Blogs – Erin of the Hills

Reading Roundup: January 2023

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Erin of the Hills

Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.
Julia Child

Last week marked my first week off of blogging for the year (already!) as we all had the flu. However, in keeping with my new resolution to be kinder to myself, I’m proud I managed to blog all but one of the weekends in January! Now that feels like an accomplishment to me.

Today’s featured quote seemed incredibly appropriate for my first reading roundup of the year. See, I’m not sure that a lack of passion projects and interests has ever been my problem. In fact, if I do have a problem, it’s that I’m interested in far too many things. Can there truly be too much of a good thing?

One of my varied interests, as you have probably already gleaned from this blog, is reading. Like all of my other extracurricular activities, it has been hard over the past 3 years since becoming a mother to fit reading into my daily life; in the past its place in my schedule was assured.

I’d like to say I’m finally falling into a new rhythm with my reading, having already read 4 out of my 2023 goal of 23 books, but I know better than to proclaim such a victory so early. Life is fairly unpredictable as a rule and once you add kids into the mix? Well, good luck getting your crystal ball to ever predict anything accurately again.

That said, I’m proud of the amount of reading I accomplished in January. I’ll appease myself with basking in this rare sense of pride for now…

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Reading Roundup: 2022

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Erin of the Hills

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.
Oscar Wilde

It appears my last Reading Roundup post was in January of 2022, which is unbelievable. Thankfully, that was not the last month I read anything…only the last month I posted about what I had been reading.

This post will be a bit different than those previous ones as I will be summing up the standout articles and blogs as well as all the books I read for an entire year! While I didn’t highlight many articles or blogs this past year, I did read 24 whole books…but I’ll spare you the detailed reviews on all 24 (at least in this post). Instead, I’ll list them by quill (star) rating and will hopefully get back to some book reviews eventually!

So, without further ado, here are the articles, blogs and books that made 2022 my best year for reading in a long long time.

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Reading Roundup: October 2021

Posted on November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

The thing about a diversion is that it has to be diverting.
Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl

Well now, hello out there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I thought the quote above from one of the brilliant books I finished last month was too perfect to explain my absence this past 30 days or so as it has two possible interpretations (that I know of).

You could look as the word diversion as meaning something which takes one away from tedium or stress – a way to relax and recharge. I have definitely been focusing on this type of activity over the last month when I had moments to breathe in the midst of a hectic season. And, unfortunately, I have not yet gotten to the point with writing where it is merely a diversion (in this sense of the word at least), though I do indeed find it enjoyable! So this could be one reason I’ve been absent. On the bright side, taking some time off has led to a decent amount of reading.

However, the other definition of the word is something that knocks or draws someone off course, and that could also be said to be the reason I’ve taken a bit of a break from these blogs lately…With several illnesses having hit the household in quick succession throughout October and November (none of them serious, and none of them Covid thank goodness) followed by a particularly crazy couple weeks of work culminating in a national convention. Well…it’s no wonder I’ve been less-than-dedicated to my blogging goals, no?

Regardless, this quote spoke well to what the last month has looked like for me, and the reason(s) for my silence, but I’m back! And that’s what truly matters, isn’t it? Get back on that horse, and all that.

And now for October’s…literary diversions.

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Reading Roundup: September 2021

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

What our lives but a series of farewells and returns, no?
Esi Edugyan, Washington Black

After last month’s triumphant exclamation of having finally found a good rhythm for my reading habit…this past month knocked this nascent habit off course. Again. I’m trying not to get too impatient, however, as my lovely toddler’s sleep regressions are no joke (and in no way under my control).

This isn’t the season of my life when I’m going to do the most reading. I keep having to remind myself of this fact. And, more importantly, reminding myself that I’m not bidding the habit of reading farewell but rather À Bientôt! Because to this habit I will return. Eventually.

But, for now, I did manage to read some interesting articles and blogs in September, if not so many books.

Hmm…there’s a lesson in there somewhere…

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Reading Roundup: August 2021

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

Each time we found solace in the companions that live in our bookshelves
Valeria Luiselli

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve finally gotten back into a decent reading habit. And all it took was taking some time off from blogging…

Not only was this month nuts in terms of long-postponed and awaited celebrations finally taking place, but it also marked the first full month that Louis was back at the office and I was officially home full time with Aria balancing fitness, work, household tasks and parenting as so many around the world have been doing forever. I’m slowly getting the hang of it, one day at a time, and every single day brings more appreciation for everything my parents did for us as kids. As enjoyable as most days are, this vocation is not for the faint of heart.

But I digress.

Perhaps you’re wondering where I’ve been? Or, more likely, you haven’t event noticed I was silent for three weeks as you’ve been juggling your own crazy beautiful life.

Regardless if you’re curious or not, I’m going to explain my absence.

Right after publishing my first post for August I had one of those lighting bolt moments of yore when I realized something needed to give. As much as I wanted to be a superwoman of my own making, I knew it was in my best interest to take the self-imposed productivity down a notch. So, I decided to take the month off from blogging and, honestly? It really helped me to take a step back and reevaluate my habits and how they fit into my lifestyle.

Don’t worry, dear reader, this intro is not to announce that I’ve given up blogging. Rather, it’s to joyfully proclaim that I’m back and I have a better and more reasonable plan to stay on top of my writing and reading goals.

Where was I going with this? Ah, yes, reading. I’m finally back into the habit. For real this time. And damn it feels good.

But before we get into the new-and-improved reading habits of one Erin of the Hills, let’s take a look back at the best things I read this month – shall we? After all, that is the purpose of these posts.

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Reading Roundup: June 2021

Posted on June 27, 2021July 25, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

He laid his hand on the cover of the book, gently, as though reluctant to disturb the rest of the sleeping lives interred there.
Diana Gabaldon, Voyager

I have a complicated relationship with reading these days. It used to be that I would spend hours curled up on the couch with a good read, often finishing several books a week without even sparing a thought for how much I could have accomplished in that time I devoted to losing myself in the written word.

Lately, however, this seems to be a harder practice to justify. Whether this is because I’m now a mother with a very busy and curious little one to raise or simply because adulthood comes with a million tiny yet important responsibilities that seem to need attention with alarming consistency, I’m not entirely sure.

The result, regardless of the reason, is that I spend so much of my time gazing longingly at my to be read pile without picking a single one up, or feverishly adding tantalizing new books to my Goodreads “Want To Read” designation at a pace that defies the possibility of ever getting through them all.

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Reading Roundup: April 2021

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in the spring
Vladimir Nobokov, Mary

Perhaps it is because it is springtime, or because this latest lockdown truly does feel as if it may be one of the last, but I found that Nobokov’s concept of nostalgia in reverse greatly influenced what kinds of articles and blogs resonated with me this month.

Whether it was a longing for a lifestyle I have never perfected (fitting writing into my daily routine); an urge to continue traveling the world…heck, even browse a bookshop at my leisure; or the deep desire to use my inherent privilege to help make a positive and notable difference in this world for those who have been marginalized for too long.

There truly is a theme here.

So, without further ado, enjoy!

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Reading Roundup: March 2021

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

Wisdom may be rented, so to speak, on the experience of other people, but we buy it at an inordinate price before we make it our own forever.
Robertson Davies, Leaven of Malice

As I was going through my book of quotes today (woefully out of date as it is since my novel reading has fallen drastically over the past few years…) I came across this sentence written by the brilliant Canadian author Robertson Davies – one of my husband’s favourites!

What struck me about this quote was the image of a price for wisdom. For me, that price seems to be time as I have so many things I am curious about, so much I wish to learn, and yet all of this takes time. Time which is hard to find as a first-time-mom working from home during a pandemic.

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Reading Roundup: February 2021

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Erin of the Hills

For where can one find more noble distraction, more entertaining company, more delightful enchantment than in literature?
Muriel Barbery, Elegance of the Hedgehog

As my motivation to write returns in leaps and bounds, so to does my willingness to drink deeply of the fountain of literature. For me, literature does not only mean fiction but blogs, articles, non-fiction, op-eds, anything in the written word that piques my curiosity.

From here on out, on the first of every month I will be publishing an account of the most moving, interesting, fascinating, striking pieces of literature I read over the course of the last 30 days. In trying to keep these entries as short as possible, I’ll attempt to stick to a quick recap of what struck me about the work and a favourite quote. No promises that these blogs won’t be characteristically long though…

So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

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