Beastmomma

Last year, I made a resolution to read one more book than I did in 2010. My goal was to read 20 books this year and I read 10. I was also hoping to do better with the challenges that I had signed up for, but I broke a record of not finishing a single challenge this year.  In some ways I had more time to read because I had a job for which I took the metro to and from work.  The job was demanding in a way that made it hard for me to focus at the end of the day. I wanted to zone out or sleep which cut down on my reading time.  In January, I found out I was pregnant. Morning sickness, fatigue, staring at my swollen feet, and touching my belly in wonderment were all distractions from reading. 

About a month before I was due, a pipe burst in our house.  We had mold and flood damage.  It was very stressful to not know if we were going to be in our house before our baby arrived.  While I technically had time to read between finishing my job and the baby's arrival, I was stressed and trying to do as much preparation as I could from our extended stay hotel.  Six hours after getting back to our house, before anything was unpacked, my water broke.  My daughter arrived on September 17th.  Since then, I have been in a whirlwind of adjusting to parenthood and setting up house.  I am amazed that I managed to read even a little bit to finish The Emperor of All Maladies which I had begun in May and got to double digits in my reading. 

With all of that in mind, I am going to have a modest goal of reading 12 books in 2012. Because I love the idea of them, I will also sign up for a few challenges, but not expect to finish.  Until March 1st, I will be preparing for the MA bar exam which is incredibly stressful.  Most of my pleasure reading will be magazines until then.  As a reward and to make it easier to read when I am holding a baby, I think that I will get an ereader.  In spite of a low number of books completed, I still had an amazing year! I am glad that books were part of that and I look forward to more in the new year!