2012: Year in Reading

My reading goal for 2012 was 80 books and I barely made it (you may even consider me a cheater, because in December I counted several children's books that Mike and I read together). I keep track of my reading on Goodreads, and for the coming year (2013) I've cut my goal in half. Let's see if, given my new role as a mom, I can manage approximately 3 books per month.

Here's the final list for 2012, with favorites in bold.


January 2012
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (book group)
I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson
I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

February 2012
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (book group)
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (book group)
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
The Good Body by Eve Ensler

March 2012
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The New Republic by Lionel Shriver
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller (book group)

April 2012
Hello, Stranger by Virginia Swift
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book group)
The Likeness by Tana French
Emily, Alone by Stewart O’Nan
The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen

May 2012
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell
Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

June 2012
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (book group)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (book group)
Faithful Place by Tana French
Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank by Randi Hutter Epstein
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
Taft 2012 by Jason Heller
The Time Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

July 2012
Untold Story by Monica Ali
Look at Me by Jennifer Egan
Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White Collar-Dreams by Alfred Lubrano
Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams (book group)
Moo by Jane Smiley
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (book group)
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

August 2012
Broken Harbor by Tana French (book group)
The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (book group)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

September 2012
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
The Honest Truth about Dishonesty: How we lie to everyone -- especially ourselves by Dan Ariely (book group)

October 2012
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (book group)
Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill (book group)
Mormon Diaries by Sophia L. Stone
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

November 2012
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (book group)
Why Girls are Weird by Pamela Ribon
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton 

December 2012
Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
We the Animals by Justin Torres
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett
Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
The Hat by Jan Brett
Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Why Moms are Weird by Pamela Ribon
The Privileges by Jonathan Dee

Eleanor Lucille Terry

Born Friday, December 28th at 6:19 a.m.

6 lbs 13 oz, 20 1/4 inches long

With Melissa's eyes and nose (we think) and Michael's mouth and chin, 

Melissa's long fingers and toes and Michael's long arms and legs. 

Nora is beautiful and delightful. We're absolutely crazy about her!

December 30th

Grandpa and Grandma were Nora's first visitors.

Happy family of 3

January 3rd

January 5th

January 7th

More baby growth . . .

Last time I posted belly pictures here, we were at 20 weeks. Well, the baby and I have grown A LOT since then . . .

23 weeks

25 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks (on my way to Charlottesville, VA)

33 weeks (and starting to feel BIG)

35 weeks -- and I'm thinking no more public photos

In case you're wondering, Mike has not gained any sympathy weight. But he has been a very sympathetic partner throughout the pregnancy. 

Baby Showers

My very generous family members and friends have recently hosted two baby showers. It was great to see so many loved ones, and we got such nice gifts!

First, a baby shower with my extended family at my mom and dad's house in Idaho:

My sister-in-law, Sarah, did the decorating. Cute!

The menu consisted of all kinds of dips and they were served in pumpkins from Mom's garden.

Everybody put a few stitches into an adorable crib quilt for the baby.

I opened lots of cute pink presents!

Grandma

Grandma, cousin, aunt

Next, a baby shower in Laramie hosted by good friends AmyJo and Bridgette:

Nursery rhyme theme

To market to market to buy some fresh fruit

Sugar and spice and everything nice muffins

Guests: Jenni, Cathy, Tylita, Sara

Corianne and Melissa

More cute pink girly stuff!

We are getting awfully excited for this baby to arrive, and most of her gear is ready to go, thanks to our very kind and generous friends and family.

Library Assessment Conference

I traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia at the end of October to present at the Library Assessment Conference. I almost cancelled the trip because Hurricane Sandy was supposed to hit the whole East Coast and knock out power for days, but I decided at the last minute to go for it and (luckily) experienced no bad weather, no power outages, and no travel delays.

My presentation is now available from the conference website: http://libraryassessment.org/bm~doc/Bowles-Terry_Melissa_2012.pdf

It was a great conference!

Weekend in Denver

Mike and I just spent a really lovely weekend in Denver -- I guess it was a mini-"babymoon" (who knew that was a thing?).

We saw a theatre production of Lois Lowry's The Giver, which is one of the best YA books of all time.

The book was published 20 years ago, long before the recent rage for dystopian YA novels. It's set in a future where people live in a conflict-free society, but live with no choices and very limited feelings. Everything is very controlled -- there is no sunlight and no color. Seeing the play on stage was not as powerful as reading the book, but there were interesting elements (such as the lack of color) that were really striking in that visual medium.

We stayed overnight in Denver so that we could go to the opening day of a Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, but we failed to purchase tickets in advance. The event was totally sold out for the day, so we didn't get to see the exhibit. We did, however, enjoy other parts of the museum, especially an exhibit titled "When I Last Wrote to You about Africa" by El Anatsui.

Summer 2012

Autumn on UW campus -- so beautiful!

Autumn is here, with red leaves and cooler temperatures. I didn't share much here about the summer that followed our trip to Europe in May, so here's a round-up of some of our trips and activities.

• We want to all of the Snowy Range Theatre productions; my favorite was "Always . . . Patsy Cline," but we also really liked "Santaland Diaries."
• I went to the American Library Association's annual meeting. This year it was in Anaheim (I didn't do any Disney-related stuff, though).
• We went to local parades and 4th of July celebrations.



Melissa walked with the Albany County Democrats in the Jubilee Days parade

• We spent a weekend with my family in Idaho and saw my brother Nick, recently returned from two years in Seattle.
• Celebrated Mike's 33rd birthday!

Birthday present!

• Had visitors from Albuquerque! Mike's brother, Bob, and his family came for a few days.

Here's Isaac and Uncle Mike, going for a hike at Vedauwoo. So cute!

• Had visitors from Idaho! My mom and brother Nick came over Labor Day weekend.

We're going to spend the autumn working hard (fall semester is the busiest), traveling to conferences, and getting ready for the baby girl to join us!