The Book Blab: Making Time to Read (Ep. 5 Show Notes)

Hi guys! Time for another episode of The Book Blab! This was a fun one, so let's jump in. Show notes below!

When the Book is So Much Better

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about movies that were better, or at least just as good in their own right, as the books that inspired them. Those movies are a bit of an anomaly, because usually it goes without saying that the book is always better. However, that post got me thinking about a few book-to-movie adaptations where the book is just so much better that it's laughable. They shouldn't have even tried. So below I've compiled a short list of movies that I think are atrocities and should not bear the name of the awesome books they supposedly adapt. I wish someone would remake all of these movies and at least try to do the book justice. But alas, I have no power over Hollywood types, so my opinion counts for nothing.

(Also, please note, these are personal opinions. If you love any of the movies listed below, no hard feelings! I still love you!)

Ella Enchanted

Tell Me a Story, Mama

This is the request I get daily. Multiple times a day. Honestly, probably about fifty times a day.

"Tell me a story, Mama."

I guess most of the time it's more of a command rather than a request. This has become the go-to recourse for any moment of boredom: waiting while I fix lunch, driving in the car, getting dressed in the morning...

"Tell me a story, Mama."

It started out as a technique to keep him quiet during those long hours of church. My husband would softly whisper stories into his ear, his little body finally holding still, caught in rapt attention. Early on, those many years ago, they were "Josh and Danny Boy" stories, Danny Boy being the golden retriever at Grandma and Grandpa's house that serves as our surrogate pet-from-a-distance. Josh and Danny Boy would go on all sorts of adventures together in those stories, usually ending up dirty and muddy and happy in the end.

400 Years Ago...

Shakespeare died.

On April 23rd, 1616, to be exact (so get ready, that momentous day is just a few weeks away).

If you were unaware that this year marked such an auspicious anniversary (or un-auspicious, as we are celebrating a death here), then you must not be running in my (grad literature student taking a Shakespeare course) circles. Because anyone who has anything remotely to do with Shakespeare is celebrating it big time this year. I mean, seriously, there are a million tribute productions and activities (like RBG presiding at a mock Merchant of Venice trial... ?) and all sorts of stuff planned all year long.

But, cool productions of Shakespeare plays aside, one of my personal favorite things happening this year is the 50 State tour of the First Folio by the Folger library. What is the First Folio, do you ask? Well, you've asked the right person.

Books I Read in March

You guys, March was a comedy of errors when it came to my reading life. It was just one of those things where a bunch of audio book holds became available all at once, and I (naturally) decided to listen to the longest one first, but it was a too long for me to finish in the check-out time (I listen on double speed, but 25 hours is still a hunk of time to devote to any one book), so then I didn't get it finished before it was returned, and I lost all the other books that became available at the same time. Then when I tried to recheck everything out, I was bumped to the bottom of the waiting lists again. Argh!

There were other issues too: forgetting to charge my phone and missing out on an entire commute's worth of reading (well, listening), Spring Break and family in town disrupting my normal schedule, struggling to find back-up audio books that were available for immediate download and hating one enough (Astonish Me) that I just couldn't finish it. Excuses and problems aside, I did manage to finish three books this month, and the ones I finished were all generally very good (and mostly short, which helped).

On My Shelf: Our Latest Picture Book Additions

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of libraries and normally don't buy books. However, I'm a bit the reverse when it comes to children's books. I really, really love buying new children's books as opposed to checking them out. There are several reasons for this:

1.) Kid's books from the library tend to gross me out a bit, especially the board books that have clearly been chewed on and slobbered over by some other germy kid.

2.) My boys are a bit hard on books. It's sad when they destroy books I've bought for them, but far less mortifying than having to return a ripped up picture book to the library and face the disapproving glare (and fines) from the librarians.

3.) Really good picture books are meant to be read over and over and over again. When it's a good book, six weeks is not long enough. After rechecking Chicka Chicka Boom Boom out for the umpteenth time, I knew it was just time to buy and keep that book on our shelf at home.

All that is to say that while I try to show restraint, when a gift-giving opportunity presents itself, I'm all about giving books to my boys (or passing my wish-list off to grandma so she can buy them books too). We've had a few really fun acquisitions since Christmas, so I'm sharing here some of our new favorite children's books that have found a home on our shelves.

Having "Enough" Time

I'm re-reading (well, re-skimming if I'm honest) Brene Brown's fabulous Daring Greatly for an upcoming book club, and I've been struck all over again by a message early on in the book about how we always seem to have a narrative of lack running through our minds all the time. We wake up in the morning thinking we did not get enough sleep. We go to bed at night feeling like we didn't have enough time to finish all the things we needed to do. We never have enough money or enough stuff or enough whatever.

For the past few years, I've been consciously trying to counteract that narrative in my life, especially when it comes to time. With the end of the semester rushing up on me and the attendant crush of term papers and final assignments and the added stress of completing my master's essay, it's very easy for me to feel like I'm too busy. Looking forward over the next month and a half, I just don't see how I'll have enough time to fit everything in, and it's a stressful feeling.

I know a lot of the popular advice right now about managing this problem of "busyness" is to just say no to to doing too much, cut out activities, and only focus on the core essentials. That is wonderful advice. There are lots of things I am saying no to (like TV, weeknight social activities, and a clean house).

But there are lots of good and wonderful things that I want in my life, things that I don't want to say no to, things that I don't ever want to be "too busy" for. If I've learned anything from past experience, it's that I DO have time for these good and wonderful things. If I plan and prioritize and mentally change the narrative in my head, I've found that I really do have time for all the best things. I just have to remind myself of that when the intimidatingly long to-do list is staring me down.