One of Matt's relatives who is also a voracious reader told me she got a lot out of those posts and found some new books to read because of them. She wondered why I wasn't continuing with it this year.
Two reasons - I haven't hardly read any books this year yet, and the majority of what I have read have been business books. Probably boring for the majority of people.
But, I'm kind of business-booked out and now that it's summer, I've started to read more fun books. So, I plan to keep up with my posts again!
To recap 2013:
January:
Simplify your life by Elaine St. James - This book was given to me to read by my mom. It's old - written in the 90's so some of the things were funny to read. But it had some practical advice and kept my mind on simplifying. Not to say I made many changes, but I thought about making them!
The Most Important Year in a Women's Life by Robert Wolgemuth, Bobbie Wolgemuth, Mark DeVries and Susan DeVries - I heard about this book from a husband and wife photography couple who's blog I follow, so I asked for it for Christmas. It's a book that has a women's side and a men's side, so the women's side is written by two wives and the men's side is written by their 2 husbands. I read my side first and then Matt read his side. It had a lot of amazing information and I think I'd like to read it again. This time, stopping to actually do the different challenges/tasks it tells you to do.
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen - Oh my gosh, I LOVED this book. I got it from my mom who got it from a friend, so I'd never heard of Rhoda before. I was laughing out loud the whole time. I almost wanted to reread the book when it was finished. I think Rhoda has written at least one more book, another memoir of her life which make these books all the more funnier since it's all true! I have to look that other book up!
February:
Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich - This is the 19th book in the Stephanie Plum series that I read in it's entirety last year. I have been waiting for this book to be released and it didn't disappoint! I got my Lula fix and now I'm stuck waiting for the 20th book again. I am tempted to reread the series again this year because I loved it THAT much.
The Other Daughter by Miralee Ferrell - I picked this book up as I was passing the shelves at the library. I think I liked the cover art. :) It sucked me in from the first few pages. Talk about a great hook! It was a Christian-fiction book; a heartwarming story. I guess it's book 1 in a series, so now I have to look into the next book!
These Days Are Ours by Michelle Haimoff - This book is set in NYC in the days and weeks after 9/11. It's about socialite kids and their lives. Very different from my own life but I really enjoyed the book. It was weird hearing about 9/11 from the perspective of people who lived there. I know the book is fiction, but still, it was interesting reading the perspectives of people who were living in the city when it happened.
The Big Love by Sarah Dunn - This book was a good, lighthearted read. I had to google it to remember what it was about though so it must not have made too big an impression. A light hearted beach read.
March:
Quitter by Jon Acuff - A business book about how to close to gap between your desk job and your dream job. Jon writes in a way that engages you, and made the book fun to read. I have his newest book Start on my list to read.
The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss - This book caught my attention when I first heard about it because of the title. A great idea from a marketing standpoint because anyone hearing about it is curious about a 4 hour work week.
This book fascinated me. Tim isn't just talking about theory - he's done everything he is writing about and he has lots of other stories of people like him who are doing the same thing. It's a book I will check out again at the library and probably buy for myself to keep.
The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton - I follow Richie and his wife Natalie on social media so I feel like I know these two. I was so excited when I heard Richie was publishing a book and I couldn't wait to order it when it came out. It didn't disappoint either! I plan to reread it again because there's a whole chapter on Authenticity that I really want to dive into and devour slowly. A great book to motivate and inspire and to give you the push to go start your dreams!
Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard - This book caught my attention the first time I saw the title and cover. It's a true story about a kid who graduates college and decides to ditch his plans and possessions and move to a new city with $25 and 'the search for the American Dream.' He dives into homelessness and poverty with the goal of rising out of the circumstances he finds himself in, and having $2,500 in the bank, a working vehicle and a furnished apartment at the end of 1 year. It's an interesting story and he does a good job of describing the people he meets along the way. I'd be interested to see what he is doing now. I should google him.
Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders - A quick read business book about making it your goal to share your knowledge and connect people in your network. It's a stretch for me since I'm an introvert, but I found a lot of the book interesting anyway.
April:
How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie and Associates - I have heard so many good things about the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I looked it up at my library and the only one I could find to check out was this one - a new edition written for application in the digital age. I would like to read the original someday. This book was long and I skimmed parts of it. I think I was tired of reading business books by the time I got to it. But it had a lot of good information and made me interested in reading the original too. Lots of timeless information in it!
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - I joined a book club this month and this was the book we read. I think I read the book a long time ago, or else I saw the movie, so it was fun to reread it now that I'm older. It was also the first book I ever read on my iPad so that was fun!
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger - This was the next book club pick. It's written by a Minnesota author which I love! It makes me feel connected to them somehow. :) This book isn't my typical genre of fun, lighthearted chic lit or emotional fiction. But it was so good! I'm just mad I didn't start it sooner because I had to skim the last 20 pages 5 minutes before book club because I didn't have time to finish it! And I'm a bad skimmer...
May:
Meditation for Beginners by Stephanie Clement - One of my goals this year is to learn how to meditate. I checked this book out at the library to start learning. It gave a lot of good basic info to get me started. It also went more in depth into meditation so I didn't read the whole thing entirely. Since finishing the book, and talking with my aunt who actively practices meditation, I've started doing it myself and am really liking it!
Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah - I love Kristin Hannah and have read every book of hers that the library carries. I hadn't read this one yet so I picked it up. It started out with a woman feeling depressed around the holidays because in the last year, she walked in on her sister [who's her best friend] and her husband in bed together. So now she's divorced and her sister and her husband are together.
Woah, what a start.
The book is full of twists and turns and didn't follow the path I thought it would. It ended happy and I love a happy ending, so I think it was a good read!
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That brings me to 17 for January-May 2013. I think my goal for this year was 30 or 35, so I'm over half way there. I lowered my goal from 50 because I didn't know if I'd have time with some of the other projects I've been working on. But now that the summer is here, I plan to have some beach dates with a book and a pop so I can read some of the books on my list!
What are you reading? Have you read anything you've loved that I should add to my list?
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