📚 Latest readings and book thoughts
I finished reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell a few days ago, which was very cute and fun. It's familiar to me in an "I grew up online" sort of way, even if I was never deep in fan fiction circles (I still read it here and there and wrote a bit of my own, though didn't share it.) The main character was relatable in how she's a perpetually online girl who had no social skills, but the people around her really help bring her into her place in college. It's a nice read.
I'm moving onto Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, a book which was not on my to-read list for 2025, which is noteworthy because I said I wasn't going to buy any more books. And... Well... 🙂
Alright, so I bought a couple more books. Yes a couple. Godkiller I bought when out shopping with my mom on a Sunday and we kept getting stopped at local stores that we didn't realize weren't open yet, or weren't open at all on Sundays. So after a bit of frustration, we went to Barnes & Noble and I found one book that interested me.
The other book was Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah. This I bought just after I made the reading list, but in my defense, I needed a stocking stuffer for "Santa" to bring me. Dane's five year old is now old enough to get the idea of Santa, so I get to be the one putting on the show some years now (as they're coparenting and swapping Christmases.) Unfortunately Magic Hour was a bit too wide and didn't actually fit in my stocking. Oh well.
So... I'll get them added to the list. 🙂 I went an added a checkmark next to Fangirl on it and I think that's how I'll mark off my successes for the year.
Other Thoughts
But speaking of the five year old. I've been checking in on various conversations online about how "gen z can't read" and how "terrible" gen alpha ("ipad kids") are, etc. And the conversation that a lot of kids entering college now apparently aren't able to read a full book, as the curriculum has been chopped up to such a degree that teachers don't make students read books as school work anymore - just passages. I know that's not all kids, but it's to a large degree. So if one wants to raise a kid as a new parent (or step-parent) to be a successful reader, what are the steps?
One thing that caught my attention, which I can't remember if I saw it in an article or someone casually mention it on youtube, was that parents don't model reading for kids anymore. Parents generally will watch tv or scroll on their phones/tablets, and then give their kids their own devices to also let them do that. Kids like to model what they see the adults doing. Dane's daughter does this a lot; she'll copy what you say, she'll talk about how one day she'll do the things you're doing, and if it's something she can try to copy, she will. It's totally a normal kid thing. So if you want your kid to do an activity and see it as a valuable way to spend their time, consider modeling it.
So I figured, why not. I want to read more anyway, I'll just try to read in front of her now and then when we're just hanging out as a family. And today I saw that she's actually noticed. I had my book and she mentioned something about it before announcing she was going to go get a book of her own. She chose Go Dog, Go! which was her stocking stuffer from Santa this last Christmas. I'd sat with her a couple weeks ago and helped her read it to me, and now she excitedly went and grabbed it to read out loud to me and Dane. She did so several times, and when she was done, she talked about how one day she'll be able to read bigger books. She hasn't really shown a strong interest in learning to read, though she's making progress in kindergarten, she often will give up and wait for someone to tell her the answer. And suddenly she was excited about it.
Now if only she would start liking video games the same, haha. We "model" that for her all the time and yet she won't touch them. 😜
Book Reviews?
Oh. I said on the 2025 reading list that I might put book reviews here. I don't know if I will after all, we'll see. I kind of did some shopping around for a better book reading app and ended up back on Goodreads anyway. So I'm not sure I really care all that much, I just want to write what I feel like writing. So maybe I will, maybe I won't.