A reading roundup.

March writing challenge day 3: thoughts on books.

Shocking to no one, having a tiny human interferes with even the best laid plans. In late December as I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my baby girl I set a goal to read 60 books this year which has quickly changed to 52, which may by the end of this week dwindle to 45. Nonetheless, now that the initial exhaustion of existential fatigue has seemed to diminish (just in time for the next regression I’m told!) I have figured out how to nurse my baby and hold a kindle, give a bottle and flip through a paperback, and walk my baby in the stroller while listening to an audiobook. For ease of use I would suggest a kindle — it allows for discreet reading during the 2AM feed, and is the easiest to do while holding a bottle and a baby. Nothing grinds my husband’s gears more then when I purchase a kindle copy and go on to insist I need the physical edition for our bookshelves too. I have even been known (though exceptionally rare) to shell out for the audiobook so I can have all three editions. But let’s not tell Elan that.

The stats for January and February reading are six books total.

1. Hamnet

2. Twice (book club pick)

3. Half His Age

4. The Safekeep

5. Henry Henry (book club pick)

6. This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (audiobook)

Beyond the content of these books I will always remember the fact that I read Twice the week my baby was born, that I hosted book club for Henry Henry when I was five weeks postpartum, or brought my physical copy of This is the Story of a Happy Marriage to the hospital thinking naively that I would be able to get in a few pages during contractions. Unfortunately mine were about a minute apart so I had only time to squeeze my best friend’s hand and pump myself full of nitrous gas before diving into the next uterine squeeze.

I have yet to have a five star read in 2026. I didn’t love Hamnet despite what feels like the whole world fawning over it, and I enjoyed Twice but it was reminiscent of every other Mitch Album book I’ve read and didn’t shock me to my core. Of all the picks so far I would say that Half His Age offered some strange if not poignant insights on feminism, desire, and identity — something that is challenging to do (in my opinion) without overwriting. My bookclub pick had some polarizing opinions, but despite the average rating being a 2/5 (mine was 4!) I would deign to say we had a great discussion covering a myriad of topics presented in the book. And bonus points for it being Léa’s first book club gathering! She’s got some pretty amazing book-ish aunties looking out for her.

I wished I loved every second of The Safekeep but I found it to be somewhat slow in the beginning and only really picking up with 1/3 of the book left. I’m always torn with how to review this kind of reading experience because while the ending was magnificent I was honestly a little bored for more than half of it. The writing was delicate, confusing at times, and observational. The author chose a brilliant subject and handled it with great care and responsibility. She crushed the ending and it really did make it worth reading, and a book I will be gentle with recommending so all in all it was certainly worth the time and energy.

Lastly, my brilliant Ann. I don’t even know why I feel such a closeness with Ann Patchett, no one seems to enjoy her writing as much as I do. When I think of her brilliance I think of the first time I read The Dutch House. My dad and I were visiting my grandpa in the north of France and instead of obeying the laws of jet lag I stayed up nearly all night and read in bed, not wanting to part ways with Maeve. Unfortunately for me I kept falling asleep reading the essays in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (because I had just shoved a baby out of my vagina), so I turned to hoopla and was overjoyed to find the audiobook version available AND narrated by Ann herself. The essays are personal and beautiful and I’m biased because I love her writing style. I find myself coming back to various lines she’s written, safeguarding them like little treasures to have and to hold. If you don’t like Ann Patchett, for the sake of our friendship please just lie to me.

When my little girl is awake there is nothing that brings me more joy then reading board books with her (even though she has yet to comprehend anything I’m saying), and I’ve just recently started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in French to her while we rock in the glider. On more tired days we simply go with Corduroy. Reading is one of the great joys of my life, and I can’t wait to pass it on to her.

On my nightstand right now is All Adults Here by Emma Straub (and I’m LOVING it) followed by our next book club pick Evil Genius!