It’s a brand new year, with a brand new list of books going. I love starting with a clean slate for the year, it feels so exciting because there are just so many good books out there to read! I have ten to share with you for this month, I hope you enjoy and find something that interests you! You can always go to my “Books” tab if you would like to see what I have read in years past!
I loved started the year out with this title. “Just the Way You Are.” Don’t we need more of that? Just to be the way we are? For each of us to accept each other as we are? Olivia is 29, still living at home with her manipulative and over bearing mother, but had a “dream list” of things she wanted to accomplish for herself, by herself. She finally found the bravery to find a place of her own and move out, found the support her mother needed to break the co-dependency relationship they had going, and to embark on checking off those things on her list. She finds friendship, love, and a new love of herself in the process.
I listened to “Habit of the Household,” and it was so good. Also another great read to start off the new year! I love how practical so many of his suggestions were, easy things to incorporate day to day to improve our day to day habits. He talked a lot about basic things, making eye contact with your kids, one on one time to connect, limiting screen time, the importance of family dinners…things that help bind you together as a family and turn your children’s hearts to God. I could see myself listening to this one again at some point, because it was just a lot of really good reminders about getting priorities in order and making an effort to do things for your family that might be hard in the moment, but will pay off later for sure.
I went back and forth a little bit, but decided that I would go ahead and make my way through the Shopaholic series. I read the first one last year, and it was pretty entertaining. Becky Bloomwood stresses me out at times because of her avoidance tendencies haha, but it’s silly, distracting entertainment. And I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly what I need at times in my life! I read “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan,” and overall, it was a decent read. Some language, but I don’t remember it being overwhelming. Becky follows her boyfriend, Luke, to New York, as he branches out with his company to the U.S. She is leaving her new TV show financial guru position behind, and loads of debt as well, thinking that will never catch up with her there, but as we can all guess, of course it does!
I listened to “In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It.” I love Lauren Graham, and especially her books on audio, because she is the one reading them! This was a very short listen, a great read to remind us that we are enough as we are, to pursue our dreams and interests and not give up, and basically, just don’t worry about it! Whatever “it” is! I love how she shares her personal stories to encourage us to remain curious and to just keep trying and looking for joy wherever you can find it.
I also listened to “Happier Hour” this month and loved it. It was a tad redundant at times, but her overall message was great. Her main premise of the book was the rearrange the hours of our day to prioritize what is most important to us. We all have 24 hours in the day, and so many things vying for our time. So how can we organize things so that we can feel happier, and experience our lives more fully. She talked a lot about reducing distractions, and this is what got me deleting Instagram during the day. I have realized that it’s so easy to just slide into that app for a few minutes here and there, and it becomes such a time suck. So I delete it, so that whenever I want to check messages or spend time on it, I have to re-download it each time. It becomes a much more purposeful decision, and also not an option for distraction with my kids during the day. She talks a lot about other things we can do to make more purposeful and confident decisions about how we spend our time, so that we can look back on our days and not have regrets with how we have spent them. My only tiny complaint about this book is that it was obviously written during or around the pandemic, so there is a lot of influence from that time in her writing about how things were. That’s not a huge deterrent, but it just was distracting at times because we have moved past that time period for now.
One of my favorite reads from last year was “The Last Bookshop in London.” I loved that book so much, so of course I wanted to read what Madeline Martin had written. “The Library Spy” was different than I expected, two women living during WW2 with completely different jobs and experiences, yet their paths cross and one ends up being able to help the other. Ava works for the library of Congress, but then gets transferred to Portugal, to help with obtaining information to help the U.S. with the war in a spy sort of situation. Elaine is working in occupied France in an underground newspaper organization, coding the messages that eventually find their way to Ava. My only warning about this book, is that there were some pretty graphic passages regarding the torture and killings that went on during the war. I know that is to be expected with WW2 historical fiction, but I felt like this was more intense than I had expected. I did love the way the book ended, how connections were made and people found each other.
My friend had “When in Rome” on her list to read, so I thought I would give it a try. Amelia has left her stardom and music fame for a break, and because of her obsession with Audrey Hepburn, she heads to Rome, Kentucky for her own “Roman Holiday.” She meets Noah when he car breaks down in front of his house, and he proceeds to help her and let her stay with him until her car is fixed. She gets to know the town and the people, and is finally able to find her old self again and figure out what she really wants in life. Some language and smutty scenes, little more than what I would prefer, so just letting you know!
Since I enjoyed Justin Earley’s other book this month, I decided to listen to “The Common Rule” this month as well. This is another book that focuses on daily habits, how small changes can add up to big changes, and about prioritizing your time. Can you tell that I was going for a theme this month starting the new year haha?? I felt like parts of this book were a little repetitive from his other book, but there were a lot of good personal stories and ideas too. I just really enjoy anything that helps me restructure how we do things inside of our family, to strengthen our relationships with each other and encourage us to prioritize those relationships more.
I loved “Defend the Dawn.” I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I cannot wait for the next to come out. People in the kingdom are still sick, and there is still not enough moonflower to go around. Tessa is working in the palace now as an apothecary, to advise the kingdom on how to use the moonflower more sparingly. There is still a lot of division between the people of the kingdom and the king and royals, and then a suspicious captain shows up from a foreign land, promising more moonflower for them in exchange for steel. Prince Corrick and Tessa agree to travel back with him to make an agreement, but in the end they all fall into the wrong hands. I can’t wait to see how they will get out of their situation and what will happen to their kingdom. I know it’s sounds a little nerdy, but it was a great read!
I have been reading “No Drama Discipline” for almost a year now. That’s one reason I normally listen to books like this, when I read them, it takes me sooo long to get through them. But I also spent a lot of time rereading things and making notes. This book was recommended to us when things were at their height of difficulty with Jackson in second grade. There are SO many good things to take away from this book, to really revamp how you talk and parent your children. Of course with any book like this, you take what applies or helps you and leave the rest. But there was loads of information about connecting with your child before redirecting, and how to talk to your child in a way to reach them. What I also appreciated, was how much the book talked about the child’s brain and how it is developing. When you understand more about a child’s perspective in life, it becomes more about meeting them where they are, and less about it they are doing what you want them to be doing. I would highly recommend this one to any parent struggling with a child with anxiety or behavior.
I loved this so much. Definitely encapsulates reading for me, I just cannot imagine a life without books and learning. I had someone tell me years ago when Jackson was a baby that I read too much, and it was shocking to me. I still remember it to this day, and how I just felt sad for that person because they never read at all. But I suppose each person makes their own decisions on how they want to spend their time, and this is how I like to spend mine! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and following along for the year, looking forward to many more experiences in pages and growing of the mind with you! 🙂
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