A Return to Blogging

Hello???

 

Is anyone still out there???

 

It's a new year, and I'm announcing a return to blogging after a rather lackluster 6 months of the occasional post. I think I did a good job maintaining this blog for the first three years (way longer that I ever thought I would last), but then the last six months I just, well, stopped. I think life was just starting to move in a different direction. I felt like was (am) in a transitional phase. The girls are in school a bit more, I started working my Arbonne business, and I started looking to new hobbies and ways to spend my time.

That said, I look back on this blog and I see so much valuable documentation of day-to-day life. I see how wonderful reading these words will be for my girls as they grow, as they become women and mothers. I don't want to say to them that I only thought the first three/five years of their lives were worth talking about.

I also really enjoy writing and sharing photos. I've missed it. So, I'm returning to this blog as a semi-weekly activity. It will be more of the same-- recipes, kids, sewing, scrapping-- more every day life.

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First topic-- Books! I think in the last six months I traded blogging and scrapbooking, for Arbonne and books. I only have a finite amount of time, so I have to choose what I do with it. For far too long, reading had fallen off the table. I used to be a voracious reader. I remember so clearly getting books from the library when I was a tween, and just curling up on my bed for hours and hours until the book was done.  As a grown up I always had a book on the go, but somehow having kids addled my brain, and I can probably count on one hand the number of books I read after Audrey came along...until now.

I bought an e-reader. I know! I never thought I would like an e-reader. What about the feel of the paper? The smell? The cover with the curled edge? I thought I was far too much a romantic to ever enjoy reading on an e-reader. I bought a Kobo Vox as a cheap alternative to an ipad. ($199) It's an e-reader that also has full browser and video capabilities. (It doesn't have a camera, though.)

I thought I would use it mostly when I was doing Arbonne parties and didn't want to lug my laptop all over. Turns out, I use it almost exclusively as a book and magazine reader. I find that if I keep it handy I read for 15 minutes, when I used to surf the internet. I read at night in front of the fire, instead of watching tv. I want to switch every magazine subscription to an e-subscription, because I really enjoy reading them on Zinio, the magazine app.

What am I reading? I would love to share it with you! Here's what I've read and what I'm currently reading:

What I've read:

(I've taken screen shots of all of these books, hence the battery power symbol, etc.)

"Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles

This was my first book on my Kobo, and I just loved it. So charming, so witty, so well-written. The banter between characters is straight out of an old black and white movie. (In fact, I will eat my hat if this doesn't get made into a film in the next year or two.) The characters are rich, and the plot is unexpected. I highly recommend this one.

"The Hunger Games Trilogy" by Suzanne Collins

I was completely unaware of the whole Young Adult/Dystopian genre. If I had read the back of this book, I wouldn't have picked it up in a million years. However, it was recommended by someone who knows her fiction, so I gave it a shot. I stayed up reading until midnight several nights in a row to finish this one. Unheard of! I don't really want to go into what it's about-- click the link--  but trust me, it's a good read.

"Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay

This one was good-- not fantastic. The characters and story were good enough to keep me reading, but it wasn't a life changer. I picked it up because it was set in Paris, of course. The story is quite tragic, but the historical details are important ones to know.

"Russian Winter"  by Daphne Kalotay

Another good story-- thought not really a great novel. A story of a ballerina, going back and forth between her young days in Stalin's Soviet Union, and at the end of her life in Boston. Ballet, Moscow, jewels, love... an enjoyable page turner.

Currently reading:

"Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan

A fictionalized account of the true love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and the wife of one of his early clients. This was also a recommendation from a friend, and it is beautifully written. I'm only a few chapters in, and already it speaks to the role of women in the early 20th century, and how trapped a lot of women were in a life that was not their own. Brilliant.

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

A mysterious circus appears in the middle of the night and draws people in with its wonders. This is a fantastical feast for the mind, and a star-crossed love story. I'm savouring it.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

One of the features I like on the Kobo is that I can download previews of most books. Some of these previews are just a chapter, others are 70+ pages! If I read that much of a book and want to read more, then it's worth getting. This book, "The Birth House", came up as a suggestion on the Kobo website, so I downloaded the preview. The prose is evocative, and I'm intrigued by the story of a young girl learning the ways of midwifery from an old Acadian woman, Miss Babineau. At least, that's what it's about so far...

"Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer

The only non-fiction selection on my list, this one is about memory. I have a horrendous memory, and it only seems to be getting worse. This author talks about the history of memory, techniques used throughout history to memorize things, how a good memory has become less important with all our digital gadgets that remember things for us, and how important it is to cultivate a good memory-- for what are we, if not a collection of our memories? I've only just begun this one...will report back on how good it is...if I remember.

That's all for now! If you have a book I should add to my list, I'd love to hear it!

Comments

[emily (justem)]

Glad you are back! And I love book reviews! I actually really liked Sarah's Key...but it could have been because I was crazy pregnant and hormonal and the time and it made me cry, thus disguising itself as a better book than it really was?? ;)

[Katie]

Hey Lisa! I am looking forward to losing my blog virginity to you! So far so good. I am in a book club and Sarahs Key is up next. I appreciate the other suggestions too. Ciao.

[Cindy Stanley]

Lisa .. I missed you! Welcome back!

[Cecile]

My, you HAVE read a lot!!! I just finished my first Kobo novel (The Cat's Table) and am on my second (Loving Frank), though I have to admit I'm losing interest in the latter and may have to abandon it.
You should read The Sisters Brothers; just read the preview and then bought the rest of the book -- looks amazing!

[virginia]

well i didn't even realize it had been that long so that's what that says about my blogging! i am the same - life gets busy and i haven't gotten around to blogging as much as i'd like lately but i do love when i have it all done.

have also read some of those books and thanks for the memo re the birth house - a stranger at the airport told me to read it last week (prob b/c i'm preggo she assumed i'd like it!)

i'm reading extremely loud and incredibly close - a bit strange at parts but def. a great read

[Oli]

Hi Lisa, thanks for the book recommendations, I've added some to my "To-read" list on Goodreads :) I've also become a e-book reader fan!

[Kathy]

Glad you are back Lisa! I am a book-aholic. I like to buy them as much as read them (kind of like scrapbooking and stamping supplies). I have read the Birth House and it's wonderful. Ami McKay's next novel is The Virgin Cure - just as wonderful (maybe better). It was my last book club's pick. Sarah's Key is one of my favourites of all time and I am looking forward to reading both The Hunger Games (after my daughter finishes) and Loving Frank.