Midwife Reading

10/01/2024

It's time. Time to rally around Desirre and her family. The bell for round three has been rung, and we're ready to come out swinging.

My sister from another mister isn't finished yet, and she has so much left to do here. She poured into me for years - more than a decade - and there is pretty much nothing I wouldn't do for her.

The wrong people get cancer. Not that there is a right person, but still. IYKYK.

If you would prayerfully consider standing alongside her and throwing a few punches, I would be so grateful!

After a year of battling pancreatic cancer, Desirre then fought off colon cancer for another yea… Tiff Miller needs your support for Help Desirre Fight Cancer

08/22/2024

I finished this book weeks ago, and completely forgot to count it towards the ! So I'll call it book 20 of 50. I started it back in March, and read a little at a time during my quiet times.
📚
It's been such a peaceful, insightful, encouraging read. If you're struggling with prayer, I would definitely recommend it. Is it perfectly correct in everything? No. But it's honest and humble. I loved it.
📚
What books have you found most helpful in your walk with God?
📚

08/17/2024

Since I got back to the Springs after a lovely vacation at the end of June, I have only had one day off. And by that, I mean that there has been only one day during which I didn't have to do anything related to work.
🤰🏻
Midwifery is a calling. I can't NOT do it. It's fulfilling, joyful, heartbreaking, exhausting, triumphant, quiet, beautiful, messy, complicated, simple, deeply human, costly, and priceless. It's vulnerable and professional. I love it!
👶🏻
I am currently caring (or co-caring) for 23 people outside of my home. That's not counting the sweet, squishy babies, either. 23 people I am pouring into on a consistent basis. No wonder I'm tired!
🤱🏻
I'm so grateful for my partners and colleagues, who have become more than friends in this work. They're my sisters. I don't have to do it alone.
❤️
I am grateful for the friends outside the birth world who have stuck around, in spite of the fact that my work often has to come before them, by its very nature. Their understanding is unmatched. And it was one of those friends who challenged me yesterday to stop looking ahead for some time to rest, and find two hours of quiet away from my house before the day ended.
📚
So, I did. I desperately need time in which no one needs me. No one asks me questions. No one demands anything of me. When no one is even around. I found it at my favorite local park in the shade of a tree with my current read, some junk food, and a decaf iced Americano with cream. For two glorious hours, I rested and read.
😋
I didn't want to go home. That tells me this needs to happen a lot more often. I tell my clients all the time: "Your needs matter as much as your baby's needs." Maybe it's time to accept that for myself too. My needs matter as much as others' needs.
❤️
I'm working on it.

08/11/2024

My from . Since they're closing 😭😭😭, I had to stop in. and are my favorites (not that I'm an expert), and I am so excited to have some beautiful picks in my cupboard!

08/03/2024

Hello, book number 15 of 50 for the with and .decker.777! For those who just arrived (👋🏻☺️), we are working our way through unread books on our own shelves instead of indulging in the luxury of library reads.
📚
I just finished Murder On the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie, and I enjoyed it! Hercules Poirot is a fun and easy character to love. It didn't knock my socks off, but I quite enjoyed it!
📚
I'm a little nervous about this one. Any story that tries to bring a biblical character to life is fraught with danger. The danger of inserting 21st century morals and norms into an ancient story. The danger of parting from what little source material we have.
📚
Adapting a book for the movies is one thing. Adapting a deeply cherished and ancient religious text to fiction is another! But somehow, I am kind of a sucker for these books. Especially the ones about the women of Scripture.
📚
Anyway. Here goes nothing!
📚

07/23/2024

A daytime birth once in awhile is wonderful! Four or five in a row makes for quite a lot of discombobulation as we scramble to reschedule everyone, keep the bags stocked, and update the chart.
👶🏻
And it's 100% worth it. I mean, look at this little guy!!! What a gift and a privilege it is to care for these sweet bundles and their precious families!
🤰🏻
If anyone is allowed to cut into my reading time, it's these cutie patooties.
📚
(Photo shared with permission)

07/21/2024

It's Shelfie Sunday! 📚 This small shelf holds my nonfiction midwifery collection, including textbooks, some birthy classics, and midwife memoirs and biographies.
👩🏻‍⚕️
The other picture is my small, but growing, collection of novels featuring midwives. I haven't yet read all the books from either shelf, but I am sure I will get through a few of them during my challenge.
🤰🏻
Not a very exciting post, I know, but I have been meaning to do a bookshelf tour for a while now. ☺️ I really do love my bookshelves, and sometimes I feel a little silly for the inward little 🥰 that happens when I look up and see my books.
📚
Books are beautiful, and decorating my home with them is, well, ✨homey✨.
🏡
I am always looking for books for my midwifery shelves, too. Any recommendations for books you don't see here? Do you have any themed collections of books on your shelves? Let me know in the comments!
📚

06/29/2024

Taking a short break from the so I can read this missionary classic I borrowed from a friend for the .read.collective 2024 challenge.
📚
I also haven't readuch since Sunday, because I returned from vacation and had to hit the ground running in ways I didn't anticipate. Between babies, clinic, unpacking, and some family conflict (not world-ending, but I hate conflict), I have had a rough week. The first thing to go when this happens is my reading.
📚
It felt good to pick up a book again and dive into a story.
📚
What are you reading this weekend?
📚📚📚

06/19/2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I cannot believe I didn't know this was a series! To be fair, I had never heard of it. This was one of the 12 books, 12 friends, in 12 months challenge, and I went in totally blind.

While this first book didn't end entirely on a cliffhanger, it's clearly not over. And I have questions. I can't wait to read more!

This dystopian tale is believable, down-to-earth, and populated with characters I cared about. From the beginning you are made aware of just how high the stakes really are in this plausible, post-apocalyptic future.

Characters are compelling, and their arcs vary. None of them are bland, flat, or simply plot fodder. Even the side characters matter and make a difference to the story.

The story is full of surprises, not twists, but surprises. One thing builds on another in such a way that it all feels real.

Loved it.

06/19/2024

⭐⭐⭐💫
This book was a delightful, hopeful, engaging story complete with loveable characters, including a sentient octopus named Marcellus. He's the best, and I love him.

I figured out the ending pretty quickly, but that didn't detract from the fun of waiting to see how the author would get us there.

It's a wholesome and quiet story by the sea in the Pacific Northwest. I enjoyed it!

Have you read this one? What did you think?

06/13/2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
FYI, it's free on Kindle today. I would prefer you go buy it, but even the free download can give her work some traffic!

I thought this book would take longer to read, because that's what my brain usually does with short story collections. I often have to take a break and stretch it out over a period of weeks.

Not this time.

I had a hard time putting it down, and was driven to keep going, because I wanted more of each story. But, if I couldn't have that, then one more story would work. Like a little girl asking plaintively for just one more story before bed, my inner child begged my brain. My brain never stood a chance.

This is another book I could have read in one sitting if I'd had the chance.

As I read, I kept note of which story I would say was my favorite, then gave up after I realized that I kept saying to myself, "No, THIS one is my favorite."

And really, they're all different enough that each one has room to be a favorite. A few made me cry. One or two shocked and horrified me. Some ended with an uncomfortable hope (hard to explain, but trust me, it works because it's real).

Each story is grounded in the real world, among real humans, and yet has some magic or wonder or horror or something bigger than us pouring in through the cracks and flooding the imagination.

Beauty from ashes, indeed. Well done.

06/11/2024

Book 4 of 50 in my with and .decker.777 is Rise and Other Tales, by J.W. Rose.
📚
This collection of short stories by is one I have let sit on my shelf for too long. I'm excited to finally be picking this up, as I have loved everything she's written so far! I won't be able to read straight through, though, because they're short stories. For some reason, my brain usually won't let me just read the whole book at once.
📚
I figure that vacation is the perfect time, so I can get in a whole story every time I sit down between visits with loved ones. And, I can just take my time and enjoy each one.
📚
What about you? Are you a short story fan? Any recommendations for me?
📚
Check out my story highlights for details on my current challenge!

06/11/2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Spoilers below.)

NOTE: My whole review doesn't quite fit here, but you can check it out on my .storygraph or accounts. (🔗 in bio)

Overall, it's a beautifully written, descriptive, intriguing, and fascinating story. I had a hard time putting it down, and probably could have read it in one sitting had I had the opportunity.

I loved the characters, except Luc. We hate Luc. And I love a good bad guy that lets me hate him. It feels good to hate evil.

As for Addie, I love her. Her flawed, insecure, born-in-the-wrong-century, creative, and stubborn personality resonates with me in some ways. She and I are in no way truly alike, but her desire to be like a tree, planted firmly, and making a mark on the landscape, resonates profoundly. She's frustrating at times, but that's okay -- even that ignites compassion.

And Henry? Poor kiddo! (Yes, he's 28, but still...) What a beautiful soul, who needed some good therapy, and found love instead. Love him, and the way he enables Addie to make a mark through more than just her seven freckles. He's a good guy with some deep struggles, and he and Addie belong together.

That said...

**taps mic**
THIS BOOK GAVE ME FEELINGS!

Very, very mixed feelings. The premise is intriguing, and I found myself waiting for Addie to claim victory over the darkness, but that never happens, and I just...😭😳☹️😡

As soon as Henry says, "I remember you," and everything changes, I got so excited, eager to see how they would work together to find salvation from their respective deals and live happily ever after. But that's not what happens.

The ending is rather poetic and romantic, and is neither fully happy, nor fully sad. It's hopeful and depressing at the same time. It's not even an ending, per se. It's open, and up for debate, but the implications seem to point in one direction that makes me a bit furious at the darkness. I'm not entirely satisfied with the ending. I don't think I'm supposed to be. So, Schwab accomplished her goal, I suppose.

06/08/2024

I've been following .official for a while now, because I found a kindred spirit when it comes to books -- if a store can have a spirit, that is. 📚
As soon as I found out that this gem of a store was on our way to see family, I had to plan a day to stop. I am so glad I did, and that my hubby fully supported my starry eyed nerdery. 🤩
📚
Anyway. 100% worth the trip. I could have spent all day! I cried almost as soon as I walked in. This place is beautiful. And every nook and cranny is stuffed with history, beauty, art, and (of course) rare books. As in a signed first edition of The Hobbit. A miniature New Testament over 100 years old contained in a locket. Arthur Conan Doyle's pipe. And 400 year old Bibles you can purchase pages from (they would have been thrown out otherwise, and yes, I bought one).
📚
But the best part...I got to meet the owner, Mr. Reid Moon. He's very soft-spoken and matter-of-fact. He asked what we were looking for, and Levi told him we came from Colorado just so I could see the store. And he asked if there was anything specific that drew me, and I said, "Everything." Then he asked me, if I could hold any book, what would it be? 😳 So I said Anne, and the Bible. And he said, "Come on back." He invited us into the back room, where he films his videos.
📚
He brought out a first edition Anne of Green Gables (valued at many monies), and let me hold it. I asked if I could smell it, and he smiled and said, "Of course. That's the most common request we get here." I cried. I couldn't help it.
📚
He then offered to let me hold the ginormous first edition King James Bible (circa 1611, you guys), and I did. It's. HEAVY. I could have thumbed through it, page by glorious page, but I am sure he would prefer not to babysit giant nerds while they try not to get tears on these treasures.
📚
My heart is full. I wish I could bottle this feeling of wonder and appreciation and joy, and save it forever. If you're ever in Utah, you should go. And say hi to the books for me.
📚📚📚

04/30/2024

I have nothing extra to add to this. Motherhood doesn't erase our identity, it adds a whole new layer we didn't know was there!

04/27/2024

It's ! We couldn't pass up the chance to pop into this morning, where they know our names. Seriously -- go buy a book today!
📚💖📚💖📚

04/25/2024

Guys. This book. This was one of my challenge picks, and I need all y'all to stop sending me books that turn me into a sniveling puddle of goo! 😭 But actually, don't. I love these hidden gems you don't see everyday on .

Review incoming:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Any book that wrecks me like this is an automatic 5 stars. The setup and payoff is profound, beautiful, moving, and emotional in ways I didn't see coming. I may or may not have burst into tears and yelled at the narrator.

Grams and Gramps are fantastic, as is the main character, Sal. It's a few good stories, all braided together and tied up neatly at the end. It's a bittersweet and believable ending, which I appreciate.

This book is paced like the slow spot in a river, with little eddies along the bank in places where there are a few stones or a log. There's lots of shade to rest in, but when you get out into the deep part, it's cool, and the current is stronger than it looks. It's quiet, except for the whispers of trees and birdsong. It's like a good swimming hole.

Read it.
📚📚📚

04/25/2024

I was embossing my nonfiction shelf when I discovered something. Guys, I pretty much never look inside a book I'm buying until I open it up to read it. I'm thrilled to have a signed copy of this book! I'm still looking forward to reading it, of course. What a sweet surprise! This is why thrift stores and used bookstores are THE 🐐!!! Also -- who the heck gives away signed books?!?!?
📖🖋️📚
What have you found inside used books that surprised and delighted you?
📚📚📚