What I've been reading; The First Six Months

In February of this year I found myself filled with anxiety and the feeling that I had loss my sense of 'self.' With three kids at home, that I mostly take care of alone, my needs, wants, expressions get pushed to the wayside. For the majority of the week I am the sole 'adult-in-charge' and I feel a bit like I am always in crisis mode. 

My personality, my quirks, the little things that used to make up me have up and left so that the 'shit, this needs to be taken care' part can be front and center. If asked about myself I felt like the only thing I could come up with would be that I have three kids, I knit, and sometimes, if I have the time, I read. 

Unfortunately, the town we live in does not give me options for 'finding myself.' We are within 20-30 minutes from Grand Rapids, so our town has almost nothing because 'You can just go into GR for that!' Yeah, that doesn't work when you have three school age children, a limited budget, and no one to babysit. 

So, in an effort to show myself that parts of me might still be in here, I decided to keep a list of every book I read this year. I can look back and see the things I read for enjoyment, or learning, or as a pick-me-up. I re-read a lot of things. For example, one of the books on the list is like book 8 in a series, so I re-read the series before reading the new book. Plus, in May, when I was feeling exceptionally bad, I re-read a lot of books and fanfiction. Didn't add any of those to the list. Just new books. New-to-me books, with one exception as I will note below.

1. You've Gotta Get Bigger Dreams

     -Alan Cumming

2. Prairie Fires-The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

    -Caroline Fraser

3. Call Me By Your Name

    -Andre Aciman

4. Know Not Why  (Kindle Book)

    -Hannah Johnson 

5. Omega Required (ARC Kindle Book)

    -Dessa Lux  (I was given an Advance Reader Copy for free to read/review)

6. The Shape of Water 

    -Guillermo Del Toro & Daniel Kraus

7. Just a Bit Shameless (Kindle Book)

    -Alessandra Hazard 

8. Raven Black

    -Ann Cleeves

9. Tommy's Tale

    -Alan Cumming

10. Not My Father's Son

    -Alan Cumming

11. Introducing Mr. Winterbourne (Kindle Novella)

    -JoAnna Chambers

12. The Year of Living Danishly- Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country.

    -Helen Russell

13. Identity

    -Milan Kundera

14. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie -A Flavia de Luce Novel-

    -Alan Bradley

(This is my one exception. I read this book when it first came out. My mom got me hooked on the series. As a librarian she came across awesome books and hooked me up. I always wanted to own this series, so I am buying them as I can afford them. Plus, I am about three books behind and Alan Bradley has a new one coming out in January. I decided to buy and re-read the ones I read and buy/read the ones I haven't. I'll be caught up by January for the new book!)

15. The Glass Castle

    -Jeannette Walls

16. Knit One, Girl Two (Kindle Book)

    -Shira Glassman

17. Rainbow Place (Kindle Book)

    -Jay Northcote

18. Toil and Trouble -A Know Not Why Halloween (Mis)Adventure- (Kindle Book)

    -Hannah Johnson

And that is where June ends. I am currently reading the second book in the Flavia de Luce series. And knitting the sweater-that-never-ends. 

I also have a list of everything I've knitted in the first six months of the year. I'll add that here soon.