July Reading Round Up!

What I've Been Reading 

All of us readers know that books are one escape that no one can take away from us, right? And it's been proven true for me during this pandemic too. The only things that have been helping me stay sane are reading, eating whatever sweet treats 12 yo decides to make and watching a lot of movies with the girls and hubster as a family. LOL, until hubster reminds us it's time for the family walk. :) 

Have your reading tastes changed during this pandemic? Have you switched genres or sub genres? Curious minds want to know.

With me, even before this pandemic started, I've been listening to a lot of thrillers and mysteries on audiobooks. LOL, I've even cured my relentless looping thoughts at night time with this - I go to bed listening to an audiobook and sleep sets in after a while and I pull off my headphones. 

LOL I even missed a murderer reveal in one of the books like this. :)  For some reason, romance is the one thing I can't listen to on Audio Books. So it's iPad to the rescue then. 

Some of my recent favorites have been: 

THIS ONE!! OMG!!! I LOVED this book and finished in one sitting - with lots of snack breaks! The HOUSE - ahhh....without being spoilery, of all the haunted/twisted/gothic/messed up houses in all the gothic novels ever, this was something! The thought of being stuck inside the house like the heroine made my skin crawl and run screaming...it was that GOOD!

I borrowed this from the library because the blurb struck my fancy. It ended up a fairly good read/listen. There were moments where I was like UGHH where are all the sensible people but it was also because the author made it pretty believable too, I think. The ending felt a little too neatly tied up but I did end up liking it. 

Talia's one of my favorite romance writers. This was one slow and maddening sometimes (because I just wanted Olu and Griffin to just admit how much they love the other already) but also soft and achingly lovely.

LOL, I've been on a ghost/haunting paranormal thriller kick for a while now and loved more than one title by this author. I liked this one and was terrified at one particular scene. The ending was a bit of a let down but since that was like the last few pages, I came away liking the book. :) Apparently, if I'm scared out of my wits during the book, I'll end up liking the book even if the ending is blah.

Small Changes + Every Day = A New Year!

It's the first working week of the new year for me and it's off to a great start!

This year, I did a lot of reflection on the past year and my word for the year is GROW. I met an old friend from college and something about that meeting reminded me that I used to be so bold and sparkly and just willing to risk things, experiences, opinions to just LIVE life.

Of course, I'm wiser than I was 15 years ago but somewhere that inherent boldness also dulled.

So this year, I'm claiming that sparkle back and am going to try to Grow into myself again. See what I did there? 😀

Of course, the word comes with its own pressures because who among us doesn't want to see immediate results. We do live in a world of instant gratification.

So to support that growth and to sustain it over long term, my other themes are small changes, consistency, and mindfulness.

Whether writing and writing related business stuff or health and fitness or spirituality or family or relationships, I'm implementing small changes.

Small Changes + Every Day = Sustainable Growth.

Hey, I even did some math in the name of my theme. 😉 #STEMGirl

And Metrics.

The other difference this year is I'm tracking everything. EVERYTHING! From writing sprints to mood (PMS rages/hysterics anyone?) to food to steps to yoga to gym visits to dental visits to WhatsApp communication (all those groups add up y'all) to Social Media Posts to Books I Read to Movies I watch to Board Games played with Children to Travel to Meals to Expenses to how many times I'm journaling in the year to WaterIntake to well....like I said everything.

🧘‍♀️🏋️‍♀️💻⏰⌚️🛏🎊💌📒📅📖📓📙💟

For me, the main advantage of tracking all these Metrics (other than the fact that it feeds my planner and stationery addiction) is that when the shine of the new year fades and I fall into a rut ( which is inevitable because motivation is not in infinite supply) the metrics help me get back on track.

To do an easy reset.

The good days shine in contrast to the sad, bad, miserable days.

Also, they help me figure out what tasks I dread, what I love, what refill the muse, what makes my heart expand with joy, what drags me down, what gives me decision fatigue early in the week and I can adjust these things to function better.

Not at peak level. I don't think it's possible to function at peak levels all the time. But I can do more of the good stuff and minimize the stuff that gives me very little ROI.

Phew!! 😐

Makes sense, right?

I don't know where I heard it because I'm a productivity junkie and I read so many articles/books on it but in essence I think I'm choosing SYSTEMS over WillPower.

Because systems are designed to handle failures/ false starts/ inertia etc. but again willpower is only finite.

Since you've hung on for this long, here's some pretty pictures of my planner.

Also new book started today!

The book and life is a blank page, ready to be filled.