I'm Outnumbered

It has officially been about 9 months since my last post.  Considering that I am currently spending my days trying to wrangle an infant and a preschooler, it's not that bad.  Trying to remember that you are a separate being with adult interests is both harder and easier with kid number two.

A good chunk of my days are spent at local, free drop-in programs, and big munchkin has afternoon classes twice a week at the community centre.  Pretty much everything is SO MUCH CHEAPER at the community centre.  The price difference for swimming is especially stark.  Subsequently, swimming is really, really hard to get into, and we managed to do it this current session purely by fluke.

I've been spending more time on social media - Pinterest has saved my butt at dinner time more than once since the baby has been born, and I'm actually not doing too badly on this year's Goodreads Challenge.

Speaking of my Goodreads Challenge for 2016, if you are at all interested in history, go find yourself a copy of Operation Paperclip to read.  It was a challenging book to get through, but it was well worth it.  It is all about the aftermath of WWII, and the American program developed to bring German scientists to the USA before the Soviets got to them.
At the lighter end of the spectrum, if you are a nerdy geeky person as I am, try Ready Player One.  There are many, many references to nerdy, geeky things hidden in its pages.

As for other, adult media, partner and I managed to see both Deadpool and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theatres!  Deadpool was exactly what I hoped for and expected of that character, and I'm glad the studio didn't try to edit it down to a lower rating.  

Star Wars renewed my love of the franchise.  Partner and I spent days afterwards singing "Dududunaluh! I like Star Wars!" to each other.
The big munchkin has watched Episode 4 (and I quote "Mommy, Darth Vader was very mean to those people.  He shouldn't have been so mean to them"), and I am excited for when she watches The Force Awakens and sees her first female Jedi.
Of course, I may then have to find or make a Rey doll for her when that happens . . .

On that note, I shall leave you with the trailer for Star Wars: Rogue One.

2014 Goodreads Roundup

Happy New Year all!

I had a look at my Goodreads challenge for this year, and I have read a LOT!

I set my challenge at 30 books for 2014, based on my 2013 numbers.  Looking at my profile today, I have read a total of 52 books this year.  That is a lot of down time on public transit.

Two of those books were children's books (Neil Gaiman's "Fortunately, the Milk" and "Chu's Day"), and another is a knitting book (and I already made an adorable hat for munchkin), so subtracting those from my total, that brings me down to 49 full, grown-up books read.

I went over some of the books I had read earlier this year, so here are some of the more stand-out ones I've completed since then.

Cyberstorm by Matthew Mather - I really enjoyed this one, although it gave me anxiety.  Very intense, and a good look at how easy it could be for something major to go wrong in our modern world.  Hard to describe without giving away major plot points.

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory - a future where you can print your own custom drugs, and where someone has created a (banned, illegal) drug that makes people believe they can commune with god.  I especially liked that large portions of the book take place in Canada.  Aside from the Canada connection, the plot never sags, and moves along at a good pace.

The Germ Code by Jason Tetro - a book examining our relationship with germs, and how we affect each other.  SCIENCE!

Horns by Joe Hill - I read this before I knew they were making (& released, earlier this year) a movie version starring Harry Potter.  This book wasn't what I expected, and large portions seem to be different from the movie (based on the trailers, as I haven't seen the film).  Really, really good.

Where do Camels Belong? by Dr. Ken Thompson - a look at invasive species, how we attempt to define them (and how we really can't), how politics and human bias against boring or ugly looking creatures all play a role.  Super interesting, and full of SCIENCE.

So, I need to set a new goal for 2015, and I'll need some book recommendations to add to my list.  What have you read that was interesting this past year?

Books! Literature! Thank goodness we live near a library!

A friend (Hi My Adorable Smalltown Life!) recently posted an update on her 2013 Goodreads challenge.  She exceeded her goal by quite a bit!  It got me thinking about my own reading habits this year, since I've been back at work.

For those of you not in the know, Goodreads is a website where you can track what books you read, and it will offer you recommendations based on your read lists.  You can list whether you own a book or not, list of the date of when you started & when you finished, assign books to different shelves, which you can make up yourself, and recommend books to other Goodreads members on your friend list.
Essentially, it is like a Facebook for literary nerds.

I joined Goodreads at the tail end of 2012, so I really only have data for 2013.  I've been a heavy reader since I've learned to read.  I think it helped that my mom was an elementary school teacher - there were always books around the house.

Anyway . . . back to the original paragraph of the post.  Clearly, going back to work has not slowed my reading habits significantly.  In fact, since I read on my public transit trips home every workday, and sometimes on the morning trip, depending on how awake I am, I may be reading MORE than I was when I was on leave.

Here are some stats, if you like:
Number of grown up books read: 30
Kids books: I only tracked 6 - they were interesting and I wanted to make sure I remembered them for munchkin
Total pages (kids & grown up books): 10,645

My favourites:

• The Long Earth series (only the first two are out) which is co-written by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett.  It is a really interesting, and humorous, science fiction romp which tackles parallel Earths.
• Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle: the third book was released this year, and the library came through on this one for me.  In case you are interested in looking into them, the first book is called The Warded Man, followed by The Desert Spear and then The Daylight War.
• David Waltner-Toews: I read two of his books this year, The Chickens Fight Back, and Origin of the Feces and both were great.  He is a Canadian veterinarian who has spent his career looking at diseases and how they spread between species, and between people.  Really neat stuff, told with a good sense of humour to boot.
• On the parenting end, the advice in Discipline Without Distress by Judy Arnall really seemed to fit with my parenting goals.  If you have a wee one, I would recommend taking a gander at it to see if it clicks with your family as well.

I'm always looking for something to occupy me on my transit trips around the city, so please feel free to make some recommendations to me!