Booklist

As my maternity leave is drawing to a close, I've been thinking about the things, aside from parenting my child, that I've managed to accomplish while I've not been working. 
I have spent a whole lot of time at the library over the past few months.  The library, in fact, as been an amazing resource while I've been off.  They run a program called "Baby Time" where caregivers & babies sing songs and nursery rhymes and the librarian reads an age appropriate book or two.  It was a little dorky, but fun - plus it is always nice to get out of the house for a bit!  Plus, you can borrow books and movies and things.

I thought it would be neat to see how many books I've read while I've been off, but unfortunately, you can't track past checkouts. 
While I have read a fair amount of parenting and baby related books in the past year, I've also managed to fit in some for fun reading too.  I also borrowed a lot of kids books to read to the baby.

Here's a brief, incomplete list of what I've managed to cram into my brain the last few months.

For Fun books have included:
The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper
Singer from the Sea by Sheri S. Tepper
Ghost Story by Jim Butcher (a book in the Dresden series)
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook & Eat by Bee Wilson
If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home by Lucy Worsley (there's also a BBC miniseries based on this book, starring the author and it is pretty awesome)

Parenting or Baby Related Books:
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger
Parenting Inc: How we are sold on $800 strollers . . . by Pamela Paul (this one has a super-long subtitle, and I can't be bothered to write it all out, but I found this book to be an interesting read)
Bringing Up Bebe by by Pamela Druckerman (this book I didn't like so much, the author seemed to think that doctors and lawyers living in downtown Paris, France were 'middle class' and it went downhill from there).
Buy Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas
Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood by Susan Linn
The Case for Make Believe by Susan Linn
The Baby Book by Dr. Sears
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp

Currently on the table, I have a ton of books I need to get through & give back to the library before they're due!
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond
    I'm about halfway through this book and it is really interesting.  This author also wrote Guns, Germs & Steel, so if you liked that, I think you'll enjoy this one.  I am so far!
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Hold on to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld
Simplicity Parenting by Dr. Kim John Payne
Interworld by Neil Gaiman

I know this list makes me seem like a super-nerdy granola hippy parent, but I'm trying to do what works best for my family, and so far, this seems to be doing a pretty good job.

Since I have a 45 minute to hour long commute to work on public transit, let me know if you've read anything good lately!