I spent some quality time with my book journal this afternoon and wrote entries for the last seven books I finished. July has been an outstanding month for reading so far (three of those books were 5-stars for me!). It seemed fitting to pause here, having just finished Girl, Woman, Other – for sure a favorite in a year that’s turning out to be one of my best reading years ever. Girl, Woman, Other was the 100th book I finished this year. Reflecting on what’s making this year “one of the best reading years ever”, I noted a few things: … Continue reading Reading Better | Mid-year Reflection.

I added another 15 books to my Read shelf last month, bringing my YTD total to 69 (Goodreads link) – whoa! I felt like I devoured many of these titles – with the exception of Gifts of Imperfection, which I savored over months – finishing most in one, two, or three days. The pace of summer reading started a little early for me, I guess. Here are a few more stats from May’s book journal summary page: two-thirds (10/15) were words on a page. nearly two-thirds – 60% (9/15) – were borrowed, one I owned, and five were purchased (three … Continue reading Reading Better | May.

Whoa, buck up friends, this is a LONG one … I don’t post all that often, and sometimes, the post I want to share is just … long! I added another 14 books to my Read shelf (Goodreads link) last month, bringing my YTD total to 54 (this is a pace I can’t imagine I’ll keep up … and yet?) It was another month of great quality – four 5-star, five 4-1/2-star, four 4-star, and one 3-star. Here are a few more stats from April’s book journal summary page: a little less than 60% (8/14) were words on a page. … Continue reading Reading Better | April.

I added another 17 books to my Read shelf (Goodreads link) last month. It was a great month for quantity and quality – four 5-star, four 4-1/2-star, eight 4-star, and one 3-star. Close readers might note that the “4-1/2 star” category is a new one. Five stars is a really tough grading system. I rarely even finish something that doesn’t merit at least three …  so most of my books are gonna land in four star territory. I still want a way to differentiate between “I loved it” and “I REALLY loved it, but it wasn’t as AMAZING as …”, … Continue reading Reading Better | March.

Still playing around with how I’m going to share what I’m reading this year. (and honestly, based on how that photo above came together, I expect it might be a several months-long work in progress.) I added ten books to my Read shelf last month. That top shelf shows my three (3!!!) 5-star books – and the next two shelves show the remaining seven books, all 4-stars. In terms of the reading intentions I set for this year, I had slightly more mixed results: Connection – 7 Growth – 4 Diversity – 4 Delight – 10 Most of the books ticked … Continue reading Reading Better | January 2021.

Hello friends and Happy Tuesday … and what I hope is going to be the downhill side of a holding-my-breath time*. Sharing about books and reading seems appropriate for today because books and reading have been the most pleasant distraction of these past days since Sara left**.  I should say books and reading and THINKING about books and reading! honestly, I overthought how I wanted to approach this year a LOT. and I’m going to spare y’all the craziness that was that thought process and simply share where I’ve ended up. Anyway 🙂 Anne Bogel shared a “new approach” to … Continue reading Reading Better in 2021.