Adjustments

I feel the pull to blog today, but I don't really have anything I want or need to blog about.  Things are settling into a routine around here.  The dishes have been caught up for 2-3 days and all the laundry is caught up (Huzzah!) as of yesterday. 

It's amazing how a clean house puts you in a better emotional state.  When my house is messy, I can't focus on anything.  Cleaning is even hard, because it feels so overwhelming, I don't know where to start.  Thanks to flylady's guidance over the years, I've learned not to try to do it all in one day.  There are still a couple rooms that need a deep clean, but I will tackle them one at a time, while I maintain what's already clean.  It's all about maintenance.  I've had periods like this in the past where things were clean enough for me to be in maintenance mode, but it's been a couple years since that kind of miracle has occurred around here.

I even have a scrapbooking date with a friend tomorrow... which is very exciting... I haven't felt in control of my life long enough to scrapbook in a very long time.    I still have a very long "to do" list, but I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

So if you want to know how I like having all my kids in school all day?  I LOVE it.  I'm not going to lie.  It's fantastic... I get everything done I need to do before they come home and I can dedicate all my focus and energy to helping them with homework, etc. and not be constantly distracted by other things pulling my attention away.  And we've been swimming almost every afternoon.  The kids come home so hot and sweaty from the bus, that I throw them straight into the pool to relax and cool down for about half an hour.  Not that the pool is cool... I'm about ready to get some ice blocks if it doesn't rain soon... but it helps everyone calm down so they can focus on homework.  Our pool has gotten more use in the last two weeks than it has all summer!

So if you'll excuse me now, I'm going to go plop myself down on the couch with a Diet Coke and the book I need to have finished by Tuesday night for Book Club and enjoy my afternoon, guilt free! 

Young Adult Fiction

I've become quite the addict of YA Fiction. I think it's come a long way since I was a teenager. When I was little I loved reading and I was quite good at it. Then, came JR High and "assigned" books to read. I often didn't enjoy the books that were required reading or I didn't understand the symbolism I was supposed to uncover, so I got frustrated and disliked reading even more.

This trend continued all the way through college. I never read for fun. Then, while we were still newlyweds my husband bought me this book:

It was the first in a series of Historical Fiction Novels about the organization of our church. Based completely on fact, but written from the perspective of a fictional family. I ate it up. I remembered how fun it was to read again. I discovered reading for pleasure! I was in heaven! My mother-in-law is a book addict herself and kept me well stocked with books to read. They were mostly church fiction, and mostly romances, but still, I enjoyed them.

Years passed, and I still wasn't reading much outside the LDS genre. Mostly because I didn't know what good books were out there. I didn't get a library card, and couldn't afford to buy books of my own. I have high standards and won't read a book if I find it's overly violent, trashy, or smutty. I didn't want to waste money buying books that might fall into this category.

Then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. I had somehow missed hearing about HP up until this point. My mom was curious and bought the set of books 1-4 at Costco, thinking they would be great to have around when the grandkids got older. She picked one up to read it, and didn't surface again until she'd wiped out all four. Then she drove them to my house and left them with me. Because Ian was just a week or two old, I had plenty of time to read. I read and read and read.

Harry Potter really opened the flood gates. I finally went to my local library and got a library card. I started searching out good books in the library. Then a friend invited me to come to a book club. I reluctantly went. In my mind, I would be back in English class, disecting every single detail and every hidden meaning. It was nothing like that at all. I loved it. I was hooked.

Over the years, I've read lots of books, discovered the fun of reading books in series, and picked over the YA section many times. I like YA books because they are often shorter, cleaner, and well, I don't know why... I just like them.

Here's my most recent YA find:

I can't even begin to describe what this book is about in any concise manner, but it will NOT disappoint. Here's a plot summary from Amazon.com:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

I just finished the second book in the planned Trilogy, Catching Fire. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I had an anxious pit in my stomach the entire book. I won't give you a plot summary here, because I don't want to blow anything from the first book for anyone who hasn't read them. I will say one thing that I was really touched by: Cinna. Love that character. Love his guts, love his style, love his skills, love his courage, and LOVED his "statement". When you read it, you'll know what I mean. But let's just say that it's going to be a long wait for book 3. A long, long wait.

So now that I have a whole year to wait... I need to distract myself with other good books. What's your favorite YA book or series? Please share... I might go crazy thinking about the Hunger Games!

Book Worm

I love to read. I've always loved to read, but I haven't always made the time. I think in High School I got burned out reading because I never seemed to enjoy the books we had to read for English Class. I also don't enjoy having to pick a book apart for an assignment... I enjoy reading just for the pleasure of it. Sometimes I find myself picking books apart and analyzing them, but I don't like being assigned to do it. When I got married, I didn't read much. I was working full time and trying to "be a good wife" in the evenings, which didn't include hibernating in another room with a novel. Besides, I just didn't know what kind of good books were out there. That's when I started reading the "Work and the Glory" series, but I started when there were just 2 or 3, so I had to wait a year for the next one to come out so I could get my "Steed" fix. Then I had kids and who has time to read with a full time job and a toddler?

It wasn't until I had Ian that I really jumped back into the "reading" world head on. About the same time he was born the 4th Harry Potter book was released. I'd never heard of them, but my mom saw a special about the books on the Today show and decided to buy them at Costco. She figured they would be good books to have around for the grandkids when they got a bit older. She decided to read the first one, just to see what they were like. It was all over after that. She read all 4 back to back and then brought her set to me. I had a newborn, so lots of time to read, right? I was skeptical, but read all four in just a couple weeks. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading a good book (or books in this case!) I'm amazed no one ever snapped a picture of me sitting in my rocking chair, holding Ian with a bottle and balancing a HP book all at the same time. I became quite good at it!

A little while later, a friend of mine started a "book club" in our ward. I was a total skeptic again. Reading books so you can discuss and analzye them? Totally made me think of High School all over again! Yuck... so I convienently avoided it for a long time. But, I had a great friend, Lisa, who would lend me her copy of the Book Club book after she was done with it, and say, "Christy, you have to read this... it's an amazing book." So, I would.... reluctantly, but I always enjoyed the books she passed on. Finally, I decided to attend Book Club. It had been a crazy month (Eric was in the thick of his MBA program) and I desperately needed a night away. So, I went.... LOVED it... had a GREAT time... made some NEW friends.... and have been a Book Club Enthusiast ever since!

I decided I wanted to post a list of some of my favorite Book Club books - and these are ones that I would have NEVER picked up and read on my own. Obvious Favorites (like HP and Twilight will not be on this list....):

• It's Not About the Bike (memoir by Lance Armstrong)


• Letters of a Nation


• The Hiding Place


• The Eyre Affair (and all sequels)


• Three Weeks with my Brother


• The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency (series)


• Once Upon a Town


• These is my Words


• The Mitford Series


• The Giver (and sequels)


• Slave


• Rebecca

I've also become quite a fan of Young Adult Fiction. It's generally cleaner and tamer and shorter. I've read quite a bit of it trying to find good books for my kids to read in school. Here's some of my favorites in the YA category:

• Twilight series


• Harry Potter series


• Artemis Fowl series (newest one just got released and I'm chomping at the bit waiting for Taylor to finish it so I can read it....)


• The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)


• Ella Enchanted


• Anything written by Eoin Colfer (author of Artemis Fowl)


• Anything written by Gail Carson Levine (author of Ella Enchanted)


• Anything written by Shannon Hale (author of the Princess Academy)


• Stargirl


• The Chronicles of Narnia


• Fablehaven

I just discovered this blog and can't wait to explore it more along with all it's great "book" links... hey, this girl is LDS and likes Stephenie Meyer, so she must be a kindred spirit.....

So since most of us still have several weeks of HOT weather left to endure... head to the library, pick up a book or two and just enjoy some good quality time indoors!

What are your favorite books???

Leave a comment and share!