11-16 : Aug 23-Oct 3, 2021

 On August 23rd, Naomi turned 11 weeks old, and on August 25th, I went back to work. Coincidentally, that's the same week this whole blog endeavor fell apart. It's also around the time that Naomi stopped nursing so utterly voraciously - instead of spending 6+ hours a day on the couch with her cozied around my boob, it was maybe 2-3 hours. At work, I was pumping, whilst eating snacks and typing away on my work laptop. Reading diminished and was, in large part, replaced by grading student assignments. What was left tended to the light and the easy. 

Meanwhile, at the end of August, Naomi rolled for the first time (back to belly.) Champion. She became just exceedingly smiley and giggley. We immersed her in several small bodies of water, in a little blue and green swimming suit, and she didn't hate it. She was sort of resigned to her fate. 

In these six weeks, I read:

• Sidecountry, by John Branch (3)
• Short nonfiction pieces about adventure and sports. I didn't read everything in the collection, but I liked his writing and reporting. The long-form journalism piece about an avalanche was super gripping.
• Mary Jane, by Jessica Anya Blau (3)
• A very charming, very likable novel
• One Two Three, by Laurie Frankel (3)
• Another likable novel - somewhat about young people living with different disabilities, sort of an environmental justice piece except pretty white. 
• The Husbands, by Chandler Baker (3)
• A pretty funny, cutting take-down of the patriarchy, in the form of a fun read
• Survive the Night, by Riley Sager (1.5)
• Just a dumb, suspenseful, thriller-esque tale. 
• People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry (2.5)
• A very genuinely funny little piece of chick lit. 
• The Photographer, by Mary Dixie Carter (1.5)
• There's sort of a mold of this sort of book - creepy narrator becomes overly invested in someone else's life and manipulates it in some way. 

Favorites of the Month: