December took me by complete surprise. Edith arrived on 21 November, and before I knew what had hit me, December arrived. And I hardly noticed. Becoming a mom was is hard. No sleep and hormones going crazy is no picnic. I had expected to disappear into a little bubble of happiness once the baby arrived. That didn’t happen. I felt confused, scared and sad. And guilty for feeling all those things. For the first two weeks I cried almost every day, not knowing why I was so sad.
By the third week, things started to get better. I realized that, as much as I love Edith, I’m not one of those mothers who can disappear into a baby bubble. I presumed that reading, blogging and knitting would seize to be important for a while. But as it turns out, I don’t really function without a little dose of quality me-time. I was lucky to be able to find some time to read while taking care of Edith in December, and I hope it’ll continue this way. Reading really makes me happy!
In December I finished: 2 books, which is 2 more than I thought I would, and I thereby surpassed my reading goal for 2015. I finished one audio book, The Golem and the Jinni, which was brilliant, and one paperback, Last Night in Montreal, which was so-so.
Other books that kept me company: I started reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler’s Wife) on my phone. We got off on the wrong foot, as it’s a bit of a depressing read, which didn’t mix well with my baby blues, so I’m at a bit of a stand still with this one.
I decided I needed to read something that made me feel all warm and fuzzy, so I dived right into Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was just what the doctor ordered! A nice and easy reread of an old favorite. Revisiting Hogwartz felt like coming home at a time when my own life felt so chaotic.
Mr. Boyfriend and I also managed to squeeze in a bit of joint audio book listening in December. We’re currently listening to Edith Wharton’s The age of Innocence. It’s one of my favorite novels, and my baby girl is named after Wharton and her character Ellen Olenska (she’s named Edith Olenska). Now Mr. Boyfriend gets a chance to get to know this character who inspired our daughter’s name. I was a bit nervous he wouldn’t like it, but now we’re about halfway through and he likes it a lot!
New books in December: I only got two new books in December: one I bought for a joint read on Goodreads, and one was a Christmas present. But I also got a gift certificate, so January will have more new books to show for.
What did you read in December?
PS: there’s been some problems posting comments for the past couple of weeks, but they have been fixed now 😉
Uh, The Golem and the Jinni – jeg håber, du kan lide den 🙂
Jeg tror, den bedste bog, jeg læste i december, var ‘Alloy of Law’ – fjerde bog i Mistborn-serien. Fantastisk underholdende!
Those books sound amazing! (and gotta love Harry Potter <3) I had to work during the holidays, so I didn't get to read as much as I wanted to 🙁
I'm glad the problem with the comments has been fixed! 🙂 I wasn't sure if it was only me who was having problems trying to comment on your blog or what 😛
Så fint et billede! Dejligt at livet med baby stadig kan tale sammen med lidt læsning i ny og næ 🙂
Like the first photo, it’s so cute 🙂
Maria V.
Jeg er helt vild med den! Den bedste læseoplevelse i lang tid 🙂
Jeg kender slet ikke Mistborn-serien!
Oh, I hate it when you don’t have time to read during holidays! To me, that’s what holidays are for!
I’m so glad I discovered that someone on facebook told me about the comments not working – I thought you guys just didn’t like my posts 😀
Ja, det gælder om at finde nogle tricks, så det kan lade sig gøre.
Thank you, Maria 🙂