Quantcast

Monday, October 26, 2015

Seasonal Reading: Dracula

In theory, I really love the idea of reading seasonally appropriate books, like founding father biographies in July, or snowy winter tales in January. But in practice? My reading is generally far too haphazard and unplanned to make seasonal reading work. I don't remember to request the right books at the library in time, and therefore usually end up reading my cozy fireplace reads on the beach.

But this October, I decided it was time to give seasonal reading my best effort. The problem with October seasonal reads, however, is that I'm super not in to scary/horror stories. My horror genre absolute limit is at right about Sixth Sense level, and even then I can only handle it if someone has assured me beforehand there is a measure of a happy ending. So I decided my safest bet for a good Halloween read would be to go classic. Thus, I chose the father of the horror genre: Dracula by Bram Stoker.


Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Mental Aspect of Time Management

Mental Space Time Management

Over the summer, I thought a lot about time management. As a full time mother and full time grad student, as well as someone interested in maintaining my marriage and friendships, I have a lot of demands on my time.

One of the most important lessons I've learned from my grad school experience is that while life may be "busy," I have time for everything. I may not have all the time I want in the uninterrupted blocks I want, and I might have to think creatively about how to use the time I have, but somehow and someway, there is time for everything. There is time for homework and papers, but there is also time for sleep and home-cooked dinners and date-nights and family outings and even hobbies.

There are certain skills of time-management that I feel like I'm getting better at, like planning, prioritizing, and increasing efficiency. But one major aspect of time-management that I'm struggling with is mentally compartmentalizing.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Book Review: Half the Sky

Half the Sky book review
One night as we were getting ready for bed, I had the following conversation with my husband:

Me: "Hey, thanks for not beating me up, and sleeping around with prostitutes and thereby infecting me with aids."

Him: "Wow. Setting the bar pretty low there, aren't you?"

Me: "Apparently, worldwide, that's a pretty high bar as husbands go. Also, thanks for not spending all our money on alcohol so there's nothing to feed the kids."

Him: "You're welcome."

Obviously, this conversation happened while I was in the middle of Half the Sky.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Birthday Book Haul

So, you know that wonderful thing about how on your birthday, people give you money and then you get to order whatever you want online?

Obviously, I order books (and clothes, but this isn't a fashion blog, so just sharing the book bits here). Now here we are, two weeks later, and I feel like it's my birthday all over again! Here's the haul:

The Count of Monte Cristo, Penguin Classic Clothbound

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Surprise! Studying English Has Nothing to Do With A Love of Reading

Law Textbooks

On the first day of class this semester, as I was making small talk with some of my fellow students, I asked my go to question: "So, read any good books this summer?"

The friend sitting next to me, who, and this is crucial to understand, taught AP High School English for sixteen years before coming back to school to get her master's in literature, replied, "No. I started The Poisonwood Bible and couldn't get past the first page. That was my only attempt at pleasure reading." Cue my mouth dropping open in astonishment.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Books I Read in September

Considering I'm back in school, September was a delightfully good month reading-wise for me. Yay for audio books during the commute! I read a few really good ones (and a couple of just okay ones) this month. Let's get started.

Book Cover Collage