Reading Time - February

So I did some statistic checking since my last Reading Time post. I had mentioned that I was bummed about 'failing' my 2017 goal of reading 40 books and 'only' read 25 books. Jana commented that 25 is still 2 books a month and that's more than what a lot of people read.

According to this post on Iris, the average person reads about 4 books a year. A. Single. Year! I can't comprehend. But click through for more details - it's pretty interesting.

• In 2015, 72% of Americans read a book. (A single book. One.) This includes only reading a book 'in part' so they might not have even finished that book. (That one single book. One.)
• Educated women tend to read the most (side note: I occasionally go back and read books I should have finished in high school or college. Do you know anyone who reads Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' or 'The Trial' for fun?)
• Americans don't read as much as most other countries. (We're lazy.)

And according to this Bookbub post, I have about 2000 books to go before I die. That's a sobering thought and might be why I'm no longer hesitant to DNF a book if it doesn't cut it for me in the first 3 chapters. Every book now is going to be judged on if it's worthy or not to be included in my 2000 books. This kind of reminds me of Lost and when Desmond was carrying around Our Mutual Friend by Dickens to be the last book he ever read. When my aunt passed away 15 years ago, I found out she died while reading a book written by Dickens - her favorite author. The morbid romantic in me did ask if it was Our Mutual Friend (she would have appreciated Desmond's choice and reason) ... but it wasn't and I can't remember which one now.

So anyway ... on to the books:

A is for Alibi - As mentioned last month, I had thought about reading this series before but it wasn't until we were chilling around the house and the news came that local author/celebrity Sue Grafton had passed away that I did some quick searching and downloaded the book. Technology is useful. Very '80s, but good. Not sure I want to put a priority on reading the other 25 ...  (ebook from local library)

Then ...

Promise Me, Dad - Also very good. I teared up in parts of it. Put politics aside, this is a good book about a father and the loss of a son. I was also very interested in reading some of the bits about what was going on behind the scenes during some of the political manuevering. I recommend it. ('real' book borrowed from local library)

Then ...

Sisters First - This must be the month for memoirs. Again, put yo' politics aside. I love presidential history and the families are included in that, (#45 excluded). This was a good book with anecdotes from both Jenna and Barbara and how their lives were before, during, and after their dad was president. ('real' book borrowed from local library)

And this one:

The Book of Giant Stories - One of the check-ins for the 24in48 reading challenge was to find the oldest children's book you have or the one you've held onto since childhood ... and it's this one. I remember crawling up into my dad's lap for him to read this to me over and over. He worked long days and when he'd fall asleep reading to me, I'd continue reading the stories aloud to him - maybe that was his plan. The illustrations are the best - Weekly Reader Books for the win. (book in personal collection and going nowhere - though I need to fix the spine)

Then:

 Everything I Never Told You - After reading Little Fires Everywhere, I put this one in my queue at the library. I think I liked this one better than LFE, but both were hard to put down. 'Familial Dysfunction' is the name of the game with this author. ('real' book borrowed from the library ... and also the ebook borrowed from the library for when I was waiting at an appointment and had forgotten my book. I do feel bad for double dipping when someone else was likely waiting for either copy ... really, I do. Both were returned promptly after finishing.)

Then:

They Both Die at the End - Pretty good story. What would you do if you got the call that you'd be dead within 24 hours? (another e-book from local library)

And then:

The Hazel Wood - I was mainly drawn to this because it's the name of my kids' school. But the plot was interesting too. YA fairy tale - so there's teen angst involved -- and guess what .... another e-book from local library.

Currently reading: Sing, Unburied, Sing

So much for my goal of reading through the stacks of my own books ... most of what has been read so far in 2018 has been from the library (real and e-books).

Be sure to check out Jana and Steph's link-up and see what other books everyone's discussing. You can pretty much guarantee that I'll be on Goodreads throughout the next couple days adding still more books that I want to read but may never get to.

Thoughts on the stats or have you read any of the books listed? What are you reading?

Do-over day

In the spirit of Phil Connors and in honor of today, I sometimes like to think I want a do-over.

(Who else is thinking this?)

I think everyone goes through phases of the what-ifs -
What if I had been more outgoing in school?
What if I had been a better friend?
What if I had gone to a different college?
What if I had stuck to my original major?
What if I had said no?
What if I had said yes?
What if I said 4 years were enough?
What if ... what if ... what if ...

I do know it wasn't this.

And then I know that if anything from my past had been even slightly different, I wouldn't be where I am today (acceptance to my new reality). But then again ... if anything from my past had been even slightly different, I wouldn't be where I am today (wishful thinking of a better reality). But then again, when I look at my kids -- there's no way I would have changed a thing.

So now my new what ifs are full of present and future changes --
what if I can be a better mom?
what if I can be a better daughter and sister?
what if I can be a better friend?

So on that note ... happy Friday! Paint crew coming tomorrow ... wish me luck.

January update

Linking up with Kristen and Gretch for a monthly update on what's up and what's down.

Reading - Tried to participate in the 24in48 readathon last weekend. I read more than I normally do on weekends but definitely didn't make it to 24 hours. I'll have a nice list of books to share on the Show Us Your Books post on the 13th.

Work stuff - Just finished the busiest month of the year for me there and glad for a bit of a breather. However, once I get everyone else's W2s out, that means I need to start thinking about personal taxes. A little nervous about my taxes this year. Trying not to stress about it though.

House - Getting stuff done around the house - painting, plumbing, electrical work, gutter repair, wall repair, carpet getting pulled up, wallpaper getting ripped down, etc. I thought I should do some before/after photos, but I'd rather forget the 'before'.

Running - Two parts to this one ...

Discovered a trail race out in the boonies of Shelby County, KY. It was totally not what I was expecting ... but I finished and with minimal pain. Thankfully, I wore an old pair of running shoes because I overestimated my creek-jumping abilities and landed in the mud. When I tried to climb the creek bank, my shoe stayed behind. I was crouched down trying to yank that shoe out of the mud with both arms and full-body strength. It FINALLY came up ... but had filled a bit with mud. Unfortunately, that was in the first mile and I had to run 3 more miles with my foot in cold mud/horse poo. Ran most of it with Katie (of fromicecreamtomarathon) and if it weren't for her, I'd have never finished. Some of those hills were brutal and the mud didn't help. We finished 4 miles in just under an hour though so I'm happy about that.

Then - I'm combining two training programs to get through the winter. One is the Marathoning for Mortals run/walk half marathon that has worked wonders for me in the past. My only beef with it is I'm only to run twice during the week and a 'long' run on Saturdays. Sorry, but I need more active days than that ... so I'm also doing the Norton's Health training program for the Kentucky Derby Festival marathon/mini-marathon. This one is a bit of overkill with one rest day, one cross-training day, and 5 running days each week. I won't win any races and it's mainly to keep me moving and my mind off things. And also get caught up on Netflix/Amazon Prime Video without feeling like a slug, because ...

Eating - too much. But also planning the garden and getting the seeds ready to start. The kids have put in their requests for what to grow and they promised to help when they're here.

Watching - not the State of the Union address. It's not because of who gave the speech - I never watch it, regardless of the party in charge. The constant popping up and applauding gets old in the first 30 seconds so I wait to read the transcript of the speech on the next day. That was also a disappointment. I'm almost done with "Comedians in Cars getting Coffee" -- the episodes are super-short, super-funny, and super-dangerous to watch while on a treadmill. I tried with just one episode and had to keep grabbing the handrails while belly-laughing at 6 mph. Not safe. Not safe at all.

Glad January is over ... as slow as it went, time is still moving too quickly for me. My sophomore received letters from three different colleges last week. Plus, a letter from the school highly recommending him for AP classes, based on his PSAT scores. Here's the thing - this kid doesn't even remember taking the test. It was just a regular standardized test to him so he didn't study, didn't stress, didn't do anything his mom did when I took the PSAT. And he doesn't like school. Go figure. My daughter wants to sign up for all the AP classes she's able to, loves school, loves organizing and planning what she wants to do ... total opposites and yet both are so like me. I love this time with them. :)

so that's January ... and on to February ...