Look Mom! I’m Reading!

I have been reading a lot of books lately. I have always read a good amount, but my focus has usually been on shorter things such as magazine articles, newspaper stories and blog posts. This may be because I have a relatively short attention span. And by “reading books” I mean not just starting them for either of the two neighborhood book clubs that I have participated in loosely over the past seven years, then not showing up because I never got around to completing them and then adding them to the ever growing pile in the corner of my living room of partially read books. This time I am actually finishing them. I know that among other people in my life, this will make my mom (a retired reading specialist) very happy.

One of the reasons for this sudden increase in my literary consumption is that I downloaded the Kindle for iPhone app and have bought a handful of electronic versions of books to read on there. It fits my busy, over programmed, multi-tasking lifestyle/personality and allows me to read here and there easily while I am on-the-go and even at times while nursing Abby (yes, we are still doing that once a day in the morning after she wakes up).

The other and probably more important factor as to why I have been so interested in reading recently is that three books have been released that I genuinely couldn’t wait to dive into. I have personal connections to each of the topics and/or authors, which surely is also a factor.

The first book I am referring to called Life From Scratch was written by my friend, Stirrup Queens blogger and author Melissa Ford. It is her second book to be published (her first work of fiction), after Navigating the Land of IF: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options. It was only the second book that I ever purchased to read on my Kindle app and I loved it! I am anxious to share more about what I thought here, but I will save that for my upcoming participation in the Life From Scratch Book Tour that Lori is hosting on her blog Write Mind Open Heart. Please click on over and join us there, as it is not too late.

The second book is called A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy When Your Baby’s Life is Expected to Be Brief and was written by Amy Kuebelbeck and Dr. Deborah L. Davis. I first wrote about finding out that this book was being written two years ago in this post about the books I have read that helped me to cope, grieve and heal before and after our pregnancy with and the death of our first daughter Molly. I also shared about it again in this post on our angel Molly’s 1st Heavenly Birthday in April 2009. I am so glad that this book is finally here and available for people to read! I can only imagine how helpful it would have been for Bob and me if something like this had existed when we first received the diagnosis and prognosis for Molly.

A Gift of Time was very moving for me to read and I could relate to so many of the contributors’ stories. Over 120 parents (including myself) shared their personal experiences with the authors to help make this possible and are quoted throughout the text. I really like how the authors tied it all together with their thoughtful and informative commentary throughout the book. I feel honored to be quoted twice in the book (I am referred to as “Kath,” since they already had a Kathleen and Kathy who had submitted their stories to them).

Though there is so much more I want to and will eventually share here about A Gift of Time, I am going to save most of my thoughts and reactions to this much anticipated and much needed resource. The reason being that I am planning to host my first book tour, here on my blog, for A Gift of Time (with author participation)! So please keep an eye out for my upcoming post about the tour details and your opportunity to sign up, participate, discuss and get the inside scoop from at least one of the two authors (Amy Kuebelbeck).

I also recently submitted a book review that I wrote about A Gift of Time and it was accepted into the upcoming Spring 2011 Issue of Exhale magazine. Exhale is an online literary magazine for those who have lost babies and/or those who have trouble getting or staying pregnant.

The third and last book that is motivating me to read more will be released on Monday. It is called Inconceivable: A Medical Mistake, the Baby We Couldn’t Keep and Our Choice to Deliver the Ultimate Gift by my friend Carolyn Savage and her husband Sean. I wrote extensively about my connection to Carolyn in this post and I am really looking forward to buying and reading their incredible story when it becomes available on Valentine’s Day.

I am also considering hosting a book tour here (please let me know if you are interested) and I will certainly invite Carolyn and Sean to participate if they want to and feel comfortable doing so, but am trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

I do have a “day job” (Domestic Engineer) that needs my attention much more then my attempt to re-enter and re-acclimate myself to the Blogosphere after taking some time off from posting and commenting regularly over the past year or so during my “maternity leave.”

So before I introduce and try to promote my first Blog Tour for A Gift of Time in the near future, I thought I would give you a heads up as to where this sudden interest in reading and blogging about these books is coming from.

In the meantime, please let me know if you are interested in participating in book tours for A Gift of Time and/or Inconceivable. If you are not familiar with what book tours are or how they work, here is a link to Past Book Tours that our Stirrup Queen, Melissa Ford, did an awesome job of coordinating and facilitating. Here is also a link to the book tour posting that I shared when I participated in Melissa’s Book Tour for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I would also love to know what other books you recommend I add to my list of those to download for my Kindle for iPhone app, or maybe even a real Kindle, and read after I finish Inconceivable by Carolyn and Sean Savage. Thank you for reading and in advance for your feedback and suggestions. I hope that you have a great day and wonderful weekend!