H and I have been getting ready for baby’s upcoming arrival, and we feel prepared and ready! He’s due December 9, and we are looking forward to enjoying Thanksgiving week with family and having him arrive anytime once December is here. I’m now nearly 38 weeks, so we’ll see! When I was 35 weeks, we took some maternity photos with my friend HaleyClare Photography. Here are a few favorites…
In the past couple of months, I’ve been reading some pregnancy and parenting books, as well as a few novels:
The Phoebe Variations by Jane Hamilton
I received an Advanced Reader Copy of The Phoebe Variations and then saw the author, Jane Hamilton, speak about this new book at Parnassus, which was fun. I finished reading it over our babymoon. In the book, an older Phoebe reflects on the time in her life around her high school graduation. After her adoptive mother Greta takes a resistant Phoebe to meet her birth family, Phoebe immediately feels the need to escape and chart her own path. She leaves home and gradually distances herself from her best friend Luna, living with the O’Connor boys, cutting all of her hair, and finding a new version of herself. I was really hooked for the first half of the book, and then my engagement waned as the book becomes less plot-driven and more about the older Phoebe reflecting on this time in a somewhat disjointed manner. The book at times propelled me through and others felt a bit hard to follow. It was an unusual and interesting coming of age story.
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Heart the Lover was just so wonderful, one of my favorite books of the year. Lily King writes so beautifully about a college student in the 1980s who becomes close with two classmates, Sam and Yash. They nickname her Jordan, and romantic feelings complicate the trio as they graduate and acclimate to life after college. The book then moves into the future when Jordan is grown with a family, and her past reappears with some unexpected news, causing her to consider her choices and life from that time before. It’s such a beautiful story of love, family, and how the past connects us to our present and future. The characters are portrayed in such a relatable way; you feel what they feel and root for them. I highly recommend this moving read; it is quick and easy to fly through.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
This was another read in which I saw the author speak at Parnassus! This is quite a read – a nearly 700-page epic about two people, Sonia and Sunny, and their families, as they try to find their way in the world between India and America, and with one another. It takes some time to read; the book deeply explores the characters as well as history, class, race, and more. I am a little over halfway through at the moment, but wanted to go ahead and share it in case I do not finish before baby arrives (though I am trying to!). This is a great read to cozy up with over the upcoming wintertime.
This past week, we went to a preview of Cheekwood Holiday Lights, which is now open. I especially love the decorations in the mansion. This is always a fun and festive time!
Otherwise, I have mostly been taking it easy at home and am loving sitting in our cozy decorated living room.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
P.S. Thanksgiving bouquets, our holiday kitchen + 4 simple holiday recipes, and fun Nashville holiday experiences.
