As I mentioned in my last post, February was kind of a crazy month. Not only did we move, but we also decided to not get internet at our new house for the time being. What does one even do without the internet?
Why, read books of course!
I also was not able to exactly keep track of my books on my Goodreads account, so I have no idea if I actually read all of these books in February…some of them may have been March books.
You, Your Child and School
I picked this up on my quest to read more about homeschooling, but it wasn’t about homeschooling at all. It was about the American education system and how a parent can be a better advocate within it. It was an interesting read and I’m always fascinated by education since that is what I have a degree in, but it was an otherwise not overly interesting book. If you are interested in education and particularly the American education system…go for it! Otherwise, skip it.
The 12 Week Year
This book has fantastic reviews and so many people talk about how fabulous they 12 week system is. I found this book completely unrelatable. The premise is that 12 months is way too long to be setting goals for. We don’t know what 12 months ahead will really look like, and we run out of interest after only a few months. Instead, we should make goals based on 12 weeks…it’s much easier to focus and achieve in that smaller amount of time than a typical 12 month goal plan. I fully agreed with all of that! He then started to break it down to what it should look like implemented into an average week/month, and that was when he lost me. He insisted on a 3 hour planning block at the beginning of each 12 weeks. Now, this is all fine and dandy but I can’t even remember the last time I had an uninterrupted 3 hours, so I just felt like I wasn’t the target audience. Maybe one day in the future if I’m running my own business or find myself with a little bit more time to actually time block, I will pick this book up again. But for the stay at home Mom with 3 kids under 4? Nope. I think we need the 12 Minute Year. Or maybe even the 12 Second Year. LOL.
Baby Proof
I tried to read an Emily Giffin novel a few months back and I had to put it down because I hated the content of that novel (Something Borrowed- main character sleeps with best friends fiancee and the whole book is about how she deserves him instead of best friend- no thank you). I really like the lightness of chick-lit and I liked the style of the author, so I decided to try Baby Proof, and I did enjoy it! It’s a catchy book and that light chick lit style, which I so needed during this crazy month of my life. The plot was unpredictable and the character development was fabulous. I didn’t feel like I could relate since I’m a SAHM in rural Ohio while the main character is a professional in NYC with no kids, but I still thought it was cute and enjoyed reading it.
A $500 House in Detroit
Woah. This book. I need to talk about this book. A young, white U of M student decides to move himself into a neighborhood in Detroit, bidding on a house for $500 and taking the following years to fix it up. He learns about living in community, about fear and mistrust, about love and trust. He chronicles the white flight from Detroit and how racial inequality and economic inequality are suffocating the people of our country. This book was not a Christian book, and I felt that the author struggled a lot with bitterness. He wrote factually, but I felt like he had no hope in his writing. I also struggled with the fact that he had a blatant hatred towards police, but dedicated an entire chapter to the firefighters of Detroit. (I’m not saying he didn’t experience wrong from the police, or that the police are always right- I just wish that he understood that police also respond to all the types of things that his heroic firefighters respond to). This was a HEAVY book, but one that I will not ever forget. I highly recommend it.
Decluttering at the Speed of Life
I figured that moving into a new house was the perfect time to pick up a decluttering book, and I LOVED this one! It was snarky and cute and I’ve never felt like I could relate so well to a decluttering author (although…do people really have as much stuff as she implies?). Her concepts were not revolutionary to me, but I’ve been using them a bit in our new house and I feel like it’s been a fantastic transformation! This was a quick read and is probably the exact opposite of Marie Kondo, so if you are feeling that the recent MK hype isn’t “sparking joy”, then go ahead and give this a try!
Eat Dirt
This book was…A LOT of information. Dr. Josh Axe believes that we are destroying the fauna of our guts through our diets and medically dependent lifestyles here in the US. He attributes most of the US’s current health problems to the diets that we consume. He then goes on to give many, many different and applicable ways that we can clean up our diets and feel much, much better. I really liked this book, and I mainly agreed with him. The book was SO INTERESTING that I kept reading parts of it out loud to Theo. The evidence was factual and I loved the very, very practical tips that he gave, like going barefoot as much as possible. However, I also felt absolutely overwhelmed by this book. It made me feel so guilty. He kept saying that all our health problems are caused by the foods that we eat and I felt like I was being told that I’m poisoning my kids. I don’t necessarily think he’s wrong, but I also struggle so much with this at this time in my life. Feeding kids and keeping them alive is not easy, and trying to give them a diet that goes directly against what is available on store shelves is SO HARD. I would love to slowly start to implement some of his suggestions and continue to research what we are eating and what we can eat alternatively.
And that’s a wrap for my February reads!
What are you reading lately? Have you read any of these books?