What We Read in April

Ugh. This week. It's been awful. Long story short, Phil hurt his back and can't lift either kid, I got the stomach flu, and then Paul got the stomach flu and puked twice in his car seat. Car seats are impossible to clean. If they weren't so expensive, I would have been tempted to throw it out after the 2nd puke. Oh and I think Will is getting his bottom teeth as he's up more than often? Or maybe he's just extra hungry since my milk supply tanked after having the flu since I barely ate for 24 hours. Le sigh. 

But let's talk about something more fun - like reading! I read 9 books in April which is the first month my reading hasn't been in the double digits since November I think? Or maybe earlier? But 9 is still a lot. I feel like 5-6 was my pre-maternity leave average so I expect my reading to maybe migrate back to that? We'll see! 

Mom's reads:

The 5 books below were my favorites for the month. What Kind of Woman is a poetry collection that has been all over the internet so chances are you've heard of it. You can read this in one sitting. It's delightful and very relatable, especially if you are married and have kids! Kindred is classified as Sci Fi as it includes some time travel but it didn't strike me as Sci Fi as I always think of that genre as being about space. It's about a mixed race couple that time travel from the 80s (I think - it's been awhile since I read it) to the Antebellum south. It was an interesting and impactful approach to talking about slavery. Dominicana is about a young 15yo Dominican Republican girl who is married off to a man who is over 30. He is her - and her family's - ticket out of the DR to NYC. It was a very engaging read and horrifying to think of a young girl - a child really - being married to a man in his 30s. At the end, the author explains that the book is based on her mom's life. The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano was a "sliding doors" type of book that looks at how a woman's life would differ if she chose not to have children. Lastly, To Raise a Boy was the most important book I read last month. I had a horrified look on my face for much of the book as it talks about heavy topics, like the sexual assault that is happening more and more to boys - by other boys - in locker rooms. I have heard of this happening in a tiny town in ND close to where I grew up, so I believed the author when she said this is happening in urban and rural communities. The book also talks a lot about consent and respect for others. This prompted a lot of conversations with my husband. 

The next 4 books were good to "just ok." Nothing I'd strongly recommend from this batch.

The boys' reading:

Will continues to take more and more interest in books. He really pays attention when you read to him and tries to grab the pages of the books. He also really seems to pay attention when we are reading to Paul!!

His favorite "book" is this Jungly tails book. he loves to grab the different tails!

Reading up on bedtime routines!

Paul enjoyed reading some books with Nana when we were at the lake earlier in April. He loved having a bunch of new books to check out! I also checked out some books from the library based on his newest Amazon Prime tv obsession - Stinky and Dirty. Each book is about a different truck or piece of construction equipment. We honestly kind of hate these books - the show is MUCH better. But he likes the books so we've checked several out of the library. 

Did you read anything great this month?