Earlier this year I shared my struggles with making time to read, but so far this year I have completed several books and am currently reading through a few more. So, I think it is going well so far.
My goal is to sit down and read for 20 minutes day. Setting a timer seems to work well for me and although there is often interruptions, I find that setting the timer makes me actually get my 20 minutes in. I will say that January and February went really well and I read almost every day. March on the other hand did not go so well, but I did get 20 minutes in at least a few days a week.
I finished Food Heroes and Girl Hunter earlier this year and enjoyed them both.
Last month I finished How to Eat a Small Country: A Family’s Pursuit of Happiness, One Meal at a Time
and I have mixed feelings about this book. I tried to like it, really I did, but I really had trouble getting into this one. I think it is probably partially the language and content of some of it, but I think it is also the very structured and scheduled part of me that cannot imagine dropping everything and taking a year to travel a country trying to reconnect to my family while enjoying the food and culture. I know that many people would love to do that, but I am not a drop everything and figure it out as I go type person, but if I was, I might have enjoyed this book a little more. Have any of you read it? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I also finished The Money Saving Mom’s Budget
last month. This was a good book and an easy read overall. It is actually doing the things in the book that is the hard part and the part that takes discipline. Many of us know what we should be doing, but we don’t know where or how to start and go about it. This book contains great tips and information on setting you on the path towards saving money. I have read Crystal’s site for a long time, so there was nothing really ground breaking in this book, but it was a good reminder of why we do work to save and do what we do. I think this would be a really great book for someone that is just starting out on reducing debt or saving money. And it would also be a good book for someone just getting married and starting out.
I am known for having five or so books going at that same time, but right now I am only working on a couple. That is pretty good for me.
Last month I started the Steve Jobs
book when I was on a trip and so far it has been very interesting. I am about a third of the way through it, which is actually pretty good since it is a huge book. Most of what I have read so far in this book happened while I was on an airplane and I have not read very much in it over the last few weeks, but I am hoping to finish it over the next month.
I am also almost finished reading Knockout Entrepreneur
by George Foreman. This has been an easy read that I have really enjoyed. This book is part business, part inspirational, part motivational, and part a biography of sorts. What I like about this book is how honest George Foreman is. He talks about not only his successes, but his failures. He talks about some of the things that he has done wrong in business and what he has done right. You learn some about his family, his faith, his business life, and his boxing life. You will also learn about how the George Foreman grill came about, which is an interesting story.
One my to read list for the year are several books by bloggers that I know. I finished the Money Saving Mom’s book, so up next up on that list is Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Standard of Living…and Giving
by Kelly from Faithful Provisions and I hope to start that book soon.
And also on my to read list over the next month or so is EntreLeadership
by Dave Ramsey and Quitter
by Jon Acuff. Last month when I attended a blogger conference I was given both these books and I can’t wait to read them. EntreLeadership has been on my to read list since it came out, so I plan on started that one first.
Of course I have also been reading a few cookbooks, but I will cover more of those in my Cooking Through My Collection series.
Now I would love to hear what you have been reading. Have you read any good books lately?
Entreleadership and Quitter are two of the best books I’ve read this year. I think you’ll really get some great info out of them. The copies I read were from the library but I took lots of notes and hope to add both books to my personal collection someday.
I am glad to know that you enjoyed them. It is good to know that they are both good books. Now I am really looking forward to reading them.
I think I may have the opposite problem, I may spend too much time reading 🙂 This weekend I am sick and I’ve read three books, my favorite being Bringing Up Bebe. It’s a fun read comparing French and American styles of parenting.
I heard about that book recently and it sounded like an interesting read and comparison of cultures.
I, too, tried to read How to Eat a Small Country. And I, too, really wanted to like it! In fact, I wanted her to win The Food Network Star show years ago. But I was also put off by the language. Actually I am intrigued at the thought of dropping everything and living in a foreign country for a year. And I must say that I am extremely impressed that she did it to save her marriage and turned her back on the stardom. But I just skimmed the book.
Well I am glad to know that I am not the only one that had trouble getting into this book. It makes me feel better knowing it wasn’t just me. 🙂
I am almost through Victor Davis Hansen’s book “A War Like No Other” on the Peloponnesian war. It rounds out my first dozen books this year. I think I have a propensity to read too much. My kids & I have about an hour every day of “quiet time”.
Twelve books already this year! Good job!! I have my kids read each day, but it seems like as they have gotten older their reading times no longer happen at the same time, therefore my quiet time does not happen.
I have a feeling that when the youngest gives up her nap we will lose our organized quiet time.
I just finished reading Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand and it was fantastic! It’s about Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner and World War II veteran. I would recommend it to anyone! It was so inspirational and astounding!
I read a book a few years ago that was a book full of short biographies. Each chapter was about a different person and one of the chapters was about him and it was very interesting. I am going to have to read that book. Thanks for mentioning it!