August was a slower month of reading despite a week of vacation, and I think it's because I got stuck in the middle of a longer book that ended up feeling like a slog to me. Instead of just putting it down, I pushed through, but it made it really easy for me to get distracted by other things every time I picked it up. 

Here's where things ended up:

Four Stars

The Anniversary by Alex Finlay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this a lot, but I thought it was different than Finlay's previous books that I've read. This one felt like a slower burn for a thriller because you jump from year to year with the two main characters and the serial killer. I had suspicions about who the killer was and I totally figured out one of the last twists, but I still really enjoyed this.

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a great book about sisters and how they support or don't support each other through their dreams to pursue professional soccer. This book was fast moving for the most part, but I did think that some bits of part two dragged on a bit.

Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was fun and completely delightful. I've like other books by Sarah Adler so it was fun to go back and read her first one!

Three Stars

Whistler by Ann Patchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm so confused why everyone loved this book so much. I thought it moved so slowly. It wasn't bad, but I'm completely mystified why everyone is raving about this book.

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 Well this blog post is about six months late. But back in March, I ran the my first postpartum half marathon -- the Rock N Roll DC Half. 

This is a race I've run several times before, but the course had changed since I had last run it, and it made the start and finish line logistics a little more challenging than in years past. 

My parents were in town because my mom was supposed to run the race with me, but she had gotten hurt and wasn't able to. Luckily, my dad was on board to come hang out with me at the start and catch me at a few points on the early part of the course before the rest of my family met us at the finish line. 

I did my usual pre-race peanut butter toast with a nervous stomach that I had to force the food into. My dad and I took the Metro downtown to the start line and I found my way into my corral. Lines for the bathrooms at the start were out of control and I wasn't able to get into one before the race started. Didn't love that, but I hoped I'd make it through the race without needing a stop. 

I pulled off my fleece and passed it to my dad before I got ready to start.  The early miles were decently flat and the crowd spread out pretty well on the wide streets so we weren't completely on top of each other. 

It had been a hard winter of training with the massive snowstorm, and I was nervous about my overall endurance for the race. I tried to keep a comfortable and steady pace through the early miles. I saw my dad near miles 2 and 4, which was a nice pick me up, and then I headed into Rock Creek Park dreading the massive hill that would come on Calvert St.

And boy did that hill do me in. I had been keeping a pretty comfortable pace the whole time until I get there. I walked a good chunk of the hill and even when I got to the top, I never really settled back into that previous sense of comfort. 

I kept going, slowing my jog a little bit and starting to do some finish line math in my head. There were a bunch of smaller hills after the huge Calvert Hill and I found myself needing to walk several of them. 

I knew once I got to mile 9 or 10 I'd hit a good stretch of downhill so I just kept trying to mentally motivate myself to get that point. I passed some of our friends near mile 9 and that was a fun little pick me up. 

The downhill on North Capitol Street was a really welcome relief. I tried to just let myself cruise and count down the streets until we'd turn off and start wiggling toward the finish line. 

I liked the new ending of the course since I was familiar with the streets, but boy, they all seemed so much longer than when I remember walking them when I lived in that neighborhood. I kept setting little mental milestones for myself -- run to that light pole, run to the next corner, when you turn that corner you'll get some more downhill. The mental games helped, but I still took more walk breaks than I would have liked. 

There was a bit of time where I thought I might be able to sneak in under 2:15, but I was gassed by the end and I finished in 2:15:56. 

I looked for my family on the final stretch and saw my parents waving to me. It was the best feeling to give everyone hugs and snuggle my little dude with my medal around my neck. 

It's been a busy summer over here and I've been a little delinquent about keeping up with my book reviews. But I figure here's a better late than never recap of what I read in June and July this year. 

Five Stars

Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok I'm super biased because I'm friends with the author, but I loved the concept of this book -- an out-of-work actress gets a job as a travel agent at a time travel agency where she's responsible for escorting rich guests to destinations in history. I thought the world of the time travel agency was fascinating and I kept wanting to know more about some of the mysterious cast of characters that work there. I wasn't expecting the twist at the end, and I know some people have mixed feelings on the ending, but I really liked it.

The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I could not put this book down. It some ways it reminded me of Best Offer Wins because you keep wondering what crazy thing is going to happen next. The main character gets pregnant after a brief fling who then gets back together with his ex. They decide to try to coparent, but during the pregnancy the former ex wants to be involved -- like way too involved. Such a creepy thriller and I couldn't want to get to the end to see what happened.

Four Stars

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When the book opens fairly early on with our 77 year old protagonist who had recently moved into an assisted living facility getting pregnant, well I had some ideas about where this book was headed. Turns out almost none of of them were right. But this book was still a good read and without giving too much away certainly left you with some things to think about.

Off the Record by Sara Goodman Confino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sara Goodman Confino always delivers a fun read. It's the 1960s and a graduate from Maryland's journalism school gets a job in the typing pool at a prestigious DC paper. She picks up a phone call and gets an interesting tip, but there are no female reporters at the paper, so she has to chase the lead on her own.

Our Little World by Karen Winn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw Karen Winn speak about her new book at the Gaithersburg Book Festival and I'm still on the waitlist for that one at the library, but I went back and read her first one while I waited. This book was set in the 1980s when a little girl goes missing from a New Jersey suburbs. There's mystery and some family drama and overall this was a really good read.

Three Stars

Woman Down by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t remember putting this book on hold, but I got an alert from the library that it was finally available. I was intrigued to read the first book Colleen Hoover has put out in three years. I’ve liked many of her previous book, but I struggled with this one because I kept getting annoyed at the bad choices the main character made. For a bit I was onboard and could understand some of them, but then it seemed to get too far fetched for me — though I found the ending to be not super surprising

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I typically love Sarah Adler's books and I was really excited to read her newest one. This book was cute, but I didn't love it quite as much as some of her others.

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