A great year in reading
It’s been a very busy year for us. We’re finally starting to feel settled in our new little homestead. Throughout the year, we’ve been blessed with so much. And I feel honored to have dear friends to share the year with. I also feel so fortunate to have had wonderful books to have been with me along the way. It’s been an amazing year to learn and find new books that I have loved. While I miss the engagement of classes at school, I definitely don’t miss the work and I love working with the kids. I’ve read and listened to a lot of books (120 to be exact) this year between school reading and reading for pleasure. It’s been a combination of picture books, middle grade books and teen books, which I’m drawn to most.
In no particular order are my favorite books from 2009:
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher
Poppy by Avi
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Helen’s Eyes: A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller’s Teacher by Marfe Ferguson Delano
We started the year knowing that within days of the year starting we’d be apart for several months. Bryan moved into the house that’s been in my family since it was built in 1931 and a few days later started his new job as an assistant manager at one of the Kansas City area libraries. A weeks later I started my final semester of graduate school. It was an exciting time but also nerve-wracking wondering if I would find a job.
Through February, March and April, I visited Bryan a lot. Each month we knew that our time apart was getting closer to the end. April was an exciting month, I participated in the annual Storytelling Festival at the Graduate School and a few days later interviewed for a job. I was offered the job as a Youth & Teen Librarian and couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It was a relief to have a job before graduation.
May found us saying goodbye to many dear friends that we’d made in the Champaign-Urbana area. I graduated with my Master of Science in Library and Information Science. I was a real honest to goodness officially certified librarian! The day after graduation, we packed up our apartment and headed to Kansas City. The movers moved the rest of our stuff in on Tuesday and I started my new job on Wednesday.
This summer we spent a lot of time in the garden and enjoying the fruits of our labor. So many amazing tomatoes, peppers and fresh herbs. We’re still enjoying butternut squash that we picked in November. There are definitely plans to expand the garden next year.
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