What I'm reading this summer

I don't mean to brag, but I've got lots of time to read right now. Don't get me wrong, life still feels a bit chaotic between being home with the girlies over the summer and teaching my course, but at the end of the day I can read. No papers to write about childbirth, reproductive organs, or labour support. No births to run out to. I can open an actual book and just read.

I wanted to share with you what I'm reading this summer, you know, in case you were looking for suggestions.

Stir by Jessica Fechtor

I've already completely devoured this book and I think you should, too. Jessica writes Sweet Amandine, a food blog I've loved for years. We've met online a few times so I'm going to call her my friend, mostly because I'm so proud and excited about her beautiful book. It's a memoir about the time in her life when her brain broke (I think the technical term is a brain aneurysm) and how she slowly healed with the help of food. Not just in the way you might think. She certainly needed to eat nourishing food to return to a state of health, but healing also came through all those wonderful things that are tied up so closely with the food we eat--memories, feelings, hopes, delight, and the anticipation that comes from creating with food to share with others. Jessica was fed in so many different ways in the years that followed her aneurysm. There were so many passages I wanted to highlight and pages I wanted to dog-ear, but sadly my copy was from the public library. This will be remedied shortly as I need to own this book. Did I mention it's also filled with recipes?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I chose this for the first meeting of our book club and then promptly forgot to read it. By the time we were set to get together for our first meeting I had read only 300 pages. Ordinarily reading that many pages would suggest that I'd finished a book, but no, not this one, because it pushes well beyond 700. But I'm not giving up! So far I'm enjoying the writing, though it's a bit sad (orphaned children will do that to you). I'll check back in once I'm actually done the book. Sometime in October.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeannette Winterson

I'm swooning over memoirs this summer and I'm excited to read this one. I remember back in university when a good friend bought me Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and I fell hard for Jeannette Winterson, only promptly to forget about her until I saw her memoir on a list of books to read somewhere on the internet. (I can't for the life of me remember where. You're welcome.) I think I'm drawn to good memoirs for the kind of storytelling that makes me imagine that I could do things differently in my own life. Motivation, inspiration, sometimes a kick in the pants to wake up and see my life with new eyes, these are memoirs for me. 

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown

I'm just going to assume that you've seen Brene Brown's TED talk that went viral a couple of years ago. Just in case you were hiding under a rock, you can find it here. Brown studies shame and wholeheartedness (the opposite of shame). I read this book two years ago but I need a reminder to let go of shame as I'm trying so hard to make big changes in my life. I feel such shame when I stumble around trying to create better habits and to live intentionally (it's all part of being exceedingly hard on myself). This book brings makes me feel all the feelings.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Just go read this book. She's sharp, thoughtful, and hilarious. I adore how she shares her own version of the writing process and how she doesn't put herself down to be funny. I've only read the first two chapters and it's already one of my all-time favourites. I'm convinced we would be best friends, which isn't creepy at all.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This book isn't pictured above because I started reading it on my trip to Vancouver and like a dork left it in my sister's room. It is such a great book I made them mail it back to me in Toronto so I can finish it. Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman in Maryland who unknowingly donated some of her cancerous cells before she died (they were taken without her consent). And why do we care about her cells? Because these cells, called HELA cells now, are still living and growing today, being used by researchers all over the world to develop vaccines and cure diseases. No biggie. Skloot introduces the world to the woman behind the cells and tells many people's stories in the process.

What are you reading this summer?

Be well!

xo

And her head burst into a million tiny rainbows

Hello, everyone. Is your day a good one so far? At our house we are currently devouring some new library books. We go to the library every week, but today Alyce and Shira finally got their own library cards! These kinds of details make me very happy, I don't know about you. After some mooning around the children's library in search of a princess book, Alyce was delighted when the librarian found the very last one on the returns cart. And it wasn't just a princess book--it was a Princess Encyclopedia. Her head almost exploded into a million tiny rainbows.

Of course when we got home, it was Shira's Richard Scary book that caught her attention. I love how she can get lost in the pages of almost any book. That's how I left her when it was time to put Shira down for her nap, absorbed in the adventures of her book. I remember how hard it used to be when Shira was a newborn and it seemed I couldn't pay Alyce to give me some time alone to nurse her to sleep. Now she has books.

 
Speaking of nursing and naps, Shira has turned against me. She is asking to nurse at least every hour during the day and at the same time has decided that she no longer enjoys napping. My Shira's day revolves around a long afternoon nap. She wakes up long before the sun, usually at five, and is exhausted by the time noon rolls around. For some of you noon is only a few hours after breakfast, but at our house we've already done enough to fill an entire day. So, my little Shira, I do not approve of this development. Little one, you need your rest. And please, please stop banging your head against the wall in protest. No matter how badly you want to join us downstairs, that can't feel good (and I hope you are now enjoying your crib's new position in the centre of your room). I can see how tired she is, but she's fighting it.

Isn't it always the same? We work so hard to help our children find some sort of routine, whether it's napping or eating or getting dressed, and then when they dare to change and grow out of that routine, we fight tooth and nail against it. Sometimes I feel as though they are breaking some official rule whenever they change their behaviour and I find myself yelling in my head, No fair! I like it this way! Stop growing older. Quit changing the rules. We feel as though we put our time in learning the old routine, hours of establishing good napping habits, for instance, and now we want our returns. I think Shira is upstairs laughing at me right now as I type this, because of course she'll change the rules. And I will try my best to keep up with her.

P.S. Alyce is dying for spring. Here is her offering. May your spring also be filled with owls, butterflies, rain boots and polka dot dresses!

Food on Thursdays: In case you wanted to buy me a cookbook

Joy the Baker Cookbook

Because we all need such an advocate for butter and sugar in our lives.

La Tartine Gourmande
Because I could use a new perspective on small, simple meals. And I could dive into her photographs.

gluten-free girl and the chef

Because not only could I stand less flour in my life (shhhh, don't tell Joy the Baker), I love how they tell stories about food, especially pizza.

Dinner: A Love Story

Because she knows how much work dinner can be, and how worth all that work is in the end. This book isn't even released until June 5, but I thought I'd give you some extra warning, you know, for planning purposes.

P.S. I've been loitering around the following recipes this week:

marinated olives

moroccan carrot salad with harissa

sunday minestrone (to help me with this problem)

potato, turnip, white bean and kale soup (I will make a good white bean soup one day)

No sweets this week? I'm not sure what's wrong with me. Savory it is, then.

What are you cooking this week? Any new cookbooks catching your eye?

Going on a bed hunt

On my way to bed last night I saved a llama and a lemon from drowning in the bathroom sink,

battled a dinosaur on my dresser,

brawled with beasts next to my bed,

and then settled in with a good book.*

In our house you must come prepared for adventures at every turn. And as much as I fight against it some days, this is exactly how I like it.

*My Friends, by Taro Gomi, is one of my all-time favourite books for little ones. I learned to march from my friend the rooster. I learned to kick from my friend the gorilla. Isn't it always nice to learn new things? In preparation of the upcoming holidays (and birthday, for one very excited little girl), I'm working on a post about our favourite books. Coming soon!

Book club

"There once was a mouse who was very lonely and didn't have any toys. Then he got toys. The end."

-Alyce, book club member since 2007