4: July 5-11, 2021

Naomi had her one-month birthday! She's celebrating this week by spending more and more time awake and alert - and more and more time nursing. And less and less time napping. Her cuteness somehow continues to grow, along with her chubby thighs and number of chins. I'm delighted that the fuzz on her ears has not disappeared. Best of all, she smiles frequently now - still not sure if it's due to the delight of looking at her beloved parents...or the delight of passing a bubble of gas - but it doesn't matter, it makes my heart sing regardless. 

We switched to lying-down, side-nursing for middle of the night meal times midway through this week, which is amazing for my restfulness (and for her ability to fall right back asleep in her bassinet), but meant less reading time for me. As a result, the weekly lists will get a little shorter!

• Becoming Odyssa, by Jennifer Pharr Davis (2)
• I love thru-hiking memoirs. With the exception of Wild (and, I suppose, A Walk in the Woods) they're not usually great writing, but I really love living the adventure vicariously. Davis is very religious and talks about god occasionally in this one (that's a hard eesh from me - and her discomfort and judginess around things like sex and weed makes her hard to empathize with as a narrator, for me) but honestly it was a little bit fascinating to be like, "So this is what it's like inside the head of a young religious person." Beyond that, she was surprisingly likable, and a decent writer. 
• The Fragile Flag, by Jane Langton (Children's 3.5) 
• I read this book as a kid and found it extremely influential. I wanted to re-read and see what my grownup self would make of it. The verdict is it mostly holds up (although I didn't notice the occasional sprinkling of Bible quotes as a child. Weird religious thing going on this week.) This book is basically about the power of youth activism - a bunch of children (we're talking babies through ninth graders) march from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. over several weeks to protest a proposed new nuclear weapon. Langton won a Newberry Medal and several other awards for her writing; she died in 2018 just a few days before her 96th birthday. She also has a degree in astronomy from the University of Michigan - go blue! 
• How Did You Get This Number, by Sloane Crosley (3.5) 
• A collection of very witty, very clever essays. Crosley is funny, entertaining, crude, smart. 

I started City on Fire (Garth Risk Hallberg) but didn't feel like I liked it enough - or was into 1970s New York City enough - to commit to its 927 pages. I will say that the first three chapters showcased some talented writing. I also read most of this parenting book this week: The New Basics: A-Z Baby and Child Care for the Modern Parent, by Michel Cohen (super great, big recommend). I started reading Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes, and realized it was a book that would be excellent as an audiobook read by Shonda herself, and does not translate well to a book-book, like how standup comedy can't really be transcribed onto the page and hold up. 

Favorites of the week: