Year 2, week 41: Belly Laughs

This week's book:
Belly Laughs
By Jenny McCarthy

Yesterday was our little man's last day of first grade and the day before was the day I entered my third trimester of this pregnancy. Both seem like exciting news. Both second grade and this third child are coming theoretically about the same week. If that doesn't sound scary, I don't know what does. I'm excited about having a whole summer with my two kiddos before the new baby arrives. We have already signed up today for the two reading programs at the two local libraries. I have workbooks for our little guy and the summer pool pass has already been bought and used. Little lady will be taking her second ballet class starting in June and my sweet hubby and son have baseball most weekends. This summer will fly by faster than I know, and before I know it we will be back in hoodies and drinking pumpkin-themed things.

On to the book this week: Belly Laughs. It's by Jenny McCarthy and if you don't know who that is you are either too young or hiding under a rock. This book came out before she married my favorite New Kid on the Block or tried to convince everyone to stop vaccinating their children. For both of these reasons I kind of want to duct tape her to a chair. She was one of the loudest voices of the whole "vaccines gave my kid autism" movement (which has been proven wrong). I'm sure she was trying to do the best for her child, but convincing others to put their children at risk is never the right thing to do. When you don't vaccinate your child you put them at risk with illnesses that have been cured decades ago. Even if different vaccines did put your child at risk for autism, do you know what is worse than autism… your child dying from something that was eradicated years ago.

Besides thinking how ridiculous she is, I wasn't really all that entertained by the book. Perhaps if this was my first pregnancy and I enjoyed hearing a celebrity complain about these issues we all have to deal with when we are going to have a baby, I could have enjoyed the book. But honestly, I think anyone who has even been pregnant could have written this book. My current pregnancy has been different from my others due to the fact that I had two consecutive miscarriages before this bundle of joy. Have I been sick, tired, irritable, swelling, looking like Kim Kardashian in her killer whale dress or when she looked like Danny DeVito as The Penguin in Batman Returns… the answer is yes, yes a billion times, yes. But honestly I have been too busy with the two other little people that need me, and I have been so happy that this pregnancy has been successful to be bothered with all the demands of growing a small person. So long story short, I would not recommend this book.

Year 2, week 40: Go Set a Watchman

This week's book:
Go Set a Watchman
By Harper Lee

I bit the bullet and decided to read the sequel for To Kill a Mockingbird. I had heard the big twist so it didn't slap me in the face as it might have with other people. If you haven't already read To Kill a Mockingbird, did you not have any English classes in middle school or high school? I originally read it in middle school and hated it because of the teacher I had that year. I reread the novel during the summer I married my sweet husband almost ten years later, and loved it.

The sequel takes place quite a bit later than the original novel. Scout comes back to her beloved southern town from New York. But when she comes home she learns that her loved ones have changed (or maybe it is that she has changed). Of course this issue pulling the rug from beneath you is that everyone is racist. While this book was written in the south at the time around the civil rights movement, or right before hand should be taken into account. But even at the time Harper Lee was stopped from this “sequel” from being published because they knew the moral compass of Atticus Finch being not what we all had wanted him to be. When Lee passed away this novel was finally published,and everyone (including me) ran to their local bookstore and picked it up. Sadly a cash grab for Lee's relatives that saw what a cash cow this book would be. But back to the book, plotwise in the end we learn that sometimes/always we need to remember that people are human, even those we hold to the highest of standards.

I think I am glad I read the book, just because it was interesting, but I don't know if I can recommend it per say. I would definitely not recommend listening to the audio book in the car with kids, the use of the southern twang and use of some racial slurs were too much, even for my ears.

Year 2, week 39: A Game of Thrones

This week's book:
A Game of Thrones
By George R.R. Martin

I did it guys… I finished the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series before the Game of Thrones tv series ended. Oh my Gosh, how much effort it took this pregnant mama to finish the book. I fully understand that there are five more novels after this and George R.R. Martin might never finish the series, but I wanted to at least read the first book before the show ended. I barely made it (the show ends this upcoming Sunday).

The copy of Game of thrones I read is a very used copy I bought at Goodwill forever ago, and was 807 pages. I was blown away how close to the book the first season of show was.

The depth of the plot was so deep that I would really have to concentrate while I was reading. Martin has truly created a whole world that is amazing to get lost in. He had plots points that have taken years to come about, he must have such an remarkable mind to have so many character arcs and plots all happening at the same time. I really enjoyed the book, it was fun to read about some of the characters I have been watching on TV for eight seasons. It was also fun to go back to essentially the first season of the show and relive those characters that have died and/or left the plot.

If I'm going to be honest here, as much as I have loved the show, I'm really just ready for it to be over now. Every episode is so interesting but heartbreaking at the same time. Throughout the books and show, so many characters have been killed, and this final season so many people have met their ends. Some of the characters that we have loved and respected have done some truly horrible things and it's all getting so painful to watch them turn into monsters.

I would of course recommend reading this book. If you have enjoyed the show or want to know what all the fuss is about, then dig right into the magical world of Game of Thrones.

Year 2, week 38: #imomsohard

This week's book:
#imomsohard
By Kristen Hensley and Jen Smedley

This week's book was amazing! If you are a mom, you have hopefully watched the ladies who make the #imomsohard videos. If you haven't seen them yet, stop reading this and watch some of their videos now, you can come back and read the rest of my blog later, I will wait.

When I heard that the ladies were coming out with a book, I pre-ordered it that night. I was so excited to read it, I just couldn't wait. I tried to finish reading some other books I had started before I dove into this book, but with mother's day being this weekend and having a few bad weeks of feeling like a horrible mom, I decided to read a book all about being a mom.

The reason I love the two ladies from #imomsohard is that not only are they hilarious, but super honest about being a mom. They are honest but somehow even if they are discussing a rough topic or something hard, they still find humor and joy. They both really seem to love being a mom and love their husbands. Sometimes mom videos are all about ragging on their kids and/or husbands. As much as we all feel beaten down at different times, being a mom is literally the best job in the world. I will be honest, it's a really hard job and it's nice to have a good laugh. I enjoyed the book so much that I underlined different passages that I know I will want to read again.

The book isn't a self help or advice kind of book, it's just fun! I can't recommend this book enough, like go out and buy it right now. Today, go and buy, check it out, however you read or listen to the book. It's amazing!

Year 2, week 37: Nine Perfect Strangers

This week's book:
Nine Perfect Strangers
By Liane Moriarty

The fact this week's book turned out to be the book of the week came about by total accident. I had apparently reserved the audiobook months ago, strangely on an app I hadn't even downloaded from one of the local libraries. Regardless, I could listen right from my phone, instead of on cd like I have been for the last half a year or so. Oh it was fantastic to just have the audiobook wherever I was. I would listen to it while emptying the dishwasher or folding laundry. It was just so great not having to switch dishes and messing with the boombox in my kitchen.

Sadly as much as I enjoyed listening to the book via my cell phone, I didn't enjoy the book so much. I have now read five of Liane Moriarty's novels, and without a doubt this was my least favorite by far. The story is told from nine strangers, hence the title of the book. The nine people which the story revolves around are all at a health resort, and things keep getting weirder and weirder. I honestly know I wouldn't have finished the book except that it was an audiobook. Liane Moriarty's books always have some kind of twist in the end, and  I don't always love them, but this time I just kind of felt blah about it.

I wouldn't recommend this novel, but I would recommend any of the other books she has written that I have read.