The first Christmas in the new house is in the books! We found our Christmas tree and most of our decorations and everything.
This was a crazy month (although I’m pretty sure I say that every month) but we made time for our fun family traditions. We made gingerbread houses and went to look at the holiday train display and drove circles around town looking at Christmas lights.
We had a wonderful Christmas (which means happy kids and minimal meltdowns) and then a mellow week at home. The past few days we’ve spent a lot of time looking back and making plans for the year to come. I like this time of year.
What I’m watching
We’re still enjoying Parenthood. We’re halfway through Season 5, nearing the end, which is handy because Downton Abbey is finally coming back.
Sarah and I also watched Little Women together, which was even better than I remembered. Weeping over Beth’s scene counts as mother-daughter bonding, right?
In my ears
Besides lots of Christmas music, that is. I’ve been listening to some great podcasts this month:
• Brian Koppelman interviews Seth Godin on The Moment podcast. “I haven’t read an Amazon review in 3 years,” and lots of other great insights from one of today’s leading creative thinkers.
• The StartUp podcast: “a series about what happens when someone who knows nothing about business starts one.”
• Austin Kleon on Reading Lives discusses the serendipity of the bookstore, the internet as a giant refrigerator, and growing up with a mom who said you can do anything and a dad who said prove it. Warning: this is not a structured conversation.
I also just finished listening to The Miniaturist on Audible. I’d heard great things, but it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. If I had it to do over again, I’d spend my 13 hours elsewhere—although Davina Porter’s narration, as always, was superb.
What I’m reading
Sarah and I blitzed through The Mother Daughter Book Club series this month. We both thoroughly enjoyed all six and are now eagerly awaiting Book #7, which is to be released sometime in 2015. Sarah finished book 6 and promptly started the series over again.
I’ve been busy choosing my 2014 favorites and looking ahead to the books I can’t wait to read in 2015. I also got some wonderful classics for Christmas, and now I have to decide what to read next!
I have some fun reading posts planned for the weeks ahead. Readers, stay tuned!
On the blog
The life-changing magic of tidying up. Here’s a post for your New Year’s resolutions.
How rare is a great marriage? A wonderful conversation, inspired by Outlander. (Really.)
Great reads for your Christmas vacation. For those of you who are on break till next Monday.
Books for self-gifting. Or, how I’m dreaming of spending that Amazon gift card I got for Christmas.
Best of the web
Library lust: 7 beautiful U.S. libraries. This post makes me want to go to Cleveland. And curse myself for not visiting the libraries in Seattle and Chicago when I was there!
When Paris met Rory: TV’s last great teenage-girl friendship. “Gilmore Girls allowed Paris and Rory’s friendship to matter. It featured prominently in Rory’s story, even as she veered from boyfriend to boyfriend, school to school.”
10 awesome perks of getting married really young. “I was off the market by 20 years old. All of our baggage is checked together.”
How to read more. Step 1: throw your phone in the ocean.
What were you into in December?
Linking up with Leigh Kramer to share what I’ve been into lately.Â
20 comments
I’d love to regularly hear what you “read” on Audible. I’m often looking for suggestions.
NOTED. I’ll see what I can put together. (I’ve loved the Jojo Moyes books I listened to on Audible, the Outlander narrator was fabulous, and The Rosie Project was too. I just bought Americanah and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as part of their small 2-for-1 sale, but I haven’t started either yet.)
There’s a list of great audiobooks here for more recommendations: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/2014/02/40-favorite-audiobooks-yours-and-mine/
Thank you! Which Audio plan are you on, if you don’t mind me asking. Audible was one of my best finds in 2014…thank you very much. I now don’t mind my tedious driving trips, unloading all the groceries, cooking, or cleaning house. Lol
I’m on the gold plan. (I had to look it up!)
I watched Little Women with my boys this week too, but they bailed thirty minutes in. I’m not giving up that easily though! I read Little Women for the first time when I was 8, and then at least once a year every year of my life into my early adult years. It has been several years since my last reading, and when I watched the movie with sort of fresh eyes I was struck by how deeply the lessons in the book have imprinted my life and beliefs and actions. There’s so much power in a great book in the hands of a child. Happy New Year to you!
What age range would you say the Mother Daughter Book Club books are good for? My daughter is 12… but a “still believes in stories” 12 year old – and every time you talk about the books, it makes me want to read them with her! 🙂
I have a similar question, except my daughter just turned 8. She’s pretty mature and a strong reader, and I’m wondering if this series is still just a little too mature or whether we can get started on it together. I’m always looking for great reading recommendations with my kids.
When the series starts the girls are in 6th grade, so you could start there and work your way up. They are definitely middle grade books, not older: gentle themes, no language. The only thing I was concerned about content-wise was the boy stuff (because that is NOT on Sarah’s radar yet and I’m happy about that!) but that’s not the part of the books Sarah focused on. She loved the whole series.
I just finished The Miniaturist last week and was unimpressed. I wish the story was as good as its cover!
I’m reassured that it’s not just me. (It WAS a great cover, wasn’t it?)
Your podcast list reminded me of a great podcast I discovered this fall — the Marriage Start-Up Podcast. If you want to hear a couple getting really real about making their marriage better, it’s a must-listen!
I had’t heard of that one; thanks for sharing!
Austin Kleon made my top five this year, and it occurred to me to follow him on Intagram. It’s been fun so far. 🙂 Also, the Mother Daughter Book Club just warms my heart. I’ll have to see if the library has it. Happy New Year!
The Moment is one of my favorite podcasts – kind of makes me laugh because he always talks about his audience being made up of millennial screen writers.
I’ve only listened to a handful of episodes! I’m glad to hear it’s worth a regular listen.
You might like the Seth Godin interview on On Being with Krista Tippett. I saved it so I can listen to it again in the future. I don’t know how I missed that piece on Rory and Paris! What a great reflection on the trajectory of their friendship.
Thanks for the podcast recommendation! And I thought you’d like that piece on Rory and Paris.
A bit off topic but were you planning on continuing your literary matchmaking posts? I’m dying to hear what you would recommend for not only myself but all your devoted readers.
Yes! I’ll be getting back to them in January.
Watching Little Women is always a good idea.