Happy New Year! Now I know we are alarmingly close to our deadline to complete this 30 Things to do list…..and noticeably far away from the goal. The good news is that I have completed several more items on the list, I just haven’t had the time (made the time) to write the blog posts about them. There are a couple items on the list that I am getting a little nervous about (*eh-hem* half marathon *eh-hem* 30 push-ups) but I have not given up hope that I will finish the list by February 12th :)

Reading is something I’ve loved since I was a toddler. I vividly remember reading the June B. Jones series when I was in kindergarten/first grade. I also loved the Box Car Children series, and later the Harry Potter series. I started a book club here in Boise 4 years ago and we take turns picking a monthly book and meeting at each other’s houses for girl time, wine and snacks! Occasionally, we do actually talk about the book 😁

To Kill a Mockingbird seems like one of those classics that everyone was required to read in high school, but for whatever reason it was not for me. We read some other classics like Great Gatsby and Scarlett Letter, but this one never came up. I wanted to make a reading-related item on my bucket list so I decided to pick an old classic since I usually favor new modern-day picks.

First I must admit that I actually listened to this on Audible. I still count audiobooks as books completed towards my yearly total, because you still spend hours and hours on them and you are consuming the same content. You’re just able to multitask while you do it! I usually listen to my audiobooks while I’m driving or while I’m in my bathroom doing my hair and makeup.

The narrator on Audible for this book is the best; she has the thickest sweetest southern accent. I really enjoyed how the book was from the perspective of the children, primarily Scout. I didn’t have a clue what the storyline was going to be about, so I was going into it completely blind. I went through the book pretty quickly and I enjoyed the time period it was set it. I know there is a black and white movie of it, and I might see if Zeb wants to watch it with me soon. The ending was not what I expected – pretty much from the outcome of the trial on.

I finished 30 books total in 2022, which I’ll do a separate post on. Our book club pick for January is “Daisy Darker” which I will also be reading on audiobook. My physical book that I’m starting the year off with is going to be A Court of Thorns and Roses. Not my typical genre but I’ve been hearing so many people rave about how addicting it was, I became curious.

Brynnley is only 10 months old but she seems to really enjoy our time reading her little books too. I refilled her bookshelf with all Christmas books for the month of December, and just swapped them back out for her regular baby books over the weekend. In her room full of toys and stuffed animals and blocks, she always prefers to go over to her bookshelf and pull out books to flip through for her. Proud mama moments! I can’t wait til we can read more books out loud together! My parents saved all of my Junie B. Jones books in perfect condition to pass down to her :)

Let me know if there are any other books I should add to my 2023 reading list. I always end up somewhere between 28-32 books per year, but we’ll see if I can hit a personal record this year.