Can we just take a minute to appreciate this sunrise! The sun may take its time arriving during the winter but when it does it certainly knows how to make an entrance!
Okay, on to today’s post.
Last year I set myself the goal of reading 50 books. The purpose behind this goal was to get me back into the habit of reading, something that I have always enjoyed but somewhere down the road stopped making time for. With 50 books to read I made sure to make reading a priority in my life, and not to long into my goal I found myself sneaking in reading a few pages whenever I could, my love for reading was back!
After reaching my goal in December I kept my reading mojo going all through the Christmas holiday, where I read five books in two weeks, it was pretty wonderful! Since then life has gotten busier, and most evenings my book is now being replaced with my Icelandic studies, but I am set on keeping reading a big part of my life in 2016.
To help make sure I keeping reading a priority (and choose my book over hours of reality tv) I have set myself another reading goal of 50 books for this year. I am keeping it at 50 books as I think more than that would be really pushing it with my current schedule (aka I am trying to tackle Icelandic this year).
With the first month of the year down I am off to a good start with my reading goal and have read some great books lately, a huge improvement from my past few months of book fails.
Here is a recap of what I have been reading lately.
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The Thinking Woman’s Guide To Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker - ★★
A heartbroken PhD student, Nora, wanders off during a friends wedding weekend and ends up going through a portal to another world. This world is full of magic but what starts off as a happy ending for Nora turns into a fairytale gone wrong and she must learn magic to save herself. Recommend to those who loved the All Souls Trilogy, which I did, I thought for sure I would love this book. Wrong. Nothing really happened and the magical side of the story was actually really boring. I kept reading it hoping for something to happen, but this story just fell flat for me.
The Stranger by Harlan Coben - ★★★★
Finally my so so book streak has been broken, I could not put this one down. I love a good suspenseful story and this one did not disappoint! The ending caught me completely off guard, in a good way, and I enjoyed every page of this book. If you enjoy a good mystery add this to your reading list!
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty - ★★★★
I am a huge fan of Liane Moriarty and have loved all of her books that I have read. They are the perfect mix of humor, mystery and real life issues, once I start one of her books I can never put them down. “Liane Moriarty once again combines sharp wit, lovable and eccentric characters, and a page-turning story for an unforgettable” Seriously the perfect way to describe her books, if you haven’t read one of Liane Moriarty’s books yet add it this to your winter reading list.
The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - ★★★★
Another winning book. The best way to describe this book is The Hunger Games meets The Selection series. If you were of fan of either series check out this book. The story was really well written and the ending had some twists I didn’t see coming which has me counting down the days until the second book in the series is released later this month!
10% Happier by Dan Harris - ★★★
Dan Harris is a Nightline anchor who embarks on his own journey into the world of spirituality and self-help. As someone who finds the world of spirituality intriguing, but at the same time a bit hard to get into, I found this story so interesting. The author is completely honest about his experiences and at times had me laughing at the thoughts he had when he was attempting to mediate. This book wasn’t life changing for me as I have heard others say but it was a very interesting read.
The Dinner by Herman Koch - ★★★
Called the “ European Gone Girl” by the The Wall Street Journal this was the book my bookclub read for January. I really enjoyed the first half of this book, the story was unfolding and you were able to piece information together to try and figure out the mystery. But the second half lost me. I don’t mind a book that ends with an unclear ending so you can come to your own conclusions, but this book left so many things up in the air that I really wanted cleared up. It was a great book to read for bookclub though, we had lots to discuss!
Paris Letters by Janice Macleod - ★★★★
This book was added to my list after I saw it posted on World of Wanderlust. A story about a woman who has had enough of the corporate world and sets a goal of saving enough money to travel Europe for two years this book is perfect for anyone who dreams of traveling! While I really enjoyed this aspect of the book my favorite part of the story was her love story with her French man. Some of the things she wrote about her relationship and especially about learning a new language completely hit home for me.
Fingers crossed my good book streak continues! Currently I am reading All the Light We Cannot See for my bookclub, and am loving it, no wonder it has such great reviews! Any great books you have read lately that I should add to my list?? Let me know in the comments below!
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If reading blogs is more your thing I have a wonderful blogger to introduce you to today! Meet Christina from Route Bliss , a lifelong Texan who takes some gorgeous photography and is always off on some adventure. Along with her beautiful pictures she has some great travel tips that all travelers should read!
When did you decide to start blogging / what inspired you to start blogging?
I’ve actually been blogging somewhere on the web since early 2001! I can’t really say what inspired me to initially start blogging, but the part of it where I started sharing images/travels was due to penpalling, it was an easy way to tell my penpals around the globe about where I’d been. Until I started my photography business, it was mostly personal ramblings that are pretty much gone from the web, thank goodness! Since 2007, I’ve been blogging either my portrait client work or my travels; I split the two up into separate websites about two and a half years ago and started focusing on my travel and personal photography work on Route Bliss.
What does your perfect weekend look like??
Sleeping in! I work 7 - 4 during the week, so I’m up and out of the house by 6 am thanks to a 40+ minute commute.
On a long weekend, I’d find a destination to either day trip to or make a quick weekend out of around the eastern half of Texas … or dart up to Little Rock to visit my best friend.
You traveled all over the USA and visited several National Parks too! What is one destination you would love to revisit?
Oh geez, that’s a tough decision! I’m not sure I can choose just one! From pre-2015 travels, I’d have to say Yellowstone. We barely saw half of the park (the eastern half) and missed out on one of the falls due to a jumper + wasn’t able to see Old Faithful erupt.
From last year, I want to go back to Yosemite. We’d planned two days in the park, but due to exhaustion, we spent day two exploring the nearby national forest instead of venturing further into the park. I still want to see the Tuolumne Meadows and Hetchy Hetch Reservoir areas (+ Mariposa Grove that closed for restoration 10-ish days before we arrived).
Any big travel plans for 2016?
Right now, my major travel plan is visiting Albuquerque during the annual balloon fiesta … gotta nail down reservations soon! I’m also planning a weekend trip to New Braunfels, Texas and one to Little Rock, Arkansas. I have some tentative plans for August, but its all up in the air at the moment (waiting on a friend’s plans + making sure I have the money and ability to take off work first). I also want to work in another national park if possible since 2016 is the centennial of the NPS and there’s some big celebrations going on throughout the year as well as in late August.
You take some stunning pictures of your travels. Any photography tips for us newbies out there?
Thanks :) The key is practice, lots of it. Get to know your camera; read the manual and find out what all those fancy features are/how to use them. Don’t be afraid to screw up when you have the ability to reshoot (at home, not while traveling). And if you’re unsure of your settings and aren’t able to take the time to get ‘the shot’ for whatever reason, there is nothing wrong with shooting in auto/program mode to capture the moment.
Before you go what are three of your favorite posts that you think everyone needs to read?
Getting Started as a Hobbyist Photography
Planning for and Saving Money While on the Road
10 Steps to Vehicle Readiness {RB Roadtripping}
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And now you have lots of new reading material to keep you busy while we wait for summer to arrive!
Question of the Day?
What are you reading this month?