What Ana Does

I've always wanted my kids to be readers. Reading is transformative and has always been a part of my life, and I really wanted that for my girls. So, following common parenting practice, I read to them every night of their childhoods -- up until they were in to chapter books. And I loved it. It was ritual and sharing and the best part of some of my days.  But, once left to their own desires, they did not read. And it was frustrating to me because I followed the equation: read to kids = kids are readers. Ugh.  Following more parenting advice, I offered MONEY for completing books. Reading is not an "intrinsic" habit and therefore needs to be pushed along with "extrinsic" rewards. According to this parenting expert, this isn't a "bribe" but a "reward" for building a positive habit.  Bribes are done at the point of pain (eg. "if you're good for the next five minutes, I'll give you a chocolate treat") and don't lead to go...

100 is A LOT of books to read in one year, but in my effort to reach this goal I've come across some new-to-me authors that I've enjoyed and started to look for at the library and book stores.  Beth O'Leary - The Flatshare is one of my favorites from the first half of the year. I listened to it on audiobook and the narration was fantastic but the story was also lovely and fun and emotional. I've since read her other book The Road Trip and liked that one almost as much. Last month, she released a new book called The No-Show and I can't wait to dig into it.  Abi Waxman - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was such a highlight of the last month, too. She's funny and inciteful and warm. I bought one of her other books years ago and never read it. So that's going on my Read Next pile.  Tessa Bailey - Obliviously enjoying a lot of romance novels and this writer never fails to deliver a simple, funny, sexy story. I've read a It Happened One Summer and Fix He...

This quote is basically summing up the last two weeks of the reading-paloosa wave I'm currently riding. It all started with this Isabelle de'Medici's biography by Caroline F. Murphy. I ordered it after our trip to Florence and I wanted to dig into the family that built and controlled that little city like an empire for so many generations. It turned out Isabella's life was fascinating and wonderful, until her father died and it became a hell. But, that's what makes it a good story. I couldn't put it down. Following this kick, I quickly ordered a Josephine Bonaparte biography but haven't read it yet. Her story and legacy is beyond amazing. But before I go there .... We starting watching heist movies with the girls. The Ocean's 11 movies are pretty tame and can be enjoyed by the whole family. And that lead up to seeing the new Ocean's 8 movie at the theaters last weekend. This all made me long for Kat, Hale and the Heist Society  serie...

Looking for love in the pages of a book? I've got you covered. I love love! My preferred genre is anything to do with romance and falling in love. I watch romantic comedies and I read all kinds of romance novels -- from teen to fantasy to adult. As long as there's witty dialogue and people falling in love (kissing!), I'm in. Anyway, if you're looking for love, here are a few of my favorite lovey-dovey stories that I recommend for this Valentine's Day. Natural Born Charmer   (adult romance - contemporary)  by Susan Elizabeth Phillips  -  Find it here Widely-regarded as the queen of the romantic comedy (though she publishes less and less books these days), this title is my absolute favorite. Blue and Dean are so well-suited for each other and so flawed at the same time. Just One Day (YA romance) by Gayle Forman - Find it here A teen tour of Europe + a rogue Shakespeare production + an adorable, blonde Danish boy = one very romantic day in Paris....

Every year I get all worked up about fall books that are coming out and this year is no exception. The big theme for the Fall seems to be favorite authors kicking off new series. WOW! Maggie Steivfater is starting a new series so of course I'm crazy-excited to get my hands on it. The first book is called All the Crooked Saints . Get it to me! Leigh Bardugo , who wrote Six of Crows , one of my all-time favorite reads, has Wonder Woman: Warbringer coming out at the end of August. A Wonder Women prequel??? YES PLEASE! Language of Thorns is also coming out this fall and takes place in her amazing Greishaverse. Kristen Cashore , who wrote Graceling series, another total fav, has Jane, Unlimited coming out. She hasn't released a new book in forever, so I'm falling all over myself to get it. Though, there's a "choose your own adventure" element (maybe) that I've read that sounds a little kooky. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air) is coming out ...

What the what?! So I'm doing research for my annual Fall Books post (coming soon) and happen upon this ... HOW DID THIS SLIP MY ATTENTION?! Rainbow Rowell wrote a short-story with the proceeds going to the ACLU?! Click here right now to get in.  For the record, I loved Fangirl with my whole heart. I practically fell into the book. I didn't love Carry On and I stopped reading Eleanor & Park because something very bad happens to the characters, and I don't read seriously-sad stories. Did you read Lifeline ? That's on my to-read pile. Will update post once I'm finished reading this short. Regardless, my $3 went to a good cause. Related Posts: All my "Book" nerd-out posts

As promised, here's a glowing review of a book you have to read right now. In a word: Unputdownable Daughter of the Pirate King Last weekend it was rainy and chilly, so I found my favorite seat in the living room and read this book. In three days. (The girls are getting really good at recognizing when Mom is reading and they need to make their own fun.) In a nutshell, this book is about Alosa the pirate king's daughter (duh) who gets herself captured by pirates to find a piece of a treasure map for her father. There's a CUTE BOY, nonstop action, a few twists I honestly didn't see coming, pirates of various aptitudes and a cliffhanger ending. A sequel is about a year away. Sigh.  Will definitely make my top reads of 2017 list. Thumbs way up! 

I have a hard time breaking up with books. If I make it a few chapters in, I will want to finish it no matter how uninterested I become. I feel obligated to get to the end. My friend Sonja would scold me: "Life is too short to read bad books." She should make a t-shirt. But, no, no, no... I started it, I'm committed to finishing it. Sometimes, I'll cheat and get the audiobook, hoping that will keep my interest. This was the case for the Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater. The narrator was just amazing and I'm glad I stuck with the books because they were all-in-all pretty awesome. But, I've been trying. Breaking up with a book is tough. You can't know what happens to the characters, or how the conflict is resolved, and be content with the happy ending. But, on the flip side, it's better to use that precious reading time for books that are worth the investment. (Is there a counseling group I should join?) I really dislike to be negative about ...

I was thinking about all the books I read in 2016, because I read a lot and usually, when I finish a book, I don't take time to reflect or even review it before I move on to what's next on my To Read pile. So I picked this quiet morning after all my guests left (*sniff*) to list out everything I read in 2016. I'm counting the audiobooks here but not the books I reread (mostly romance). There are too many to review each one, so I'll bold my favorites. (Oh! And this list is just in random order.) Take the Key and Lock Her Up  (See How They Run #2)  (The latest series from fave author Ally Carter and it's sooo good.)  Conspiracy of Us  by Maggie Hall Map of Fates (The Conspiracy of Us #2) by Maggie Hall Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo   (The sequel to Six of Crows , my favorite book from last year, was kind of a let down.) Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge Cruel Beauty  by Rosamund Hodge Gift of the Magi (Heist Society spinoff) by A...

The very best thing about Fall is the arrival of a ton of new books that keep me up far past my bedtime and have me daydreaming about what will happen all day long! I'm such a book nerd. Here's my annual roundup of books I've been eagerly anticipating ... My very-favorite book of 2015 was  Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I can't gush enough about how totally blown away I was by the storytelling and characters. Six distinct characters pull off an impossible heist in a fictional world with a cliffhanger that nearly killed me ... INEJ!! At the end of September comes the sequel Crooked Kingdom and OHMYGOD I've been waiting long enough to find out the disastrous results of their heist and what will become of Kaz and his crew.  I picked up Ember in the Ashes audiobook last year and it was so intense I was stressed about listening to it for a whole week. But I couldn't stop. That sequel, A Torch Against the Night , is coming out on August 30 and I've b...

This summer I really want to challenge the girls to read more. I was thinking of putting a poster on the wall where they can log the books they've read and create a rewards system -- including out for ice cream or manicure. I did a little search around and found some really cute ideas out there: This blogger has an adorable  downloadable summer reading kit that included book log, a book plate and a little report for the reader to jot down some things about the book. Simple as That! My Summer Reading Log kit   This Etsy store has this Summer Reading passport that challenges kids to fill out a page per book. Parents can "stamp" their passport as they go. There's also a cute checklist in the back for different types of books, such as: "read a book about a place you want to visit." Summer Reading Passport This Etsy store has this fun Reading Bingo download . They can use the cards for each reading session and get a Bingo! I really like the idea ab...

Read So Far in 2016 At the beginning of the year I started a pile of all the books I've read in 2016 .... and it's fast becoming a little source of pride. I read a LOT of books. And, of course, this stack doesn't reflect the many audiobooks I listen to on my commute and dozens of ebooks I read on my Kindle. To be honest, I'm usually reading three stories at any given time -- across all those mediums. And it's only when a book is truly amazing do I halt all other reading. Here are a few quickie reviews:  The Night Circus: The best book I read on this pile -- but only by a slim margin. It wasn't an exciting page-turner but more of a very slow build and a magical payoff at the end. I bought the book years ago but ended up listening to this on audiobook with the very wonderful Jim Dale narrating. The Conspiracy of Us and Map of Fates: This is an action-y series about a secret society that runs the world and the girl who can bring it all down ... or sa...

I've been feeling a little blue today. Just overall cold and bummed and low energy. So to cheer myself up I made a list of my 2016 accomplishments ... so far ... I sorted out all the holiday decorations , trashed some stuff (except for the Dancing Homer-Santa, I can't seem to part with it) and neatly put away the decorations into tubs, keeping like things together, and labeling each tub. (* I got a label-maker for Hanukkah.) There are two books that have been languishing on my ToRead piles for years: Longbourne and The Night Circus . I DO want to read them, but other books keep making more noise. I'm determined to clean out the pile, so I pulled the audiobooks from the library and started on Longbourne this week -- which I absolutely love. You can tell the author is a true fan of the Pride and Prejudice story, weaving it into the storylines of the house servants.  I dumped Facebook from my phone. It was sucking up my time and it wasn't all that interesting, ...

Looking back on 2015, I read A LOT! Probably more than the year before. So, here's a roundup of my favorite reads: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo -- This was my FAVORITE read of the year. I didn't put this book down. It's a heist book that was so well drawn, the world-building so well done, I didn't stop swooning. This is the book I recommend when anyone asks "Have you read anything good lately?" Warning: There's a horrible cliffhanger ending. Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (audiobook) -- What a crazy story this was! Gruesome and bold and fantastically exciting. Good world-building and amazingly deep main characters. The narrators (there are two) were fantastic. I can't wait for the sequel. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard -- I really liked this book. Not complete love, but really liked. I'm still not convinced about the "lightening" power, but once I skipped forward I really liked what it turned into. The toppling an evil le...

Last night I started Chapter 1 of Harry Potter . I'm reading it to the girls before bed. Of course I read it years ago when it first came out. And all the books in the series. But it's been a while since I cracked open the first book. On Sunday, for the last night of Hanukkah, the girls opened this new illustrated edition of Harry Potter (and it's absolutely beautiful!). And we told them about our vacation to Universal Studios in Orlando in February. YAY! And that we'd read the book to prepare for our visit to Harry Potter world. They were way more excited about the trip than the book. Leah knows a bit about Harry Potter, a lot of her pals have read it. She told me yesterday there's even a Harry Potter book club at her school. But she's just got no idea what it's about. Anyway, I had to stop reading twice to control the tears that began to well up when they introduced Lily and James. And then when Albus arrived on Privet Lane. Tonight, the lette...

I started An Ember in the Ashes audiobook for my commute to work this week and WHOA it's intense . Within the first disc, the main character's grandparents are MURDERED as she watched. This is NOT my usual book fare. But I'm enthralled by the story, the characters, the world that the author created. I. Can't. Stop. Listening. So every time I get in the car I'm petrified to hit play but I CAN'T give up on the story now. She's got to get her revenge. He's got to find his destiny. Do they find each other? How does it end? As much as it stresses me out, I will get to the end. Related Posts: More nerding out about Books posts

Have You Read It?  Back in 2011, one of my favorite authors released the first book of her new trilogy called Daughter of Smoke and Bone . Oh man, I was in love. Karou = kick ass girl with a squishy center. Akiva = conflicted, sensitive warrior. Beautifully-written and all-consuming. You don't read the books so much as tip yourself into the time/place of the plot and get completely lost. Now the third book, Dreams of Gods and Monsters , has been out for the last year. Of course I got it the week it released in hardback, because somethings I just won't wait for. And I dove in and read it like crazy until ... I got to the middle of the book ... and things started to tie together. And I thought... this is the last book I get with this story and these characters? Oh no. I put it down. I just wasn't ready to finish this series. Is it just me? I get way too invested in characters and stories. I should seek some kind of counseling/book club with those with a similar ...

One of my favorite things about Fall is all the new books that come out. Fall and Spring are the big seasons for new books. It's also the time someone should ban me from the book store and my Amazon cart, because things get crazy. This weekend I got to spend a blissful hour at the Barnes and Noble sans children. I browsed all my favorite sections and some new sections (Travel!) that I hardly ever get to explore. I may have made a lot of purchases. A whole lot of purchases. My To-Read Pile -- Well, One of the Three Piles Snow was spotted Saturday morning (already, right!!) so it feels like time to settle in and read all day. If only ... 

I was sad to hear about Maya Angelou's passing ... and though I find it annoying when people take to Twitter and social media sites to say RIP to a celebrity they didn't even really know ... I'm making an exception. Ms. Angelou's books were way too dark and troubling for me to read (I'm sure there's a light chick-lit unpublished and hidden on her laptop somewhere), but her poetry opened up the world to me. Particularly "Phenomenal Woman." That one changed everything. I found this incredible poem as a teenager (senior year, maybe) and WOW it hit me like a 2-ton anvil. Floored. Smashed. Flattened. I'd always felt pretty cool about being a girl, I didn't have horrible confidence issues or anything, but this poem took me to a higher level. It empowered me. Strengthened me. Made me feel PROUD of all the beautiful things a women could be. Should be! And at 17 or 18 years old, is there anything more important to understand? To learn? There...

Do you read any blogs routinely? I have a bunch of favorite blogs that I check in with frequently. Mostly, I find the bloggers friendly or I aspire to their lifestyle or great decorating tastes. Thought you might enjoy the list. The Martha Blog , obvi. The original domestic goddess loves to share long photo galleries of her travels, and life on her farm in New York. It's amazing how her pickiness and perfectionism shines through. Given my penchant for imperfection, we'd not get along -- but her drive is definitely something to aspire to.  Decor8 was one of the first blogs I really started to connect with. Holly was just moving to Germany in those days and did features on Etsy stores and European decorating magazines. She's gotten huge since, even publishing a few books. Such an inspiration! Her blog still contains her gorgeous designers eye, though she's been busying and using frequent (less-fabulous) contributors.  Making It Lovely is one of those contributor...