Skip to main content

Hello! I'm Still Here

Hey everyone! It's been a while. This has been a year in which I read very few new to me books. And I just haven't had the energy or desire to write. Honestly it's been a year where I've been able to do very little of what I love. The end of December is often a time of reflection, and as I reflect over this past year, I wonder where it all went, and what I was doing with myself.

Teaching. Getting back into the groove of that and working with my own kids are definitely the good parts of this year. Other than that...

I think I was just finally reacting to the stress of that past few years. We moved houses three times in three years, states twice, and lost both of my husband's parents in that time. I think all of that finally caught up with me and just consumed...everything.

Don't get me wrong. A lot of wonderful things happened this year too. I was able to see Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Mean Girls in New York City while spending an amazing time with my daughter. My husband and I were able to take a few days vacation BY OURSELVES for the first time in I don't know how long. After years of being a fan, I was able to go to my first ice skating show. We took the kids to Harry Potter World. I have a lot to be thankful for.

However, the day to day things that I feel make me who I am went missing this year. Over the past several weeks, I feel like I'm getting some of it back. I have definitely made a conscious decision to try to get my routine and habits back on a better course.

Hopefully 2019 will see a return of regular posts here. There are definitely a lot of books I'm excited for this year.

I will be posting a Best Books of 2018 post on Monday. (Much thanks to my friends and incredibly talented writers Stephanie Burgis, Emma Barry, and Sarah Prineas for writing books this year that actually motivated me to read something new, and that I loved.)

I also have a Most Anticipated Reads of 2019 in the works for Tuesday. There's even a review coming sometime in the next week.

For those of you still out there who read this, thanks for sticking around. Onward and forward!

Comments

Lisa Roberts said…
I was so happy to see this in my email inbox. Welcome back. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
S.W. Lothian said…
Oops .. technically challenged. Here’s hoping that 2019 is a great year for you 👍🏻
Unknown said…
I still read this and think you are amazing! Praying that you feel more yourself in 2019.
Happy New Year! I hope 2019 has better things in store for you :)
Katy K. said…
Welcome back, friend! Here's hoping things are smoother for you this year. I'm looking forward to your posts!
Brandy said…
Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments! Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments as myself for some reason so I haven't been able to respond. It looks like that's finally fixed and so I wanted to say how much it meant to get all these when they came through my inbox!

Popular posts from this blog

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper  by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has