Book Number Three
As of today, I have read exactly 3 books in the last 23.5 months that were not related to parenting. If I include parenting books, the number would certainly be higher, but not much over 10. I am always amazed when I hear other moms talk about the great books they’re reading. I have a booklist about a mile long, but I just can’t find the time to sit back, relax, and get lost in a great story.
So what have I read…
Book #1 (back in June 2009 (15 months after Tiny and Buba were born)): Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl.
Book #2 (November 2009): For One More Day by Mitch Albom
And finally, Book #3 (December 2009-February 2010): Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Book number three certainly took me the longest to get through, but I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it the most. It was assigned as my book club’s January book, but I only got through the first 100 (of 310) pages by the day we were meeting. I was determined to finish the book even after we’d discussed it (fortunately for me, no one had gotten through the entire book, so we mostly discussed the first half), but then it was due back at the library and it took me a while to go back for it.
But I finally finished Midwives last night, and I have to say, I’m so glad that I did. It is the story of a midwife who does home births. She is put on trial for performing an emergency c-section with a kitchen knife to save the baby after the mother is presumed dead. The prosecutor says the mother was not dead at the time and that it was the midwife who killed her by performing the emergency c-section. And so we are left to wonder, as we read through the story, what really happened the night that baby was born. The narrator of the story is the midwife’s daughter, who was 14 at the time the birth occurred, but is now all grown up. The story is told in a back and forth way, so that you get bits of what will happen later while you’re reading about events that occurred earlier. And sprinkled throughout are diary entries written by the midwife that tell a bit of the story from her perspective. I found Midwives to be extremely well written, and should I ever have the time, I would love to read other books by Chris Bohjalian.
Next up on my list is Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Given my track record, there’s a good chance I won’t finish it in time for the book club meeting on March 5th, but I’m going to give it my best shot. If I find it enjoyable, I’ll let you know.
p.s. I would definitely recommend Midwives to anyone out there who has the time for a good read, but not to anyone expecting a baby at the moment.
I too wonder how other mothers get the time to read so many books. I used to read a lot but now I find myself putting it off because I’m pretty sure I won’t enjoy a book 10 pages at a time there seems to be so many other things I’d rather do right now.
If I could count the childrens book I’ve read … those would number in the hundreds 
You’ve been on my mind about your climbing post. Here is the toy that helped my kids a lot with climbing in a safe way … I always figure they are going to do it so I might as well find a way for them to do it safely.
http://www.amazon.com/Eezy-Peezy-Play-100-Balls/dp/B001063MH6
The company is Eezy Peezy and they make several versions of this product … one comes with a swing. We have the one with the small slide in the picture. I originally purchased it at Target for $99.00 in December 07 … my kids still use it … a lot. It is probably the second most used toy in the house and worth every penny.
I also have a stack of books on my nightstand that I am meaning to read through. I got about 6 or 7 books for Christmas that I really want to read, but somehow everything else always seems to be the priority. I also read Midwives and LOVED it! Frightened me out of any kind of home birth, but loved the book anyways.