9. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

10. Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

11. Pickled Watermelon by Esty Schachter

12. A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman

13. You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

14. Born to Kvetch by Michael Wex

15. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (review to come)

16. Aftermath by Emily Barth Isler (review to come)

17. On Division by Goldie Goldbloom (review to come)

Okay month for reading; NOT a great month for reviewing. I caught up in a mass review here, but that’s what happens when COVID takes you down for like a week. Some months are like that, though, and that’s okay. I did make the reading I got done count: six fiction, eleven nonfiction. Eight of these books came from my TBR; TEN were for the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge! Speaking of which…

Reading Challenge Updates

I’m killing it! My 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge sheet is filling up nicely. I’m waiting for one book to be released, but I’ll be finished with this pretty soon. It’s been a fun time. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

I’ve really enjoyed doing this. It’ll be nice to get back to fulltime focusing on my TBR, but I’ve loved discovering some new-to-me authors and books I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. I’ll talk a little bit more about this below.

State of the Goodreads TBR

Last month, we left off at 116 (in the teens!!!). This month, we’re now at…

111 books!!! Slowly, slowly making my way to a more manageable TBR.

Books I Acquired in May of 2023

My daughter and I did go to a library book sale earlier in the month. I came home with a giant college textbook of poetry (something I’d like to read more of), and two books on Hebrew: one for kids (but good for me, because I’m still learning!) and another for adults, more on the history of the language, which is pretty cool. Looking forward to reading these in the near future!

Bookish Things I Did in May of 2023

Nothing that I can think of, other than the book sale I mentioned above. There are two of them I’ll be able to hit in June, which I’m seriously looking forward to. I did drop off a few of our books in local Little Free Libraries, so that makes me feel pretty good. : ) 

Current Podcast Love

I listened to a LOT of Crime Junkie when I was sick. I always do. I don’t know what it is about murder shows that’s so relaxing when I feel like crap, but there you go. I listen to History This Week when I’m falling asleep at night, and Digging Up the Duggars when I’m doing my volunteer work or exercising. 

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

So, this is going well, and also I’m changing it up a bit temporarily!

Normally, I set the timer and read for 30 minutes. I was reading one O. Henry short story and then using the rest of the time to read from On the Road by Jack Kerouac, BUT… I’m at the point where I need to read the longest book on my TBR for the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge, and that’s The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances Fitzgerald. This beast of a book clocks in at a whopping 752 pages. It’s fascinating, but it’s also a little bit dry, and also it’s incredibly information-dense. It’s not exactly light reading, and honestly, while I want to have all the information from this book inside my brain, if this were the only thing I was reading, I’d go nuts. So I’m reading it in 25-page portions, one per day, and that’s taking the place of my normal 30-minute Read Harder time. I knew this would be a tough book, so I specifically planned to read it during the summer, when I had more time. Once I finish this, it’ll be back to O. Henry and Jack Kerouac!

Real Life Stuff

So, COVID sucked! (No shit, right???) It wasn’t the worst I’ve ever been sick, but I felt like crap for a solid four days. Mostly flu-like symptoms like body aches, fever for one day, a cough, a little bit of congestion, tiredness, and generally feeling awful. My oldest had a nasty cough, my husband had a little bit of cough and congestion, and my daughter just had a runny nose for a day. (So of course I was the one to do all the cleaning of the constantly junked-up kitchen the entire week. *eyeroll* I’d haul my carcass out of bed, clean the kitchen while my husband and daughter were playing on the living room floor, and then go back to bed. Because apparently cleaning kitchens is only a skill I possess. No one else can make dishes go from the sink or counter to the dishwasher.)

My last appointment with the dentist was far enough away from my onset of symptoms that I’m not 100% certain that’s where it came from (and irony of irony, even if it was, it was my shortest appointment, I was only unmasked for about four minutes, and the only person I saw was double-masked. See why I’m not sure it came from there?). Either way, it’s not something I want again! I sure hope science comes up with a vaccine that truly prevents us from getting COVID sometime soon, because who has time to be down for a week multiple times a year???

We’ve reached the end of our first full homeschool year, and I’m glad we made it. I’m also glad we found what works best for my daughter, and that I’ve learned to be more flexible in terms of scheduling. I’m not sure what school is going to look like this upcoming year. We made a lot of progress this year in terms of figuring out what works well for my daughter, but…she needs to be around other kids. She needs some social interaction. I need to not have her fight me over every. little. thing. My mental health honestly kind of sucks right now, and part of it is because all I do is parent, cook, clean, exercise, and read. I’d like for her to go back to public school, so that’s a conversation that needs to happen soon. *sigh*

What’s up for June besides figuring all of this out? Two book sales, my oldest’s birthday (they’ll be 21! Holy COW, how did that happen???), and hopefully, a lot of reading on the porch in the summer heat. It’s nice and shaded out there, and I have 111 books on my TBR to tackle…

Wishing you all a lovely start to the summer (if it’s summer in your part of the world!). Be well, friends. 

Have you seen all the Justin Timberlake memes the past few days on every social media app in existence? Now they can stop, because IT’S MAY!!!!!!!!! 

Not *quite* warmer weather yet here, but it’s coming, and I’m prepared. I got new chairs for the front porch, and Imma park my behind in them ALL. SUMMER. LONG. It’s actually been a really mild winter here this year; I don’t even think we officially reached 20 inches of snow, which is a bummer, because I really like snow. (I had friends out west get more snow in one day than we got here all winter, which is…weird.) But I’ve still spent enough time indoors, and I’m ready to get out there and read in warm weather for hours at a time. Bring it on!

But first, a recap. Let’s get this thing going, shall we?

Books I Read in April 2023

1. Heretic by Jeanne Kadlec (no review)

2. Original Sins by Matt Rowland Hill

3. Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen (no review; read as part of my personal Read Harder project)

4. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

5. Bad Jews by Emily Tamkin (no review)

6. Squeezed by Alissa Quart

7. The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

8. The Hate Next Door by Matson Browning with Tawni Browning (review to come)

9. Straight Expectations by Calum McSwiggan (review to come)

10. Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver

11. The Colony by Sally Denton (no review, but I did read this as part of the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge)

12. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson (review to come)

13. Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King (review to come)

14. Ducks by Kate Beaton (review to come)

15. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (no review; read as part of my personal Read Harder project)

16. After by Anna Todd (review to come)

Little bit of a slow month here, but it’s been a busy one as well, so less reading time overall. I haven’t been reviewing some of the heavier, more academic nonfiction; I lack confidence in being able to write about some of these books in a way that would do them justice. In terms of The Colony, it was just…okay, but I didn’t love it. It was just so much information thrown at the reader constantly, like a firehose to the face of information. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really my preferred style of nonfiction, so I abstained from writing a review for that one. Heretic was a little similar; it was a good read, but I didn’t feel like my review would add anything to the conversation. 

Six fiction; ten nonfiction; one graphic memoir. Nine of these books came from my TBR, and only four of these were for the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge (yikes!). Speaking of which…

Reading Challenge Updates

I’m keeping on keeping on with the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. Even though I only read four books for this challenge this particular month, I’m still at 36/50 books, which is pretty good! (And I’ve got a stack of library books out right now that count for this challenge, along with owning a bunch more that count, so it’s all good.) Here’s what it looks like now:

State of the Goodreads TBR

My eternal nemesis, the TBR. Last month, I ended up with 120 books; as it stands today, we’re at…

116! I’m in the teens here, people! Making progress. I love that each month it gets just a little bit lower. Fingers crossed, I can keep it going. When it gets lower, I’d love to read from my own shelves a little more, along with just kind of wander the library shelves and see where that takes me. I love having a dedicated TBR list, but I’d also love to be a bit more spontaneous with my reading from time to time. NEVER going back to a TBR in the 300’s, though!

Books I Acquired in April 2023

Hmm…did I get any? I think I did; I came home from a visit to the thrift store with a book on world mythology. Not sure yet if that’s for me or for my daughter’s schooling or both, but it looks fascinating!

Bookish Things I Did in April 2023

Our.

New.

Library.

Is.

OPEN!!!!

It’s so cool! We didn’t go on the opening weekend, as much as I would’ve liked to; they had over 5500 people roll through, and that’s a big ol’ HELL NO even in pre-pandemic times for me. We went Monday after we’d finished the majority of my younger kiddo’s schoolwork, and it’s an absolutely lovely space. It’s still a bit sterile, as they just moved in, there’s not a lot of decoration yet, and there are still spaces they’re finishing up working on, but the space is 100% functional as a library, and of course I grabbed a few books while I was there. How could I not??? My older kiddo and I went back the next day to just chill out there and read for a bit; I finished the book I was reading and returned it before we left. : )

I’m very much looking forward to making new memories in this wonderful new building! At some point, I’ll get a new Monthly Roundup picture in the stacks there. 

Current Podcast Love

I needed something new at night, so I’ve been listening to History This Week, from The History Channel. It’s an absolutely delightful short podcast on a different aspect of history in each episode. I’ve learned about people, places, and events from history around the world, all while falling asleep! Still listening to Leaving Eden and Digging Up the Duggars while I do my volunteer work and exercise, though. 

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

This is going so well! I finished the book of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories at the end of last month, so it was time for something new from off my basement shelves. I found a book of O. Henry’s complete short stories; y’all, this book is over 1600 pages long. The thing is, though, each story is only like three or four pages long, so I brought up another stack of shorter paperback books to go with it. Each day, I set my timer for 30 minutes, then I read one O. Henry story and spend the rest of the time reading a second book. I’m about 70 pages into O. Henry right now (whom I absolutely LOVE!), and I finished both Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (who is a longtime favorite of mine) by doing this. I’m just starting On the Road by Jack Kerouac, which should be interesting!

I also read a little bit from other books at night, before I start my before-bed reading. I’ve been plowing through Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (some of this is a re-read, but I hadn’t read every single entry); I read two entries from this per night. And then, this winter, I also added reading two entries a day from Great Events of the 20th Century, a heavy Readers’ Digest book that I’d picked up from a thrift store or garage sale years and years ago. I’m getting a good recap on 20th century history from this. I mention this because I’m almost done with Jewish Literacy; I’ll add another Jewish book when I finish with this one. Great Events, I still have a good 200 pages to go, but this book has absolutely flown by!

Real Life Stuff

Oy. Onward with dental stuff. Still not 100% sure what’s going on. I definitely have TMJ, which has been intensely painful, but it’s calmed down a lot since it started (THANKFULLY). I’m not sure if the irritation I’m still feeling on my right side is from that, from grinding so heavily there at night (I have a nightguard; dentist is making me a gel one to try to give my jaw a break from the crazed grinding on a heavy surface, so we’ll see how this works), or if there’s more going on, but fortunately my x-rays look okay, so. *shrugs*

Last month of 3rd grade homeschool! We’ve tackled pretty much everything I wanted to get done this year, so right now, we’re just kind of learning some fun stuff. Art, art history, women’s history, media literacy, nature stuff, along with finishing up the language arts curriculum. I’ve got an extra writing assignment for my kiddo for the end of the year; I’m really pushing writing hard, because, as I’ve told her, if you can read, write, and research, you’ve got all the tools you need to get an excellent education. We finished 3rd grade math already, but that curriculum, which I do like otherwise, doesn’t require memorization of the multiplication tables, and, just, NO. So that’s her task for now and into the summer; I refuse to have a kid that doesn’t know the multiplication tables outright. It’s important. Sorry, kid!

And that’s really about it for this month, just looking forward to the end of the school year. I think our last day is something like June 2nd, so we’re *just* about there. Hang in there, friends; we’re doing this thing!

Wishing you a wonderful month full of books that speak to your soul. : )

Happy February!

PHEW. What a month. Started off quite well, ended up not-so-great (not THAT, fortunately, and nothing major), but definitely not as much reading as I would have liked, especially since I had to take multiple days off. HATE when that happens, but such is life. It’s been cold, cold, cold here, and we’ve gotten a lot of snow (though not as much as some of you in the East. We have some more snow on the way tonight, though, so we’ll see!). I’m working my way through all the ebooks on my TBR, so I’m hopeful for more reading this month.

Let’s get this recap started, shall we?

Books I Read in January 2021

1. Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt

2. Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods by Amelia Pang

3. Rad Girls Can: Stories of Bold, Brave, and Brilliant Young Women by Kate Schatz

4. The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis

5. 100 Side Hustles: Ideas for Making Extra Money by Chris Guillebeau

6. Miss Jacobson’s Journey by Carola Dunn

7. Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1) by Sarina Bowen

8. Wonder Women of Science: How Twelve Geniuses are Rocking Science, Technology, and the World by Tiera Fletcher (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

9. The Book of Separation by Tova Mirvis

10. Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O’Connell

11. This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

12. Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby (no review)

13. Invisible City (Rebekah Roberts #1) by Julia Dahl (review to come)

14. Playing with Matches by Suri Rosen (review to come)

Not fabulous in terms of numbers, but in terms of quality, this has truly been a phenomenal month. Several of these books will end up on my best-of-the-year list, I already know. Lower numbers this month because I spent the last week down with a migraine that wouldn’t die and spent the days huddled under a blanket. I highly prefer reading.

Ten of these books came from my TBR, hurray!

Reading Challenge Updates

Not currently participating in any reading challenges.

State of the Goodreads TBR

Last month, we ended at 162, this month, we’re sliding under the door with…158! Getting there. : )

Books I Acquired in January 2022

None! Hurray!

Bookish Things I Did in January 2022

None. Been a quiet month for that.

Current Podcast Love

Still listening to Ologies with Alie Ward, who is funny and brilliant and so enjoyable to listen to. I learn so much from this podcast and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

I’m slightly over halfway through American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood. It’s not the most fascinating book I’ve ever read, but I enjoy the bits of literary trivia on (mostly male) American authors. I picked this book mostly because I was tired of seeing it hang out on my shelf unread, so I’ll be glad to finish it- hopefully in February. I had to take a week off due to the Migraine from Hell, but I started up back with my daily 30 minutes of reading yesterday!

Real Life Stuff

It’s been like an entire year in a single month this month, hasn’t it? Exhausting.

We started out the month keeping our daughter home for the first week back to school. I just couldn’t fathom the idea of sending her back into the petri dish that is an elementary school, with case numbers absolutely exploding everywhere, with kids poorly wearing cloth masks. NOPE. And sure enough, her school had a massive number of cases that first week, as did basically everywhere in the area. I reluctantly sent her back the second week, but I wasn’t happy about it.

She ended up out two days this past week because on Monday night, I started having some weird symptoms and came down with a migraine on Tuesday at 1 am. (My doctor says it’s not normal to be woken up with a migraine, though it’s happened to me before, unfortunately.) Migraines, for me, are a full-body experience. I get chills and sweats, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, etc. It’s almost like the flu with a deadly headache- but this time, I also had a fever. Highest it went up to was 101.9, so you can see why I was concerned, right? I kept my daughter out of school (because if the house had COVID, it was likely that she’d brought home an asymptomatic case) and we went off for PCR tests- negative, thankfully, and I skipped off to the doctor, who put me on preventative meds and gave me a referral to Neurology. Doc also said I may have picked up a virus that triggered the migraine (although I’m not sure where, as I quite literally go nowhere- the places I have to go to, I’m in and out as quickly as possible and I avoid everyone, and I N95-mask everywhere and sanitize my hands after touching anything, but this would definitely explain the fever, and the fact that it took me so long to feel better). I see a neurologist in March, he specializes in headaches, so that’ll be…something. Likely not fun, but I’d definitely like to have fewer migraines. They’ve increased in frequency; I’m wondering if my body is trying to start a menopause party and this is one of the symptoms. Who knows. Bodies are stupid.

I’m doing *much* better now, thankfully, and we’re in waiting for a nasty snowstorm tonight that will start out as rain and then dump anywhere from a few inches to a bunch of snow on us. Plenty of time to stay inside and read!

For February, I’m continuing my assault on my list of ebooks; I’ve had some of them sitting there too long and I’m picking them off one by one. Other than that, the only thing on the schedule so far is a doctor appointment with the physiatrist I see for my back (which is its normal level of crummy- a good thing! No new flares, I’ll take it!), so hopefully the headaches will stay away and I’ll be able to spend my month with a pile of excellent reading.

Happy February, friends! Stay warm, stay safe, stay healthy. We’ve made it this far; we can go a little further, together.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Uh. We hope. *fingers crossed*)

Farewell, 2021. Begone with your demon sibling 2020, and may the way forward be only blue skies and smooth sailing.

A girl can dream, right???

December is over and January is here, and all our Goodreads challenges have settled back again at zero. I hope your December was full of health, happiness, safe gatherings, and plenty of good reads. We had a wonderful, relaxing vacation from school, spent at home reading, taking walks, taking NAPS (so many naps), and spending a lot of quality time together. It was much-needed and very appreciated!

Let’s get this roundup started, shall we?

Books I Read in December 2021

1. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

2. Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder, and Radical Amazement of Parenting by Danya Ruttenberg

3. Ant Egg Soup: The Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos by Natacha Du Pont de Bie

4. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

5. God Is in the Crowd: A Model for Post-Diaspora Judaism by Tal Keinan (no review)

6. Have You Seen Hyacinth Macaw? by Patricia Reilly Giff (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

7. Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox

8. When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teenagers by Ken Krimstein

9. The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

10. American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser

11. Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu

12. Challenging Pregnancy: A Journey through the Politics and Science of Healthcare in America by Genevieve Grabman (review to come)

13. Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir by Aileen Weintrab (review to come)

14. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World’s Religious Traditions by Peter Occhiogrosso (no review)

15. Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller (review to come)

Slightly better numbers this month! I’ve got a lot of projects going on at home, so I still don’t have as much time for reading as I would really like. And that’s not likely to change for a while; I have a whole list of New Years’ resolutions I’m wanting to tackle, but at least some of them are reading-related! I’m definitely wanting to better manage my time and not spend so much time scrolling online (but it’s just so interesting…)

Only five of these were from my TBR this month, yikes!

Reading Challenge Updates

Not currently participating in any reading challenges. I seriously considered whether I was going to do one this year, but I think I’m not quite ready to commit to one yet. I’m enjoying making my way through my TBR, and while I love the way reading challenges introduce me to new authors and styles and subjects, I’m not wanting to commit to one more thing and ignoring my TBR. I *may* pick one up at some point in the year if it feels right. We’ll see.

State of the Goodreads TBR

We left off last month at 156; all those Best-of-the-Year booklists descended upon my house, and…uh…we’re up to 162. Hmph. But I have a plan! I swear!

Books I Acquired in December 2021

None!

Bookish Things I Did in December 2021

Nothing truly book-related, but I was able to attend a virtual gathering put on by the Union for Reform Judaism, where the subject of books came up and I recommended a bunch of books to the group I was in, does that count?

Current Podcast Love

Still listening to Ologies with Alie Ward! Super fun, educational, and fascinating all at the same time. Truly cannot recommend this one highly enough.

When I nap, however, I usually put on a true crime podcast, and I usually go with Crime Junkie. I like their storytelling style.

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

I did it! I finished The Joy of Sects by Peter Occhiogrosso!!! I’m so proud of myself for finally getting it together and figuring out a reading schedule that worked for me.

After I finished, I went downstairs and peered at my basement bookshelves for a bit. I finally decided that my next Read Harder book will be American Literary Almanac: From 1608 to the Present, edited by Karen L. Rood. This has been sitting on my shelves for over a decade, so it’s time to spend my time on it. 15 pages in already!

Real Life Stuff

So here we are, 2022. ’21 was a tough year, but it also brought with it a lot of gifts. I completed my conversion to Judaism (something I’d dreamed of since I was young), I picked up a new hobby (art), I began working on my grandma’s cross-stitch again (getting closer and closer to finishing!), and of course, I read a lot of great books (and some meh ones, but it happens!). Overall, it wasn’t the worst year for me. Challenging, of course, but I made it through mostly in one piece.

School starts up again on Tuesday. To say that I’m not thrilled about this would be about the biggest understatement I’ve ever made. I have no idea how they’re going to consistently keep the schools open the next two months with the way that Omicron spreads like wildfire. I was planning on letting her stay for lunch after winter break, but that’s been cancelled, and I’ll be picking her up for lunch every day still. Pain in the butt, but I’ll do anything I can to lessen her exposure.

Not much in the plans for January. I’m sure at some point, we’ll visit with my mom. She’s been sick, so she wasn’t able to come up for any kind of holiday celebration. Her rapid test was negative, but everything she said makes it sound like COVID (and given Omicron’s ability to evade tests, I’m guessing she had a breakthrough case. Not surprising, because her husband remains unvaccinated *eyeroll*). She’s on the mend, but felt terrible for quite a while. I need to schedule some doctor appointments; nothing serious, just check-ups and follow-ups. And I have a virtual school board meeting to attend later on in the month. That’s about it!

I do have plenty of goals I’ll be working through in the New Year. I blogged about those the other day at my other blog (nothing fancy, it just keeps track of all the things I do every day. I enjoy being accountable for my time). I’m going to be doing a monthly update post on those every month, so follow along if you’re interested (or you just really want to know how many times a week I load the dishwasher…)

Hang in there, folks. Living through history is tough, but we’re tougher, right? We can change and adapt and learn to live in challenging circumstances if we lean on each other and take care of each other. Nothing about this is ideal, but we can do our best to survive, stay healthy, and maybe even thrive a little.

May 2022 bring you excellent reading, love, good health (physical AND mental!), personal growth, friendship, oases of calm amidst the ongoing storm, confidence that we’re strong enough to face whatever comes our way, and peace. Love to you, my friends.

October flew by as well! I’m starting to think we’re either in some kind of bizarre time warp, or I just don’t understand how time works anymore.

It’s been a good month in terms of quality of reading, but I’ve been reading a lot of really emotionally intense things. I’m working down my Goodreads TBR list of what’s available at my local library, and it’s a lot of harder books, subjects I’ve put off or have been waiting until things are slightly less crazy in life to get to. Well…I don’t know when or if things are ever going to truly settle down, so I’ve been diving in. It’s been a rough month in a number of ways, but the reading has helped a lot. I hope you’re hanging in there as well, and that you had a happy Halloween, if it’s something you celebrate! Welcome to November. I’m grateful for books, my library, and for you. 🙂

Let’s get this recap started, shall we?

Books I Read in October 2021

1. The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

2. Men Who Hate Women – From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth About Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All by Laura Bates

3. Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes

4. The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz (no review; read out loud to my daughter)

5. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

6. Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood by Mark Oppenheimer

7. In the Land of Believers: An Outsider’s Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church by Gina Welch

8. Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi

9. The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (no review)

10. Broke In America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty by Joanne Samuel Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox

11. How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France (review to come)

12. Free: Two Years, Six Lives, and the Long Journey Home by Lauren Kessler (review to come)

So, bit of a slow month overall, but amazing in terms of quality, and not easy in terms of the emotional impact of these books. Undocumented immigrants, violent misogyny, racial hatred that led to murder, a middle grade historical fiction, the psychological effect of a mass school shooting, antisemitism that led to murder, undercover writing about Evangelical Christianity, Islamophobia, more racial hatred, extreme poverty. Once again, phew! I do have more fiction on my TBR, I promise! I WILL get to it eventually! I just enjoy nonfiction a lot, even the tough stuff. I enjoy learning about the world from someone else’s perspective and feeling like I’m using my brain (the opportunity for that doesn’t happen often these days, so I’m grasping for any chance I can get!).

My daughter and I are reading Anne of Avonlea. I don’t know that she enjoys this one as much as she did Anne of Green Gables, simply because it’s harder for her to relate to a more grown-up Anne, but I’m enjoying it! Not sure what’s next on our list.

Nine of these books came from my TBR.

Reading Challenge Updates

Not current participating in any reading challenges.

State of the Goodreads TBR

Last month, we left off at 156 books on said TBR; this month, we’re down to 150! Imagine, there once was a time when it was down to 78…It’s nice to have goals, right???

Books I Acquired in October 2021

None!

Bookish Things I Did in October 2021

I was browsing an online calendar for virtual Jewish events at the end of September when I came across two events that I immediately wanted to attend. The first was an appearance by Mark Oppenheimer, author, journalist, and co-host of the Unorthodox podcast, to discuss his latest book, Squirrel Hill. I hadn’t read the book yet, but as luck would have it, it came in at my library that night. The interview with Mark was wonderful and illustrated his emotional ties to both the Jewish community as a whole and his ancestral neighborhood of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh. The second event I attended happened several days later; author Dara Horn was promoting her latest book, People Love Dead Jews, which I had already read. She discussed her book and debated a few topics with another speaker; she’s wildly intelligent and I really enjoyed being able to hear her speak.

These online author presentations are one of the few gifts we’ve been given from this awful pandemic, and it’s something I hope continues long into the future.

Current Podcast Love

Still listening to and enjoying the Ologies podcast! It’s endless fun, and a fun way to learn as I’m falling asleep, or when I wake up in the middle of the night. Alie Ward is a fabulous interviewer, and even subjects I have no interest in, she makes me go, “Huh, maybe this is interesting after all…” Highly recommended!

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

Uh, yeah. No progress on that this month. I’ll talk about why below.

Real Life Stuff

Oof, what a month.

Depression and anxiety hit me HARD last month. Like, really, really hard, and it only continued to get worse this month. My heart was racing, I couldn’t focus, my stomach noped out of eating pretty much anything because it felt like it was full of pre-performance butterflies at all times…things were bad, friends. Like, finally bad enough for me to break down and call to get a same-day doctor appointment with a doctor who I’ve seen before but who is not my regular provider. Crying to someone you barely know while wearing a mask really sucks, you know? He was kind and sympathetic and agreed that I was entirely emotionally tapped out from *gestures broadly at everything* and prescribed me a low dose of antidepressants to get me over this hump. And fortunately, they kicked in after about a week and a half…

…just in time for my back to go out again! (I can’t win.) I had been doing great since my caudal injections last month, until I bent over to buckle my daughter in her car seat and something on my left side spasmed mightily, leaving me in heaps of pain, struggling to walk and once again feeling like my pelvis is trying to electrocute me when I’m in a sitting position- only this time, because of the antidepressant, I couldn’t take the gabapentin to control that like I would have before. My physiatrist’s office responded to my message on Monday; they were able to fit me in for an emergency appointment the next day, where we scheduled more caudal injections. She said if I keep flaring after this set of injections, she wants to redo my MRI and consult with the surgeon about maybe going in there and shaving off the herniated part of what’s left of my L5S1 disc. Not my ideal situation, but it would be nice to, you know, move normally again and not be in SO much pain all the time, so we’ll see. Round 2 of injections happens tomorrow, so think good thoughts for me! 🙂  (On the way out the door, my doctor saw my copy of How to Survive a Plague by David France and remarked, “Oh, that’s a really good book!” She’s got excellent taste in books, y’all!)

That’s about it! I’m crossing everything that my daughter will be able to get vaccinated this month; our local Walgreens said they were preparing to vaccinate kids in the next week or two, so here’s hoping! May your November be filled with love, warmth, light, and beautiful colors, no matter where you’re at in the world. Be safe, friends.