For The Love Of Books | Reading Updates
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Are you guys one-book-at-a-time readers? Right now I've got multiple books going and sometimes I think that's a good thing (nice to have choices based on mood, time available, etc) and other times it feels like I just lack commitment.
Either way, one of the things I wanted to make happen for myself this year was to read more books and I'm definitely making it happen.
I'm a big non-fiction reader - it's just what I'm most interested in reading right now. I like reading about the way people think and work and I like reading memoirs and stories of real people. That said, it's hard to beat a great fiction story.
Here's a look at what I've got going on right now:
RECENTLY COMPLETED
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain | The first fiction book I've read in quite a long time and man was I consumed. I studied American Literature in college (my degree is in American Studies - literature, history, and political science) so I'm definitely familiar with Ernest. I read this one when Aaron and I went to Hawaii and I had to tell him more than once that he was going to need to let me know if he wanted some conversation because otherwise I was going to be immersed in this story. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Notes From A Blue Bike: The Art Of Living Intentionally In A Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider | I've been a longtime fan and daily reader of Tsh's blog (formerly SimpleMom.net and now TheArtOfSimple.net). There's always a dose of something good on there. As I wrote above, I like reading true stories and learning about the how's and why's of their lives (choices, values, lifestyles, how they overcomes challenges, etc). I'm interested in simplicity and living with less and family time and all these topics were covered in Tsh's book.
JUST STARTING
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has The Time by Brigid Schulte | I think this is likely a topic many of us can relate to at some level. Sociology and human behavior have always been interesting to me so I'm excited to dive into this one and see what she has to say.
ON MY NIGHTSTAND
These are ones I've started or pick up here and there and haven't made it all the way through just yet or are the one's I want to start soon.
Bittersweet: Thoughts On Change, Grace and Learning The Hard Way by Shauna Niequist| She had me at, "Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a moment of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich even when it contains a splinter of sadness."
Packing Light: Thoughts On Living Life With Less Baggage by Allison Vesterfelt| I'm about halfway through this one and am enjoying reading about Allison's journey and adventure.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by Charles Duhigg| Haven't started this one yet but am interested in the topic.
Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Everyday by Todd Henry | I've read a bit of this one and am a fan of Todd Henry's blog and his site Accidental Creative.
I'm also back on Goodreads if you want to follow along and see what I'm reading, what I've read, and what's on my to-read list.
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69 comments
I am a one at a time reader usually but right now I have three going! One is a fiction, another is a book a friend and I are reading together and the last is dealing with some specific situations in my family right now. By the way, I have read Bittersweet and you won't be disappointed. My friend sent it to me during a tough time. Good read.
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Had to chime in on the post about reading...I tend to rotate between fiction and memoir or self-help. I am currently reading Brene' Brown's Daring Greatly...it took forever to get it from my library as there were so many "holds" on it. I just got an email from Amazon recommending books and one of them just seemed to call your name...it is called THRIVE by Arianna Huffington. It sounds so good and I know it is your OLW for 2014.
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I read "The Paris Wife" and I also was CONSUMED in it. I read constantly and I just couldn't put that one down for anything. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
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The Night Circus is fantastic! I highly recommend this fiction book. So creative and engaging. Had to read it in two days! :) Love your reading posts!
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Ali, I used your list to make a display at the bookstore I work at on the weekends. :) Thanks for the inspiration. This morning I read "Carry On, Warrior" by Glennon Doyle Melton it was fantastic!
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So glad to know there's another American Studies major out there!
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Since I was a kid (WAY back in the 60s), I have kept what I called a writer's notebook. I did this on my own without any prompting or guidance. When I was teaching third grade, I was introduced to Ralph Fletcher and his books; among them was A Writer's Notebook in which he detailed how writers write. I was amazed that I had been doing something right--I kept a gripe list, copies of my poetry, and lists ad infinitum to aid me in my writing (I was an English major). Just recently, I was introduced (through the written word) to a young writer who had done in her young life what I had already done in mine many years before. I believe she did it naturally. I ordered her book, a collection of poems, stories and essays, which was published posthumously after she graduated Yale. That book, The Opposite of Loneliness, blew me away! I could not do a review justice, so I suggest you and anyone else check it out. Even the reviews touched my heart.
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I forgot to add the author's name--Marina Keegan, The Opposite of Loneliness.
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I'm mainly a one book at a time reader because once I start I don't usually stop reading until I reach the end. But the last few months I've found myself more easily distracted and actually had three books going at the same time! In the past couple weeks, I've read the Divergent series, Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green,Evidence of Life and Safekeeping by Barbara Taylor Sissel, two travel guides for Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands (!), along with several historical romances and a couple contemporary romances. I am about 2/3s through 12 Years a Slave. The waiting-to-be-read list includes The Letter by Marie Tillman, Orange is the New Black, The Night Circus, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Feng Shui Simply by Cheryl Grace, Breakfast with the Birds by Jack G Hyman, and several others. :-)
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Ali, have you read The Accidental Creative also by Todd Henry? Just curious. I have Die Empty on my wish list.
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I've read some of it and listened to some of it - I like his style for sure.
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[…] book-centric, many of the blogs I read daily pop in with book reports from time to time: Elise, Ali, Joy, Joanna, Carly, and one of my favorite go-tos for books for grown-ups and kids alike, Jenny […]
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I have read several of the books on your list & have several of those on my own "to read" list!! Shauna Niequist is one of my favorite writers & I think you will enjoy any of her books. I LOVED the Paris Wife also....and then I felt so in the know when I saw Midnight in Paris hahaha!! I read that at the beach several years ago - it's wonderful.
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Thank you ALIEDWARDS for the awesome books recommendation for my students who are always busy in doing nursing assignment. Noe they can feel relax while reading these books.
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