hello again. here's what i read

I will briefly acknowledge that it has been just over a year since I posted anything in this space. No reason. No excuse. Just didn’t write as much this year, and the writing I did was private processing rather than public sharing. For no one’s sake but my own, I will remind myself that taking a break from something, even something I love, is perfectly acceptable and any weird ounces of failure, guilt or other junky voices saying that real writers don’t take breaks can kindly step aside. I am here today, and today I feel like writing. So, hello again.

I will tiptoe gently back into this space with a cozy topic. Books. Which ironically was the topic of my last post a year ago, so it feels appropriate to go ahead and quote myself, right?

“Looking back on the books I’ve read during the past twelve months is my favorite way to close out a year. Books have always been linked to moments and memories for me, so as I scroll through my Goodreads account, it’s a sweet little walk through the past year.”

So here it is. My top reads, my favorite read alouds with my kids, and a few misses.

Favorite Books

Demon Copperhead: My last book of the year and certainly one of my favorites. The writing is extraordinary. Kingsolver is a master of storytelling in a raw, unique, painful, and beautiful style with so many lines that took my breath away. I will long remember Demon and this cast of characters.

All My Knotted-Up Life: I am a long-time fan of Beth's Bible studies. When my son asked me who Beth Moore was, I responded, "She is the person who has taught me the most about the Bible." And I should have added, she is the person who taught me to love the Bible.

As usual for me, I read about half this book and listened to about half of this book. I adore Beth's voice and the way she tells a story, so the audio was an absolute delight. The vulnerability, honesty, and pain of this book is so beautiful and such a gift to the reader. Beth's knowledge and love of Scripture pushes me to keep opening my Bible and keep learning. Even in all the messiness of her story, she proclaims the goodness of Jesus, but not in a sappy, obligatory way. I am so thankful for Beth, her Bible studies, books, and this memoir is certainly another great gift to her readers.

Carrie Soto is Back: I was hesitant to pick this one up at first because I really didn't like Malibu Rising, but I'm so glad I did! I was hooked from the beginning. This book wasn't what I expected in all the best ways. Carrie is an unforgettable character, and I didn't want her story to end. Movie, please.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun: I LOVE this series, and just like the first 2 books, I flew through this one! My only frustration was that I didn't realized there are more books coming out, and now I have to wait until next year to find out what happens!

Celebrities for Jesus: I was hesitant to listen to this one. I want to be informed about ways Christians are misrepresenting Christ, but books like this can easily make me cynical, and I don't want that. I thought this book was well done, told very matter-of-factly, rather than purposely tugging on emotions. The content is heartbreaking, but I thought the author handled the facts and her opinion with integrity and wisdom. This is an important topic, and this book gave me a lot to think about.

The Last Flight: I was hooked from the beginning! This was a unique plot, and the suspense was just the right amount for me—someone who scares rather easily.

Habits of the Household: Books like this give me so much great content to think about and discuss with Stephen! I love being challenged to think intentionally about the habits of our house, all filtered through a lens of grace and not perfection. This book was practical, humorous, and covered in Gospel-centered truth. A great read!

Lessons In Chemistry: This one barely needs a review it was so popular book this year. This book was such a delightful surprise. I didn't really know what it was about going in, and the pink, chick-lit looking cover is misleading. It was quirky and humorous, timely, and so different than anything I've read. Elizabeth Zott is a memorable character in all the wonderful ways, and I really enjoyed this book.

The Tech-Wise Family: Excellent book about a topic that is really important to me. I have strong feelings about phones/TVs/tablets and am constantly thinking about how to best guide our family to use them in beneficial ways without wasting our real life scrolling. I thought this book had practical ideas and also extreme examples; however, I was not put off by the more radical ideas. In an area like technology, and specifically phones, most of us are just doing what everyone else is doing—picking up our phone hundreds of times each day for mindless entertainment. This addiction has lead us to a point where we need extreme and perhaps radical guidelines if we're going be choose a better way. Highly recommend!

Take My Hand: One of my favorite books of the year! This book beautifully and painfully humanizes big issues like government overreach, reproductive rights, and health literacy. A heartbreaking book but so important and so powerfully written.

Fourth Wing & Iron Flame: Oh man. What to say about these two? It has been a long time since I was this captivated by a series, unable to put them down, neglecting my responsibility just to read one more chapter. I feel sad I will never get to experience reading these book for the first time ever again. From the very beginning Fourth Wing gave me major Hunger Games vibes-which is maybe why I loved it so much! I guess the surprise of my reading life this year is that books about dragons soared (pun intended!) to the top of my favorite books list. I’m hooked. But I feel compelled to give a disclaimer: these books are steamy. Very. Steamy.

Favorite Read Alouds with the Kids

This year held some special classics like Charlotte’s Web with Milo, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with Andrew. I also went back to a favorite from when I was in fifth grade and read Cages with Charlotte. However, the absolute stand-outs of the year were The Wild Robot series with the boys and The Lion of Mars with Charlotte.

A Few Misses

Happy Place: Oof. What happened? I loved the other Emily Henry books I've read, but this one was rough, and I struggled to finish it. I didn't care about any of the characters, and their friend circle was annoying rather than endearing. Plots that hinge on a miscommunication frustrate me as I wait hundreds of pages for the characters to finally clear things up. The last 100 pages were overly dramatic, even for this genre—I mean, airport chases, brain surgeon to pottery, really? I felt bummed this one was such a miss for me.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: I wonder what I would have thought of this book had it not been so hyped up. I was #822 on the library wait list and was so excited when it was finally my turn. So many people told me you don't need to love video games to love this book, but I'd say that a general enjoyment and basic level knowledge of video games would certainly enhance your love of this book. I thought it was just fine. The beginning was good, the middle was slow, and the end got better but could have been about 100 pages shorter. I struggled to finish and was glad when it was over.

Start with Hello: I wanted to love this one. Every ounce of my heart agrees with the message of this book, and Martin's passion for her neighbor is so evident, beautiful, and inspiring. Unfortunately, the writing felt choppy and all over the place for me. Each chapter had so many sections and subheadings that felt disjointed. I ended up skimming the last couple chapters. The table of contents was my favorite part. I thought the chapter titles conveyed the heart of this book in a clever and thought provoking way. I know so many people who loved this book that I'm left feeling like I missed something. Maybe I need to try another one of Martin's books.

The Christmas Pig: I am adding this one to the list prematurely because we haven’t finished it yet. I starting reading this aloud to the kids in December, and we are slooooowly chugging along—mainly because I don’t like it and have little excitement to pick it up each night. We’ve come so far that I will finish (plus Andrew really loves it), but it has been rather disappointing.

As always, hit me up with your recommendations and feel free to come at me with all the reasons you loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I can take it.

Happy reading.

fall roundup 2022

This post has been sitting in my drafts tab for quite some time. In fact, the original name for this post was Monthly Roundup: April 2022. Oops. Then I changed it to Summer Roundup 2022. Oops again. Even as I write this, a part of me wonders if it will really see the world this month or if come December I will once again change the name to something like A Yearly Roundup 2022. Time will tell.

Now, if you must know the truth, some of these books, recipes, and pictures were favorites from months ago—not technically fall. You don’t care.

Reading

Since it’s been so long, I am BURSTING with books and had to limit myself. I’ve read some good stuff this year, and as always, I keep track of it all on Goodreads. Find me there if Goodreads is your jam.

Call it a mid-life crisis, but I am on a serious hunt for more fun and more laughter in my life these days. This book was motivating but also practical, and I read it slowly, taking diligent notes because there was so much good stuff! Catherine hits hard on the topic of phones and the way they hinder our ability to have "True Fun." I definitely appreciate a good reality check when it comes to phones. Bring on the connection+playfulness+flow! (These are her three ingredients to “True Fun.”) 5/5 Stars

*Note* When Stephen read this reviews, he laughed out loud that I used words like motivating, practical and diligent notes while reviewing a book about fun. Clearly, I’m taking the fun to heart.

This one was good–not great for me. The biggest problem was I didn't care about any of the characters. Their "rich and famous problems" were written about in such a way that I obviously couldn't relate, but I also couldn't find any common ground. There was an attempt to bring depth to each character, but it just fell flat for me. 3/5 Stars

I could not stop checking the news when this cave rescue played out in real time, and I am still shaken by the whole ordeal. This book was a fascinating and informative account of the heroic rescue. It was a quick read, and I kept stopping to tell my family all I was learning. Charlotte will likely never go inside a cave again. Oops. 4/5 Stars

I really enjoyed this book and felt bummed when it was over. In the rom-com genre, you have a secondary storyline thrown in with the main love-interest storyline. I often don't care much about that secondary storyline, but Beach Read was different. I was all in for January and Gus, but I was also fully invested in the story of January and her dad. It was one of the best secondary storylines I've read in this genre. I cruised through it! 5/5 Stars

I almost stopped reading this book a dozen time. The first 150 pages were rambling all over the place which is definitely Nayeri's style, but I just couldn't get on board during the first half of the book. I'm not sure why I plowed through, but I am so glad I did. The second half of the book was so fantastic it made me feel like I should read the first half again, like maybe I was just missing something. Nayeri's voice is unique, funny, heartbreaking, honest, and captivating. It feels strange to love and recommend a book that I spent 150 pages dragging myself through, but maybe the whole book is amazing, and I was having an off week. 4/5 Stars

When is the movie coming out?!?! Such a fun rom-com, and I blew threw it in 3 days. I lost count of the times I actually laughed out loud. I could find ways to pick apart some character inconsistencies and a few fluffy scenes, but for this genre, that's to be expected, and I loved it anyways! 5/5 Stars

This was our first pick in a book club I just joined, and it was such an entertaining page-turner! I don't normally pick up mystery (I scare easily!), but this was more of a comical suspense, and I snagged up the second book right away, which was just as good as the first! 5/5 Stars

Mistake #1 was getting this book from the library instead of buying my own copy because I really needed to highlight every other sentence and will want to go back and reread it next month when I forget all the good stuff I learned. Eye-opening, fascinating, and practical—this book acknowledges that maybe, just maybe, the way this generation of Americans are parenting is likely not the most effective, rewarding, or beneficial for children and parents alike. To which I cried, "Yeah, you think!??! There are moments of this book that frustrated me as other cultures were painted in an idealistic light, and there are suggestions that straight up annoyed me, like telling my kids they're acting like babies or scaring them with monster stories (that part was bizarre), but this is true of any "self-help" book—you need to find the best take aways for you and your family and be able to leave other ideas behind. I thought Michaeleen did a great job of ending each chapter with practical steps we can apply, and the small steps I've already implemented in our home have yielded positive results. Definitely one of the best parenting books I have ever read! 5/5 Stars

Reading with the Kids

I never read the Penderwicks books as a child, so this was my first go-round. I read it aloud with my kids, and we also listened to some on audio. It was an enjoyable read and feels like a classic. Took us awhile to get through which shows they weren't begging for me to read it each night as they as with some books. I gave it 4 stars but my kids gave it 5. Granted, they give most books 5 stars.

We listened to this one—a sequel to The Lemonade Wars—on audio during a road trip, and it was an enjoyable listen for the whole family. Silly and able to hold everyone's attention for a couple hours.

I remember loving this book as a kid, and it was a delightful read aloud with my children. We were all laughing out loud! For better or worse, this book definitely screams some strong 90s vibes.

Andrew picked this one out at the library for the two of us to read together. It was a great read for a football lover, and especially fun to learn about the authors and their careers in the NFL. Great lessons about teamwork, disappointment, and perseverance! I gave it 4 stars, but Andrew says "definitely 5 stars!"

Eating

Some recent new favorites that went over well with the family include this creamy salmon, this baked ziti, ginger peanut chicken, and these teriyaki beef bowls (make extra sauce).

Some fall favorites that make the dinner rotation each year include these hard cider pork chops (with a large pile of mashed potatoes), this apple- mustard marinade for grilled chicken, and these apple-cheddar chicken melts. (Note: we often leave out the chicken to make a simple vegetarian meal.)

Stephen always makes me butternut squash ravioli and this carrot tart rocked our worlds.

Making Me Smile

My curling wand didn’t survive the trip to Rome—silly American voltage—so I was in need of a new one and love this one! I also snagged a bottle of this 10-in-1 Primer to get free shipping. It makes no sense, but I know you do it, too.

For my birthday (which was in January), I got this kit from Dime. I wanted to give it a fair trial before declaring it a favorite new item, but I think I am now ready to say aloud that I am loving it. I was a bit overwhelmed by so many products and getting the order right each morning and night, but it turns out, I can rise to the occasion of a skin care routine.

And some family moments that made me smile this fall include:

All the fall birthdays,

that Charlotte still wants to coordinate costumes with me (🎶Angelica! 🎶 Eliza!🎶 (No Peggy)
The Schuyler Sisters! Work!),

when Andrew—of all people—didn’t get the silly face memo at our favorite apple orchard,

when the ball seems three times as big as Milo’s head,

being able to celebrate this guy’s first birthday,

and finally, when bourbon cocktails and a charcuterie board are in attendance at our monthly meeting. ***Stephen and I do monthly meetings on the 1st of each month. These meetings are all business—reviewing the calendar, the budget, the to-do items for the month, etc. I come with an agenda, and Stephen begins with a call to order. They are not thrilling, but they are necessary. And like I said, refreshments always help.

Because One Day You Won’t: A Shortened Version of This Series

Because one day you won’t set up stands at the end of our driveway every weekend.

Because one day you won’t sit together decorating little pumpkins.

Because one day you won’t sneak up into the top bunk to sleep with your big brother.

monthly roundup: february 2022

Our family makes a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. 

Wait. Before you roll your eyes, let me explain. 

Stephen and I never thought much of the holiday, riding along in the boat of people who considered it overblown and unnecessary. You can tell me you love me any day. Please don’t waste money on flowers and chocolates.

But then, when Charlotte was four-years-old, she declared it her favorite holiday. That’s right. Favorite holiday. Flying right past Christmas, her birthday, even Halloween. Personally, I would have given 4th of July a second glance before landing on Valentine’s Day, but she said it, she meant it, and she is sticking to it.

The creative in her nearly exploded when she found out she could make personalized valentines for each child in her preschool class. To her utter horror, I brought her to Target where she stared in bewilderment at all the premade, fill-in-blank valentine options. 

“So all you do is fill in the names? Why would anyone want that? It’s so boring.” Little four-year-old Charlotte and I left Target that day with no valentines, but at least $25 worth of stickers, glitter, candy, paper, and heart-shaped doilies. 

“So what do we do at home to celebrate Valentine’s Day?” she asked. 

Oh geez. At home? “Oh…well…we…have a special family Valentine’s dinner.” 

“Really?!?” Her eyes grew wider by the second. “What’s special about it?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” I smiled and mentally rearranged my week to be sure I could get to Hobby Lobby and hopefully snag some 50% off decorations. 

By the time Charlotte was home from preschool on Valentine’s Day, I had snazzed up the table with a red tablecloth and any pink or red trinket I could find. To my great fortune, it was everything she dreamed it would be. 

And here I am. Five years later. Beginning our Valentine’s Day preparations in mid-January. I haul up an actual Valentine's Day tub from the basement and help the darlings make oh-so-very-personalized valentines for each friend. We buy flowers for teachers because teachers are the most loved. I still throw down a cheap plastic tablecloth and decorate the table with gaudy goodies we’ve collected over the years. I string heart garland from the ceiling and an L-O-V-E banner across the mirror. I make Penne Vodka because pasta is its own love language, and I melt chocolate in the microwave and call it fondue because that feels fancy. Stephen and I give the kids the same gift every year—a coupon for a donut date with dad and a bookstore date with mom. I also keep refilling the same Valentine’s Day Pez dispensers I bought a few years ago. There are no surprises because my mental energy is still recovering from all the surprises of Christmas. After dinner, the kids sprawl out the loot from their school parties, inhaling chalky candy hearts and helping each other hold wet towels over temporary heart tattoos. They read each valentine, and Charlotte extends grace to all the children who use those “boring” valentines. 

Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap, and I get it. My palms still start to itch when I think of those Candygrams the student council sold in junior high, forcing every awkward preteen to wonder if somebody, anybody, spent the 50 cents to save them from the horror of being left Candygramless on February 14. It's a rough holiday. 

But when grown-up Joy explains in preschool terms that Valentine's Day is a day to show our love to the people we care about, well, it doesn’t sound so bad. There will come a day when my Pez dispensers and fancy red cloth napkins won’t elicit the same dazzling response, so for now, I’ll take any reason to gather my team around a table and say I love you.

Reading

4/5 Stars

This was one of the most intriguing books I have ever read, unsettling and provocative in all the best ways. I was immediately drawn into the story and read the first 200 pages in a day or two. Unfortunately, the middle of the book really dragged on for me. I felt like there were many short chapters that didn't add to the plot or move the story along which is why I gave it 4 stars. I was very curious to see how such a twisted story would wrap up and was surprisingly satisfied by the ending. This was a great read!

5/5 Stars

I don't normally give books in this genre a 5 star rating, but today, I'm going for it. I really loved this one, even more so the The Friend Zone, #1. It was one of those books that when I wasn't reading it, I kept thinking about the characters and wondering what they were doing and if they were ok. (Am I the only one who does that?) I sped through it in 2 days and neglected house work because I was enjoying it so much. I also thought the playlist was a clever idea and have been listening to it on Spotify.

5/5 Stars

I haven’t read these book since they first came out, and it is so fun rereading them alongside Charlotte!

3/5 Stars

My three star rating is solely a reflection on my indifference toward poetry. I wanted to expand outside of my typical reading genres and try something I wouldn't normally pick up. I enjoyed the book, but poetry just isn't my favorite.

4/5 Stars

Sarah Bessey continues to be one of my favorite writers. This book of prayers was challenging and inspiring, helping me rethink prayer in its most honest and raw form. Some of the prayers I've already gone back to over and over include Finding Rest, A Prayer for the Tired, Angry Ones, A Prayer for When You Don't Even Know What You Want, and A Prayer to Learn to Love the World Again.

Reading With The Darlings

I was probably in 4th grade the last time I read this book, and I’m so glad it was still as delightful as I remember. I also remember gathering around the book with my friends to find the swear words, but these are easy to skip over when reading aloud. We switched back and forth between the hard copy and audio version with this one, listening to quite a bit of it in the school drop off line.

We all enjoyed this beautifully illustrated picture book that left us wondering—Was that a dream? Did it really happen? The subtle messages about growing up and becoming independent were lost of my kids, but they loved the sense of adventure and imagination in this story.

Listening To

This conversation between Carlos Whittake and Derek Webb was excellent. There are a lot of people talking about deconstructing their faith, particularly those who grew up in Evangelical churches, youth groups, and Christian colleges. This conversation between disagreeing friends was covered in respect, humor, and thoughtful language. Many conversations around deconstruction leave me feeling cynical, but this left me hopeful and wanting to listen one more time.

I’ll be following the She Reads Truth Lent reading plan this year, and this podcast kicked off the seven-week study.

Making Me Smile

Because Christmas and New Year’s was such a mess for us, I threw most of my Christmas gifts into the closet and forgot about them, and then more gifts came my way in January for my birthday. February was my chance to finally enjoy some of those gifts! I am loving these shoe, this teeth whitening set, this lipstick, this coziness from Athleta (on sale!), and these reusable paper towels. And yes, I asked for reusable paper towels for Christmas. Cheers to being middle-aged.

Some family moments that made me smile include old-man Andrew for his 100th day of school…

Seeing our Bengals in the Super Bowl, even if it was a disappointing loss…

Charlotte ordering a London Fog on our brunch date…

and still wearing her Cinderella dress in public. It was Cinderella the Ballet so it worked, but I can probably use one hand to count the number of times left that she will play dress up.

Because One Day You Won’t: A Shortened Version of This Series

Because one day you won’t sneak downstairs to leave an apology for me on the chalkboard.

Because one day you won’t all sit on your knees at dinner.

Until next time.

monthly roundup: january 2022

December was hard; each morning I woke up tip-toeing into the day thinking maybe we were past the worst. Each day I was wrong. Just to be clear, when I say hard, I am talking about inconvenient, frustrating, exhausting. I’m talking about ear infections, a child puking on the bus, multiple calls from the school nurse, 7 trips to the doctor, 24 covid tests, 12 bottles of medicine on the counter, intense tantrums, spoiled Christmas traditions, grumpiness from all members of the family, a lame wedding anniversary, a newborn sleep schedule, big emotions, all while preparing for 4 days of out-of-town family to visit over Christmas.

We crawled through Christmas, and I was ready to toss that holly jolly season to the curb along with the tree we hadn’t watered since December 4. I mistakenly thought I might be able to now catch my breath—then Covid hit our family. The details of those weeks still feel too raw to write about, but I will share this because my God is worthy of some boasting. Those ugly weeks were the start of an intensive healing in our family that we desperately needed.

Stephen, the first man down, tested positive on December 31. I would never have believed that one month later—January 31, my birthday, we would be in such a sweet spot. Rock bottom turned out to also be a fresh start.

I am still learning to praise God on my worst days—to declare his goodness and faithfulness when I’m angry and exhausted and sick and crying on the bathroom floor. 

But today I’m not dragging along, depleted and weak. Today I feel refreshed and whole. I feel amazed that somehow this month turned around and became a time of heart and soul healing for me and our family. 

God is worthy of my praise all the time, but what a gift that today, on my birthday, I get to praise Him from an abundance of joy and peace. I never would have guessed that a month ago.

It was a simple but lovely day, filled with a giant omelet, precious cards, good food, a great cocktail, my favorite cake (see below for the recipe!), and lots of hugs. And please take note of the journal next to my dinner plate. Charlotte gave me to permission to journal while I waited for my food. It’s good to be known.

Reading

The year is already off to great start when it comes to reading! Covid provide 5 days of quarantine with plenty of time to read, so I was able to read more this month than usual. Click on each book to see my Goodreads review. They are listed in order of my favorites.

5/5 Stars

5/5 Stars

5/5 Stars

4/5 Stars

4/5 Stars

3/5 Stars

Reading with the Darlings

This month we finished Cricket in Time Square and The Lemonade War. Click on each chapter book to see our Goodreads review—The Lemonade War review is written by Charlotte. The Circus Ship is a delightful picture book that we read together probably ten times this month! I’ve caught each child paging through the book alone and camping out on the two-page spread with all the hidden animals. I think you’ll love it!

Listening To

If you are a girl who grew up in the church, I can just about gaurentee your small group leader recommended the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers somewhere around the age 18. You read it. Loved it. Cried yourself to sleep and only halfway understood that this book is about God’s love for His people and not the lie that you will one day meet a man who will a save you. Can all the youth group girls say amen? Annie F. Downs interviewed Francine Rivers this month as the movie Redeeming Love hit theaters. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but this interview further cemented my love for Francine.

I was once a steady user of the She Reads Truth Bible reading plans but stepped away to use other resources this past year. I didn’t even realized they had started a podcast. This month I jumped back into one of their reading plans, the Gospel of John and have really enjoyed the weekly podcasts that go along with the reading plan.

Eating

Our family was hit with Covid starting on December 31, so I cooked nothing the first two weeks of January, living off the life-saving meals delivered to my door by friends and those blessed Door Dash heroes. We re-entered life these past two weeks, just in time to cheer on our beloved Cincinnati Bengals and eat our favorite pulled pork sandwiches.

My children are also obsessed with Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken. I wasn’t sure how this Vegan Orange Chicken version would go down. The key is to NEVER call it chicken, and do not audibly compare it to Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken. I called them Crispy Orange Cauliflower Bites, and everyone ate them. No complaints. P.S. Always make extra sauce.

I like to make my own birthday cake, and I’m pretty sure this Chocolate Coconut Cake has secured its place as my forever birthday cake.

Making Me Smile

Despite the rough start, there were plenty of moments this month that made me smile: A Citizenship Award celebration, sledding in our front yard, rollerskating with the big kids, a dance competition, Milo’s unending adoration for Leo, AND of course, our Cincinnati Bengals going to the Superbowl!

Because One Day You Won’t: A Shortened Version of This Series

Because one day you won’t wear a pirate bandana, three ties, and hedgehog slippers.