It’s been a while since I’ve shared a book review here.

I was really hoping to have five for you all for this next roundup; but I’ve been struggling to start/get through another one, and I wanted to make sure to share these goodies before the chaos of the holidays takes over for all of us.

At the beginning of this year I decided to get back into reading.

I've never been much of a habitual reader, per se- Bravo almost always beats out a good book- but the amount of books I had read in the past few years was borderline embarrassing. And I had watched all the Bravo. 

Schedule

It’s been a long while since I’ve sat down with a good read. To be honest, I’ve never been one to prefer a book over Bravo; but ever since I’ve had MM there has been a vast decline in my time spent thumbing through the pages of a good ‘ole fashioned story. Besides a few great parenting books, I’ve basically neglected reading altogether; so this year, I’ve made a conscience effort to get back into the groove.

Schedule

As I've mentioned before, books have been an important part of our daily routine from the beginning. In fact, I don't believe a day has gone by over the past ten months without turning the pages of a sweet story

I bought Madeline her first book months before she was even in my belly- a board book version of Guess How Much I Love You. In the throws of fertility treatments, this purchase served as a reminder of the little one that would eventually come, and the memories we would someday create as a family. Today, that book will forever remind me of that strange time in our life.

Books are funny like that- serving as symbols of various events throughout our lives. Over the past several months I can think of countless examples: The Poky Little Puppy will always remind me of the time my six month old sat patiently while I read the entire book to her (and that's a long one, folks); Giraffes Can't Dance will always conjur giggles as I remember my husband's rendition; I will forever think of Valentine's Day when I see You Are My Sunshine; and Bathtime Peekaboo will always make me nostalgic for the first time my mother read to my daughter.

And the truth is, no matter how many books one has in their library- there is always room fore more stories; more memories to be made.

I've been reading to Maddie Mae since the day she was born- my hospital bag packed with a few favorite bedtime stories, in addition to a loaded iPod to play her first lullabies.

And while she probably didn't understand the stories I read, I wanted to instill the act of reading into our daily routine- hoping it would someday perpetuate a love of books. And today, whenever I see Maddie light up at the pages, I'm grateful I made that a priority from the start.