Reading at night is finally becoming a habit. Although I don’t need much to fall asleep, I like the routine of reading in bed and slowing down my mind. “Slow” seems to be the theme of my reading this month. After learning about many of these books at the start of the new year, and hearing people’s resolutions of “slowing down,” I thought I would check out what everyone was talking about.
On the Bookshelf
Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table
I mentioned Jenny Rosenstrach in a meal planning post last month after I heard her on a podcast. I connected with her vision of the family dinner table. She documented all of the dinners she made for 14 years. Yes, fourteen years. The book is part memoir and part cookbook and has been one of my favorite reads in quite some time. The recipes are easy enough and written in a conversational manner. Jenny has a background in magazine editing and is able to marry the task of blending the real life need to make dinner every.single.night. with a dose of clever humor.
I first heard about Rachel Macy Stafford’s blog Hands Free Mama when I read her Huff Po article about the day she stopped telling her daughter to hurry up. It struck a cord with me as I read it during the summer, when we were truly living a slow life. It was poignant and I realized I wanted to make some changes when we returned home to real life.
The book will be eye-opening for some parents, probably those who’s phone is generally at arms length, at all times. As someone who follows along with social media, both for fun and for business, I can easily fall into this camp. The book has made me aware of certain situations that I default to catching up on emails, when instead I will be better served listening. Listening to my children, my husband, my neighbor…basically people in real life. Although the book is a little repetitive than I would like, the basis of the book is good and I’m nearly done with it.
In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed (Plus)
This is an oldie but goodie. The book has touched on everything from Slow Food to slow weightlifting to integrative medicine. It’s so simple, but the book reminded me how important it is to remember to take deep breaths and slow down when I’m faced with a challenge…like crayon on a wall or fighting siblings. Those extra moments have allowed me to avoid raising my voice to discipline the kids. Somehow they seem more receptive to the calm punishment and then we can just move on.
On the iPad
So far I’ve finished 2 out 3 and expect to finish the last in the series in the next week. I’m curious to see the movie as the first Divergent book was entertaining. If you are a fan of the Hunger Games series, this will probably be a winner for you too. (I read most ebooks via the Kindle app on my iPad. I’m an Amazon Prime junkie so it’s easy for me to just stick with one program for all my purchases from books to diapers.)
So now it’s your turn. What’s on your bookshelf this month?
Note~ any Amazon links are affiliate links. Any purchase made there helps support this site at no additional cost to you. Or you can do what I did and request them from the library first to see if you like the book. I did and will probably buy the hardcover version of Dinner: A Love Story because I loved so many recipes from it.
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