Bluebird Books

Is it just me or does anyone else notice the boon of reading challenges that crop around the end of December/early January? reading in the new year is FUN! Here are a few I've heard about: Modern Mrs. Darcy 2019 Reading Challenge Book Riot Read Harder 2019 31 Day Read Aloud Challenge The Unread Shelf 2019 Reading Challenge The Reading Women Challenge I'll be honest, every single time I hear about a new reading challenge I'm filled with excitement and hope.  Maybe it's my inner optimist, maybe it's my love for checking off items on a list.  I want to roll my eyes and scoff, but instead, I find myself taking screenshots and copying the prompts into my reading journal.  #nerd #nerdlyfe #inerdsohard Ok...so now that I've got these challenges logged in my book journal all I can think of is how confining they are.  I don't actually want to read any graphic novels and does that make me a bad reader? Reviewing last year's reading challenge

In early December we found out my dad has cancer.  This news prompted a few trips to visit my family.  We also traveled to Dollywood to see my husband's family.  Lots of travel, but one theme: family. After a year marked by family tragedy, we decided that our priority would be visiting family and inviting family to stay with us.  I feel like we did a good job making sure we got to spend quality time with loved ones--even when it was challenging.  With all this driving around and trying to figure out how to live in this new reality (cancer sucks on so many levels), I still got some reading done.  I think I read more in December because everytime the world seemed overwhelming I cracked open a book.  Life often felt overwhelming.  Also, I learned that I can read in the car and that was a big win.  Here's what I read: Holidays on Ice 🌟🌟🌟 This was...different.  I've never read anything by David Sedaris so this was my introduction.   Holidays on Ice  a compilation o

Christmas Vacation There's maybe a no better time of year to read than in the winter--blankets, fires, tea.  Night comes early and settling early feels right.   With the structure that school provided we were able to read after dinner on most nights.   actual photo of our family reading after dinner, try to contain your envy But over Christmas vacation, things changed.   Maybe you've seen that meme about Christmas Eve reading in Scandinavia or wherever.  Friends have sent that to me on more than one occasion.  It sounds like an amazing tradition but because our Christmas Eve can be described with words like, "frantic," "rushing," and "full" this meme kind of makes me resent our version of the holiday.   We spent the day (as we do most years) cooking, cleaning, and packing for Grandma's house.  There is last minute wrapping and I always get the bug to catch up my laundry.  This bug leaves me alone the other 364 days of the