It's been too long since I've posted a reading list, but not to fear, this doesn't mean I haven't been reading! In fact, since I just got over being sick for so long (and for part of that time I was on Tamiflu, which gave me insomnia) I've been reading more than ever lately!
So, here are 4 books that I've read recently and recommend + 4 that are on my list for this spring...
Oh you guys, last week's trip to Nantucket was so dreamy! As you probably saw on Instagram (where all the Starr Struck action is happening these days), the trip included 6 adults and 1 toddler [who took long daily naps] and I actually got to read on the beach twice. TWICE!!! As a #todlermom, I seriously felt like I was living my best possible "vacation" life on this trip.
Plus, doing that tiny bit of beach reading got me thinking about how much I want to do lots more beach reading this summer (a fantasy that might be possible given that we live 5 mins from the beach...), and reminded me to pull together my summer reading list to share with you. Thus, today's post! Here are some of the fun, beachy, *mostly* light-hearted fiction books that are on my 2018 Summer Reading List:
Happy July, happy warm weather, happy reading, + happy Independence Day to you! Even though it doesn't feel [or look] like spring [at all] around here, it is supposedly spring so I guess that means it's time for my spring reading list!
I'm reading a *really* disturbing WWII-based historical fiction book right now (Finding Rebecca by Eoin Dempsey) and while it's very good, it's also been leaving me extremely sad and freaked out every night after reading, so it was nice to write this blog post and think about moving on to lighter books after I finish this one. Don't get me wrong--I'm going to read through to the end--but the graphic descriptions of Auschwitz and in particular, of the mass execution of children has been really hard for me to read about right now... So anyways, here are the books that are on my list/that I think you should add to your list this spring!
Happy reading + happy [eventual] spring! Winter reading list time! Since I know we're all in [or want to be in] hibernation mode, here's a list of books to add to your list + read under a snuggly blanket while you wait for spring to arrive.
This time I've only read 2 out of the 7 books listed below (it hasn't been that long since my holiday reading list!), so that means I've got lots of reading to do this winter ;) Here's what's on my list...
What's on your list this winter? What have you read recently and loved? I'd love to hear your recommendations! You can peruse all of my past reading lists here. It's time for my third annual year-end reading list! Oh, how I love a good list of book recommendations.
I read 26 books in 2017, which is less than last year, but seeing as though I had a child for 12 months this year as opposed to just 4 months in 2016, I think that's to be expected (for comparison's sake, I read 31 books in 2016 and 37 in 2015--a year in which I was childless). Anyway, enough about that; here are my favorite reads of all of the books that I made it through this year. There's a little bit of something for everyone on the following list, and I've broken it up into 3 categories: my favorite "new releases," my favorite non-new releases, and my favorite lighter reads... Best New Books Read in 2017:
Happy reading! I hope your last few weeks of 2017 are full of downtime on the couch with a good book (+ glass of wine/tea/coffee) in-hand ;) It's almost a new season (Friday is the official first day of Autumn, woot woot!) so you know what that means...it's time for a new seasonal reading list!
As usual, this fall's list is made up of a few books that I've read recently and a few that I haven't...here's what made the cut:
Happy reading, fellow book lovers! Summer has arrived, y'all! And it's the BEST! We had *such* a lovely weekend enjoying the sunshine (+ doing some much-needed yard work) and it felt so wonderful to be outside so much.
This past weekend of warm weather also made me realize that it's time to share the books that are on my summer reading list with you, so that you can get stocked up for your upcoming vacations, beach days, and/or lazy afternoons reading in the sun. We took a short family trip to the beach yesterday, which led me to realize that I probably won't be reading on the beach much [ever?] this summer, because beaching with a baby is slightly less relaxing than it was without (she wants to eat everything on the beach including all the sand!). But that doesn't mean that I'm not still planning on enjoying a bunch of good books this summer...so here's what's on my list! {Oh, and I should note that my reading lists usually include a few books that I've read recently, but since I have so many good ones on my "to-read" list right now, I decided to make this list *just* books that I haven't read. I'll include some of my favorite recent reads on the next list.}
What do you think? Is that enough to get you started? Haha ;) What's on your list for the summer? I have to tell you that just composing this list has made me SO eager to read all of these books...maybe Ben and I can take shifts on our beach days so that I can do just a bit of beach reading (or it might be a while before I get through all of these)... You can peruse my past reading lists here. Happy Summer! Although it didn't feel like it around here until this past weekend, it's spring (finally)! And yesterday I went on a walk without a coat (finally!). And there are flowers sprouting up out of the ground (finally!). Spring is THE BEST.
You know what else is the best? Reading. And good books. And swinging in a hammock while reading a good book (which I also did briefly yesterday while Charlie Mae napped). So anywho, since it finally feels like spring outside, I think it's time for our seasonal reading list. I'm excited about this one because I've read some really good books lately and I know you'll enjoy them. Here we go...
And that's it for this month! Have any recs for me? I'd love to hear them and add them to my ever-growing list... Happy spring + happy reading! It's time for another reading list! Oh, how I love lists of book recommendations--give me lists + lists of good books and I'll happily comb through them for days.
Since it's winter, I know you're looking for books to enjoy while snuggled up on the couch, sitting by the fire, or hopefully, while on a long flight to some warm, exotic locale (Yay for you! Send a postcard!), so this season's list is meant for that kind of reading setup--the kind where you hunker down and read big chunks of your book at a time, getting completely lost in the story and the characters. {I should probably note that I'm not doing the aforementioned type of reading much these days. I'm really only reading before bed and it usually doesn't last long because I'm always *SO* tired and know that the babe will be up in a few hours (minutes?)...but that still hasn't stopped me from finishing a few really good books lately!} Thus, here are some novels that I recommend adding to your list, or that are on my current short list. As usual, I've noted which ones I've read and which ones I simply hope to read soon...
I could go on and on, as I have so many more books that I'm dying to read, but I'll stop there for now and save the others for my next reading list installment. Want more book recommendations? Click here to peruse past reading lists. Happy reading! As the title of this blog post suggests, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Jessica Shuck, has recently written her first novel. Jessica has been one of my dearest/soulmate friends for over 13 years now, and I could not be more proud of her or love her book more.
There are four things you should know about Jessica before you read her book and meet her through today's Q&A:
Thus, you won't be surprised to learn that Jessica's first book is a combination of these four things--it's smart, well-written, funny, and romantic--and it's wonderful. I read the first draft voraciously while breastfeeding Charlie Mae back in her first few weeks of life. I think I read it in about 2-3 days because I couldn't put it down (and also because I was feeding Charlie Mae basically all day every day so I had a lot of time for reading); I've been waiting to share it with all of you ever since. Because Jessica's book is now available on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback (yay!), I felt it only appropriate to talk about Jessica + her book here on the blog today. So lets hear from her! You can learn more about Jessica below or by hopping over to her blog... 1. Tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are professionally. I wrote about this in greater detail on my blog, The Naptime Writer, but the gist is this: after a lot of thought, I decided to drop out of my English Lit. PhD program because I just wasn’t happy doing what I was doing. When I couldn’t find a job right away, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to see if I could write a book (or as perfect as any opportunity would ever be.) Now I’m blogging regularly, working on my second book, and taking care of my adorable and mischievous toddler. In short: I’m the happiest I’ve ever been professionally or personally. (Sorry that this sounds like an infomercial). 2. You just wrote an entire book (!). How did you make that happen? What was your writing routine like? I’ve tried to write fiction so many times before and it didn’t happen because I didn’t push through the hard parts, like what happened immediately after the first sentence. Once I forced myself to keep writing (and “forced” isn’t an exaggeration), my writing routine became writing in the mornings before my son woke up, when he napped, and/or when he went to bed at night—that’s why my blog is called The Naptime Writer. 3. Where did you get inspiration for your book? My immediate spark of inspiration was sadly seeing a mouse race through my own kitchen. I imagined how my heroine would react to that, and the next couple of chapters came to me pretty easily. And genre-wise, I’ve been inspired by some of my favorite romances, including Pride and Prejudice, all of Meg Ryan’s rom-coms, lots and lots of romance novels (I tend to gravitate toward those featuring Scottish lairds or FBI agents), and, of course, my relationship with my husband, Daniel. 4. Why did you want to write a romance novel? I’ve been into romances for as long as I can remember. (Did anyone else love Beethoven 2 and Mighty Ducks 2 for the romance plots?) As far as romance novels are concerned, I got my love of them from my mom. When I was a teenager, I started sneaking romance novels from her collection and reading them in my walk-in closet. And one of my biggest motivations is that I’m still very happily in love with my husband, Daniel, after 12+ years together. I love romance novels because they evoke that magical feeling of falling in lust and love with a forever love. 5. Why did you start blogging? My original motivation for blogging was that I thought it would be a smart marketing strategy to start gathering an audience before I announced that I had self-published a book. But I have always wanted to share my thoughts about what I was reading/watching, etc. (the main topics of my blog) in the same abstract way that I have always wanted to write fiction. Once I started blogging I was amazed at how much I loved it. 6. If you had to give one piece of advice to women (or men!) who want to take the plunge and pursue their dreams of working for themselves or starting their own business or blog, what would it be? This is for all of my perfectionist friends and/or readers: stop worrying so much about whether you’ll be the best x who has ever lived and focus instead on trying something that makes you happy. When I focused more on the internal rewards of doing something professionally and creatively fulfilling, I began focusing less on comparing myself and my work to others. (This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be a great writer. It just means that I’ve prioritized feeling happy and fulfilled over what I previously prioritized—my huge anxiety regarding failure and what people might think if I “tried” to write.) 7. What do you consider your biggest accomplishment? My son, Samuel. And second, probably writing and self-publishing a book. 8. What's your biggest guilty pleasure? Oh my gosh, I watch the worst reality television shows. For some people, like Mary Catherine and our other best friend Laura, this was more of a college phase, but it looks like it’s going to be a lifelong guilty pleasure for me. I watch way too many of The Real Housewives spin-offs, and I love reality television shows about cooking, even though I don’t enjoy cooking itself. (That’s not an exhaustive list of the reality tv shows I watch, btw). 9. If you were exiled to a desert island and could only bring 3 things, what would they be? I’m not going to list my husband and son because I want to be fun and also because it’s probably selfish to exile them to the hypothetical deserted island with me, so I’ll say a gigantic Norton Anthology of English Literature, swimming goggles, and a lighter. 10. Words of wisdom you live by? “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” -Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling) And now, here's the blurb from the back of Jessica's book (FYI, if you're buying it for Kindle it's super affordable at $2.99, and if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free!): Things get complicated when your greatest rival becomes the object of your lust. Eliza Ward, high school English teacher, has been smitten with her gorgeous friend, Luke, for an embarrassing length of time, and she’s finally decided to do something about that crush. There’s only one problem, and his name is Theo Sorensen. Eliza and Theo have competed with one another for years, and the announcement of an available chair position in their English Department only exacerbates their conflict. But somewhere along the way Eliza and Theo start spending less time thinking about how to one-up each other, and more time fantasizing about how to get the other person naked. This is where it gets complicated. Should Eliza pursue Luke, the figure at the center of her romantic daydreams since elementary school? Or should she pursue Theo, a man who looks devastatingly hot wearing glasses and reading a book, but who has been her long-standing foe? Or should she choose neither? (It’s definitely not Option C.) Finally You is a smart, sexy rom-com perfect for bibliophiles and the chronically romantic. Last year, I created my first annual year-end reading list, and it was so much fun that I'm back with a second annual version this year.
I read 31 books in 2016; this is 6 less than I read in 2015, but seeing as though we had a baby and my reading was majorly sidelined by exhaustion (both while pregnant and since having sweet Charlie Mae...), I'm feeling okay about it. So, here are my favorites of all of the books that I read this year. There's a little bit of something for everyone on the following lists, and I've broken them up into 3 categories: my favorite "new releases," my favorite non-new releases, and my favorite lighter reads {I've also included a few comments here + there because sometimes I can't keep my input to myself}... Best New Books Read in 2016:
Older Books that I Read + Loved in 2016:
New Page-Turners/Beach Reads/Airplane Books Worth Picking-Up:
Also, I have to mention that one of my BFFs, Jessica Christensen, just wrote her very first book--a smart, sexy romance novel--and it was another one of the best books I read this year, but it's not available *yet.* It will be soon though, and you'd better believe that I'll be sharing more info about it as soon as it's out! In the meantime, if you're looking for more book recommendations, hop on over to Jessica's new blog for tons of good book recs by the most well-read person I know [she had a goal of reading 100 books in 2016 and she's almost there--OMG!]. Happy reading and gifting! I haven't bought A SINGLE Christmas gift yet [gulp], so that's what I'll be doing over the next two weeks... As I make my way through my Summer Reading List, which is full of beach reads + [mostly] fiction books, I have also been making time in between the "fun" books to read pregnancy and mommy-related books. Not that these books aren't as enjoyable to read per se, but they definitely require me to be in a different mental space in order to read them.
That being said, I've gotten a lot out of reading these types of books, as they make me feel more educated and aware of what's out there in this unknown world I'm about to enter--even if I don't agree with or understand everything written in each book. So, here are the books that are on my mom-to-be reading list. I've already read 3 of the books listed below, and the other 3 are in my queue...
So, that's where I am at this point when it comes to baby books! I'm sure this list will be constantly changing as I get deeper into the process (and actually have a baby!), but there you go. Fellow pregnant ladies and/or parents: what books would you recommend? Any must-reads that I haven't included here? Please post to comments to share the learning love! I'm back in a good reading groove! Phew. While I may only have a few more months (around 2) that are exhaustion-free (or baby-free, I should say), I've recently had the energy to get back into my bedtime reading routine and therefore, get through a few good books over the past month or two...
Thus, it's summer reading list time! Whether you're headed to the beach, traveling for work, or just taking a load off for a little while, here are 6 books that I recommend adding to your list in June, July, and August...
Enjoy! It's been a couple of months since my last reading list and I have to tell you the reason for this: since becoming pregnant I have been SO tired that I've had a very hard time getting through any books during my usual nightly reading time.
This has *never* happened to me before; I can't remember a time when I wasn't a voracious reader every night before bed--but for the past few months, even if I get into bed at 8:30pm, I still fall asleep within just a few minutes, meaning I can only get through a few pages before nodding off (and therefore, have had a very hard time getting through a book in a timely manner). So, couple that with a full schedule and not much travel (another time when I read a ton), and books haven't been on my mind as much as usual. Sigh. I've been "reading" Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter for what feels like months now and am only halfway through, which is just not the norm for me. {But I guess it is these days!} Anyways, despite becoming a super slow reader as of late, I do still have a growing list of books that I want to read--not counting the huge stack of pregnancy, parenting, and baby-related books on my nightstand--so I hope that my energy returns soon and can get back to it ;) In the meantime, I'll share my list of "to-read" books with you...not exactly the same as the lists made up of books I recommend, but still worthwhile, I think, especially if you already know that we share a similar taste in reading material... Here are 6 books that are on my list right now:
And that's my current list [+ approximately 1 million baby-related books, of course]. Good thing I have a bunch of travel coming up in April and May! ;) What books have you read lately? Anything I should add to my list? Let me know! I read quite a few books this year. In fact, I just looked back on my Kindle and the final number appears to be around 37. I'd say that's a lot, would you agree? We can probably thank the two retreats that I led and my three international flights for such a high number ;)
So, since I did so much reading this year, I feel that I can adequately provide you with a list of the best new/newish books of 2015. I should be clear that since I read mostly fiction, that's what this list is made up of: fiction books that I couldn't put down over the past 11 months. Also, since I read so many books in 2015 and not all of them were new, I'm including three short lists below. First, a list of the six best "new releases" that I read this year (books that came out in late-2014 or 2015); second, a very small list of a few older books that I finally got around to reading this year and loved, and third, a list of page-turners and travel reads (perfect for the beach, a long plane flight, or those times when you don't want to think too much while reading). If you haven't read these books, I definitely recommend each and every one of them. If there's a book lover on your gift list, I also highly recommend giving any of these books as gifts. Here goes! Best New Books Read in 2015:
Older Books that I Finally Read + Loved in 2015:
New Page-Turners/Beach Reads/Airplane Books Worth Picking-Up:
Looking back at all of the books I read in 2015, there are some common themes that emerge: WWII-era novels, novels about the horrors of slavery and the bonds/friendships that arose despite those horrors, and family + relationship novels. Sounds about right... What books did you read in 2015 that you just couldn't put down? I'm always looking for new books to add to my list! Looking for more suggestions? You can peruse all of my past reading lists here. |
HELLO!I'm Mary Catherine, a Cape Cod-based yoga teacher, painter, designer, writer, mom, and list-maker extraordinaire. My goal is to inspire you to start living a more creative, simple, joyful, + purposeful life.
{Learn more + read my story}
|