It’s been a while. Yet again. I got on a roll there, for a month or two, and then…nothing.
What happened? This did:
My husband and I are expecting our first little one next month! Which means the past seven months or so have looked something like this:
March-April:
Felt SO INCREDIBLY NAUSEOUS that almost literally all I did was sleep, eat what I could, and lie on the couch trying to lose myself in fiction. (Might sound fun, in a way, but I would not suffer months’ worth of constant nausea for all the reading time in the world!) Discovered that forcing myself to review what I’d been reading worked as a distraction tactic, so did some of that.
May:
Started to feel better. Sort of. Some days. Lots of out-of-town company, so little reading and (also thanks to the fact that I no longer needed distraction as badly) basically no blogging.
June:
Mostly felt like a human being again. Yay! Which meant I could turn my attention to all the baby-related books I’d been meaning to read but couldn’t bring myself to even look at while the super-nausea reigned supreme. (I am someone who likes to Know About Things, so there were — and are — a LOT of these.) Also, spent a couple of weeks traveling. Too busy enjoying not feeling like crap 24/7 to worry about blogging.
July-September:
Audiobooks and I became even more inseparable than we have been for the past few years. While baby books ruled my nightstand (and who wants to read reviews of those on a mostly fiction blog??) and my to-do list grew (and grew and grew), pleasure reading took over my headphones. On top of that, I realized I still have a baby quilt to finish and tons of knitting to do, which means even more audiobook time! I don’t see this setup changing in the next month.
Time to play catch-up!
While I have not been reviewing, I’ve certainly been reading (and listening) — and lots of those books have been the sorts of things I usually write about. And this time, rather than forget everything I’ve read while not blogging, I actually kept a list. Woo!
So over the next few weeks, I figured I’d play catch-up, posting short review blurbs of the books I read or listened to by month. I’m calling these posts Summer Summaries, even though — let’s be honest — I’m including, like, half the year here. I may then promptly fall off the face of the planet again…but at least my reading record will be up to date!
Stay tuned. In the meantime…
Your Turn!
How has your summer been? (Or winter, if you’re on the flip side of the planet.) What are you looking forward to in the months to come (reading or otherwise)?
I was SO glad to read this update. I’ve been wondering how you are and when the baby is due. Me, I’m writing short speculative fiction — got one placed in Andrea’s Sharp’s CHRONICLE WORLDS: FEYLAND. This is a story set in a world she already created, Feyland.
Looking forward to the summer summaries. I always enjoy reading your take on books.
Congratulations, Erin! I’ve been meaning to write to you for ages now, and I’ve wondered why you haven’t been updating the blog. Glad to know it was for a happy reason! All the best to you. I’m looking forward to reading your summer summaries.
Pregnancy and baby are always legitimate reasons to step away from blogging for a bit. Mini reviews seem like a great idea! 🙂
Happy summer, and many congratulations to you and your husband for the soon-to-arrive baby! That’s wonderful news!
Congrats to you and your husband, Erin! I’m so happy to hear that your absence was for a a very happy reason.