I’ve always been an avid reader.  Growing up, I was either reading or outside playing.  By the age of 12 my mom let me start reading her books as I had read all the age appropriate books I was interested in.  I loved John Grisham as I was sure I’d grow up to be a lawyer.  But I will admit I never got through The Chamber – it was just a bit to heavy for my 12 your old brain.  And, I’ll also admit I couldn’t never get into her Danielle Steele books either!

As a teenager, I almost always had a book in my hand.  I wasn’t quite as bad as Rory Gilmore who always carried a book in her bag, but I was pretty close.  Reading was my addiction and I was always encouraged to read whatever I wanted.  My bookshelf was always full, and I always had a stack of book waiting to be read next.  When we travel my standard souvenir is always at least one book on the amazing places we see. And I even showcase my favourite cookbooks on floating shelves in our kitchen. And when we bought this house I convinced Mr. MPB that I needed large bookshelves in the basement to house all the books I’d been moving around with me in very heavy boxes since I was 18.  I wanted custom built-in bookshelves but in the end we decided on Ikea bookshelves that would do the job at an affordable price.  I took great pride in organizing my bookshelves, Mr. MPB wasn’t even allowed to help. It’s organized by genre and author.  I even have the books I care the least about at the bottom of the shelf just incase we ever have another basement flood.  Some of the shelves are three books deep because I am running out of space.  I truly love my wall of books.

Now, Baby MPB seems to have my love for books.  His play area is right beside a child sized Ikea bookshelf that is full to the brim of books.  In the rare moments that he’s not crawling and exploring he will sit down with his books and “read”.  The next moment he’ll stand up, pull all his books off his bookshelf and then find the perfect book to sit down and “read”.  He’ll repeat this over and over and over again countless times throughout the day.  And of course, we read to him all the time, but more often then not he steals the books to “read” himself so we just pick up a new book and read it, until he steals that one too.  He has a few favourites, and has even managed to completely destroy a few board books because he loved them so much.  Both Mr. MPB and I love his passion for his books and will always encourage it.  Right now he seems them as some sort of a toy, but he also sits and looks at the pictures and sometimes sits still with us when we are reading them.  Passing on my love of books really is a dream come true.

Yet, as we watch Baby MPB read, I realized I don’t remember the last time I read a book.  I mean read a real book, not a blog or a newspaper article.  I haven’t touched a book since before we found out about Baby MPB, but probably even longer.  I’m guessing my last read was maybe a Brene Brown book a few years ago?   I still have my standard stack of “must read” books tucked away somewhere in the basement, but I haven’t even been adding to it frequently.  Instead, when we are at the bookstore I head straight to the children’s section and undoubtedly pick up a new book or two for Baby MPB.  And last year when I found a 2 amazing used book sales I stocked up on books for Baby MPB and didn’t even look for myself.  And now when we travel I’m searching out a board book for Baby MPB from the city we are in.

I’ve realized I want to read a real book again.  I really do.  But, I also want to fit in time to go to spin classes. I want to eat healthy home-made meals.  I also want mommy and Baby MPB playtime.  I also want to write.  I also have to work.  And I also really need to sleep.  Time is just not something I seem to have a lot of these days.

So, my question today is if I can find time to read a real book, what short book should I read?  (I need a short one to ensure I actually read the whole thing because I tend to become obsessed about finishing a book once I start it so I need to know I can get through it).  I love good biographies and memoirs.  I love happy books.  I have no interest in anything scary and right now I have no interest in anything related to world politics or mental health.  I just want something pointless but also something that’s virtually guaranteed to be good.  Suggestions are very appreciated.

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