A Few of My Favorite...BOOKS!

As it is summer, a time when many are looking for books to devour, I figured I would put a list together of some of my own must-read recommendations.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger  is one of my all-time favorites.  But NOT the movie.  The movie is terrible.  Don't judge the book by the movie, if you saw it.  
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is a recent read of mine.  It was recommended by a friend, and is not a choice I would usually make, but it was fantastic!  A little slow to start, but then I couldn't put it down.
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• The 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey
• Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
• The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• Divergent series by Veronica Roth
• Almost anything written by Jodi Picoult - she's my FAVORITE!!!  I especially love The Storyteller and My Sister's Keeper
• Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
• Dark Places, Sharp Objects, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
• Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
• I Know This Much is True and The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
• White Oleander by Janet Fitch
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• The Giver quartet by Lois Lowry
• The DaVinci Code series by Dan Brown
• Breakthrough series by Michael C. Grumley
• Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
• A Perfect Evil and the rest of the Maggie O'Dell series by Alex Kava
• Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
• Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer

I'm sure I could list many more, if I sit and think a while longer.  But this seems like a good start.  I hope it helps you come up with some titillating summer reading choices!  Enjoy!

Edited to add:

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
• The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
• All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
• What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
• The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
• The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante
• The Will Trent and Grant County Thrillers series by Karin Slaughter
• The Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
• If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
• Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline
• A Dog's Purpose: A Novel for Humans by W. Bruce Cameron
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio
• The Bern Saga and the Wool Omnibus by Hugh C. Howey
• Holes by Louis Sachar

A Piece of the Puzzle

So, I've been dealing with pretty extreme fatigue for months now - since the end of October 2017 to be exact.  In November, my PCP recommended a sleep study to eliminate the possibility of sleep apnea.  After waiting months for the first place to call me back, I found a different place to have my testing done.  (I never expected that sleep apnea was my issue, as I don't fit the typical patient.  I don't have a big neck.  I'm not severely overweight.  I don't snore.)  Anyway, I had my consultation for my sleep study at the end of April, and they gave me the home study kit to take home that night.  Within a couple of days, I was notified that I actually do have sleep apnea, and was scheduled for my machine titration at the end of May, where I stayed overnight and tried out the mask.  This one was most comfortable, in my opinion.  And the cutest.  (Just kidding.  None are cute, but better sleep might just make me look cuter!)

It was definitely not the best night of sleep I've ever had.  I never sleep well the first night in a new situation.  I had on this crazy mask, and I was connected to sensors all over my body (legs, head, chest, and finger).  I had to sleep on my back for part of the night, which is not comfortable for me in the least.  However, I suppose that's the most likely way your breathing is cut off, and the best way to test the pressure of the machine that is necessary to prevent that from happening.  Apparently, sleep apnea is where your throat relaxes to the point that it cuts off your breathing, which causes your brain to wake you up so you start breathing again.  

So, tomorrow is the day (after over 3 weeks of waiting since my sleep study - insurance is so sloooooow to approve anything) where I will finally get my CPAP.  It's not something I ever expected to be excited about.  In fact it makes me feel old.  I know it will take me a while to get used to the mask, so I get a better night's sleep, but at least I can sleep on my side!  I hope this will help me to feel rested so I have more energy throughout the day.  Fingers crossed that this is a missing piece of the puzzle for me!

Don't be jealous that I get to look like a fighter pilot while I sleep!  And if you are battling fatigue, consider going for a sleep study consult.  Even if you don't fit the mold of a typical sleep apnea patient.  Especially if you are a woman because we are under diagnosed for this very reason.