That loud swooshing sound you hear is the sound of a giant trapeze swinging, with MomBrain hanging on by her knees, upside down, swinging her arms gleefully and yeehawing. Which is not the way this leap started. No, that was with me hanging on right side up, all elbows and knees and trembling uncertainty. But when a leap is inevitable; when you see the ground rushing toward you and there’s no way to scramble back to the platform’s edge; well then you may as well enjoy the wind in your hair and let loose with a yodel.

I shouldn’t be frightened. After all, I am leaping toward familiar territory, into the arms of a partner I know will catch me. All the same, it’s still a change, and I am very very fond of ruts. The mundane monotony of unchanging routines is reassuring to me. But after three years as Managing Editor of Literary Mama and then Director of MotherTalk, I am flinging myself wholeheartedly back into the world of hedonistic reading and writing. And I’m ecstatic. For the first time in years, I can focus my writing energy on my own projects, including a hairy beast of a novel-in-progress, a fictionalized memoir that’s covered in dust, and two — count ‘em, two — collections of essays.

But then, THEN, I get dessert. I get to read purely for pleasure, blog about what I’m reading with no conflict of interest, and even write the occasional book review without a disclaimer.

I get to be who I am.

So give me some suggestions. What have you read lately that’s fabulous? Breathtaking? Easy and fun? Hard and soul-shaking? Help me fill my shelves!

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