What’s On Your Nightstand? Reading List & Book Recommendations {Caroline}

Hello from the Depths of December!

Hi everyone! How is your week going? I can’t believe we are so close to the kid’s holiday school break, considering it feels like Thanksgiving break was just yesterday! We have been busy at work getting all our 2019 things tied up before we have almost two weeks off from school and this time of the year always feels like a race to the finish line.

We try to keep it low key with the holiday festivities but even so, it always feels like a lot. As much fun as this season is, the kids are always wired, the noise decibel is high, there is so much sugar EVERYWHERE and there are just so many things to remember(or a lot of times, to forget, in my case…ha)

I often struggle to try to find the right balance between being real and straight up whining and I think it can especially be hard online. Family life is great AND it can feel like so much. As the kids have grown older, some things feel much easier and some things feel SO much harder.

I have been feeling like I am treading water lately and while I know I am not alone it can sometimes feel that way. I am always grateful for friends, both in “real life” and online that remind you that NO ONE has it all figured out.

Today I am excited to introduce you to one of those people, my #bookstagram friend Caroline!

Meet Caroline!

Caroline and I connected over DMs on Instagram. Caroline is part of the amazing #bookstagram duo @texacalibooks.  Friends Caroline and Nina share about all things reading and for this post, I asked Caroline to share how @texacalibooks came to be…

Nina and I went to law school together and have been besties ever since. Nina had the account for about a year called “One Awesome Book” and about 50 followers. She kept telling me to start one too since we constantly gave each other book recs.

We decided it would be more fun to do it together since we don’t live in the same city. So we changed the name, got me added, my obsessive personality kicked in and here we are !!

#Bookstagram Buddies

We may live on opposite sides of the country, but we always end up having so many things in common. Her kids are a bit older than mine so I always appreciate her great perspective and advice.

We love chatting books, work/life balance, and COFFEE and she is just one of the sweetest most genuine people and her writing always makes me smile. I am excited for you to learn more about Caroline today!

Nightstand Series Introduction:

My name is Caroline and I live in Los Angeles with my husband, who I met in law school, and our two kids – Alexa is 14 years old and Beckett is 11 years old.  I grew up in Tucson, Arizona and went to the University of Arizona for undergrad and The Ohio State University for law school (go Bucks!).  I am a partner at a law firm in Century City specializing in real estate finance and have been at the same firm for almost 18 years.  Ack, I am old!

Simply put, I am a working mom constantly trying to find that elusive work-life balance and failing miserably.  I work very long hours and every weekend so between that and having two very active kids who play club sports, there is not much time for hobbies.

My daughter plays soccer and is also on her high school lacrosse team and my son plays soccer, basketball, and baseball.  Life in sunny California means club teams are year-round and I am that soccer mom who has a sweatshirt, tee-shirt, and hat for my kids’ soccer club that I wear while I pace on the side of the field.

I basically spend my time not working acting as their Uber driver to and from practices and cheering them on in games that are all over Southern California – as far south as San Diego and as far north as Santa Barbara.  We had one weekend a few months ago where the kids had 9 games between them, all out of town and about 25 miles apart from each other.

But I do carve out a little time for myself every day by running about 3 miles very early in the morning (and in the dark!) before my kids are awake and I always make sure that I read before bed every night regardless of what time I am finally going to bed.  I also have an intense love for coffee, Target, extra soft sweatshirts, sneakers, Hallmark movies, and Bravo shows.

We are family who loves to ski so we go to Utah every winter for a family ski trip and we also spend a week doing nothing but laying by the pool in Hawaii every spring break.  In the summer our crazy lives come to a grinding halt because my kids each go to sleepaway camps in Wisconsin.

My husband is from Chicago so my son attends the same camp that my husband went to as a kid and my daughter attends the sister camp that is owned by a camp friend of my husband.  So after a very hectic school and sports year, my husband and I have an empty house which is always weird.  However, the time is filled quickly with work, scouring the camp websites for pictures of the kids and making sure that we are not messing up our son’s many fantasy baseball teams while he is away.

What Kind of Reader Are You?

I have been a reader my entire life.  I was the dorky kid who brought a book everywhere with me. I remember being the only kid at sleepaway camp who actually read in the cabin during rest hour.  The only time I had a lull in my reading was in law school because between all of the studying and working, there just was not time to read.

When I graduated law school, the chick-lit genre was just starting and authors like Sophie Kinsella, Jane Green, Jennifer Weiner, and Helen Fielding sucked me in immediately and kickstarted my love for reading.

What Time of Day do you do Most of Your Reading?

I read in the mornings when I am getting ready for work.  I put the book on the bathroom counter, propped open with hairbrushes while I brush my teeth, blowdry my hair, etc.

My son also reads before bed so if I can take a breather from reviewing documents for work, I snuggle up to him with my book.  Also, I always read a little before I go to sleep.  And I suffer from insomnia so I often read my books in the middle of the night with my little itty bitty book light.

The ultimate is when one of my kids has an out of town game and there is not a conflict between the schedules so my husband drives and I can read in the car.  Freeway reading is the best.

Favorite Book Genres

I am all over the board right now in terms of genres. I still love chick lit the best but I am also very into thrillers, young adult, historical fiction and contemporary fiction.

What Books Are You Currently Reading?

I recently finished American Royals and The Swallows and loved them both so much.   The last book that really shook me and stayed with me long after I finished it was A Woman is No Man and I had a major book hangover after The Flatshare.

What’s Coming Up Next?

I am desperately waiting for the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and American Dirt!

Any Books You Didn’t Love?

My one real book confession is that I didn’t love The Goldfinch.  It dragged on too long for me and I was impatient and bored.

What Are You Listening To?

I only listen to music in the car. My kids insist on it and I am usually at my office before I realize that I am still listening to whatever they put on.  They went through a major Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen phase but now it is more pop music.

What Else is on Your Nightstand?

I always keep a glass of water on my nightstand because I wake up thirsty in the middle of the night.  Other necessities are my glasses because all of my reading at work has made me absolutely blind and lotion (I have a whole routine at night where I put lotion on my feet and then sleep in socks and my feet are nice and soft when I wake up.)

I have an alarm clock, my phone, the remote control that I have to keep on my side or my husband will find it and put on sports, a picture of my kids hugging each other so I can remind them that they actually do love each other, candles because this is LA and we have earthquakes, a flashlight because this is LA and we have earthquakes (see candles), my Casper light which is my most favorite thing ever and a little ceramic keepsake that my mom gave me when I was a little girl.

On the shelf under my nightstand is my stack of library books. I am a big library supporter which I love because I never spend money on books and I don’t have to worry about clutter when I am done reading them.  The downside is that it also means that I am always a little behind on the hot new books and I am beholden to the library due dates.  The struggle is real!

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Thank you so much for sharing with us today! I hope you enjoyed learning more about Caroline. <3

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