Reading is one of the few things I have complete control over in my life right now.  It’s something I choose to do and choices really are a luxury.

In order to do this whole full-time working mom thing I couldn’t do it without my husband.  Sure, he doesn’t cook and he can’t clean that well, but he does lots of other great things.  I mean it, he does.  I would also be a mess if I didn’t have my extended family to help in all the ways they do (the big things like childcare, but also the shopping sprees they go on just when I discover my kid has no shorts that fit him – holy shit it was 70 degrees this week!!!).

All these support systems (and more) help move life forward in a loving and organized way,  yet in order to fulfill it?  Yup, I use books.  I read everyday.  Always at night and a few precious moments elsewhere if I can swing it.  Even if I start at 11pm, knowing the alarm will ring at 5am, I still read.  Sometimes it takes forever to get a book done, but I never stop.  In case you read like me, or are looking to start it up again with a good pick:

1.  The Dark, Dark Wood – Ruth Ware  – Did you like Gone Girl?  You may like this better.
2. What I Told My Daughter – Nina Tassler – All essays written by famous, successful women.  Ever wondered what they told their daughters?  Many, many highlighted passages in this book.
3. A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman – An oldie but a goodie.  Sad, heart-warming, different, lovely.
4. Freedom – Jonathan Franzen – This one is a journey, a long one.  Take it – so worth it.
5. Me Earl and the Dying Girl – Jesse Andrews  – Read this and pass to a teen.  Please.
6. Behind Her Eyes – Sarah Pinborough – Creepy, hard-to-believe, hard to put down.
7. Anything by Wally Lamb, unless it’s written after 2010.
8. Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls – Yes, it’s illustrated and for younger readers.  Yes I read it after my daughter is already sleeping in my arms.
9. Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher – Feel like being part of the “in-crowd”.  Read this and talk with a teen (they probably watched the Netflix version, but at least you know).
10. A Piece of the World – Christina Baker Kline – Read with me.  I just started this one.  It’s historical fiction, but my mother told me it’s sooooooooooooooooooooo good

*For the record I also have parenting books that help push the dust back on my nightstand.  1-2-3 Magic is on top…I am working the program people.

I am an English teacher, so reading is just part of the gig. In a recent profess
ional development we were told that reading in front of your kids is often as important as reading to them.  I guess kids can equate the fact that reading isn’t just something kids do – it’s what adults do.  Ugh.  I always read to them, with them, but never with my own book near them.   Guess what my spring vacation goal was?

Happy reading.  Tell me if you liked anything on the list or better yet…add some in the comments for all to enjoy!