I finally did one of those things I've been saying I'm going to be do for awhile now: I actually read one of the books I heard about NPR (don't be jealous of my life). Of course, the library here often doesn't have some of the books they recommend, so I'm often SOL.

Book #39: City of Thieves, David Benioff. Two strangers during the WWII siege of St. Petersburg are sent on a mission to find... a dozen eggs. It's easy-to-read and thoughtful, not arrogant. I definitely recommend it.

Book #40: Love is a Mix Tape, Rob Sheffield. This book took me back to mix tapes my friends made for me in high school and college. Interestingly, it also has some of the most straightforward discussions of grief that I've read in awhile.

• Do you know what's really expensive? Paper. We go through scads of it at work, what with bulletins, announcements, newsletters, etc etc etc. I had to order some yesterday because the parish administrator is gone. The order was something like $500, and most of that was regular old paper. I'd say maybe $60 was the colorful, fun stuff.
• So, I, of course, think I'm being all coy with this not being publicly pregnant yet gig. And some woman I don't know comes up to me at the gym and says, "You're working out through your pregnancy? That's great." I laughed really loudly because it made me nervous (note: not all my loud laughs are because I'm nervous, but this one definitely was).
• I'm disturbed by our country and the elections. When I heard Palin was the VP candidate for McCain, I thought, "No one's going to fall for that!" I'm beginning to wonder if I gave America too much credit.
• I went to the dentist on Wednesday. We couldn't make my next six month appointment six months out because it would have been a day before my due date. I stared at the hygenist in horror and disbelief.
  

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Book Update:

I was hoping to reach fifty books for the year. I think I'll just barely do it. What's that, about three a month (for the months I have left, I mean)? Work has basically exploded. A significant number of people seem to have lost their mind/cool/health/live all at the same time. We've done four funerals in the past three weeks, and the list of people in critical pastoral care situations is abnormally high for us. Plus the rector is gone next week on continuing education. I've kept my schedule relatively clear next week, knowing that there will be more than enough to do even if all remains somewhat calm.

• Book #33: The Art of Eating, MFK Fischer. Collection of food writings for early twentieth century important food writer. I loved her recollections of what different meals had meant in her own life in the section "The Gastronomical Me."
• Book #34: Prodigal Summer, Kingsolver. Read it in two days. The story's set in the Appalachians, and the characters are well written.
• Book #35: Garden Spell, Sarah Addison Allen. New author from NC. Again, fiction set in western NC. It was about the relationships of some people around my age, so it was interesting. Not this most thought provoking read in the world, but I enjoyed reading it.
• Lots of pregnancy related stuff: #36: What to Expect When You're Expecting (no), #37: The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy (eh-- some of it liked, some of it was garbage), #38: The Mayo Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy (good).

I was in the UK for about two weeks with the choir. We did evensongs at St. George's, Windsor, Christ Church, Oxford, and Canterbury Cathedral, along with some necessary touristy stuff. I'll say this:
1) I have a whole new appreciation for the choir and how hard they work.
2) I will not be going on an organized tour of anything for a very long time if I can help it, particularly not with an intergenerational crowd. Some people actually want to sit on a bus for hours and would rather see from a bus than walk. Maybe I'll understand one day, but at this point it's unfathomable to me. I would rather spend a small amount of time in one place walking around rather than see a whole lot.

I'm about to leave again for a preaching conference and for "vacation" with my dad and parts of his family. I'm nervous about the latter, as it'll be my stepmother and all her various and sundry offspring (two adult children and some of their kids). It's very weird for me to see my father relate to a child as his grandchild that I feel no connection to whatsoever.

Book update:
Book #25 Inhuman Bondage. A book on the history of slavery. Excellent. Singular complaint: I listened to this book while driving. The reader said "hueman" New-Jersey style, a pronunciation that makes me crazy for no good, but some very real, reason.
Book #26 Those Preaching Women! 4th ed. Pretty good sermon collection, as far as sermon collections go.
Book#27 Ladies of Liberty, Cokie Roberts. About influential women during early presidencies, not including Martha Washington. Pretty good. Grammatical errors in book, which annoy me. Do your job, editor.
Book #28 : Predictably Irrational. I really liked this book, probably because I majored in economics and always wondered if assuming people behave rationally is the best assumption to make.
Book #29 : Suite Francaise. Thought it was really good. I feel like all I hear is French Resistance this, French Resistance that, when, clearly, most people just rolled over.
Book #30: Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White. Wu is a lawyer, through and through, and writes as if he is one. I enjoyed the book but don't know that I was looking for as much depth as he gave.
Book #31 : A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawkings. A parishioner gave this to me after I preached on Einstein's theory of general relativity. It's good, though still hard to understand, even though it's supposed to be easier to understand.
Book #32 : Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Rosenthal. eh.

Side Note: On this England trip, I discovered my mother basically no longer reads. This disturbed me to my very core.

Other side note: The thought of fiction has left a bad taste in my mouth as of late(besides Suite Francaise). I think I've had some traumatic experiences...? .