Keeping up my new year’s resolution of reading has been pretty easy this year because I have found some books that I haven’t been able to put down. I have to keep reading because I want to know what is going to happen next. But as a parent do you ever feel like you don’t have time to read because you are chasing kids around? Making a meal that they don’t want to eat? Or you’re just too tired to get a few minutes in a day? Well, let me share with you what I do.
One night I tried reading and realized I couldn’t remember anything that happened in the chapter apparently that I read, but also could only get a page in before I was falling asleep. I am not one to be laying down trying to get the chapters in, but for some that is the only way they can do it. Personally, I get up super early (4:30 am) every day and go to the gym. I have loved my short workouts at CrossFit, but then I head over to another gym and jump on the bike for 30-45 minutes because I need to read.
Usually from 6:15-7:00 I am sitting on a bike reading. I love it because I can keep my legs moving after killing them at CrossFit so they don’t hurt the next day, and read. Getting two things done in one is the best.
Now, about the books that I have read recently. I have been working my hardest to not read books by celebrities and I have surprised myself with keeping to it. I did, however, read three books that were similar and at times I would get the stories confused with a couple of them because they were so similar.
I started with I’ll Give You the Sun. This book was about the lives to two twins and what they were going through at different points of their lives. So you would hear the girl’s side of the story at an older age, and the boys ‘s a younger age. For a while it took a little bit to get used to what was happening, but I figured it out at around half way (just kidding). This book was great because it shares their different perspectives, one of the children being gay and feeling like they don’t fit in anywhere and having to live up to the expectations their twin has set. But the twin feels that the other has it all because of their talent and motivation. Really, it taught me that we are all looking at life differently and you don’t know what someone is thinking about even in the exact same situation you have been in. I think, when my kids are growing up that I want to make sure I hear their side and not always just assume that I know what they are feeling or going through because I have been there before. We experience life differently and somethings aren’t simple to some kids, but we assume that we know what’s happening.
I loved this book and for sure would recommend it to others. It’s an easy read which was great for me because I was trying to get back into reading more and if I can have an easy read it makes my life that much easier. I was able to fly through this and it got my reading on the fast track.
I really loved the idea of two stories happening at the same time and was recommended another book: The Girl on the Train. Similar to I’ll Give You the Sun, in that you have two sides of a story from two different people, but this one was much more suspenseful. This book starts with a girl on a train (coincidence, I think not) that would imagine her life through a couple she noticed looking out the window at them from the train everyday. One day something happens and her life changes forever. This book is great because I always wanted to know more about what was happening. There were days while reading this book that I had to stay on the bike for at least an hour because I wanted to know what would happen next. I also loved that I thought I knew what was going to happen, but I was completely off.
I have heard that they are making a movie of this and usually I would wait until the movie came out rather than read it. I know, books are always better than the movie and this is one that I know they are never going to get the ideas I pictured in my head. This would probably be the best book that I have read so far this year and would tell everyone to read it. Easy read and I am sure that everyone will finish it faster than I did.
A friend of mine has been giving me suggestions about books to read (the previous two) and so I felt like any suggestion is a good read. When I was finishing up The Girl on the Train he told me how once I was done with that then I will really love Gone Girl. My brother-in-law had told me about this book too and said that I would love it. As I finished The Girl on the Train I was excited for another book like this and jumped right in.
Here is another book that goes from one side of a story to another. I think I should have taken a break from this writing model because now I keep getting confused with this book and The Girl on the Train. Here you are going to read the side of a husband/wife team. Another great story that gets you pulled in once you get to a certain point in the book. I think the problem for me was as I was reading, I was telling people that had read it where I was and they would always say, “You are so close to the part that will hook you.” I thought that I had been hooked with other things that had happened, but I guess I wasn’t there yet. By the time I got to the point in the book that was “going to hook me” I was so over trying to figure it out it didn’t surprise me anymore. I am a fan of the book and the twists were great, but I would just suggest not telling anyone you are reading this and once you are done discuss the book with friends.
Really though, I am surprising myself with how much reading I have been doing. I want to set an example to my kids that they should read, even though I am only doing it at the gym. It’s important that they see I am doing it and actually loving it. Sometimes I think that I missed out on the fun adventures books hold and don’t want my kids to miss out on those things. Keep reading and if you have any suggestions you’d like to give me, don’t hesitate to post your favorites in the comments below.
