5 Things: Family

5 Things to Brighten Your Day

Despite the BS that May Get in Your Way

1. You know what's big time BS in any language-BOIL ORDER!  Especially with a baby around you have to be very careful with washing everything.  So I'm super thankful for my Aunt Roxie and dad being around to help out this week.  I didn't plan it this way, but it's wonderful!  I think that having a full-time, live-in nanny would be the way to go after all the good care that Aunt Roxie has given us!

2.  Running errands is never fun, but when you are running work errands, it means coming into work a little late, and picking up a nice coffee treat on the way in (paid for by me, not your tax dollars!)

3.  Burt's Bees has a new Vanilla Bean lip balm out and it is delightful.

4.  Kate Spade has done a line of kids clothing for GapKids!  True, Ali is too small to wear it right now, but with the way this girl is growing, she'll be in it in no time.  And when she is big enough, she'll wear this shirt.  

5.  Family, Family, Family.  My dad, my hubby, my aunt, my baby.  All of them, all the time!

5 Things: Headphones

5 Things to Brighten Your Day

Despite the BS that May Get in Your Way

1. Early morning smiles from my little baby.  She's such a happy girl in the mornings, unlike her mama.

2.  Looking chic in my cheap scarf.

3.  Seeing Ali Rose with her grandpa.  Thank goodness for visits!

4.  Green tea with honey.

5.  Matt Nathanson's new song Headphones, and the moving video.  Check it out here.  

5 Things: Can you believe this weather?

5 Things to Brighten Your Day

Despite the BS that May Get in Your Way

1. Highs in the upper 70s today!  I'll take that for late October, and enjoy an after work walk with my two favorite girls.

2.  I had a great time shopping with some girlfriends yesterday.  Beautiful weather and great company.

3.  And since I went shopping, I now have pants that fit!  It's amazing what a decent pair of work pants can do for you attitude.

4.  Little Miss Alice was fast asleep when I dropped her off at school today (and by school I mean daycare--I call it school to lessen my guilt).  She was so precious all asleep in her carseat, and hopefully stayed asleep for them for a while.

5.  A picked up a new journal for my daily 5 Things.  It's a funky little think that brightens my day before I even get started on my list.

Back in the Saddle

I know that my posting has been sporadic at best these last three months, and you've likely guessed that it's because of my baby.  Darn adorable little time suck!  I just don't get to do that reading that I used to do (or the sleeping, showering, eating, cleaning, etc, etc for that matter).  But now that my little girl is the big 12 weeks, life around the house is getting a little easier.  Not that I'll get to do more reading, but hopefully I'll be able to cobble together some posts about the book life, or the mom life, or just life to keep this thing going.  Because the truth is, I like Miss Tiff Reads.  It connects to me a part of my life that I've been desperately missing, and anything to connect you to your former life once you have a little person is very important!

So, I'm back in the saddle of this whole blog thing.  And to everyone that missed me, I'm sorry I was gone so long, but you know-life got in the way.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Cure for Dreaming

The Cure for Dreaming
By Cat Winters
Amulet Books, 2014
Reviewed from NetGalley
Audience: Grades 8 to 12
ISBN:  9781419712166
Expected Publication Date:  October 14, 2014

Olivia Mead is a headstrong girl living with her dentist father in Portland, Oregon, 1900.  She goes to a hypnotist show on her birthday, October 31, and is brought up on stage by the charismatic Henri Reverie and taken under.  Her submissiveness and cooperation catch the attention of playboy Percy Adkins and word gets back to her father that she was the perfect subject for hypnosis.  He decides that maybe hypnosis is the answer to his troubles, as Olivia has started having dreams above her station-of wanting to vote, attend college, and be independent like her mother.  Dr. Mead contracts Henri Reverie to hypnotize Olivia into being the ideal daughter.  What Henri instructs her to do however is see the world as it truly is, and what Olivia sees are monsters and fading women and other terrifying sights.  Amidst her visions, Olivia is trying to find her voice in the world, while men want to take that voice away.  This is a frightening book that addresses history and women's rights while still remaining spellbinding.  Truly magical.  

Fresh off the success of In the Shadow of Blackbirds, Winters brings another amazing book that weaves the paranormal with history.  It is well worth noting that Olivia was not nearly as headstrong in the being of the book as her father thought, rather it was his actions that made her crave a voice even more.  And Dr. Mead is a frightening man--his dentistry scenes may be the most chilling in the book.  Dentistry in the 1900's was little more than torture, and some of what he did to get his way is positively shocking.  At one point, I did not know if what Olivia was seeing in her father's study was  another gruesome vision or the truth.  

Olivia begins a partnership with Henri in order to overcome his hypnosis and still appease her father, all while still fighting for women's rights.  This partnership turns romantic, but thankfully, Olivia does not lose her way in the relationship.  I think that I was most impressed by how Winters resolved that plot line.  

There is such richness in the book that I can't begin to cover it all.  The parallels with Dracula, the fight for voting rights and women's place in society, the hypnosis and visions.  It was all wonderfully crafted.  Another perfect book for a cool fall evening.

Happy Reading!