What I Read- February

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Hey loves. It's time for another month of book reviews. I read 6 books and listened to 1 on audio. I need good recommendations to listen to. Something that is going to keep me interested.  Linking up with Steph for Show your Books


 


Title: Wrong Text Right Love

Author: Claudia Burgoa

Genre: Contemporary Romance

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon Description:Girls all over the world spill the tea to me about their most intimate questions.

They thank me for talking about sex with them.
For fixing their love lives.

I wonder if I’d still be a relationship influencer if they knew what a train wreck my own love life is?

If I was writing anyone else advice, it would say things like:
Never drunk-text your ex-boyfriend.
No, seriously, that’s a terrible idea.
But if you insist, maybe double-check the number first.

Oops.

But I guess I give good…text, because the stranger I messaged wrote back.
And I responded.
He doesn’t have to put up with my colorful personality—as my hot next-door neighbor describes me. Or my messy schedule.
This relationship is as seemingly perfect as my online persona.

Until we agree to meet up.
When he meets the real me, will he hate me forever?
Or will we be one day telling our grandkids about that wrong text, right love?

My Review: Laugh out loud funny, love story, would make a great movie. Characters are very likeable and relatable. 


Title: God Bless This Mess 

Author: Hannah Brown

Genre: Memoir

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: “My life was a complete mess, and God bless all of it. Because it’s in the messes where we learn the most - as long as we slow down enough to realize what God is trying to show us.”

Suddenly in the spotlight, 24-year-old Hannah Brown realized that she wasn’t sure what she wanted. After years of competing in beauty pageants, and then starring on The Bachelorette and Dancing with the Stars, she had become incredibly visible. There she was, in her early 20s, with millions around the world examining and weighing in on her every decision. She found herself wondering what it would mean to live on her terms. What it would mean to stop seeking approval from others and decide - for the first time - what it was she wanted from her own life.

An honest and earnest examination of her own mid-20s, God Bless This Mess is a memoir that doesn’t claim to have all the answers. Hannah knows she doesn’t have all the answers. What she does have is the insight of someone who has spent critical years of her youth under public scrutiny. Thus what emerges is a quarter-life memoir that speaks to the set of difficulties young women face, and how to move through them with grace. By pushing against her engrained need to seek approval, and learning how to think critically about her own goals and desires, Hannah inspires others to do the same - and to embrace the messiness that comes hand-in-hand with self-discovery (even it that sometimes means falling flat on your face).

Using her time on The Bachelorette as a launching pad, Hannah doesn’t shy away from the most painful experiences of her life: moments when her faith was tested, when she feared it was lost, and the moments when she reclaimed it on national television. “And Jesus still loves me.” Fans will be inspired by the never-before-told stories: the ones about facing depression and anxiety during her pageant years, the ways in which therapy and journaling have proven to be a saving grace, and the previously private moments - both at home and on television - that have shaped the star’s outlook.

Honest and emotionally urgent, God Bless This Mess is a reminder that true growth doesn’t come without strife - and it’s through those dark, messy moments that self-acceptance and love can bloom.

My Review: I love Hannah Brown from her time on Bachelor and Bachelorette. Her book isn't your typical bachelorette tell all (I wish there was more details) but really on her life and how she has struggled and grown. She is raw and vulnerable is telling details of her life that many people would not approve of. It makes me look at her in a different  even better light.



Title: Getting Good at Being You

Author: Lauren Alaina

Genre: Autobiography

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: With a little bit of country, a whole lot of faith, and a healthy dose of sass, award-winning singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina's debut book, Getting Good at Being You, invites you to take the road less traveled as you step right up to who God calls you to be.

After years in the spotlight on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, country music star Lauren Alaina has learned a thing or two about fighting self-doubt and feeling at home in her own skin. In Getting Good at Being You, Lauren shares stories about everything from lost loves to getting a nose ring to battling an eating disorder to grieving a loved one’s death. Each story leads to practical tips, take-it-on-the-road strategies, and encouragement for your own personal and spiritual growth.

In this book, you will be inspired to:

  • speak to yourself with kindness and compassion
  • chase the dreams that light your spirit on fire
  • cultivate rich relationships with family and friends
  • identify self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors
  • offer forgiveness for yourself and others

Throughout the book, you will find:

  • behind-the-scenes photos from Lauren's career in country music.
  • lists, tips, and strategies to boost your self-confidence.
  • prompts to help you dream big and run toward who you are.

This beautiful book is a perfect gift for

  • women who celebrate other women
  • birthday celebrations or career promotions
  • high school and college graduations
  • fans who want to know more about country music stardom

Each of us deserves head-over-heels, can't-get-enough, shout-it-from-the-mountaintops self-love. By the final page of Getting Good at Being You, that's just the kind of confidence you'll have. As Lauren discovered, maybe life is getting good after all.

My Review: I am a fan of Lauren Alaina. I love that her book isn't just about her life and struggles but truly being your best person. She has great tips for confidence and dreaming big. 



Title: The Purpose Driven Life 

Author: Rick Warren

Genre: Personal Development

My Rating: 2 of 5

Amazon Description: Discover and fulfill your God-given purpose by joining the more than thirty-five million others who have embarked on a spiritual journey that started with this #1 New York Times bestselling book by Pastor Rick Warren.

Before you were born, God knew what your life had in store for you. His hope for you is to discover the life he created just for you--both here on earth, and forever in eternity. Let Rick Warren guide you as you learn to live out your true purpose.

The Purpose Driven Life is more than a book; it's a road map for your spiritual journey. Combining thoughtful verses from Scripture with timely stories and perspectives from Warren's own life, The Purpose Driven Life will help you discover the answer to one of life's most important questions: What on earth am I here for?

Throughout The Purpose Driven Life, Warren will teach you to spend time getting to know yourself and your creator in order to live your life to the fullest. Unlocking your true purpose will also reduce your stress, simplify your decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most importantly, prepare you for eternity.

Designed to be read over the course of forty-two days, The Purpose Driven Life will help you see the big picture, giving you a fresh perspective on the way that the pieces of your life fit together. Every chapter of The Purpose Driven Life provides a daily meditation and practical steps to help you uncover and live out your purpose, starting with exploring three essential questions:

  • The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?
  • The Question of Significance: Does my life matter?
  • The Question of Purpose: What on earth am I here for?

Each copy of The Purpose Driven Life also includes thoughtful discussion questions, audio Bible studies that go along with every chapter, and access to a supportive online community, giving you the opportunity to dive even deeper into each life-changing lesson.

My Review: I read this book as part of a bible study group. I was not a fan. As a believer in God but not a church goer, it turned me off in different parts how he talks about non-church goers. 



Title: Love Unending

Author: Becky Thompson

Genre: Marriage

My Rating: 5 of 5

Amazon Description: Since becoming a mom, do you ever feel like your marriage no longer receives the attention it needs to thrive? Do you ever wonder how you’re supposed to re-center your heart on your husband when you are so busy with everything else?


Those feelings we experienced in the first days of love and marriage often become buried beneath hurried life, active children, and mountains of bills and laundry. Maybe you’ve questioned and perhaps even worried if you’ll ever again experience romance as you did in the beginning—that newness of what it meant to be fully caught up in one another. But what if you could rekindle that fresh sort of love? What if there was a secret to love unending?

For the next twenty-one days, journey with Becky Thompson to remember what life was like when you first fell in love with your husband. Each daily challenge, reflection, and prayer will refocus your attention, re-center your heart, reignite the romance, and help you rediscover your marriage in the midst of motherhood.

Take the Love Unending 21-day challenge and discover the best way forward is to look back at the beginning.

My Review: I read this every year, normally around February for the past few years. It is a quick daily read to add some spark into Brian and my relationship. It has great reminders of life before kids and why we got together in the first place. 



Title: The 12 Week Year

Author: Brian Moran

Genre: Personal Development

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks

Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.

  • Explains how to leverage the power of a 12 week year to drive improved results in any area of your life
  • Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness
  • Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation

Turn your organization's idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.

My Review: I listened on audio. First time in a long time I listened to a book. At times the voice dragged, but I got a lot of good info and motivation out of this book. 



Title:
My Darcy's Kiss

Author: Krista Lakes

Genre: Romance

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon Description: Rich.

British.
Hot as hell.

Elizabeth Bennett has never appreciated any of these traits in a man. So when Mr. Darcy, billionaire British playboy and GQ's Bachelor of the Year, meets her at a function, she's surprised at how attracted she is to him.

That is until he puts his foot in his big, arrogant mouth.

The slap that she gave him got her thrown out of the biggest fundraiser of the year, but the mark she left on Mr. Darcy won't leave his mind.

The second time that they meet "on accident", he turns up the arrogance even more.

The third time, he tries flowers.

By the fourth time, he's wearing a cup to protect himself.

Mr. Darcy is the last man in the world that Elizabeth could ever be with. However, love makes fools of us all, and the one man that she can't stand is the one man she can't resist.

Can Mr. Darcy's kiss win over the heart of Elizabeth Bennett?

My Review: A quick fun, keeps you interested read. I couldn't put it down and literally read in two nights. Krista Lakes is one of my favorite writers. I love the adaptation to Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice in current times. 


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6 comments

  1. Sounds like you read some interesting books this month!

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    Replies
    1. I am trying to switch it up and not just read romances all the time

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  2. I've been reading/listening to a lot of autobiographies and memoirs lately too and I am really enjoying them. Right now I'm listening to Drew Barrymore's Wildflower and she is such a dramatic narrator that even my oldest son was laughing when I honestly thought he was tuning the book out in favor of listening to his music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am always afraid the narrator is going to bore me. I am going to have to listen to Drew

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  3. We have a copy of the 12 Week Year in my office, I haven't picked it up though

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  4. God Bless This Mess is on my nightstand right this very second! I need to add Lauren Alaina's book and Purpose Driven Life to my list too!

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Thanks for leaving some comment love.