Sallie

My grandma died last Wednesday. I knew this was coming and yet I still feel so sad to have lost her.  Great sobs escaped me as my parents told me the news and discussed their plans for the next week or so.

I was struck by how selfish it was to be sad.  She had been ready to die for three years at least, since she had a stroke that stole her good health from her. Maybe more, since my grandpa died 10 years ago, and she often wondered why she was left behind without him.

At her 90th birthday party

I was able to visit her two weeks ago, during some of the last good days she had.  During the 48 hours I spent with her she told me over and over how beautiful I was, and how happy she was that I had come to visit. It was, honestly, a little awkward for a girl who doesn't know how to accept compliments, but her joy at my presence made me immensely glad to have made the journey. I will treasure that weekend for a long time.

They posted her obituary today. While it's probably more fulsome than the average obit, it doesn't paint a picture of the grandma I want to remember. My grandma made me feel special. I'm one of four children and one of 12 grandchildren, but my grandma saw me.

As a kid, I stayed with her on my own for several weeks each summer.  Together we would walk to the library a couple of times of week, because we both liked to read. My cousins came over, and she would treat us with a walk to the Homewood Grill, a magical place that served soft serve ice cream and hot dogs -- my two favorite foods.

Just weeks after her stroke. She
told me "Don't ever turn 96. It's
all downhill after 96"

When I became an adult, she was an avid reader of this blog and a fan of my Facebook page.  She couldn't figure out how to leave a comment on the blog, but she would tell my mom how proud she was of me for the work I put into losing weight, and she would call me and tell me the same occasionally.  But she never made me feel bad for being overweight in the first place. Even after I regained the weight, I kept trying to lose it because I knew how happy it would make her.  She joined Facebook when she was 92 and commented "like" on all of my posts for the next four years until she had her stroke and had to move into a nursing home.

Touring her garden

I only ever knew her as an old lady, and I wish I had spent more time getting to know her impressions of life as a young woman.  On my last visit, I was desperate to find out how she fell in love with my grandpa. She could recall the circumstances with vivid detail (he was a boarder at the home of one her sorority sisters in college), but she couldn't articulate the feelings (or maybe I wasn't articulating the point of my questions well enough).

The year I was born, my parents moved our family from our homeland of Illinois to the South.  The rest of my life has been spent making annual or bi-annual visits home where we stayed with Grandma.  She was an amazing hostess who had a magic plate (later Tupperware) that was always full of cookies.  No matter how many cookies we ate in a day, the next morning the plate would be full again.  It's a phenomena I've only ever experienced at Grandma's.

With her only daughter, my mama

She was an avid golfer and lamented, that last weekend I spent with her, that she had never gotten a hole in one.  She helped my grandpa run the family business, Johnson and Sons Funeral Home.  She was an active member of more than the average amount of civic and church and social groups.  Everybody liked Sallie, and if you tried to call her on a weekday during her 70s, 80s or early 90s, you wouldn't catch her because the was out socializing.

I know only the bare bones of her life, where she lived, what her parents were like, what she did for fun as a kid, when she married and when she had babies. I'm lucky enough to have several things of hers in my own home, that make me think of her fondly. Every June when my day lilies bloom, I will think of her garden, where these same blooms originated (day lilies are very hardy and easy to transplant, I've learned from her).

I am lucky to have known her. I am glad she is no longer in pain. I just wish it didn't hurt so much for her to be gone.

Books of 2017

1. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
2. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
3. Talking as Fast as I can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham (memoir)
4. House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings
5. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
6. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (re-read)
7. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (YA)
8. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick (memoir)
9. Introvert Doodles: An Illustrated Collection of Life's Awkward Moments by Maureen Wilson
10. Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen
11. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (re-read)
12. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (YA)
13. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Tevor Noah (memoir)
14. Younger by Pamela Satran
15. Heartless by Marissa Meyer (YA)
16. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (re-read)
17. My Not so Perfect Life by Sophia Kinsella
18. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
19. The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Los Angeles to the End of the World by Steve Hely (memoir)
20. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (re-read)
21. Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream by Joshua Davis (memoir)
22. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
23. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
24. This is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare by Gabourey Sidibe (memoir)
25. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (memoir)
26. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
27. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (memoir)
28. You're Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day (memoir)
29. The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder
30. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
31. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
32. The Nest by Cynthia Sweeny
33. Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date by Katie Heaney (memoir)
34. Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (YA)
35. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (re-read)
36. This Lullaby by Sarah Design
37. What I Was Doing While You were Breeding by Kristin Newman (memoir)
38. Dear Emma by Katie Heaney
39. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
40. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
41. Torch by Cheryl Strayed
42. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
43. Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber (memoir)
44. A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
45. The Answers by Catherine Lacey
46. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
47. Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song (memoir)
48. Hyberbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping mechanisms, Mayhem and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh (re-read)
49. Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes
50. Vicious by V.E. Schwa
51. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
52. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker (memoir, re-read)
53. Chemistry by Weikle Wang
54. Head Scratchers; When the Words of Jesus Don't Make Sense by Talbot Davis
55. Desert Places by Blake Crouch
56. The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
57. What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons
58. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
59. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
60. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (YA)
61. Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong (YA)
62. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Kevin
63. Carry This Book by Abbi Jacobson
64. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
65. The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson
66. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
67. Artemis by Andy Weir
68. Camino Island by John Grisham (audiobook)
69. Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks (Short stories)
70. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (re-read, audiobook)
71. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
72. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
73. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
74. Saints for All Occasions by Courtney J. Sullivan
75. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
76. Far From the Tree by Robin Benway (YA)
77. Renegades by Marissa Meyer (YA)
78. Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson
79. Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (YA, audiobook)
80. The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
81. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (YA)
82. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (YA, audiobook)
83. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (YA)

Books of 2016

 Books of 2016

Last day of the year brings the traditional Books of the Year list. A * denotes a re-read. YA is also noted. Recommendations are at the end.

Here we go:

1. The Royal We by Heather Cocks

2. Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith

3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

4. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares YA

5. Sick in the Head: Conversations about Life and Comedy by Judd Apatow

6. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

7. Lost & Found by Brook Davis YA

8. Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rimes

9. The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

10. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

11. My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

12. Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars #2) by Rob Thomas

13. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

14. How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo

15. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews YA

16. Wherever There is Light by Peter Golden

17. Spoiled by Heather Cocks YA

18. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller*

19. The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, #1) by Jasper Fforde

20. The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

21. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda

22. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer

23. Girl Walks into a Bar...:Comedy, Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by Rachel Dratch

24. I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan

25. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell YA

26. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

27. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

28. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng YA

29. Stars Above (the Lunar Chronicles, #4.5) by Marissa Meyer

30. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

31. A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

32. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

33. Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

34. Texts from Jane Eyre: and Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters by Mallory Ortberg

35. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by John Tiffany

36. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Mass YA

37. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Mass YA

38. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman YA

39. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

40. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

41. Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss* (audiobook)

42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

43. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

44. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Mass YA

45. Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrick Backman

46. All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister

47. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman

48. Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss* (audiobook)

49. Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

50. The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith and Idiocy by Rainn Wilson

51. Life Moves Pretty Fast: the Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies by Hadley Freeman

52. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

53. The Cove by Ron Rash

54. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (audiobook)

55. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

56. Around the World in 80 Days (audiobook) YA

57. The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore

Best Memoir, depending on what you are into: Girl Walks into a Bar... , The Astronaut’s Guide To Life on Earth, Under the Tuscan Sun, I Work at a Public Library, Year of Yes

Best Non-Fiction: Hamilton: The Revolution, Life Moves Pretty Fast, All the Single Ladies

Best Fiction: The Boston Girl, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore,

Books of 2015

1. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess of the Bride by Cary Elwes

2. The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

3. Ruin and Rising (The Grisha #3) by Leigh Bardugo

4. The Monster in the Hallows (The Wingfeather Saga#3) by Andrew Peterson

5. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

6. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

7. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

8. The Warden and the Wolf King (The Wingfeather Saga #4) by Andrew Peterson

9. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

10. The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1) by Michael Scott

11. The Storied LIfe of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

12. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith

13. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

14. The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2) by Michael Scott

15. Big LIttle LIes by Liane Moriarty

16. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Conner

17. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

18. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

19. The Sorcess (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #3) by Michael Scott

20. Serena by Ron Rash

21. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

22. The Martian by Andy Weir

23. Unabrow: Misadventures of a Late Bloomer by Una LaMarche

24. The Ncromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #4) by Michael Scott

25. The Warlock (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #5) by Michael Scott

26. Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling

27. The Opposite of Lonliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan

28. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

29. The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6) by Michael Scott

30. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

31. Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

32. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

33. Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

34. The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty

35. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

36. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

37. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

38. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

39. Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer

40. Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking The Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving my Neighbor by Jana Riess

41. Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver

42. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

43. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

44. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

45. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

46. The Dinner by Herman Koch

47. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

48. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

49. Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

50. Samantha Green and the Case of the Haunted Pumpkin by Christy Allen

51. Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick

52. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

53. The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan

54. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

55. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

56. The Amber Room by Steve Berry

57. Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

58. In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad #1) by Tana French

59. The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2) by Tana French

60. Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

61. Shopaholic to the Rescue (Shopaholic #8)

62. Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

63. How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

64. Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad #3) by Tana French

65. Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad #4) by Tana French

66. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

67. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

68. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

69. Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

70. St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell

71. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

72. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

73. Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work and Never Get Stuck by Jon Acuff

74. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

75. Jim the Boy by Tony Earley

The Highlights of 2014

I know that 2014 was not one of prolific blog posts.  I am sorry for that, because at the end of the year, it is nice to have the blog to reflect on what I've seen and done throughout the year and to plan for what I'll do in the next year.  So, since I have not been a faithful blogger in 2014, here are the top 14 highlights of 2014 (in no particular order):

Ellie was born
Probably the biggest event of the year didn't really have anything to do with me. On April 1, my best friend Amie and her husband welcomed their first child.  She's been a really fantastic baby who rides along on the adventures her mother and I have without complaint.  Plus, she is adorable and has a really round head.

I danced in a flash mob.
My friend Taylor had a life goal of being part of a flash mob. She knows I live to dance, so when she heard of one going down in the ATL, she invited me to flash mob with her. It was a whirlwind trip and I remember a lot of giggling and suppressing of giggles. When it came time to dance, I gave it my all and it was over so quick.  You can watch it here.


I found a Diet Coke bottle with my name on it.
Maybe this isn't a big deal to you. But maybe you don't understand my relationship with Diet Coke.  And maybe you don't know how long and how often I searched for one with my name on it. And maybe it isn't a big deal after all, but at least I got a good picture out of it.

My hair got long, and I taught myself how to French braid.
I'm not 100% convinced that I'm good at it, because I can never seem to get a good look at the back of my head.  Nevertheless, I declared the summer of 2014 the "Summer of the French Braid" and wore one as often as possible (by the end of the summer I was tired of the French braid and made the fall the "Fall of the Side Pony Tail.")

We had a snowstorm.
In February, it snowed for 3 days straight.  Hard each day for hours.  I've never seen that happen in my life. It was beautiful and I loved it.

I went to Jamaica, mon!
In October my sister Mandy and I traveled to an all-inclusive resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica.  I loved seeing and swimming in the crystal clear blue waters and the fact that we flew there first class by some fluke of the airlines.  We're so fancy.  You already know.

I drove a minivan-ful of teenagers 3/4 of the way across the country.
Our total group of about 30, including my little temporary family of seven (five teenagers and one other adult), drove for 18 hours on I-40 to reach Moore, Oklahoma. Our purpose there was to help rebuild the town after a major tornado had torn through it the year before.  Trips like these are always special as you get to escape outside of your normal life and bring hope to those in need. Plus, I REALLY like talking to/goofing off/playing 9-square/discussing movies and music with teenagers.

My mom finally got the knee surgery she needed.
At the end of 2013, after almost a year of issues with her knee replacement, she had it removed.  It was expected that she'd be able to have another knee replacement in early 2014, but due to complications she ended up not getting the new knee until September. Praise the Lord that she finally was able to have the surgery and that she has been recovering well this time.  She and my dad were finally able to travel again by the end of the year, visiting my brother in Atlanta for Thanksgiving and me and my sisters in Charlotte for the New Year.

I got to share my Harry Potter nerdiness.
I was so proud in January when my 9-year-old nephew finished the last Harry Potter book.  He hadn't been much of a reader before he met Harry, but I was able to tell him enough of the story to get him interested and he tore through all of the books.  At the end of the year, his 8-year-old sister decided to take the Harry Potter challenge and read all seven books too!  They dressed as Harry and Hermione for Halloween, and now we routinely discuss things like our favorite spells, and they love the Lumos/Nox light switches I gave them for Christmas. Plus, in December Amie had a Very Harry Christmas Party, inviting a bunch of HP nerds over to play Harry Potter trivia, and it was a geeky great time.

I beat 2048.
It's a game on the iPhone. I was obsessed with it for a good bit.  I finally beat it, thanks to some tips from my friend Lauren. I know it's ridiculous, but it was a big deal at the time.

I took my first trip to Camp Horizon.
Camp Horizon is run by the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte. It's a chance for children with Down Syndrome to attend sleep away summer camp. Each camper has an adult camp counselor paired with them. It was not an easy job, but the rewards were abundant in the contagious joy of these kids.

I celebrated my 34th birthday.
I know. What's the big deal about a 34th birthday? My friend Amie is the big deal. Over the course of three days she threw an ABC-themed birthday bash for me with all of my favorite people all over Charlotte and Rock Hill. We ate, drank or visited something for every letter of the alphabet.

Halloween was awesome. Again.
I love it. I love coming up with the costume, making the costume and then talking other people into wearing costumes. This year I was the Chiquita Banana Lady, fulfilling a recent goal of being a person instead of an object for Halloween. I did, however, fail to create a costume that did not affect the natural swivel of my neck. There's always next year.

I visited my Granny for her 95th birthday.
My Granny and most of my cousins, aunts and uncles live in Illinois, so I don't get to see them often.  It had been a couple of years since I had made it up there, so I was happy to hug my Granny, get a personal tour of her garden and laugh with my cousins.

Books of 2014

December 31 means it's time to publish the annual book list! I'm excited to see that my keeping track of my books has inspired a few others to do the same.  My goals this year were to read less and to read more of the books that I own and are sitting on my bookshelf.  I did pretty well in both respects.  Here are the books of 2014 with recommendations at the end.

1. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Brunt Rifka (re-read)
2. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (non-fiction)
3. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (non-fiction)
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (re-read, YA)
5. Sandition: Jane Austen’s Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen and Another Lady
6. The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott
7. Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
8. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
9. Trading Up by Candace Bushnell
10. One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
11. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (non-fiction)
12. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
13. Wonder by R. J. Palacio (YA)
14. Defending Jacob by William Landay
15. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
16. Graduates in Wonderland: The International Misadventures of Two (Almost) Adults by Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale (non-fiction)
17. Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen (YA)
18. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
19. How I Got Skinny, Famous and Fell Madly in Love by Ken Baker (YA)
20. Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis (non-fiction)
21. The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
22. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Re-read and YA)
23. Palace of Stone (Princess Academy #2) by Shannon Hale (YA)
24. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
25. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (non-fiction)
26. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
27. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechnanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things that Happened by Allie Brosh (non-fiction)
28. The Rise of the Wyrm Lord (the Door Within #2) by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
29. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
30. The Final Storm (The Door Within #3) by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
31. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (YA)
32. The Silver Crown by Robert O’Brien (YA)
33. Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman (YA)
34. Lead Small by Reggie Joiner (non-fiction)
35. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (non-fiction)
36. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
37. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected- A Memoir by Kelle Hampton (non-fiction)
38. Emma by Jane Austen
39. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson (YA)
40. Jacob Have I loved by Katherine Paterson (YA)
41. North! or Be Eaten (the WIngfeather Saga #2) by Andrew Peterson
42. Let’s Pretend the Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson (non-fiction)
43. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby 
44. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (YA)
45. Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
46. Shopaholic to the Stars (Shopaholic #7) by Sophie Kinsella
47. The Shadow Throne (The Asendance Triology #3) by Jennifer Nielsen
48. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
49. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
50. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
51. All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
52. The Vacationers by Emma Straub
53. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (non-fiction)
54. This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer Smith
55. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas
56. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan (YA)
57. This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl by Esther Earl (non-fiction and YA)
58. The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
59. Tenth of December by George Saunders
60. Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
61. The Bible by God and various artists (non-fiction)
62. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee DivakarunI

2014 was definitely the year of the amazing memoirs for me.  Everything that I recommended to people throughout the year and a lot of what I read was memoirs. Here are the best memoirs I read this year: 

Graduates in Wonderland by Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

Hyberbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

I also, as always, read quite a bit of fantasy, especially YA fantasy.  My favorite was The Wingfeather Saga. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is the first, but North! Or Be Eaten! is also ridiculously good. The third and fourth books in this series aren't carried by my library yet, so I'm waiting patiently on those.

Honorable mentions:
A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Wonder by RJ Palacio

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak

Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I re-read several books this year. Anything that I re-read is definitely a recommendation. 

Camp Horizon 2014

I just got home from Camp Horizon, a sleepaway summer camp for children ages 10-17 who have Down Syndrome. It was an experience that ran the emotional gamut, but, spoiler alert, I'm so glad I did it.

When I told coworkers and friends over the last few weeks that I was going to Camp Horizon, I usually mentioned my 3-year-old niece Natalie who has DS and said something like, "I don't know anyone with Down Syndrome besides Natalie, so I want to go and see what kind of future she could have." And then I probably also mentioned how I felt like I was born to go to camp (because of all the swimming and fun activities).

I'm ashamed to say that both of those answers lacks much thought about the campers, how they would experience camp, how I would help take care of them, and how much their sweet smiles would mean to me.

The main thing I learned about children with Down Syndrome?  They're not that different from typically developing kids.  They have to be told (usually repeatedly) to brush their teeth and to go to bed. Some are really sweet and some can be stubborn, but most are a mix of both. Most love the movie Frozen, and can sing "Let it Go" with a passion and intensity that makes you not mind the fact that it will be stuck in your head for the next 3-5 days.  They love to giggle.  They love to explore.  They love to hug and high five. Most importantly, they're all different and unique like all of us are.

I was also blown away by my fellow counselors.  Everywhere I looked, I witnessed acts of love, acts of service, acts of kindness and acts that made me say "awww" internally.  These counselors chased kids who love to run all over camp, faced fears by going down the big water slides when their campers asked them to accompany them, served food, braided hair, wiped snot, and coaxed campers out of bed in the morning and into bed in the evening. Being a counselor was not an easy job -- it was actually much harder than I ever expected.  But the satisfaction of seeing your camper's smile after she finally figured out how to fire the bow and arrow or when she has just shot out of the water slide is unforgettable.

They told us in training that campers look forward to Camp Horizon all year long.  Now I will too.  Can't wait for Camp Horizon 2015!

PSA: Camp Horizon is run entirely by volunteers.  Each camper has a volunteer counselor assigned to him or her. If they don't get enough volunteers, campers have to be turned away.  If you're interested in volunteering next August, I'd love to tell you more about my experience and hook you up with the volunteer application for 2015 when it's available.  Let me know. 



PS I'd love to post pictures of the sweet and funny girls from Cabin 1, but I'm not sure about privacy issues with posting pictures of other people's kids on the internet.  
PPS I left a lot of details about camp out of the narrative above, so I thought I'd throw them at you here. Camp Horizon is hosted at the YMCA Camp Harrison at Herring Ridge, a beautiful place in the North Carolina mountains.  Camp activities included: canoeing, horseback riding, fishing, archery, arts and crafts, pool time, the Wet Wily water slide (approximately 20 feet long) into the lake, the giant slip n' slide that went down a mountain into a lake, field day, skit night and a dance party.  This year was Camp Horizon's 10th birthday, and it was awesome. 
PPPS Shoutouts to my friend Stefanie from college and her friends/coworkers Laura and Jaclyn, who with no Down Syndrome connection, flew in from Florida and Illinois to be counselors and brought lots of free Walt Disney World goodies for the campers.