March and April 2024 Wrap Up

Hello and welcome back to my (hopefully) regularly scheduled blog posts.

Some little updates.

Parenthood has continued and is challenging but can also be lovely. Gabriel has the best smiles and giggles and he makes the cutest noises and I can never get enough. However, getting anything done is difficult. Once he is resting or entertaining himself, I need to do dishes or laundry or take care of the pets or shower or any number of things. It never ends, but Gabriel is worth it.

I had to return to work in March. That was difficult. I wasn't as upset about leaving Gabriel home as I thought I might be. It is hardest to say goodbye in the mornings, but once I am at work it all just feels like it did before. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. Part of it is that Kevin is home with him for a couple months so I know I don't need to worry about him. Once Gabriel is in daycare I imagine that will change.

But anyway, work has been... interesting. And not in good ways. Some changes were made while I was out that put me in a not-so-nice position. It is frustrating because I actually love my job, but the favoritism in my department is so extreme. It is insane. A couple of things did change for the better and I was so happy to see my work friends again. I actually work with a lot of neat people who I really enjoy. But I am not going to hold my breath on things getting better. I am trying to make sure that I don't overwork myself like I used to, since it doesn't result in any rewards or appreciation. It has actually been nice taking that step back. And I have only been working my regular 40 hour weeks and trying to focus my energy on things that are more important to me.

I do get to go on a little vacation soon without Gabriel. I am looking forward to it, but I also know that I am going to miss him like crazy!

I think that covers most of what is going on these days. So here are the books I read in March and April.

 

Title: The Son of Neptune by 

Rick Riordan

4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

Titles: Dragonwatch, Wrath of the Dragon King, Master of the Phantom Isle, 

Champion of the Titan Games, and Return of the Dragon Slayers 

by Brandon Mull

Synopsis/Thoughts: This series follows the Fablehaven series. I had actually read the first three books a few years ago, but never finished the series. And I didn't remember it well, so I started from the beginning. After the demons have been moved to their new realm, the dragons begin to rise and turn the table on the humans, wizards, and other people who wished them confined to sanctuaries. Kendra and Seth are called on to help by becoming caretakers of a dragon sanctuary and later joining in the war against the dragon king. Many things converge and many adventures are had. I love the Fablehaven series and I really enjoyed these, too They are a very magical story, but still take place in our world. I liked seeing Kendra and Seth developing more and stepping into their powers and having such a big role to play. It was nice to see old favorite characters return and go back into this world.

4 stars out of 5 stars 

 

 Title: Heartless Hunter

by Kristen Ciccarelli

Synopsis/Thoughts: This is a sort of Scarlett Pimpernel story (and yes, I had to look up what that was). In case you don't know, the Scarlett Pimpernel is a hero rescuing aristocrats sentenced to death during the French Revolution. But he leads a double life as a wealthy, but generally worthless gentleman and in secret is resourceful and quick thinking. In this story we have the Crimson Moth who is saving witches from being put to death by the new regime. Some of the officers (including high ranking officer Gideon) of the new regime suspect that she is hiding in plain sight. Rune plays the part of a shallow, flirtatious, and patriotic lady, but is secretly a witch helping to set other witches free. When she becomes a suspect, Gideon pretends to court her to find her secrets. Rune, knowing she is a suspect, pretends to let him. Until it stops feeling like pretend. There are a lot of layers and little things going on in this story and it kept me guessing and surprised me. I really, really loved reading this book and I am looking forward to the next book. I think I read that it was going to be a duology. This was an Owlcrate book and I participated in the read-a-long, but kept getting ahead because I couldn't put it down.

4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Title: The King's Men

by Nora Sakavic

4 out of 5 stars

Re-read 

 

 Title: The Sunshine Court

by Nora Sakavic

Synopsis/Thoughts: This is the first book in a duology (I think) and the fourth book of the All for the Game series. The story picks up from the time Jean was rescued from the Nest by Renee and how he transfers to USC and starts to recover from his experiences. I actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I was originally so invested in the characters in the first three books that I wasn't sure that I would be as interested in these. But I really liked Jeremy, Cat, and Laila. And I was really rooting for Jean. I am excited for the next book, whenever that will come out.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Title: The Mark of Athena

by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

I'm not sure if I had a favorite read this month. I really enjoyed the Heartless Hunter and the Sunshine Court.

I have now read 23 books towards my goal of 75 books. I'm a bit behind according to Goodreads, but I hope I will pick up soon. I especially need to work on reading my Owlcrate books. My slow progress there sometimes frustrates me and I need to find a way to make a better effort. It would be helpful if I stopped re-reading books, I think.

Oh well. Thanks for reading. Until next time!

2024 Updates

Hello and welcome back to my blog.

Sorry for the super long delay. First, my husband needed to use my computer for over a month back in September/October. Then we didn't have internet for about another month or more. By then we were approaching the end of the year and the holidays. I was in the third trimester of pregnancy which brought back some of my nausea and left me generally exhausted. Work continued to kick my butt. We were trying to prepare for the baby. We took in a stray kitten in August and adopted two new rats in October (I was supposed to wait until after the baby, but they needed a home! I couldn't say no). It was just a crazy time.

Our son was due on January 17th 2024, but decided to come early. My water broke a little before 9am on December 24th, 2023 and Gabriel was born at 10:17am. And then we had this little baby to care for which was new and scary.

Being a parent is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I think I have started to get the hang of some of it, but it is exhausting and challenging. It is impossible to keep up with everything, but I am trying my best. And there are wonderful things about having this little one. And I love that he is a baby and mom is still able to fix everything and make him feel better. He's starting to smile and make intentional noises, which is adorable and makes me immensely happy.

My anxiety has been way up high. I want to make sure that Gabriel is getting cared for and that chores are getting done. I am also not getting much sleep, which always spikes my anxiety. And I am not back at work yet, but there have been changes made there that are very much against me and against my advancement. That has been discouraging, frustrating, and has also increased my anxiety. If I wasn't on anxiety medication, I would be having panic attacks about going back. I figure that isn't a great way to feel about my place of employment, which has been discouraging. I have been missing my work friends, though, and I am looking forward to seeing them and getting back in the lab.

I am trying to enjoy the rest of my time off. Obviously it is heavily spent on caring for Gabriel and doing the never ending dishes and laundry that come with that. Luckily for me, Kevin helps where he can and has kept up with many of the household chores so I don't have to worry so much about those.

I have been going to counseling for a while now, mostly to deal with work anxiety, but we have been covering a lot of things surrounding parenthood now, of course.

I fell off of the journaling bandwagon last year and decided I wanted to get back at it this year. I needed a way to simplify it to make it easier for me to keep up with. But I also wanted it to be more fun and interactive so it felt less like a chore. That has been really nice so far. And I have started including different things that I never did before, like vision boards, inspirations and aspirations, and other notes that come in handy. I am trying to keep track of things that are important and trying to help myself since I have all of these big things going on. It has been really nice so far and I may make a little blog post about what I am doing and why.

I have still been reading, but these days it is easier to get through audiobooks than physical ones. And because of my anxiety it has mostly been re-reading. But I did join a group read through the Owlcrate Nest app for the January book. That has helped me stay on track, even though I haven't participated in the discussions (I do still read through the questions and some of the things other people post). Between that and my journal, I have had something else to focus time and energy on in the times I get a break.

I haven't decided what this blog will look like moving forward. I'd like to still post about the books I read each month, but it can be very time-consuming. I will likely need to simplify what I have been doing. Maybe post two months at a time and stop reviewing re-reads. Which probably means it would be a good idea to go through my blog and update tags to include book titles in case anyone (or I) want to go back to those book reviews. That will be a bit of a long term project, but I will see if I can do that.

I have a couple other posts started, one is a disease post and one is sort of about Gabriel. I have made it a goal to pick back up on my blog, but it might take a little time for me to figure out what it will look like. I hope you will bear with me.

Meanwhile, here are the books I read in January and February this year:

 

The Lost Hero by 

Rick Riordan

4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

Red White and Royal Blue

by Casey McQuiston

4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

 

 

 The Fablehaven Series

by Brandon Mull

5 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

 

Charmed Life and the Lives of Christopher Chant

by Diana Wynne Jones

4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

 

The Foxhole Court and the Raven King

by Nora Sakavic

4 stars out of 5 stars

Re-read

The Jungle Book

by Rudyard Kipling

Synopsis/Thoughts: This is the traditional Jungle Book that most people are familiar with. This version is a full cast podcast read of the Jungle Book stories. I had never read them before, so it was a fun, quick read. I won't lie though, I spent much of the time trying to figure out how all of the characters and stories were represented in the Graveyard Book.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

A Fragile Enchantment

by Allison Saft

Synopsis/Thoughts: This is a fairy tale of a girl, Niamh, brought to a palace as a royal tailor for the younger prince's upcoming wedding. And in normal fairy tale fashion, the two fall in love despite the prince's engagement and Niamh's common-born status. This was an enjoyable read. I liked a lot of the characters (and I liked Sinclair, but I don't feel that other people liked him as much) and I liked the magic (especially Niamh's). This was an Owlcrate book and I sort of participated in a read-a-long through the Owlcrate Nest app.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

I have read 13 books towards my goal of 75.

July/August 2023 Wrap Up

Hello all.

I had to do another combination post since I couldn't get my ducks in a row at the end of July. I am not even sure I kept good record of all the books I read? Can I blame pregnancy brain? I haven't really had many problems in that realm, but I should be able to milk this for something.

Pregnancy is weird, but so far so good. I'm 20 weeks in now.

We lost the last of our ratties. It is sad, but it is OK. I am going to take a little break before getting more rats (after we've moved and adjusted to life with baby, I think). I love rats so I miss having them. But we did get another kitten. She was a stray I'd been seeing around our building and started feeding. She eventually decided she liked me and I brought her in. Marshmallow has been getting along with her so here she is. We haven't named her yet, but that's OK. You can check out my Instagram for photos.

Work has basically been awful for the last couple of months. But that is all I am going to say about that. It's just been rough guys. Something needs to change, I am not sure how long I can keep going with the way things are. And that frustrates me because there is so much I love about my work, but the management is such a trial I think I am developing PTSD.

And then at the end of August, Kevin and I finally got COVID. After nearly four years of avoiding it, we both got it. It was a huge bummer. On the plus side, we were both fully vaccinated which helped us recover more quickly. I am still getting over mine though. It messed with my blood pressure and I haven't quite regained my equilibrium.

Anyway, here are the books I finished this month. Hopefully I remembered them all!

Titles: Mister Impossible and Greywaren

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrator: Will Patton

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: I just read these a few months ago, so I am not really going to talk about them again. I read them again and I still enjoyed them.

 

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Little Women

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Synopsis/Thoughts: I have probably reviewed this one before, too. I'm sure it has been several years, but it is a classic and I think most people know what the story is about. I just wanted a comfort read and I just really wanted to read this again. And it was a very nice read.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Divine Rivals

Author: Rebecca Ross

Narrators: Alex Wingfield and Rebecca Norfolk

Synopsis: Iris is an aspiring columnist at a local newspaper competing against equally driven Roman. With war waging and moving closer to home and her brother at the front with no news, life is a bit chaotic. When things shake out differently for Iris than she originally planned, she takes a job covering the war near the front and finds more than she bargained for. Especially when Roman joins her on the same assignment.

 

Thoughts: I did a combined reading/listening of this book. It is a fairly recent Owlcrate book, which I am trying to read more of. I enjoyed her last book, Dreams Lie Beneath, so I wanted to pick this one up. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the characters and the overall story line. I am looking forward to the next book since this had a tiny cliffhanger and I need to know what happens next.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars 

 

Titles: The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, and The King's Men (All for the Game series)

Author: Nora Sakavic

Narrator: Alexander Cendese

Synopsis: Neil Josten is on the run from his father and the mob he is associated with (and any rivals for that matter). In a series of odd events, he ends up playing Exy, a game he loves, and getting signed by a college Exy team. Palmetto State's Exy foxes have a reputation for being the broken people collected by Coach Wymack. Neil decides to stay and play for one year, becoming entrenched in other strange dealings and relationships. But through it all, he finds a family and people he can actually trust and count on to have his back and to accept him no matter what dark secrets he hides. And maybe they can even win the season!

Thoughts: I have very... mixed thoughts about these books. I had been hearing about them because of the title of the second book being the same title as the last in the Raven Cycle. Anyway, I decided to give it a try. I actually was very interested in the (fictional) game of Exy, even though I am super not a sports person. And I LOVED the found family aspect of the books. I liked Neil's character, even if I didn't always agree with him. Kevin was an asshole, but I think he meant well and I appreciated his development. And Andrew. I love and hate Andrew at the same time. There were a lot of things that happened in these books (some perpetuated by Andrew) that made me feel very conflicted. I distinctly hated the way Andrew's crowd tested Neil (for someone so insane about consent, non-consensual drugging seemed SOO messed up). But Andrew's protective streak makes me love him. But he's also an asshole. Despite all of that, I actually thought the development of Neil and Andrew's relationship was nice and sort of sweet. Anyway, there were things I didn't love and there are definitely triggers for people, but the found family aspect (especially with the older team members and Coach Wymack) made me really love them. And they must have held my interest because I have continued to think about them and about the story.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars for books one and two, 4 stars out of 5 stars for book three

 

 

Title: I Was Told it Would Get Easier

Author: Abbi Waxman

Narrators: Lisa Flanagan and Bailey Carr

Synopsis: Single, high-powered lawyer Jessica and her daughter, Emily, set out on a tour of colleges. Jessica is hoping that Emily will go to college, enjoy herself, and find her place. Emily has NO idea what any of that would look like. And spending so much time with her generally absent mother isn't her idea of a great time either.

 

Thoughts: I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I really liked Jessica and the mother-daughter story and how their relationship grew throughout the book. Overall it was a nice, uplifting read for fans of contemporary stories.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars 

 

Title: Thirteenth Child

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Narrator: Amanda Ronconi

Synopsis/Thoughts: Another book I have read too many times and reviewed multiple times. These books are comfort reads and that's what I was looking for. I still love them so much.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

Favorite book read in July/August:  I'm not sure, there were so many good ones and it feels like cheating when so many of my comfort reads are in the mix

Least favorite book read in July/August: The Foxhole Court, since it got the lowest rating

I have now read 53 books towards my goal of 75. I only got one Owlcrate book read, but I am working on another one.