2013: A Year Of Finding Happiness and Home. And Reading Books.

January 1, 2013. I was laying on the couch under a blanket, trying to warm up after a freezing cold New Year's Day run and reading over what I had posted the day before as my year end review. Looking over all the words, all the links to the posts filled with the words that told the story of my year, made me proud, and a touch overwhelmed. And, when I got to the sections for November and December, they made me a little sad.

Because even though the construction was done and the house was finally finished, sitting on that couch on New Year's Day, I still felt profoundly unsettled after our move to the suburbs. Adrift in a sea of change and uncertainty, not sure when I would again find myself on dry land. And I looked forward to a new year, relishing the idea that maybe, just maybe, I would begin to find some comfort and peace. That maybe it would finally start to feel like home. Like my life, instead of a life that I was viewing from the outside, wishing it could be different.

If 2012 - the second half at least - was a story of saying goodbye, of transition and nostalgia tinged with sadness, 2013 was the story of finding my place. Of building a new life in a new neighborhood. Of joining a community. Of meeting new people who became new friends. Of finding a running path I loved as much as I love Central Park. Of getting to happy. Of discovering that slowly, and without my even realizing it, what was once new becomes normal. 

2013 was the story of finding home.

And 2013 was the story of reading books. 

Because when I feel unmoored, books are where I turn. When I lose myself in the words of my favorite authors, all is right with the world. So when we moved into our new house, the very first thing I did, even while my kitchen was still a black hole and everything was covered with a layer of construction dust, was set up my bookshelves and start reading.

My Bookshelves: Romance Novel Central

And Everything Else

And when I had torn through 3 books in our very first week, I decided it might be fun to keep track of everything I read for an entire year, and to write about it. So I created a new bookshelf in my Goodreads account, and started filling it. 

And when I checked it this morning, my grand total was 132 books in 2013, including 72 by Nora Roberts, 13 by her alter-ego J.D. Robb, 3 Hunger Games, 3 Divergent, 2 by John Grisham, 2 by Dan Brown, 13 by Brad Thor and 13 by the late and great Vince Flynn. The other ten are a mixed bag that include Maine and Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan, Early Decision by Lacy Crawford, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty and a few from my law firm's book club that I hated but read anyway to avoid feeling stupid in the bi-monthly meetings.

It was a year of romance and mystery, of brand new and very old. Of re-reading my favorites, and giving the unfamiliar a chance. Of sinking contentedly into my favorite characters and the stories that I love, and relishing happy endings. It was a year of embracing the familiar while surrounded by the unfamiliar, and finding out that I am still me, no matter where I land.

365 days and 132 books later, I am happy, and I am home.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. It is an honor and a pleasure to write, and to be read.

Wishing you all and your families lots of love, happiness and success in 2014.

Books Books Books Books Books

I love books. Romance novels particularly, but really anything with a happy ending will do. I have loved to read since before I knew how to read, and books remain - and will likely always be - one of the greatest pleasures of my life.

I read during my commute to work, my commute home, and often times while walking to and from the train station. My favorite thing to do when I get home from work on Friday afternoon is to curl up with a blanket on the couch in my reading room with my current book of choice, and then head straight back there when I wake up on Saturday morning. I often feel like losing myself in a book can fix whatever problem ails me. Books have been my constant companions during every part of my life, good and bad, and seeing them all lined up on my shelves fills me with happiness and love.

So, when I saw this little self-interview about books and reading on Lindsey Mead's blog a couple of months ago, I knew I had to post it here too.

So, here, in 28 questions, is my life in books. Heavy on romance novels, light on sadness, and always, always with a happy ending.

Author You’ve Read the Most Books From

Nora Roberts, without a doubt

Best Sequel Ever: 

Books two, three and four in Nora Roberts' Bride's Quartet. Especially books three and four.

Honorable Mention - Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille

Second Honorable Mention - Books 2-7 of the Harry Potter series. Can't just pick one.

Currently Reading: 

Allegiant, the third book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy

Drink of Choice While Reading: 

Lemonade in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter, always coffee on Saturday mornings.

E-Reader or Physical Book?

Physical book, always and forever

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School: 

Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: 

Plum Island, by Nelson DeMille. My parents were both after me to give this one a try for a long time, but for some reason, I resisted. I'm glad I finally gave in and read it - and the other five in the series - because John Corey is now one of my favorite literature heroes of all time.

Honorable Mention - The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. The premise - kids with cancer - offended my "only happy endings" sensibilities, but really, the book is a beautiful testament to life, love, and the people who join us on our journey. It's sad, yes, but ultimately uplifting. 

Hidden Gem Book: 

Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares, the fifth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It's ten years later, the girls are about to turn 30, and a reunion is on the horizon. It's a little sad, but the ending is a whole lot of happy. I loved the first four books in the Traveling Pants series, so when this one came out I cleared my schedule, sat down, and read it from start to finish in one day. I wasn't disappointed.

Important Moment in your Reading Life: 

The day I read my first Nora Roberts book. I was 16 and in my junior year of high school, the book was The Stanislaski Sisters, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Just Finished: 

Divergent and Insurgent, books one and two in the Divergent trilogy.

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read: 

Obviously, I love romance novels, but I absolutely will not crack any book by Nicholas Sparks. I require my romances with a side of happy, and his romances come with a heaping dose of the death, disease and peril, which is absolutely unacceptable to me. For more on my utter hatred for this author and my love of a happy ending, read this.

Longest Book You’ve Read: 

I don't know for sure, but if you count all three volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy as a single book, I think it would probably be that. And I've read the whole thing twice. And loved it. Both times.

It could also be the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. It was long, but I devoured every single word of it during a non-fiction bender I went on a couple of years ago.

Major Book Hangover Because Of: 

Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series. I love post-9/11 CIA spy novels almost as much as I love romance novels. I started reading the Mitch Rapp series years ago and then stopped for awhile. Recently, I started again from the beginning and read all 14 books straight through in about a month. By the end, I was practically cross-eyed.

The cliffhanger ending of the 14th book was brilliant but ultimately sad. Vince Flynn passed away this past June at the incredibly young age of 47 after a long battle with prostate cancer, so we will never know what became of his Mitch Rapp.

Number of Bookcases You Own: 

I have floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves along 2 walls in my living room and 2 walls of my sun room. They were what sold me on my house when we first looked at it. My books cover one of the walls, but will soon start creeping over onto the others.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times: 

Birthright, by Nora Roberts. I'd be hard pressed to say what my absolute favorite Nora Roberts book is, but this one would definitely be in the running.

Preferred Place To Read: 

My reading room. My most favorite place in my house.

Quote That Inspires You/Gives You All the Feels From a Book You’ve Read: 

"Whatever setbacks he had faced in his life, he said, however daunting or dispiriting the unfolding of events, he always knew he would make it through, as long as when he woke in the morning he was looking forward to his first cup of coffee...Uncompromising purpose and the search for eternal truth have an unquestionable sex appeal for the young and high-minded; but when a person loses the ability to take pleasure in the mundane...she has probably put herself in unnecessary danger...One must be prepared to fight for one's simple pleasures and to defend them against elegance and erudition and all manner of glamorous enticements. In retrospect, my cup of coffee has been the works of Charles Dickens...I've come to realize that however blue my circumstances, if after finished a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort of compulsion to read on, then everything is probably going to be just fine"
-Amor Towles
 Rules of Civility

Reading Regret: 

That it took me so long to jump on the YA bandwagon. Hunger Games and Divergent? I could have started loving you years ago. Better late than never, I say.

Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out in series): 

I may have a little bit of a one track mind, but I'm racing through the third book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm torn because I absolutely can't wait to see how it ends, but also kind of want it to last forever and ever.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books: 

Just As Long As We're Together, Judy Blume (and the sequel, Here's To You Rachel Robinson)
This Heart of Mine, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Birthright, Nora Roberts

Unapologetic Fangirl For: 

Anything by Judy Blume. From her incredible Just As Long As We're Together, all the way to the slightly disturbing but positively addicting Summer Sisters, I love them all. 

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: 

Nora Roberts' newest mystery, out this spring

Worst Bookish Habit: 

Reading as I walk from Grand Central Station to my office on 52nd Street and 7th Avenue. I know. But sometimes my train pulls into the station while I'm in the middle of a chapter.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book: 

I'm not exactly sure because I'm not at home right now, but I know for a fact it's a romance.

Your latest book purchase:

Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings. I've heard fun things about this one, and I can't wait to get it in the mail.

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

I don't generally read before bed for this exact reason. Any book I start will keep me up late, so right before bed is usually TV time. But the last book that kept me up WAY later than would ever be normal or acceptable for a school night was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I was equally disturbed and fascinated by it, and even though I wasn't at all sure I liked it, I couldn't put it down. I was about one-third of the way through at 10:00 one night last summer when I settled into bed with it.

A Little Downtime In My Happiest Place

I kind of love this picture

David took this picture over the weekend.

It was dark outside and I was in my most favorite position - in my reading room in the shadow of my bookshelves, lying on the couch covered in pillows and blankets, romance novel in hand.

The past two weeks have been filled with appointments and commitments and events of the very best kind - my best friend's wedding, my sister-in-law's engagement, and more. But after fourteen nonstop days, this past weekend I was ready for a little downtime.

And I took it.

I could - and do - happily lay like this for entire days at a time, soaking in Nora's words as the hours pass and day moves into night. No computers, no phones, no TVs or iAnythings. Just me, my books, and this past weekend David, capturing the moment for posterity.

This, more than anything in the world, is my happy place.

All The Noras

I took out a Nora Roberts book to read on the train yesterday, and it fell open to this page.

As is my habit, I scanned the list of titles and it occurred to me that I have read every single book in this list.

Every. Single. Book.

I'm pretty proud of that.

And I own them all too.

There is nothing better than a romance novel.

Especially if it's a Nora.

The Bottom Shelf Of My Bookcase

When we lived in our tiny Manhattan apartment and bookshelf space was severely limited, they stood in a precarious stack on my nightstand, .

When we moved to our new house and everything was under construction, they were stacked haphazardly in a box, the only one I opened in the weeks before the construction was done and we finally unpacked everything for good.

And now, they have their very own dedicated shelf at the bottom of my bookcase.

They are my books that are waiting to be read.

At any given time I have at least five. If my "to-read" stack dwindles below that I start jonesing and have to make an emergency trip to the Amazon website for more.

Once the books are read they get placed on my bookshelf in their proper place (which is another story for another time), but until then, they all live together on that bottom shelf.

Right now my total is at thirteen. It's an eclectic mix of mystery (because I loved A Time To Kill and am prepping to love the sequel and how can I not read a book written by J.K. Rowling using a pen name), a lot of romance (because I love me some Nora Roberts, even when she's using a pen name), some J. Courtney Sullivan I don't really know how to classify (because someone told me I would probably like it), some YA dystopian futuristic fiction (because I have to prep for the movie), and an anthology of the incomparable Nora Ephron's most popular works (because I desperately need any book that has the complete screenplay from When Harry Met Sally).

But even though it seems like I have enough books to last me awhile, there's no reason to get lazy. Even as I type this with one hand, my other hand is busy scrolling through my phone's Amazon app checking for anything else I might want to read.

Some of you might be thinking, "girl, get a library card." I know. But the thing is, it's not enough for me to just read books. I have to own them. I have to have them on my shelves, be able to look at them, and have anything I want to re-read right at my fingertips. It's been like this ever since I started collecting Baby-Sitters club books when I was seven, and making sure that they were always on my shelves, in the proper order of course.

So, as the weather turns cold in New York, and weekend afternoons outside are numbered, I know what I'll be doing.

What's on your "bottom shelf"?

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

Monday. In case you missed it, over the weekend there was a huge snowstorm in the Northeast. We were buried under about two feet in my neighborhood on Friday night, and spend much of the rest of the weekend digging out. I love a good snowstorm, and this one was particularly epic. But more about that - with pictures - later in the week.

Because today, I have some rather important business to attend to. Yesterday, was a pretty important day. One I feel compelled to mention, and to write about. On February 10, 2012 - one year and one day ago - I started this blog on a whim. It was a dreary Friday afternoon, and I wasn't busy. I had been toying with the idea of writing seriously for some time, and that rainy Friday seemed as good a time as any. So in the space of an hour, I went from regular person, to blogger.

At first, I didn't have too many readers. My family, of course, but that was about it. But still, I wrote. And the more I wrote, the more I needed to write. The words just poured out of my head, and there always seemed to be more. And I read. I discovered other blogs I liked, and bloggers I respected, and I haunted their sites daily. And reading made me a better writer.

And then, about six months into this blogging gig something happened. This past August I linked up a piece I had written with the Yeah Write weekly challenge, and it was there that I discovered my community. And through them, I truly found my voice. I met other smart and talented writers, and, although we have never met in person, they became my friends. All online, we have learned about each others families, offered a hand and a shoulder in times of challenge, supported each other through Hurricane Sandy (because, amazingly, many of these lovely ladies live mere minutes from me), shared funny blizzard stories, and became a kind of family. And for them, I am incredibly grateful.

So, one year later, here I am. Writing, growing, learning, and changing. Just the way it should be. Over the weekend, I was going through my old posts trying to find a way to sum up the past 365 - now 366 - days. And rather than write more words about what this space means to me, I thought I would do a quick run down of my favorite post or two from each of the past twelve months.

Thanks for sticking with me for a whole year. Looking forward to year two.

February 2012

During my first month, I wrote about coming from a family of women who love books, and I wrote about how I can live anywhere as long as I have my romance novels in tow.

March

I was training for my first half-marathon when I started this blog, and one morning in March I had a completely transcendental run, followed almost immediately by an absolutely disastrous run.

April

In April, I took a trip to Israel, and discovered that Israeli women like romance novels too, and I explained my number one rule when I choose the books I read.

May

I recapped my first half-marathon in May, and I read the book Quiet, by Susan Cane, and wrote about how it completely changed my life.

June

In June, I finally read Fifty Shades of Grey, and to my utter astonishment, I really didn't like it.

July

This month I celebrated David's birthday, and the triumphant return of the Summer Olympics.

August

I wrote my very first post for Yeah Write about some very special shoes, and got a little political on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

September

In September, I wrote my very first fiction, and started thinking about our move away from Manhattan that would take place in a few short months.

October

In October, an article CNN published about how women vote based on their monthly cycles infuriated me, and I said goodbye to my favorite place on earth with a post that still makes me tear up every time I read it.

November

I embarked on a 30 day blogging challenge in November, and wrote about my first date with David, in two parts.

December

My mind was on Newtown and Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, and I wrote about gun control, and the comfort of Jewish tradition.

January

And this past month, I celebrated my thirtieth birthday, and remembered a trip I took to crazy-town just a few years ago.

February 2013

Just last week, I wrote about my new morning routine that I love, and tried my hand at a little more fiction.

The Liebster

One of the most fun parts about starting this blog last February has been the other bloggers that I have had the opportunity to meet. There is an entire community of writers sharing bits and pieces of themselves online, and even though I have not met any of them in person, I feel like they are friends. They are smart, thoughtful and savvy women and men, and I love that they have let me be a part of their cyber universe.

Which is why I was thrilled and incredibly honored when Emma gave me the Liebster Award. And what, you might ask, is a Liebster Award? Kind of like a chain letter, it is an award given to a new-ish, up and coming blogger by another blogger, who in turn got in from someone else. Get it?  Just think of those chain letters you used to get as a kid. Although, I almost always broke the chain, and never did receive the promised 10 letters from around the world.

The origins of the award are a little murky, but it has been making its way around the blogosphere for some time now, and seems like fun.

The rules of the game are simple:

1. The recipient of the award posts 11 facts about themselves
2. The recipient then answers 11 questions posed by the giver of the award
3. The recipient nominates other bloggers for the award, links to them, and posts 11 questions for those bloggers to answer

Ok, so maybe it's not quite so simple, but it is pretty fun, and I am psyched to do it. So, here we go:

11 Facts About Me

1. I was speaking in complete sentences when I was just over a year old. I was like some kind of mutant child. My mom says strangers used to come up to the stroller and speak to me in baby voices, and I used to answer them, talking like I was 12 years old. It totally freaked them out.
2. If I hear a song once, I can remember all of the words for the rest of my life.
3. I love romance novels more than anything in the world, and I own every single book that Nora Roberts has ever written.
4. I have a notebook filled with ideas about a series of romance novels that I plan to write, and I have already started on the first one.
5. My favorite food is french fries. I need to eat them at least once a week or I get cranky. I sometimes think that I could eat nothing but french fries for every meal until the day I die and I would be completely content.
6. I love country music.
7. I didn't understand a single part of any of the following movies: Inception, Minority Report, and The Matrix 
8. I use Google as a spell checker. I am the worst speller in the world. Ironic considering, you know, this blog.
9. I can recite all the dialogue from the movie Speed.
10. I watch, regularly (as in, don't miss a single episode of) twenty-one television shows a week. That doesn't include Football, Gilmore Girls re-runs, The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. I watch all of those too.
11. I won't read a book that doesn't have a happy ending.

Answers to Emma's Questions For Me

1. What is your favorite tree and why? - The huge oak tree that sat right outside our house in Pittsburgh where I grew up that was inhabited by a family of squirrels that fascinated my dad. I'm pretty sure that we have pictures somewhere of that squirrel family.
2. Are you still in touch with anyone from elementary school? How about high school? - Neither, actually. 
3. If you could live anywhere in the world with no financial or language concerns, where would it be? - I don't really have aspirations for world travel, I'm pretty much a homebody, so I would probably choose to live right where I am. Or in Pittsburgh so I could be closer to my parents. Speaking of which...
4. Do you like your parents? - I know that for a lot of people this is a complex question. Not so for me. Yes, I like my parents. I also admire them, and am incredibly grateful to them for giving me strength, character, resilience, and a sense of humor, for teaching me to live with purpose, and for encouraging my sisters and me to blaze our own trails. Basically, if we were any closer, we would be one person.
5. What is a favorite book and/or what are you reading now? - My favorite book is Birthright, by Nora Roberts (see: my aforementioned love of romance novels). I have read it at least 100 times. Right now I am reading The Panther, by Nelson DeMille. If you have never read any of his books featuring retired NYPD cop John Corey, you are seriously missing out.
6. Do you have any pets? - No, much to my husband's dismay.
7. Would you like to travel to other planets, if possible? - I don't think so. Space travel kind of freaks me out. But I really love the movie Apollo 13.
8. Do you think encouraging children to believe in Santa is "lying" to them? - No way. I think it's good for kids to have something magical to believe in. 
9. Do you have a secret that only one or two other people know about? - I think that anyone who answers no to this question is lying.
10. What is the one thing that you would like you spouse/partner to stop doing? - Leaving Coke Zero cans all over the house.
11. What question have I forgotten to ask that you would like to answer? - How about my favorite season? I prefer fall/winter to summer/spring, and actually love when the clocks change and the days get shorter 

11 Questions For My Nominees

1. If your life is being turned into a movie, who would play you?
2. What was your favorite childhood book?
3. What was the last thing that made you laugh until you cried and your sides hurt?
4. Coffee or tea?
5. If you weren't doing what you are doing now, what would you want to do instead?
6. What is your favorite color and why?
7. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
8. What is your go-to, never fail recipe for a weekday dinner?
9. What is the movie that, when you say you have never seen it, people look at you with that confused "I can't believe you never saw it" face?
10. If you could pick a character from a book or movie to be your best friend, who would it be?
11. What is your favorite season?

And My Nominees Are These Four Amazing Ladies

1. Bea, from Living off Script
2. Larks, from Maybe I Should Blog
3. Michelle, from The Journey
4. Ashley, from Ashley, Etc.

Traffic

A stretch of Highway 31 -
Parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike

I was immersed in my favorite romance novel, lulled by the familiar story and the drumming of rain on the roof, when the car slowed and D cursed, quiet and deadly. I looked up and saw the sea of taillights stretching for what seemed like miles, and I knew we were in trouble.

It was the Monday of Labor Day weekend, and we were headed back to New York after four days with my family in Pittsburgh. We should have left first thing in the morning, but it had been my little sister's wedding weekend, so we were wildly tired and not in much of a hurry to start a nearly 400 mile drive. We saved our packing until the alarm went off, and then decided to stay for lunch. It was nearly 2:30 in the afternoon by the time we pulled away. We knew we wouldn't get home until after nine, but at that moment, we didn't really care.

And then, just an hour into our drive, we saw the taillights. This wasn't slow-moving traffic. This was no-moving traffic.

Resigned to some extra time in the car, I kicked off my shoes, put my feet up, and continued to read; I was just getting to the good part. 

But D was having none of that. He flipped through the radio stations, trying to get some news. But there was nothing.

A burly, ruddy-faced trucker ambled down the highway on foot, rain streaming off of his grimy cap. As he passed our car, D rolled down the window and asked if he knew what was going on.

"Accident. Bodies on the highway, dahn 'ere 'bout two miles," he said in his Western Pennsylvania drawl. "Yinz ain't goin' nowhere."

That was all D needed to hear to catapult him to action. With his iPad in one hand and his phone in the other, he tried to find a way out. He called my brother-in-law, still at my parent's house, so that he could add a desktop computer to the mix, as if sheer volume of technology alone could somehow teleport us out of the traffic.

He thought he saw an exit on the map, about half a mile ahead, but he couldn't be sure, and we couldn't see it from the car. 

"Get in the driver's seat," he ordered. "I'm going to check it out."

Not thrilled with the idea of him walking up the shoulder of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the pouring rain, I tried to protest. But he would not be deterred. With only a wrinkled old jacket he liberated from the deep recesses of the trunk to shield him from the rain, he headed up the highway. 

Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Then my phone rang.

"It's not an exit. It's a service ramp to a road that runs parallel to the turnpike, but it's blocked by an electric gate. The Turnpike Authority won't open the gate because then we can avoid the toll."

As he continued to speak, I saw him coming towards the car, jacket heavy with rain. I switched to the passenger seat as he flung open the door and grabbed his iPad, scrolling madly.

He found the road on the map. It ran parallel to the turnpike for almost one hundred miles. We could avoid the traffic, and then some. 

"I have to find a way to open that gate."

Content to sit and read my book until the traffic finally cleared, I disagreed vehemently with this plan, but to no avail. Back into the rain he ran.

Another ten minutes. Then twenty. Then my phone rang again.

"We pushed it open!" he screamed, over the drumming of the rain.

And as the words were coming out of his mouth, the cars ahead of me started to move.

I threw the car in drive, and cut someone off to get into the right lane. As I inched the car forward, D re-appeared. He was running down the highway, ducking into windows of cars as he passed them and saying something to the drivers that I was too far away to hear. 

I vaulted over the center console as he approached our car and jumped behind the wheel.

"I did it," he said. "I can get everybody out."

The drivers around us were confused, so D opened his window, stuck his hand and head out and waved for them to get moving.

"Follow me to freedom!" he said.

And they did.

At least one hundred cars had already made it through the opened gate and onto the service road by the time we approached. As we made our way up the ramp, a Turnpike Authority sheriff appeared and motioned for us to turn around. 

"No way in hell," said D. "Put your hand on your stomach," he ordered. Too shocked at the events of the past hour to do anything but obey, my hand automatically went to my stomach.

"My wife is pregnant," he yelled to the stern looking sheriff.

I was nothing of the sort.

But the sheriff waved us through, while simultaneously closing the gate on the car directly behind us. D gunned the engine, and we flew through the gate and onto Highway 31 - 100 miles of traffic-free driving, exactly parallel to the Turnpike.

We were home by ten, just half an hour behind schedule.

We found out later that it was 7:00 that night before the traffic started to clear.

Happy Birthday Sister L

Once upon a time, my mom was pregnant, and I wanted a brother.

I already had a younger sister, and I thought that one was most certainly enough. So I was none too pleased when my parents called from the hospital with the news that it was a girl. Again.

So the Brinn girl duo became the Brinn girl trio, and still we are. And now I sometimes think about what it would have been like if that baby really had been a boy, and how strange it would have been to have that streak of blue invade our pink world.

And today, that girl has a birthday.

So, to the third and final addition to the Brinn girls. To my romance novel loving soul sister. To my New York City partner-in-crime. To the soon-to-be Ohio-resident, dental student extraordinaire.

I'm glad you weren't a boy.

Happiest of happy birthdays.

Unpacking Books

At first, I wanted to wait until the kitchen was done to unpack all the boxes on the first floor. With all the workmen around and the construction dust that constantly settles all over everything, I thought it would be pretty counterproductive to start taking things out of boxes before everything was cleaned.

But today I started getting antsy. Because, as I have written about before, the place I live never quite feels like home until I unpack my books. Since college, whenever I move into a new place, I always, always set up my books first. I can handle the kitchen being under construction, and I can even handle not having my closets quite organized, but I couldn't relax while my books were still in boxes. I don't believe in e-books, and I rarely go to the library. I need to read actual books, and I have to own them. And I do own them. Hundreds.

So today, despite the kitchen still being under construction, I broke out the box of cleaning supplies, and scrubbed the shelves I had earmarked for my book collection. 

After everything was clean, along with some help from my sister, I opened all seven boxes of my books, and laid everything out so I could see what I had before I put everything up on the shelves.

I started with this:

It looks like a bit of a chaotic mess, but there is a method to my madness. Because before long, my shelves looked like this:

With three entire shelves dedicated to my Nora Roberts collection:

Astute readers might have noticed the empty shelf space. My sister has five of my Noras that she borrowed, so I am saving them shelf space for when they make their return to my collection.

When I lived in a tiny Manhattan apartment, my books took over our living room. But now that I live in a house the endless book shelves are dwarfing my substantial collection.

I am pretty sure that I will be spending some quality time on amazon.com placing some orders tonight...

What I Read: Then and Now

I had some time to kill this afternoon before a really exciting and wonderful dinner (stay tuned for details tomorrow), and wandered into a Barnes & Noble. I love bookstores more than anything. I can, and do, spend hours wandering the shelves, stopping to read a page or two, and soaking up the atmosphere of a community of readers.

As I browsed today, I took a little trip back down my reading history. Because for as long as I can remember, reading has been a source of joy for me. Reading is how I relax, how I learn, and how I pass many, many hours.

I have read hundreds of thousands of books over my life, but there are a special few that stick in my mind. The books that shaped me, and guided me, and made indelible marks on who I was, and who I have become.

Then.

And now.

My Romance Novel Loving Heart Is Singing

It has been a strange two weeks in my world. And by strange, I mean gut-churningly stressful. Between a hurricane, a move, a brand new commute and a snow storm, I am falling on my face exhausted, and so ready for a little down time.

Which is why I was even happier than usual on Tuesday when Nora Roberts released The Perfect Hope, the third book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy. Now as you know, I buy Nora Roberts and Susan Elizabeth Phillips books the day they come out, without exception, but I often wait until the weekend to read them, so that I can dive in completely, and not emerge until I read the last, always satisfying page.

This weekend will be no exception. 

Today, after leaving work early for observance of the Jewish Sabbath (or Shabbat, as we call it in Hebrew), my plan is to go home, light my candles to bring in Shabbat, put on my most comfortable and cozy clothes, and settle in on our brand new couch for the night, and all of tomorrow.

When I am anxious and stressed, a new Nora Roberts book is balm to my soul.

We may be living in a brand new house, in a brand new town. I may not know exactly where the grocery store is or how to get there. We may still have boxes everywhere, and a kitchen under construction. But I have a comfortable couch, my man, a glorious day ahead of me with nothing planned, and a brand new Nora.

So really, life is good.

My new, cozy, snow covered house

Used Books on Broadway

One of my favorite parts of the Upper West Side of Manhattan is the used book sellers that populate the stretch of Broadway between 72nd and 75th Streets. On Thursday evenings they are out in force, and tables stand nearly end-to-end for the entire three blocks. 

Before my weekly grocery store trip, I always stop for awhile. I love hunting through the stacks of books - sometimes buying, sometimes browsing - somehow seeing the order in the haphazard piles.

Imagine my surprise last Thursday night when I noticed this. Four of my favorite Noras, all piled up. I wished for a second that I didn't already own all four, so I could buy one.

Yesterday I went back to that table to browse, and while three of the Noras remained, Northern Lights had disappeared.

As I write this I am thinking about the anonymous buyer, settling in to the couch, absorbing the love story of Meg and Nate, and the devastating beauty of Lunacy, Alaska.

I hope they enjoy it.

Women Really Can't Have It All

"[She] knew there were women who worked successfully out of the home. They ran businesses, created empires, and managed to raise happy, healthy, well-adjusted children who went on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard or became world-renowned concert pianists. Possibly both. These women accomplished all this while cooking gourmet meals, furnishing their homes with Italian antiques, giving clever, intelligent interviews with Money Magazine and People, and maintaining a brilliant marriage with an active and enviable sex life and never tipping the scales at an ounce over their idea weight. She knew those women were out there. If she'd had a gun, she'd have hunted every last one of them down and shot them like rabid dogs for the good of womankind."

                                  Nora Roberts
                                  Birthright