This year has been wild so far. I’m used to a quite, rather boring life. Last year I was doing my internship and graduating at my university with all sorts of career goals and dreams and numerous promising interviews. This year I’m pregnant with a myriad of unexpected health issues to make things a touch more interesting. It’s impacted my reading, blogging and general life enjoyment, but not too much. 

Here’s a rundown of things so far. 

Personal: 

1. Pregnant

2. Pregnancy caused 2 bulging discs in my back which are squashing a nerve root that controls the function of my right leg. That’s fun.

3. Still dealing with cancer – but it’s on the up and up

4. Busy getting stuff ready for baby

5. I was a finalist in an international photography contest for some of my Ireland pictures. Yay!

Bookish: 

1. Haven’t read as many books this year as last. I’m blaming my pregnancy/health issues. My goodreads list has 2011 reads at 53 so far, but I know its a little more than that. I haven’t recorded them all. 

2. Started another blog that will focus on all the other stuff I read that isn’t in speculative fiction. As if I don’t have enough going on right now….

3. So far the books I have enjoyed most are Peter F. Hamilton’s Void trilogy, Zoo City by Lauren Beukes and Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

Near future: 

1. Expect a few reviews coming up. On Tuesday I will post my review of Spellbound by Blake Charlton. I also got the book 7th Sigma from Tor and will try to read that before I have the baby, and a few others. I have been voraciously reading to try and fit in as many books and reviews as possible before August. I’m also trying to “stockpile” some books so I can review them after I have the baby. Hopefully that will keep my blog from drying up and dying. 

2. I preordered A Dance with Dragons, so I’m trying to fly through A Song of Ice and Fire so I can read that book as soon as I get it. 

Future: 

My baby is due in a month – during the first or second week of August, to be exact. I’m scheduled for a c-section due to fears that my bulging discs could cause permanent nerve damage during extended labor. Usually I have my year pretty mapped out, but I gave all that planning up when I was diagnosed with cancer last October. I’ve been spending this year flying by the seat of my pants and that’s not going to change anytime soon. I’m anticipating my reading to slack off even more post baby until I get a routine down. I’m hoping to keep a schedule of 1-2 posts/week post baby and then getting back to my normal of 3-4 after I get the hang of being a mom. Who knows, though. I wish I could look into the future and see what will/won’t change, but I can’t, so all I can say is that the rest of the year will probably be as interesting as the first half of the year, so please bare with me.