I didn’t set out to read so many books in January but somehow managed to get through 5 great reads!

Hallie and I also found some super fun children’s books that I wanted to share.

I’ll start with my reads:

Joyful(Ingrid Fetell Lee): I began this year with this one and am so glad I did. It’s a great book to begin a new year with. it’s full of little surprises including the book itself. Take off the dust jacket and find a world of confetti underneath! I was constantly motivated while reading this book. So much so that I bought a huge cylinder of colorful gumballs that are now on display in my office, dedicated an entire wall to my children’s art and purchased a beautiful colorful striped pillow for my reading chair. You’re in for a treat if you get yourself this book. The local library does have it but for me, it’s one of those books I had to highlight the mess out of and that I keep close by to look back at from time to time…so I had to just own my own copy.

The Fun Formula(Joel Comm): This is a book that goes hand in hand with Joyful. It’s a great book to follow that one or vice versa. You’ll find yourself flowing through it quite quickly, but keep that highlighter handy as there is so much to come back to in this one.

‘all it takes to turn a potential no into a reluctant yes is a reason’. One of my favorite lines..

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman): This one I snagged from Reese Witherspoon’s hello sunshine book club. It’s older on her list but is one I kept seeing on Instagram and thought I’d check out. It’s an easy and lighter read and I flowed through it easily. I enjoyed seeing Eleanor come full circle and out of her shell.

Next Year in Havana(Chanel Cleeton): Another hello sunshine recommendation. I wasn’t sure if it would interest me at first, but it kept popping up in my mind and it came up on my holds list so I thought, ok, let’s see. I’m so thankful I read this one. I learned so much about Cuba, a place I truly knew very very little about, and what’s better than one love story? well, two of course. Generations apart, the two love stories had so many similarities and kept me wanting to read more. I found myself writing down so much from this book to save for later. Little things like ‘caught in a memory’, deeper like ‘how can time feel both unending and entirely too finite’, to more personal like this one ‘miss the idea of someone, but never knew him/her enough to miss them’. It perfectly explains for me how I feel about my real dad. Missing the idea of what society shows you a father should be, but not missing ‘him’ b/c I never knew him well enough to miss him. I had never really thought of it that exact way before but woah! So many more things from this book fill my notebook, but you need to read to find out 🙂 This one would be a wonderful Feb. pick to go along with that love theme.

Oh and a bonus for this one…there’s a book dedicated to another character from the book coming out in april called ‘when we left cuba‘ about Beatriz. I can’t wait to get my hands on it b/c I need more of this families story~

Lucky Code

I liked this one but found it a bit annoying to be quite honest. I didn’t like the constant talk of going to luckieville and being called a lucky. I don’t like any books that continue to call me names. It reminds me of ‘you are a badass everyday’ constantly calling me a grasshopper. Stop that! No one likes that. I found myself rolling my eyes through much of this book, but did still find myself underlining certain things that I’ll want to come back to like ‘excuses are tools used by individuals who have fears stronger than their passions.’ It’s a super super quick read though and one you can easily tote around for a bit of a pep talk. 

Now…onto the fun children’s picks.

I didn’t plan to get these two together but how fun that we ended up with a book with no pictures and a book with no words and they were our top picks for January and both so enjoyable!!

Flora and the Flamingo(Molly Idle): I now have a new fascination with flamingos! This one is just a work of art. It’s amazing how you actually don’t need words to tell this story. Just perfect in every way. I also love the pink cover and think it would look so cute in any little girls room or on their shelf.

The Book with no Pictures(BJ Novak): What a fun read!! Any book that says ‘boo boo butt’ and silly names like ‘blueberry pizza head’ is a winner for the younger crowd. Laugh together as you read through this one.

If you’re looking for a fun book gift or just a new one to dive into at the library, these two will fit that bill.

Here’s to an amazing 2019 full of fun, inspirations, creative, romantic, and simply wonderful books!