LIFE'S A PEARL

I started this month with 6 January hopefuls to read. 3 were from my winter tbr.

I’ve read 5 books so far this month. Three of these were hopefuls with 1 off my winter tbr.

Two of the books were for Fable book clubs – a nonfiction read for Life’s Pearls of Wisdom and a romance for A Dose of Romance Book Club.

For a minute there I was 2 for 4 with the nonfiction picks! I have to mention this since it’s unlikely to happen again this year! One of my hopes for my 2023 reading life was picking up more nonfiction.

I did have one DNF book – Lingus by Mariana Zapata. I listened to almost 20% but should have stopped sooner. Partly I was hate listening a little bit just to see how long she would keep the characters in the same setting. There was a horrifying amount of pitting women against each other, slut shaming, hypocrisy, a mean judgmental main character, and sexual harassment of sex workers.

Here’s what I read in the first half of January.

Mid January Reading Recap:

Gentle Discipline: Using Emotional Connection – Not Punishment – To Raise Confident, Capable Kids by Sarah Ockwell-Smith

Rating: 4.5 stars

I stumbled upon this author’s YouTube channel while researching babies and sleep. I really appreciated her gentle approach and explanations so I knew I wanted to check out one of her parenting books.

In this book, parenting expert Sarah Ockwell-Smith offers an alternative form of discipline to the conventional version of ineffective punishments and rewards. She explores popular ways of discipling children and why they often don’t work.

Ockwell-Smith breaks down three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. Authoritative with its child centered, highly responsive approach is gentle discipline. It includes age appropriate expectations, realistic boundaries, respectful enforcement, and empathy based communication.

The first few chapters explore child development so a parent can be informed of what their child is actually capable of at any given age. Often in modern discipline methods, children are punished for things that aren’t yet developmentally appropriate and punished in ways that they’re not capable of understanding – especially at school.

At the end of each chapter are common questions that parents have written to her followed by a breakdown response of advice, ideas, and methods to try at home.

My Thoughts

I listened to this book on audio since it was available through hoopla with my library. I would like to purchase a physical copy to reread and reference.

Some of my takeaways were the importance of being informed of child development stages so you’re not expecting more from your child than they can actually do. I appreciated the concept that there should be consequences but they should be logical relating to the inappropriate behavior.

She also makes it clear that you don’t have to be perfect. All parents will lose their cool at some point. Apologizing when that happens is actually a great way of modeling behavior for your kids. She strives for a 70/30 rule – at least 70% of the time successfully gently disciplining.

Ockwell-Smith’s overall message is just to be empathic to your kid and treat them as you’d want to be treated. I found her approach is supportive, understanding, encouraging and full of hope.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Rating: 5 stars

Steam Level: 1

The only child of her journalist mother, Nina Hill was left to be raised by her nanny. Now grown, she has her life planned out just the way she wants it: a bookstore job, weekly book club meetings, and winning trivia nights.

Her world gets turned upside down when the father she never knew dies and she’s included in his will. Suddenly countless family members are popping up, most excited to meet her, and she’s not sure she wants to fit them into her plans.

Add to that she keeps finding herself shoved into situations with the handsome Tom, who also happens to be her trivia nemesis, and he seems to want to get to know her too. Possibly even date!

My Thoughts

I listened to this on audio via Libby and just adored it! I didn’t want to stop listening. This was a quick read, unique and fun. There’s nothing I would change.

From the beginning I was charmed by Nina. She was clever, funny, and quirky. The family she discovers is full of sweet and interesting characters as are her trivia teammates and her coworkers. The cat, Phil, was awesome too!

I loved all of the bookish moments and there were tons! The book clubs that Nina leads sounded so fun. I loved hearing about her bookshelves and her descriptions of people’s personalities based on their favorite genres.

Her little sister, Millie, was the best. The moment when she explains that she’s only allowed 6 books at a time on her tbr and Nina nods that it’s about the same for her – only with shelves – cracked me up!

There’s a chapter (15) where Nina recounts her 5 perfect things in the world. I came up with mine – stories, baby snuggles, rain, trees, and rescue dogs. What would yours be?

Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley

Rating: 5 stars

This was my first choice for the nonfiction book club I began on Fable.

I saw it recommended on bookstagram by someone who lost their mother to cancer last year and while going through the process of a terminal illness asked if there was a book to help. This is what their hospice nurse recommended.

Final Gifts is a timely book for my family as we’ve had two cancer diagnoses last year and one was terminal. I read my way through this sooner than expected because I needed the information a lot sooner than anticipated.

Here’s the goodreads description:

“In this moving and compassionate classic—now updated with new material from the authors—hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill.

Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share.

Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.”

My Thoughts

I have so many tabs in this book and shared a ton of my thoughts and quotes over on fable.

This book was a huge help and comfort for me during a difficult time. The book, as I’m sure you can imagine, is full of sad but powerful stories! I got teary eyed and reflective often while reading this but the information was priceless.

It explained some things in a matter of fact way that made me more comfortable being in the presence of a dying person.

Not only was it helpful for me as I struggled with how to say goodbye to a loved one, but it gave me new ways of thinking about death.

This book is not religious but it is spiritual and reading their stories and accounts of the dying left me with a feeling of peace and hope.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 2

This was my first selection for my monthly Dose of Romance Book Club. I heard so many great things from a lot of people about this one!

Dev is a producer who works on the set of Ever After, a reality dating television show that’s been on air since he was a kid. While his own love life is nonexistent after a rough break up, he still believes in love and he’s excellent at crafting a fairy tale for the show.

Charlie is cast as this season’s Prince Charming. He isn’t there to find love though. He’s there in a last effort to rehabilitate his public image and get back his tech career. This proves to be a terrible idea when his anxiety and awkwardness get the best of him anytime he has to interact with anyone.

When Dev is put in charge of Charlie, he’s determined to help Charlie find love with one of the contestants. But soon they discover their chemistry and connection is much stronger.

My Thoughts

It could have been everything that was going on in life at the time I was reading this (this was the week we travelled back to California to say goodbye to a family member), but I didn’t love this one.

I started out reading it and eventually had to do a hybrid read with the audio as well to wrap it up. This book is all VERY long chapters and I did not like the format.

From the beginning I hated the whole concept of the reality dating show especially after realizing on introduction how truly awful most of the people working and starring on it are. It was distracting to me.

While I felt bad for Charlie, it was never believable to me that he’d put himself in that position knowing the anxiety he struggled with and not liking to be touched. Dev was only 3 months out of a 6 year relationship! I kind of felt like neither one of them was ready to be in a relationship and they both needed to figure a lot out first.

Traveling all around the world to different filming locations was pretty fun. The chemistry between them some of time was convincing. I loved the moments when Dev supported Charlie and allowed him to open up. I also thought their discussions of sexuality were really interesting.

I’m bummed this one didn’t work for me. I’m a little confused on what I might have missed since I know I’m in the minority on it. But not every book will be for all readers. Onward!

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks and Scones by Ngozi Ukazu

Rating: 4 stars

I previously reviewed Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey in my December reading wrap up. It was my graphic novel pick for my winter tbr and I loved it! I couldn’t wait to pick up book 2.

Sticks and Scones follows Samwell hockey player, Eric “Bitty” Biddle through his junior and senior years. As a junior, Bitty is busy keeping up with school, his new teammates, baking plenty of pies, and also his new boyfriend!

That’s right, Bitty is now in a relationship with former team captain turned professional NHL player, Jack Zimmermann. They’ve been keeping their relationship quiet from Bitty’s parents and the rest of the players but soon they’re not sure they want to keep a secret anymore.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book but it was lacking the charm of the first one for me. The story felt really slow and often disjointed. I was very confused by why Bitty refused to talk to his parents. The impression given in the first book was that they already knew he was gay, that he had already come out.

As Bitty went through college many of the older teammates had obviously graduated and moved on but I missed them! The new recruits just weren’t as fun to spend time with.

I loved the relationship between Jack and Bitty and the healthy ways they supported one another and communicated.

The part where Jack tricks Bitty into writing his senior thesis via text explanation was hilarious!

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What’s on your mid January reading recap?