Let me begin by expressing my sincerest apology; I’ve let my blogging slip over the past several months. Life became busy, as it always seems to have a way of doing, and I began full-time student teaching as well as continued to work at my other part-time job (gotta pay the bills some how), on top of that my depression built a home on my back and moved in which meant that inevitably some things fell by the wayside. But now I’ve finished student teaching and my depression (more commonly referred to as “the parasite”) has had to downsize his home, so now it takes regular vacations, and I’m a free(ish) man (Yippee!). So let me summarize the last half of 2016:
For many it was a bad year, and, as I mentioned above, it wasn’t particularly great for me either, but I found a daily medication that lessened the affects of the parasite and as a result I was able to get a great deal more done. What’s my daily inoculation, you may ask? It’s actually a very inexpensive procedure that did require me to take some time out of the day, but afterwards I felt more confident, more relaxed, and more willing to do something other than lie face up on the floor slowly spoon-feeding myself ice cream while re-watching all the episodes of CBS’s Elementary. To make a long story short (too late), my antidote was reading.
Last year my book challenge was to read 75 books and by early August I had only read 33. My situation was beginning to look grim. I started to despair and as a result I began to hate blogging because all it did was serve as a reminder that I wasn’t going to complete the year’s book challenge. AGAIN. So what does anyone with a “parasite” do when faced with what seems like an overwhelming challenge? I quit. I stopped blogging. Then when I didn’t feel like I had any expectations to meet I began reading again for the sake of reading rather than fulfilling what began to feel like a mandatory assignment. I began exploring new authors and genres that I don’t typically dabble in.
Ultimately, however, my final count by December 31, 2016 was 83 books! I discovered 4 new books that have joined the Hall of Favorites and I have discovered and/or been introduced to a variety of authors that I want to look into further. The only sad part about my reading adventures this past year is that I didn’t take the time to share it, but this year I have begun a new book challenge with the goal of keeping everyone apprised as to my progress. The link will be listed below.
http://www.hannahbraime.com/2017-reading-challenge/
As I progress through the year I will inevitably be reading books that don’t fit into the book challenge because as a prospective teacher I’ve learned anything fun can be made a chore when you feel like choice is no longer a part of the equation. So I wish everyone a great belated New Year and may you all have experiences that build lasting memories as well as books that redefine you.
Happy Reading!
P.S. – I will post my full list of books that I read this past year next. If you are interested in any of them and would like to learn more, please leave the title in the comments and I will be sure to post a short review.
thereisabookstoreinmyhead 