War Eagle 25k

Last year Ty and I had a little weekend getaway together to run the War Eagle Trail Running Festival at Hobbs State Park Conservation Area in Arkansas. We had an absolute blast and decided to make it an annual tradition. Read about last year's race here. I signed up right when registration opened and Ty was unsure and wanted to wait to sign up (he signed up a a few months later). I signed up and then I got the flu and then Covid shortly thereafter. My training cycle for the race was shorter than I hoped. I had planned to run a spring marathon and tack this on at the end. I dropped the marathon plan after Covid and figured I'd take it easy for a month and then start slowly ramping it up for War Eagle. I wasn't too sick with Covid, but the exhaustion lingered and I struggled with running for a solid 2 months afterward. I didn't have much time to add in speed work and hills like I had planned. It took me so long to get my heart rate back to normal on runs. Last year I was training for a 50k and ran a 24/14 weekend the week before the race, so I was hoping even without the training block I had last year, I could still come close to my time from last year with a taper. Still, I just couldn't get excited for the race, I kept trying, but just didn't have it in me. The week of the race my allergies ramped up and I felt terrible all week on my runs. That did not help. It was a really weird feeling. Normally I get really excited for races and especially so during a taper. This time I actually started dreading the race and really didn't want to do it. I loved the training, but had no interest in running the race. Finally on our drive to Arkansas on Friday, I started to get excited. My mindset totally shifted when I started thinking of the race as going for an adventure in the woods instead of running a race. I also focused on how much fun Ty and I were going to have with it being just the 2 of us.

Friday evening we left around 3:30 and made if for packet pick up at 5:30, it ended at 6. The race director told us that parking was moved so we needed to arrive at the race at 5:30 for a 6:30 start to make sure we got parked in time. I wasn't sure that was necessary, but we were afraid not to and then miss the race start. We ate dinner at Pickleman's, a sandwich shop we'd never heard of before, and then went to Lake Keith to take a hike. It was absolutely beautiful. We even got to see a couple of groundhogs. Since it was a short hike and my bag was at the hotel, I walked in flip flops. My toes itched really badly afterward and I figured it would be just the kind of luck I've been having if I got poison ivy on my toes. Luckily that was not the case. We forgot to pack bug spray so we stopped off at Wal-Mart to pick some up and got Ty a breakfast bar because he forgot to pack one and some bottled water because the hotel water tasted terrible. Ty almost got hit in the parking lot by an older woman who couldn't see with the sun in her face. It was an eventful evening! 

We decided to set our alarms for 4:45 so we could leave around 5 and make it to the race by 5:30. I made overnight oats and planned to eat them again before this race, like I attempted at Greater Roadrunner, but I forgot them at home. Luckily I packed a Zbar just in case I had trouble eating the oats, so I ate the Zbar and drank some Nuun that morning. I debated whether to wear my water vest or carry my 2 water bottles in the pockets of my spandex shorts. Since it was going to be cooler, I went with the water bottles. They ended up being perfect. I didn't refill at all during the race and drank the last bit of my 2nd water bottle after I crossed the finish line. As I was finishing up getting ready, Ty saw he had an email from Strava with his stats for the month of May. He told me he ran 5 times in May to train for the race. I asked him why in the world he would have looked at that before the race. I checked mine in the car for fun and told him I'd trained 27 times in May for this race. Just a bit of a difference. We parked right at 5:30 and had no problem parking. We definitely didn't need to get there so early. Since it was chilly, we just hung out in the car for a while. We got out a bit before the pre-race briefing and found some of our friends. My friend, April, has always run the 10k and was running the 25k for the first time this year. We planned to run together for as long as possible so I wanted to start with her. Last year I took out conservatively on the road. The first mile of the race is uphill on a paved road. By the time we got to the trail, I was still too far back, and got stuck behind slower runners and had trouble passing. My plan this year was to start a bit closer to the front and go out a bit faster to be in better position by the time we made it to the trail which is all single track.

Can you tell it was chilly at the start?

Tulsa group before the race!

April and I took off together at the start. We passed a decent number of people. There was really no way to know who was in the 10k, 25k, or 50k because we all started together. I was focused on getting in good position so I didn't really pay attention to how many women were ahead of us. April looked ahead and saw her friend Lael. She decided to pick it up to catch up with him. I didn't want to all the sudden put in a burst of speed so I just kept trucking along where I was. I slowly narrowed the gap as we neared the the trail. There were 2 guys right ahead of me so I picked it up a little to pass them before we reached the trail and I entered the trail right behind Lael. April was a few people up from him. The trail was a lot rockier than I remembered from last year. At one point Lael passed the guy in front of him and the next thing I knew he had gapped April, it was amazing! I closed the gap with the guys ahead of me so I would have someone to run with. It was April and then 2 guys and then me. The guys were talking about NASCAR. It didn't really interest me but it was chatter to distract me as I ran along. We went through the first 3 miles together with splits of 8:45, 10:01, and 8:59.   

I didn't realize that guy was back there because he didn't talk to us.

Somewhere around in there April realized I was 2 people back from her and started yelling at me to get up with her. As much as I would have loved to run right behind her, I didn't think it was worth going off trail to go out and around the 2 guys because I felt good about the pace we were running. We all started chatting more after April and I started yelling around the guys at each other. They were both super friendly and one had a British accent which made him seem even friendlier. During mile 5 I ate a Gu and had some technical difficulties. I took my water bottle out to get the Gu that was underneath it. When I ripped the top off, I was still holding my water bottle and squeezed Gu all over it and my fingers. I tried to lick it all off the best I could, but it was a mess. Through that I lost contact with the group a bit and it took me a few hills to catch back up. They were excited when I reeled them back in and cheered, telling April I was back. We came up on the first aid station (I think it was around mile 5) and it brought us out onto a gravel road for a bit before going back down onto the trails. April topped off her water bottle and grabbed a slice of watermelon. I slowed down to stay with her. Then she came blasting past me. When we went back onto the trail, our order changed just a bit with April in front, one of the guys next, then me, and the British guy behind me. He was asking where Rob was and didn't realize Rob was ahead of him because he didn't know what Rob looked like as he had been running in front of him the whole time. It was quite entertaining. Splits for miles 4-7 were 10:13, 10:05, 10:23, and 9:42. I was feeling really good and relaxed. It was nice having a group to run with.

We kept trucking along chatting and enjoying ourselves. We came up on the next aid station at about mile 9. The 50k went up through the aid station and onto their extra loop. We were to go down to the right away from the aid station. April got confused and started to follow the 50k so I yelled at her to come back and she tucked in right behind me. I was feeling good and once I got in the lead of our pack, I was ready to go. I was talking to April and then she yelled that she couldn't hear me. I realized I had quickly gapped her. After the race she said she was getting tired so she wasn't able to go with me. The back half of this race has fewer hills and there's a nice long section for about a mile and a half that's mostly downhill. I really trucked along for that section and went through miles 9-11 in 9:49, 9:00, and 8:25. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me and could no longer hear anyone behind me so I was feeling a little lonely, especially after the great crew I'd gotten to run with for the first 9 miles. I came across hikers with their dogs coming toward us and I asked them if they'd come across any racers. They said they had which made me feel better because I had started to worry I took a wrong turn. Then I saw some more race flags a while after that. I could hear someone coming up behind me around mile 11 and it was the British guy. I told him I was so excited to have him to run with again and he said he'd been trying to catch up to me for the last 2 miles.

Our crew!

We ran the rest of the way together. We started passing 10k runners who were all really kind and listened for us and moved to the side to let us pass. I didn't pass nearly as many 10k runners as last year since we all started at the same time. Last year the 10k started 15 minutes later. We came up on a sign that said 1 mile to go and he told me it was more like a mile and a half at that point, he'd run the race quite a few times. I really didn't know because last year my Garmin lost satellites for a couple miles around 10-11 miles so I was running blind for the end of the race. He mentioned we'd come up on a gnarly hill soon and I thought he was talking of the finishing hill. Then we hit the hill he was talking about and I couldn't believe I had forgotten it! Outside of the first mile hill, it was the longest hill of the race and it was steep! It was one of those hills I hate where you think you've made it to the top, only to turn the corner and continue running uphill. It was brutal. We passed a 10k runner who stopped in the middle of the trail to take a break. My quads were burning when it finally leveled out. I gave them a moment to regroup and then picked up the pace again. We pushed up the final hill and this year I knew the finish was just across a short bit of pavement from there. A shuttle bus was coming as I ran through and people were yelling at it to stop. I cracked up later when I thought about my mental state at that point. Instead of thinking, "I may have to stop for this bus," I was thinking, "I may die today." There was no part of my brain that thought about stopping for the bus. I felt great and got super excited when I heard my friend, Kirsten, screaming for me. I took off even faster at that point. 

I saw the clock was at 1:07 and I was a bit bummed to be quite a bit over my time from last year, but I had enjoyed the race and felt great. I saw Ty to my left and he told me he yelled that I was the first female finisher, but I couldn't hear him over the other people cheering. I crossed the finish line and the race director told me I was the first female finisher. I had absolutely no idea. I was so pumped and my first thought was, "April will be thrilled!" She really wanted to be in the top 3, but it just all depends on who is there. Every year before last year 1:16 would have been 1st or 2nd place. Then last year I ran 1:14 and placed 4th. Ty said it was great to see me looking so good and have such a great race after how down on myself I've been for so long. It was definitely a tough training cycle after the long recovery from Covid that I had. I got some watermelon and went to cheer April on. She finished in 2:24 and was 2nd overall female!

This race was exactly what I needed. I had such a blast running 9 miles with April and then feeling good enough to let it rip at the end. I finished the race feeling tired but also exhilarated. I rode that runners high for quite a while, even after a 4:45 alarm! I finished in 2:17:09 which really considering I ran a high 2:14 last year, wasn't that much slower. I had a faster last 5 miles this year than I did last year. Those 2 minutes all came in the miles I stayed with April this year when last year I started dropping the pace at the halfway point. To me it was worth it to run with her for 2 more miles and not run quite as fast as last year, so I don't regret that at all. It was just the most exciting and coolest feeling to have no idea I was winning the race until after I crossed the finish line. It was such a fun surprise. I was 1st female and 16th out of 269 overall. I'm already excited about running this race again next year and am toying with the idea of running the 50k here at some point in the future. It's a beast of a course with almost 2,000 feet of elevation gain in the 25k alone, so I know it would be a challenge! Ty finished the 10k way faster than last year in 1:28:59 which put him 62nd out of 169 overall. 

Funny Stuff

"Daddy is way handsomer than a cat, but way stinkier!" -Elise

Carter got a $10 for his birthday and he said, "More money to buy Elise's Christmas present!"

Carter: Which name do you like better, Hurford or Cox?
Me: I don't really care. I liked Hurford because people knew Uncie J and Uncie Taco were my brothers and Oma and Opa were my mom and dad. But I like Cox because it's shorter and most people know how to spell it.
Carter: Yeah, unless they spell it C-O-C-K-S because that's another way to spell it but not how we spell it.

Elise singing one morning: All I want for Christmas is shirts and pants with pockets!

Ty: I don't like your attitude. You need to change your attitude.

Carter: Changing attitude, added to New Year's Resolution (in robot voice).

Elise was in distance learning and while she was on her Zoom she looked over at me and said, "Oh, you are so cute!"

Carter came home from school one day asking for a thesaurus so he could read synonyms in bed before going to sleep.

Elise: Someone asked me to be his valentine.

Ty: Oh yeah, what did you say?

Elise: I said I don't know. But he is really cute.

When Elise was selling Girl Scout cookies door to door, she described the Toffeetastic cookies as "our cheese cookies." I guess the toffee on the box looked like cheese to her!

My dad got attacked by a dog on his run. There were 3 dogs, but only one of them bit and attacked him. Elise: So the other dogs were just back up?

Ty made omelets for dinner.

Carter: How did you make those egg burritos?

Elise: Mommy, look, it's that hot dog thing!

Me: What hot dog thing?

Elise: The one in the air!

Me: Oh, the blimp?!

Me: Are you cold, Elise?

Elise: No, and if I get cold I usually warm myself up with my hands.

Looking at swimsuits for me with Elise.

Me: That one's cute but it's not much coverage.

Elise: Yeah and you really want coverage.

Me: *feeling a little offended*

Elise: That one would definitely make you get sunburned!

Gpa: It's easier for a man to grow a beard.

Carter: Wait, Amanda can grow a beard?!

What I Read: May

Now that May is over and we're out of school for the summer, I'm sooo excited to have more time for reading!

Books:

• Science Notebooks: Writing about Inquiry by Lori Fulton- This was a book suggested at a science training I went to and I was excited to read. It was quick and easy and gave me some good ideas I was able to go back and implement in my classroom right away.

• The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket- Book #6 in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I felt like this one was not as engaging as the others.

• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel- This was on the librarian's shelf whose recommendations I always love. It was so good. I loved the recipes and the fable-like aspect of the story. I was so into the book and just absolutely loving it. Then the end was so awful I was almost pissed off. I'm curious to talk to the librarian who had it on her shelf to see what she thought of the ending. It has grown on me a bit since I read it, but I still think it could have been better.
  

• Octopus!: The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage- I got this one from a Little Free Library and was really excited about it because I think octopuses are fascinating. I was super disappointed in it. There were 2 entire chapters devoted to eating octopus. Then basically every other chapter mentioned eating octopuses and had recipes. She also referenced popular culture a lot which was annoying. I just wanted to read about octopuses! I probably should have given up on the book, but I powered through it. It took me a long time and it was not worth it!

• The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket- Book #7 in the Series of Unfortunate Events. This was probably my favorite book so far. I really enjoyed it and read the entire book in the car on the way home from Topeka.
  

eBooks:

• Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris- This wasn't my favorite of his books, but still funny. There was one story that I had already read in his Christmas book.
  

• Beloved by Toni Morrison- I started this as an audiobook, but absolutely hated it. It was read by Morrison. Her voice was just so quiet it was hard to hear and follow. I decided to switch to trying it as an ebook. I liked it a lot better as an ebook, but it was still hard to follow. She'd switch perspectives and it wasn't clear which character was telling the story. It was a bit of an odd story.

• The Ground Breaking: An American City and It's Search for Justice by Scott Ellsworth- I love Ellsworth's writing style. I was a little disappointed that this book was more about the after-effects of the Tulsa Race Massacre rather than what actually happened. But when you look at the title, it makes sense that was the focus of the book. Ellsworth has another book about what happened during the massacre which I would like to read and I'm sure that's why this book had a different focus. I've decided to read a book about the Tulsa Race Massacre every year around the anniversary. So I read this one a little bit beforehand.
  

Audiobooks:

• What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey- This book was incredible. Audiobook was the perfect format because it was like I was in on a conversation with Oprah and Dr. Perry. As a teacher so much of this resonated with me and put words to how I've felt about dealing with children who have underlying trauma that leads to problem behavior. Love or hate Oprah, she has done a great job of getting important conversations started and getting otherwise little known issues more attention. This was our book club pick and I wasn't able to go to the meeting when they voted so I was a little disappointed this was the choice. I read a book about trauma last year and felt like I knew as much as I really wanted to about the issue at this time. I also felt like the group was likely swayed by the fact that the book had Oprah's name on it and I wasn't sure that was something that interested me. This really broadened my understanding on trauma and it's impact and with the focus being more on childhood trauma and specifically attachment at a very young age, I felt it was a very necessary read for me as a teacher.
  

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey- I saw the movie based on this book when I was a kid, but it had been so long I didn't remember a lot of the specifics. As I listened to the book, I'd remember things as they happened, but didn't remember all the details until I heard them.

• Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson- I kind of wanted to read this one, but Dolly's other book I read wasn't very good. I decided with Patterson helping, this might be worth a read. I put it on the list of choices for the month I was hosting book club and it was picked when we voted. I decided on the audiobook version because Dolly was one of the narrators. I ended up loving it a lot!
  

• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green- This was one I had on my to-read list because I kept seeing it on book lists. It was an interesting view into the life of someone with mental illness. I really enjoyed it.

• The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson- This was kind of a sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I listened to that one as an audiobook so I decided to do this one as an audiobook as well. Having the narrator with a Kentucky accent added to the story. I loved this one just as much as the first one. It was so good! 
  

Greater Roadrunner Trail 12 Mile

There's a race director who puts on lots of awesome trail races in Oklahoma. The courses are amazing and the post-race food is delicious. It's always a fun atmosphere and a great time. They added a new race to their series this year out at Roman Nose State Park. That's one of the state parks we haven't visited yet. I was so excited and really wanted to run it. Initially we planned to go as a family, stay in a teepee, and make a trip of it. Then Carter wanted to play soccer and he had a game that Saturday so I invited my group of running friends to see if they'd want to go and make a girls' weekend of it. Multiple were excited and on-board so I signed up for the race. Then as the weekend neared and I started planning where I would stay, they all ended up deciding not to go. I was a little bummed at first to be going alone, but then I got super excited about a 2.5 hour drive there and back to listen to my audiobook. The race was on April 30th. 

Sign at the entrance of the park.

They only had race day packet pickup so there was no rush to make it by a certain time the evening before. I wanted to arrive before dark so I could find the race start and make sure I knew how to get there from the lodge where I was staying. I arrived at the state park and as I drove down to the lodge I saw signs for the race which started just up the street from the lodge. I was super excited about that. I checked into my room and then decided to go on a short hike to check out the course before it got dark. I'm glad I did because it gave me a good idea of what to expect at the beginning and end of both my loops. There were a couple sets of stairs and a bridge to cross. The beginning section of the course had some decent hills but then it leveled out and was pretty rocky. For the most part it seemed like it would be mildly technical and mostly single track. The course was well marked so it was easy to follow on the way out but when I turned around there wasn't signage in one section so I missed my turn. I realized it but decided to check out what I thought might be the end of the loop and I was correct. The course was beautiful and seemed like it would be awesome. I was super excited and was pumped I could just walk or jog up to the start area from the lodge.

Pictures on the course during my hike the evening before the race. They don't even come close to doing it justice.

The view from my room.

My plan before the race was to eat a jar of overnight oats I brought with me. I had recently started intermittent fasting since I wasn't running in the morning so I stopped eating breakfast in hopes to speed along the loss of the excess weight I acquired while sick this winter. My body had adjusted really well to not eating breakfast and I didn't think about that. I wasn't hungry at all and forced down as much of the oatmeal as I could but probably got less than 100 calories in. I decided that would be fine and I'd just carry 2 Gus with me for the race. Packet pickup started at 5:30 am so I worried I needed to get there early. I can't remember exactly what I did, but I think I got there about 45 minutes before the race started and then I jogged back down and dropped my shirt off in my room. It warmed up quickly enough that I went ahead and dropped my warmups off too. Since I had time I ran a mile warm up which I hadn't planned on doing. After the race I was super glad I'd done that because I planned a 2 mile cool down to get 14 miles in for the day and I wasn't sure I would have had 2 miles in me after the race.

There were a couple women at the race start discussing the course and I shared with them what I saw from my hike the day before. Then a lady by me was concerned about carrying water with her and I encouraged her to put a water bottle in the pocket of her shorts. I had a water bottle in each of my pockets. The only aid station on the course was at the start/finish so at mile 6 in the race. Then we were off. The woman with the water bottle took off super fast up with a pack of men and one of the other women was running along right behind me. In trail races I always like to run the first half of the course in what feels a bit conservative because the second half always bites you more than a road race. Most the time I feel like I ran conservatively but still feel pretty worn out toward the end. During the first mile a guy in front of me went down and slid a bit down the side of the hill, everyone around stopped to check on him and he got up and kept going. I saw him in some of my race pictures and his knee was bloody but he looked fine other than that. I was having a blast and just doing my thing. My first 3 miles were 9:11, 9:00, and 9:17. The guy who had fallen was running along right behind me and it was nice to hear him. The closest person ahead of me had a nice gap so it was nice to know I wasn't alone.

One of the rocky areas toward the start of the loop.

There was a section where we ran out to a lookout point and around a bench and then back on a different trail. The view was absolutely gorgeous. Most of the race I was enjoying the view and appreciating how lucky I was to be out there. The really rocky sections had beautiful shiny rocks that looked like crystals. When we came up toward the end of the loop, I recognized it from my hike the day before. We had a nice clear packed dirt trail where you could pick up speed before you ran up the 2 flights of stairs and then out toward the grass. I was going up a hill as a guy came toward me and said "wrong turn". I though he was telling me I ran the wrong way so I turned around to follow him and told the guy behind me we were going the wrong way. Then the guy who told me "wrong turn" said, "No, I meant, I took a wrong turn, you guys were right." I should have questioned it more when I didn't recognize him as someone who had been running ahead of me. I'm really not sure how he took a wrong turn because this course was super easy to follow! My legs were burning a bit when I crested the 2nd set of stairs and I was thinking about how much more those stairs would hurt the 2nd time around on the next loop. Once we came off the top of the stairs we turned left and ran uphill in grass and then on a cart path to the finish line. So the entire last quarter-mile or so was all uphill which was fine on that first lap but I knew would be brutal the 2nd go around. Miles 4-6 were 9:23, 8:47, and 9:37. I went through the first lap in 56:02. 

Running out toward the overlook.

Going up the hill toward the finish of the loop I pulled ahead of the guy who had been running along behind me the whole way. Starting the 2nd loop I couldn't hear him anymore and I really missed him. It was hard to continue pushing without someone right there. The 10k started a bit before I finished my 1st loop so partway through the 2nd loop I started passing 10k runners. For the most part they paid attention and moved out of the way. There really wasn't room to pass because it was single track. There was one couple of women who were talking so loudly they couldn't hear me when I repeatedly told them I was coming up on their left and didn't move over so I had to slow down for a while to get around them. That was a bit annoying, but for the most part the passing was fine. I got to hear a woman offering water to a man near her who was struggling which warmed my heart. Miles 7-9 were 9:36, 9:16, and 9:40. I was really excited that all my miles were under 10:00 pace. Of course, I thought that too soon and mile 10 was 10:07. That mile was a bit slow and going into the next mile I could hear someone coming up behind me which gave me a little extra push. I decided to use that to my advantage and see how long I could hold him off and keep him from passing me. I have either gotten better at downhill running or this guy wasn't a good downhill runner because I'd pull away on downhills and it would take him a while to catch back up on the flats. I'd maintain my lead on the hills, so the downhills were what was helping me pull ahead. Crossing the bridge toward the end I could hear that he was really gaining on me and when I made it to the stairs, he had caught up enough I knew he'd pass me on the stairs. He didn't, but right as we crested the top of the stairs he came up beside me and went around. I would have gone with him, but I had nothing left. Had he been a woman, I'm not sure I would have been able to go with him, but I definitely would have tried harder! Miles 11 and 12 were 8:55 and 9:31, thanks to pushing to stay ahead of him. Then the last portion up the final hill was 9:47 pace. I finished in 1:53:46. I was pretty impressed my 2nd loop wasn't that much slower than my 1st loop considering I was running all alone for most of it. After the race I chatted a little bit with the woman who won and we laughed about the brutal finish. She said, "I ran that whole race and then people saw me walking up the hill at the finish." I was surprised she walked, I didn't walk at all, but I understood the feeling!

This is a flat section before going uphill and then over the bridge and up the stairs at the finish of the loop.

This is one thing I love about Oklahoma. I can run a 12 mile trail race through what looks mostly like desert, but then have a section that runs through pine trees.

The race was a blast! I was 2nd female and 7th out of 43 overall. I ran a mile cool down for 14 miles on the day to prep for my 25k at War Eagle in June. They had barbeque but I really wasn't feeling it so I drank a Ginger Ale, ate some watermelon, and took some pulled pork back with me to eat after I got out of the shower. I got back to the room, ate my overnight oats, showered, foam rolled, ate my barbeque, and then headed home. I enjoyed my audiobook on the way home!

Medal and award after the race.

What I Read: April

One more month of school and then it's summer reading time! I love the summer reading program so much along with the chill days with more time for reading! I'm definitely ready, 18 days and counting. 

Books:

• Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants by George W. Bush- I had this from a virtual event Magic City Books put on. Bush isn't a great writer, but this was decent. I liked reading all the stories of immigrants and their journeys. It made me want to read more about most of the people in the book. I even added a couple books to my to-read list.

• White Bird by R.J. Palacio- This graphic novel was the full story of Julian's grandma's (from Wonder) experience during World War II. It was so good. It was recommended to me as an adult graphic novel at a training on using graphic novels in the classroom and then I saw it at the kids' book fair so I bought it. I think older kids could definitely handle it and was surprised the librarian said it wasn't appropriate for children, maybe she meant that more as a teacher recommending to students. I think this is one parents would want to be involved in their children reading.
  

• The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty- This book was just like her others, hard to put down and I'd get sucked into it. It wasn't my favorite of hers, but very good.

• The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz- My mom recommended this one and I loved The Passenger so I was really excited. I didn't like it as much as The Passenger, but it was really good.
  

• Messenger by Lois Lowry- This was book 3 in The Giver quartet. I was disappointed in this one. There were parts of it that were interesting, but then the ending was awful. I felt like maybe it was mostly a set up for the next book. It didn't really stand on its own. 

• Even the Stars Look Lonesome by Maya Angelou- I picked this up at a used bookstore. I think I may have read it years ago when I read all of Angelou's books, but I still really enjoyed it!

• Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy- I told one of the librarians at the library by our house that every time I look at her pick shelf, she has books I've read and loved on it. Whenever she puts a book on it I haven't read, I check it out. We chatted about which books we've both read and loved and discovered we both always have an audiobook, ebook, and regular book going at all times. She recommended an audiobook for me. The next time I went to the library she said she put this one on her shelf with me in mind. It was so beautifully written and I loved it so much. It's set in a future where most animals are extinct due to climate change which was really sad, but if that wouldn't hit you super hard (like it did me because it just felt too likely), I would highly recommend this book.
  

eBooks:

• Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep- This book was part story of a trial and part story of Harper Lee after To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved In Cold Blood and didn't realize Lee helped Capote research for the book. I enjoyed this so much!
  

• The Austere Academy by Leomny Snicket- Book #5, still enjoy the humor and the writing. The storyline is fairly repetitive but I enjoyed the introduction of new characters with their friends at school.

• Something Blue by Emily Giffin- This was the sequel to Something Borrowed. It was from Darcy's perspective which I loved. I also enjoyed getting to see her transformation through this book. I actually enjoyed this one more because Rachel letting everyone step all over her was driving me nuts in the first book!
  

Audiobooks:

• An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn- This was Benedict Bridgerton's story. I loved the Cinderella aspect to the story.  

• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn- What I love about Quinn's historical fiction is that she bases her stories on real people and researches their lives. Then she fills in the gaps. This book was based on the female code breakers during World War II.
  

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I loved Daisy Jones and the Six as an audiobook and I saw this had different narrators so I went with the audiobook. It was so good. I love it when authors pull characters from other books into an unrelated book. I loved that Mick Riva from Malibu Rising made an appearance in this book. Although this book came out before Malibu Rising, I read them out of order.

• The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg- I like that Berg often writes about older characters. This one was set at a 40th high school reunion and brought together many different characters by following their stories leading up to the reunion. I didn't like that the end of book skipped over a lot and then just picked up later. I liked this book but each time I read one of Berg's books, I'm hoping for it to be as good as The Story of Arthur Truluv and they never come close. She just seems to only have captured that magic once and her earlier work isn't as good and nothing that came after stands up to it.

• Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn- This may have been my favorite of the Bridgerton books so far. It wasn't can't put it down like the first one, but I think that was mostly because I now know the formula for her books so I know for sure what's going to happen and don't feel the need to keep going to find out. I also knew who ended up together at the end of this book, thanks to the spoiler that was the 2nd epilogue of the 2nd book. I was really invested in Penelope's story due to the show. They really make you love her in it. I also loved the unmasking Lady Whistledown storyline of this book. Now I can't wait for Eloise's book next!
  

What I Read: March

I've still been sticking to shorter books. I just keep cringing when I start to pick up a longer book. I think it's all my mind can handle, haha! 

Books:

• Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson- I love Woodson and bought this at a book store back in December. I was a quick read.
  

• The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kim Barker- This was an interesting read. Not one I would have picked out on my own. A high school acquaintance started an Etsy shop where you could order a book from a specific genre and it came wrapped so the book was a surprise. I ordered one and this is what I got. Malala did a really good job describing the history of Pakistan in her book so I already knew much of what was going to happen in this book. It was interesting to read about that history from a different perspective.

• El Deafo by Cece Bell- I kept seeing this on book lists. It sounded interesting. After reading Lore Olympus and realizing I really enjoyed graphic novels, I decided to read this one. It was pretty good.

• The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom- I either love his books or think they are so-so. I found this one at Goodwill. I ended up loving it. It was so good!

• Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R.J. Palacio- I saw this at the book fair when I was volunteering and I was so excited. I loved Wonder. Palacio just has such a wonderful and relatable way of writing. I loved this book!
  

eBooks:

• The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu- The premise of this one was very interesting. I really enjoyed it. I'm very excited to read the 2nd book in the series.
  

Audiobooks:

• A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane- Mom also recommended this one and said it was really good as an audiobook. I loved it so much!

• The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn- When I saw season 2 of Bridgerton was coming out in March, I decided to get through this book beforehand. I enjoyed it but not as much as the first book. I do love listening to this series as audiobooks. I'll probably do all the books as audiobooks. Funny side story about this book, I wanted to download a new book before heading out for my long run because I knew I would finish the audiobook during my run and wanted one to switch over to when that happened. I thought I downloaded this book but actually downloaded the 2nd epilogue of the book. I didn't realize it until I got home and saw I only had a few minutes left in the audiobook which I had just started with about 30 minutes left in my run. So I listened to the biggest spoiler ever as the epilogue was set 15 years after the end of the book. I didn't mind because the book was super predictable anyway.
  

• The Truth Pixie Goes to School by Matt Haig- I wanted to read this one to round out all the books in Haig's Christmas series. The kids and I listened to it on a drive.

• Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer- I picked this because I saw Joshilyn Jackson was the narrator. I absolutely loved her as a narrator for her book, Backyard Saints. There were parts of the book that were really good, really interesting, and somewhat weird. It was okay, not great.

• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin- The main character got really annoying toward the end with how she was letting herself get walked all over. I still enjoyed it but I think I would have had a harder time finishing the book if I'd been reading it.
  

• The Bride Test by Helen Hoang- I wanted to read this one after reading The Kiss Quotient with book club. I liked this one even more than the other book. It was very enjoyable.