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My Recent Reads – December 2019
Looking for book recommendations? Here are mini reviews of some of my favorite recent reads!
One thing I do love about the colder weather is that it’s the perfect time to curl up with a book. I’m writing this post a couple weeks before Christmas—I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating! In the days after Christmas, I hope you are able to have time to relax, maybe with a new book, or maybe dreaming of a new book you can get with a gift card that appeared under your tree. I know it can be tempting to slip back into hustle and bustle, but I’m reminding myself to pause and slow down, not letting the peace of the Christmas season slip away. I invite you to do the same as the year draws to a close.
(Also, here’s an update on how I did with my reading goals this year, as well as tips for setting your own goals.)
Here are some of the books that I’ve most enjoyed and have recommended to my friends. I hope you enjoy these suggestions!
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Tips For Setting Reading Goals & How I Met Mine in 2019
December is a great time for reflecting on the past year. The last few years, I’ve spent some time at the close of each December recording some of my favorite things from the last year, including favorite books. This year I’ve enjoyed keeping track of my favorite books in “real time” in my mini book review posts.
This was also my first year setting reading goals for myself, and I like how my goals helped challenge me as well as give me direction when choosing books. It helped prevent me from getting into reading ruts due to brain fog.
I’ve already started thinking about what reading goals I’d like to set for 2020. But first, I’m going to record how I did with my 2019 goals (read my post about setting these goals here). And, I have some tips for anyone who wants to set goals for the following year.
Here’s how I did meeting the five goals I set.
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My Recent Reads – October 2019
So I took an unplanned, monthlong break from my blog in September, and I did A LOT of reading. I went through a bit of a health scare including an autoimmune fever that lasted 16 days (that is a loooong time to feel like your brain is cooking!) and concern that my cancer had returned. I’m very thankful that it looks like a false alarm and I am still cancer free! Praise God! I’m very glad to be back to blogging now that my body’s alarm bells have chilled out.
As the weather starts to get cooler (which is always a rough transition due to my fibromyalgia, asthma, etc.), it’s the perfect time to curl up with a book.
Here are some of the books I’ve read recently, and what I thought of them. I’ve decided that for now, I’ll just share books that I’ve enjoyed or would recommend to a friend. I hope you enjoy these suggestions!
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Interesting Around the Web – August 2019
Hello readers, I have rounded up some interesting articles and posts from around the web!
I’ve been taking it easy after a trip to a museum totally wiped me out for a week, so it’s been fun to discover interesting reads online to keep me occupied. I also got to contribute a quote to another blogger about how important to advocate for yourself when doctors are dismissive or misdiagnose you (one time a doctor told me I didn’t have asthma… when I clearly do and have since birth!) I was also delighted to discover that another blogger read my latest My List of Little Joys posts and was inspired to write a post of her own on that theme.
I hope you all enjoy these links and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
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My Recent Reads – July 2019
Looking for book recommendations? I’ve been wanting to write this style post for awhile now, so without further ado, here are some of the books I’ve read recently, and what I thought of them. I’ve decided that for now, I’ll just share books that I’ve enjoyed or would recommend to a friend. I hope you enjoy these suggestions!
I was in a bit of a reading rut up until about a month ago, and as anyone else who loves to read knows, there’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to find a good book to dive into!
Part of the cause of my reading rut was how exhausted I’ve been—brain fog is not helpful when you’re trying to find books. My ability to make decisions has been fried. Another problem? It seemed no matter what book I put on hold at the library, the wait time was 2-6 weeks. I know that’s not long, and I love my library, but sometimes you need a book now!
So if you’re in a similar spot, here are some books that I hope you’ll enjoy. I have mishmash of classic, fantasy, memoir, fairy tale, historical, and literary books for you to choose from.
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Update on my 2019 Reading Goals
It’s (somehow!) already June, so I’m posting an update on my reading goals now that the year’s hit the halfway mark. As I blogged about earlier, this is my first year setting reading goals for myself. If you’ve set goals too, I’d love to hear about it!
I’ve been a little hit or miss on my goals so far (I’m going to blame brain fog at least in part for that. You’ll see I completely forgot about one of my goals below!) There’s still plenty of time to work on my goals over the next six months, so I’m glad I’m reviewing them now. Summer seems like the perfect time to dive right into this list and be a little more intentional about reading.
(If you haven’t set reading goals for 2019, why not set some now? Or set some for the summer?)
Here’s the progress I’ve made so far.
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My Favorite Nonfiction Books From 2018
The nonfiction books I read this year are a bit of a strange mashup—historical figures, devotionals, and…design inspiration. Despite the odd mix, I think you’ll really enjoy these books.
Any time I recommend a nonfiction book, you know I liked it a lot, because I actually finished it instead of turning to my first love: fiction!
I hope you find some great inspiration and learn something new from these books.
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My Favorite Fiction Books From 2018
I have some fun reading suggestions for you! I’ve been going through my reading journal from 2018 and picking out which fiction books I most enjoyed.
Not surprisingly, there are quite a few fairy tale retellings on here, and some YA titles I adored. I also stretched myself to read a genre I normally don’t. (Mystery!)
When I tallied my 2018 books, I felt a little bummed out that I read fewer books than last year, until I reminded myself that quality is better than quantity. I’ve gotten better at putting books aside if I’m not enjoying them, something that has been hard for me in the past. (Can anyone relate?)
I also realized that brain fog has frequently made me indecisive when I’m trying to decide what to read. Recognizing this has helped me—I thought for awhile that maybe I was losing my love of reading (gasp!) but now I know it’s just a side effect of chronic illness. I’m hoping my reading goals for this year will help me spend less time deciding what to read, and more time enjoying reading. I hope my suggestions help you too as you decide what books to dive into!
