The Skinny on Me

Welcome to Broc on Books.

If you've found me here, likely you know me in real life, so you can skip this part. If by some other miracle you've found your way here, you're likely a fellow bibliophile OR you know me through my fitness or expat universe connections.

If you've met me or found me since the dissolution of my previous Blog (Circus Dad & Broccoli Mom), I owe you a brief explanation on the Broccoli Mom moniker. It has been assumed by many it was due to my fitness/nutrition leanings. That is decidedly not the case.

Back in the early aughts when I was but a youthful (exhausted) trailing expat housewife and mom of two little girls making my first foray into truly foreign territory, we had a running joke in our house. My husband worked long hours and traveled frequently. From my perspective his life was full of confirmation of his brilliance, trips to interesting and exciting places, and financial reward. Mine was full of playdates, naptime, diaper changes, and negotiations of will with said children over all matter of things. My husband would arrive home each evening to find his adorable little cherubs in their footie pajamas, ready for bed and full of excitement to see "Daddy!!!". From my perspective, he got to do all of the fun things. I got to manage the drudgery. Hence my nicknames for us: Circus Dad (he who gets to show up and say Yes to everything and take the girls to the circus); and Broccoli Mom (she who gets to make the kids eat their broccoli every evening.

Time flies. We're back in the same location ten years later, my cherubs are now cheeky teenagers and I think I'm the lucky one. I get to have the discussions about what their days are made of and who their friends are, and what they think about this crazy world. In 2020, Circus Dad has gotten a front row seat for the madness of his three ladies by working from home almost exclusively and not traveling at all. He's not really Circus Dad anymore. And I'm only Broccolimom in name...but it has stuck and I like it.

I'm a 40-something expat trailing spouse, volunteer, non-working personal trainer, fitness nutrition consultant, and mama. And I love to read. I read all types of books-though I definitely favor contemporary fiction, memoirs and historical fiction. My not-so-secret guilty pleasures are thrillers and true crime and I don't say no to great YA fiction.

I've decided to start this blog partly as a thing to do, and partly because I am constantly asked for book recommendations. Follow my link to my goodreads for the full list of my read books and reviews going back to 2017. I'll post reviews of the books I enjoy and sometimes did not enjoy here going forward.

Feel free to message with thoughts and feedback!