2021 Reading Plans and Setting Up My Reading Journal

I have ambitious reading plans for 2021.

Like many, the chaos and never endingness at the beginning of the pandemic and the impacts on all aspects of life left me feeling sluggish and unable to concentrate long enough to read. However, in June I started to create some routines around reading which I wrote about HERE, and I've been able to get back into the habit. 

My reading slowed down again -- actually almost stopped -- in October and the first half of November with all of the uncertainty of the US Presidential election, but I ramped way back up in mid-November and am almost at my pre-pandemic reading rates. 

For 2021, I decided I would set some goals and themes for the year and that I would set up a reading journal.

For the journal, I selected a notebook from my vast collection and decorated it with some stamp pads from Ranger and Hero Arts and stamps from Studio Calico, Hero Arts, and elsewhere. It was so much fun! I know that this journal will keep me inspired to read throughout the year. 

Once the stamping was done, I planned out what I hope to read in January. A few books will be read a little bit at a time over the course of the year while others will be read just like any other book I might read for pleasure. 

In 2020, I had originally planned to take part in a challenge to read all of William Shakespeare's works in a single year as part of a project that you can learn more about HERE, but the pandemic derailed that pretty fast. I'm committing to the challenge for 2021. I'm also joining a reading challenge focused on reading children's books, and I'll be reading at least two poetry collections per month, as well as doing some normal pleasure reading.

I have ambitious plans for my 2021 reading. Here's what's on deck for January:

Shakespeare: 

• Twelfth Night
• Henry VI, Parts I, II, III

Bill Bryson's The World As Stage (all about Shakespeare)

Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project -- to be read one chapter per month (each chapter corresponds to the months of the year)

• Chapter 1: January -- Boost Energy, Vitality (read about it HERE)

Children's books:

• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn (read my review HERE)
• The Dragons are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky
• Let's be Enemies by Janice May Udry
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths -- to be read in segments over the course of the year:

• In Olden Times, Gaea, The Titans
• Zeus and his Family
• Hera
• Hephaestus

Blueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic -- already started and will be reading chapters 5 through 11

The Black Painting by Neil Olson

Poetry:

• Blood Oranges by Dylan Brennan
• Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen

Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate -- to be read one chapter/essay per week over the course of the year

• Chapter 1: The Cliffs Notes Version of My Life
• Chapter 2: How We Knew
• Chapter 3: A Question of Fate
• Chapter 4: Faith

Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet -- to be read one letter per week

• Letter One
• Letter Two
• Letter Three
• Letter Four

Drop a comment and tell me about something ambitious you have planned for 2021!

Want to read along? You can find all of the books above (where possible) on Bookshop in the USA HERE. I like Bookshop because you can support independent booksellers and readers more easily and directly than through Amazon, but Bookshop does have limits, including much smaller inventories than Amazon and lack of overseas availability.

These books are not available via Bookshop as of this writing:

• You can find Blood Oranges by Dylan Brennan on Amazon Kindle HERE.
• Let's Be Enemies by Janice May Udry on Amazon HERE.

Want to try to recreate my stamping project? You can find these supplies on Amazon:

• Ranger Archival Black stamping pad
• Hero Arts Lemon Yellow stamping pad (I used sunflower yellow but could not find it on Amazon)
• Stamping blocks 
• Dandelion stamp from Hero Arts (I couldn't find the exact one I used in this project, but I also have this one and love it!)
• The Studio Calico stamp set I used is sold out everywhere, but THIS stamp set is pretty cute!
• As far as notebooks, I suggest you find and use any notebook that you think will bring you joy every time you open it.

Please note: Links may be affiliate in nature. Making purchases through these links may result in a small commission on my end at no additional cost to you. Thank you in advance!

3 books to help your kids (and you) cope with divorce

Please note, this is cross posted at my parenting and education blog, Mom2MomEd.

 

Divorce isn't easy for anyone, but it can be especially hard for our children who may not have the maturity or vocabulary to understand or talk about what is happening in their family. It is hard for kids who may feel insecure, who may worry that they are unloved, who may think the divorce is their fault. 

 

It's obviously hard for parents too. 

 

And, the difficulties on both sides -- parent and child -- can make talking about divorce and making your and their way through it difficult. Books can help. 

 

My son was 4 years old when his father and I separated, and it was hard on all of us, but especially on JP. My priority was making sure that he understood that he was loved and wanted and that he had a safe way to explore and express his feelings. I spent a few hours at my local bookstore, looking at children's books about divorce and changing families and brought home the following books -- the first two are specifically for children and the third is for parents.

 

I will be honest, my son wasn't always in the mood to have these books read to him or to read them with me. Sometimes he was just mad and wanted to stomp around and be angry or to curl up in a ball and cry. But, I would calmly remind him, "Hey, I know you don't want to read these books right now, but I also know that when we do read them together, you always end up feeling better. You start smiling and relaxing and we can talk about what you're feeling and thinking about afterwards. It's OK if you just want to curl up in a ball while I read to you, or I can rub your back, or you can pace around and just listen."

 

Most of the time, he'd curl up next to me or in my lap or he'd want me to rub his back while we read, and almost every time, he would feel better -- and he'd recognize that too. We read each of these books dozens of times from the time he was 4 years old until about 7 years old, and they truly helped both of us to navigate difficult emotions and conversations.

 

If your family is going through divorce or separation or you know a family that is, I hope these books will help you or them too. 

My Family's Changing: A First Look at Family Break-Up by Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker

 

This sweet book combines a story with discussion prompts. You can read it straight through as just a story, you can stop at each discussion prompt as you go, or you can stop at one discussion prompt and set the book aside while you talk things through.

 

The illustrations combined with the story and the prompts helped my son to feel like he was seen and heard amidst the grown up problems. The prompts are especially great if you aren't sure how to talk to your child about divorce or a family break up. 

 

There's an entire range of books in the series from topics such as family dynamics to bullying to inclusion and diversity and more. 

• Buy My Family's Changing on Bookshop HERE.
• Buy My Family's Changing on Amazon HERE.
  

 

Dinosaurs Divorce by Marc Brown and Laurie Krasny Brown

 

Like My Family's Changing, Dinosaurs Divorce helps kids navigate the ups and downs and new normal of divorce and changing families. And, if the dinosaurs look somewhat familiar, it's because Marc Brown is also responsible for the Arthur books and cartoon series. Of all the books we had about divorce -- and we had many -- this is the one we read the most.

 

My son particularly liked this book over the others because of the dinosaurs. I think it was easier for him to view divorce through the lens of a non-human character and it was easier to approach a very real and difficult topic through very unreal/non-human characters. Children live in a magical space between reality and make believe, and they often use make believe to sort out their feelings about very real problems. Using dinosaurs in place of humans is a great way to help ease kids through such a difficult experience.

 

Also like My Family's Changing, Dinosaurs Divorce is part of a larger series of books that tackle numerous topics. One of the most popular other books in the series is When Dinosaurs Die. 

• Buy Dinosaurs Divorce on Bookshop HERE.
• Buy Dinosaurs Divorce on Amazon HERE.
  

Mom's House, Dad's House by Isolina Ricci

 

This book is for the adults in a child's life, but it will help you manage your own way through the divorce or separation in a way that supports your child. 

 

One of the reasons I love this book is that it doesn't assume anything is one parent or the others fault. In fact, it offers suggestions and analysis for self-reflection to look at your own behavior and thoughts as both a parent and a divorcing or separating adult and think, "Is this thought or behavior reasonable or am I the problem in this situation?" Ricci also gives many ideas and tips and thoughtful suggestions for how to talk to children and how to work with the other parent or guardian.

Ricci's book helped me to navigate disruptive issues with my son's father and to set firm boundaries during a difficult situation. It gave me a framework for sorting out what I needed as a half of a divorcing couple but also what my son needed and how to best show up for him. It helped me to see both sides of the divorce and gave me many excellent ideas and tips to consider when it came to the overall situation, as well as for specific situations and for sorting out a parenting and custody plan. The book gave me a vocabulary to use and a way to look at things more objectively. 

I truly believe Ricci's book helped me to navigate what was best for my son, even when that sometimes conflicted with what I wanted for myself.

 

There's also a kids version of Mom's House, Dad's House by Isolina Ricci, but I have not read it or reviewed it. Have you?

• Buy Mom's House, Dad's House on Bookshop HERE and the kids version HERE.
• Buy Mom's House, Dad's House on Amazon HERE and the kids version HERE.
  

There are many, many books about divorce for parents and children, but time and time again I am led to believe these three are the best. What books do you think divorcing or separating couples should read? How about kids stuck in the middle?

Please note: links may be affiliate in nature. Making purchases through these links may result in a small commission to us at no extra cost to you. Thank you in advance!

 

REVIEW: The Antiquarian Sticker Book -- Over 1,000 Exquisite Victorian Stickers

This certainly is not my normal book review! I never expected to review a sticker book, but this one -- The Antiquarian Sticker Book -- is fantastic!

Warning: this post is image heavy.

Even though I'm a middle aged woman, I still love stickers. I still get that school child jolt of glee at opening up a new sticker pack and deciding where and how to use them. And, I still sometimes think some stickers are too precious to use and I want to save them instead.

As a child, most of my stickers were used fairly randomly and often were affixed to construction paper, my own skin (usually the back of my hands or my cheeks), or were attached to handmade cards -- I was very much a rule follower growing up (and still mostly am), and would not have dared to put a sticker on furniture, a book, or anything else that might be of value or ruined by the placement of a sticker. The last several years, most of my sticker using has been reserved for letters sent to pen pals or I have used them in my journal and planner spreads. And, of course, I have the obligatory vinyl sticker assortment on my laptop cover -- don't you?

Recently, I realized my sticker collection had outgrown the small drawer in which I contain it. As such, I culled several, sending many on to a friend that had recently mentioned a desire to use stickers in her planner, and then I used several to create a rainbow theme, inspired by the professional crafter, Amy Tangerine (professional crafter = #goals), in a notebook. Even with both of those purges of my sticker collection, I still have a TON, so I put myself on a sticker buying ban.

The rainbow sticker spread in my planner.

Then, the very next day, someone in a Facebook group I'm part of posted a picture of The Antiquarian Sticker Book! I was in awe of the amazing stickers between the covers -- more than 1,000 of them! They were just so beautiful that I ordered the book despite my sticker buying ban.

And, I love it! The stickers and the book as a whole are gorgeous, and I don't regret the purchase at all. Let's take a walk through some of the pages:

Front Cover: The Antiquarian Sticker Book

The book's end papers are gorgeous!

There are a few page where almost the entire page is one big sticker.

The peacock is my favorite sticker in the entire book!

The stickers are fairly low-tack, meaning they aren't super duper sticky. I tested one (a sticker of a spider since I am not a fan and can't see myself ever using the spider stickers...ewwwww!), and was pleased that it was tacky enough to stick to a piece of cardstock, but not so tacky that I couldn't easily lift and reposition it. If you need to ensure that the stickers stay stuck down, use your finger to rub across the surface. A painter once told me that the friction helps. I don't know if it's really the friction or heat generated or what, but the trick seems to work on stickers and washi tape. However, if I could see a need to apply glue to some stickers if the surfaces they are going on is not paper or if they application requires that the sticker be permanently affixed. This does not bother me at all as I often use extra adhesive on stickers anyhow when I craft or if I am applying the sticker to a letter that will be folded where I've placed the sticker.

After applying a sticker to this cardstock,
I as able to peel it up with minimal damage to either.

The way the book is structured, each page features stickers on one side and a decorative backing on the other side. The backing side is the same throughout, so although the book is 1 3/16" thick, excluding the front and back covers, only half of that is actually stickered pages. 

I love the cover of this book and the backing of each sticker page so much that I plan to repurpose the book as an art journal when the stickers are all gone -- I'll do art work and collages on the sticker side of each page.

Have you bought The Antiquarian Sticker Book? If so, leave a comment and tell me which sticker is your favorite and how you'll be using the stickers.

Don't have a copy? 

• You can buy the book on Bookshop HERE. 
  
• Or, buy it on Amazon HERE.

Please note: links may be affiliate in nature. Purchases made through these links may result in a small commission for me at no additional cost to you. Thank you in advance!