I’m back! After an accidental 3-month hiatus, I’m finally feeling myself enough to get back to reading and blogging. 

What caused this unintended break? Only the sweetest little soul that I’ve ever encountered. In late September, we welcomed our daughter to the world and I’ve been completely preoccupied ever since. 

The end of my pregnancy and the start of motherhood were more tumultuous than I had anticipated. With a month left before baby girl was due to arrive, I ended up being put on bed rest due to a range of medical issues I had encountered. I was so exhausted at all times that I went into my scheduled induction more than ready for this phase to be over, but alas this was not as simple as intended. After 2 inductions and 16 long hours of labour, baby girl was stuck and we ended up in an unplanned caesarean. I hadn’t intended on this birth path, but what mattered most to me was that baby girl arrived safe and healthy. Because I hadn’t planned for it though, I had no idea how difficult the recovery would be.

In addition to adjusting to being first-time parents, bouncing back from major abdominal surgery felt, at times, like an undeniably horrendous task. We’ve been extremely blessed to have a daughter who is, by all accounts, a wonderful and easy baby, but I don’t think there’s any way to adequately prepare for what life as a new parent is like. Conceptually I understood the challenges. I knew there would be sleep deprivation, a steep learning curve, and my recovery to contend with, but it wasn’t until I was living it that I truly understood why new parents often look so haggard. Combine this with the challenges that came alongside not being able to lift anything but the baby and the slow return to mobility and there was just nothing left in me after I was done taking care of my family and myself. 

I’m now two and a half months post-partum and this week, for the first time since early on in my third trimester, I feel very much like myself again. Not only do I feel physically recovered, but my mental capacity has also returned. I knew I was drained heading into birth, and of course, I understood how exhausted and depleted I felt in those initial weeks after, but I’m not sure I understood the full extent of it until I started to feel 100% normal again. It was a blessing to bring my wonderful daughter into this world, and wow was it ever hard.

Adjusting to my new normal

Before my maternity leave began, I had these wild notions that I’d have all sorts of time to read. Let’s all laugh at how ridiculous that was together. 

The act of reading looks a lot different these days than it did before having a child. Much of my reading time is either done while I’m nap-trapped by baby, or before bed after baby is down, but I’m honestly just happy to be getting any time at all. For a long stretch, motherhood was so completely all-consuming that I wasn’t sure I’d ever emerge and have time for myself again. I’m grateful that as time goes on, I’m getting better enough at managing this new load that I can find some time to squeeze in things for just me—even if that means propping my Kindle on top of the sleeping little girl on my chest to get a few pages in.

I feel the need to recognize that I’m aware that having time to read is a luxury that not all new moms have. I have an incredibly supportive and equal partner who actively works to ensure that I get some time to myself. I’m also in a country that has fantastic maternity benefits, allowing me to be fully at home and off work for an extremely generous period. Even with this support, it still takes an active effort to find the time for myself and my hobbies, but I don’t take for granted that the opportunity is there.  

All of this said I am elated to FINALLY be reading and writing once again. I finished my first book since August this week and am already flying through a second. I’ve got three audiobooks on my digital shelf and a whole physical TBR just calling my name. I might not be able to be quite as consistent with blogging as I once was, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to pump out 6-10 reviews a month anymore, but I am excited to slide this passion of mine back into my daily to-dos. Parenthood is an incredibly all-consuming thing, so we’ll see how things evolve as we go.

Books ongoing and read and the immediate TBR

I’d be remiss if I didn’t cover some book content in this post, so I thought I’d break down the books I have that are ongoing or read, and the ones on my immediate TBR. Because my time is now so limited, it’s forced me to reevaluate which books are my priorities.

Books I have that are ongoing/finished include:

• A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross: I just finished this one and it was the perfect conclusion to this gorgeous Scottish-feeling fantasy duology. Ross is such a lyrical writer, I got emotional several times making my way through this beautiful book. I’ll have a full review soon, but this was an easy 5 stars for me. 
• Rule of the Aurora King by Nisha J Tuli: this is the second book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series and I’m about 40% through and loving it. Tuli does romantasy SO well, and I love her diverse characters and unique worlds. I’m thinking I’ll continue flying through this one in the next couple of days on my Kindle.
• Paris the Memoir by Paris Hilton: this is my current audiobook and it’s been a more interesting listen than I expected. I can’t profess that I’m a Hilton fan, but she’s a good storyteller with a keen ability to remain true to her brand while keeping you entertained. I’m reserving my final verdict on this book until I finish but it’s been an interesting listen.
• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: I’m about halfway through this and only now starting to get invested. The Sanderson fandom is intense and because of that, I expected my first foray into his world to ramp up a little more quickly. I’m still optimistic that I’ll enjoy this book in the end, but I might have set my expectations a little high here. 

Once I’m through these books, I’ll start tackling my immediate TBR, which includes:

• The rest of The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon: I’m obsessed with these books, they’re so completely captivating I can’t put them down.
• The rest of The Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti: if these books weren’t so long, I’d probably pick them up faster, but the amount of time investment they take is daunting, particularly given how limited my time is. That said, I do want to see where this chaotic and unhinged series ends.
• Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy: the conclusion to the Plated Prisoner series, which is one I’ve really enjoyed thus far. 
• A whole slew of Kindle Unlimited series: I stocked my Kindle full of reads I wanted to get to while on maternity leave, including the Kindred’s Curse series by Penn Cole, The Curse of Ophelia series by Nicole Platania, and both The War of Lost Hearts and the Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent. Once I’ve wrapped up a couple of other series I plan to move onto this one.
• Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros: this one doesn’t hit shelves until January, but I’ll be dropping everything else to immediately read it when it arrives. 

While this new normal has been a difficult one to move into, I’m so excited about all that’s to come. For every hard minute of parenting, we have hours and hours of endless, soul-fulfilling joy as we see baby girl grow and learn and become this whole tiny little person. It’s my greatest joy that I get to do life with her now, and I’m simultaneously elated to be gaining back a few of my hobbies into these new and hectic routines.