When I had my twins 5 and a half years ago I stopped reading for the first months of their lives. I mean when did I have time?? Getting in to bed mean’t getting to sleep as soon as possible for as long as possible and the daytimes were filled with feeding, nappy changing and playing. I’m sure Audiobooks were a thing but I hadn’t heard of them yet so I missed out on one of my favourite things to do for a while. I can remember my Aunt gifted me a book called Before I Let You In by Jenny Blackhurst a year after the boys were born and I managed by this time to have a routine in place so that I had my evenings free to read again before I went to sleep.
I am hoping this time round I will be able to find time to continue my favourite hobby with the help of Audible even if I am unable to grab my Kindle. I love nothing more than walking or doing chores with my Airpods in listening to a self help book, a fiction story or a podcast. For around about a year I have even been listening to one book in the day and reading my Morland books at night on my Kindle.
The last book I read at night was book number 24 in the Morland Dynasty by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles called The Homecoming. I am still thoroughly enjoying this collection of books and would highly recommend them to everyone. https://nicolajayne.blog/2021/07/09/meet-the-morlands/ I wrote a review on a previous blog post you can find here. I also listened using one of my credits on Audible to a brilliant ‘self help’ book called Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith. You may have seen Dr Julie on social media, she is a clinical psychologist and posts mental health advise videos on You Tube as well as Instagram. I loved listening to her calm, friendly voice. It was full of great tips and insights into mental health from a science backed point of view. I bought the physical version after finishing the audiobook as I am planning to go back through and highlight and journal in this copy. Did I mention I really liked it?
I am currently reading The Question book number 25 in The Morland Dynasty. We are up to 1903 and womens rights are a big feature in the story. There is mention of Emily Pankhurst and Winston Churchill which is just fascinating, I really learn a lot about history from reading these books and although I have of course heard of The Suffragettes I never fully appreciated what women went through to get to where we are now. One of the characters Venetia is a doctor which when she began to try to become a doctor was absolutely unheard of, she lost her fiance and family. They truly believed in the 1800s that women could not do these ‘mans jobs’ and that they never would be able to. Which to us now sounds utter madness!
The other book I am currently reading is on Audible. I listen when i’m driving or when i’m cooking or tidying up. Suddenly ironing isn’t so boring anymore! It is called Mind Over Mother by Anna Mathur who I follow on Instagram. It is a guide for new mums to navigate their way through parenthood while coping with anxiety. It is very interesting, she talks about coping mechanisms but actually its just really nice to listen and know that you are not alone. I am very nearly finished this audio book so I need to start thinking about what to listen to next…
Even though I am not fully decided which book to listen to next, there is no question that the next book I download on my kindle will be Morland Dynasty book number 26 The Dream Kingdom which sounds pretty intriguing doesn’t it?
Any ideas for my next audiobook are more than welcome…. What self help book changed your life or is there a parenting/maternity advise book I need to read?
Thanks for reading
NJ x
nicola jayne 
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