Café Con Monica

Show us Your Books: October

It’s that time again! Linking up with Jana Says & Life According to Steph for Show us your Books! I haven’t participated since July!

_____________________________________________________________________________

So first I want to share my Book Goals updates.

  • 15/25: Books I didn’t choose for myself
  • 11/12: Non-Fiction Books
  • I’ve officially moved @Withcurlsandcocktails IG to just books as of October 15!
  • #Unreadshelfproject2019 – I am so far behind on this I dont even know!

Since it has been so long I decided to just talk about my favorite 4 & 5 star reads since July.

Audiobook

  • The Craftsman Best described as chilling. I did not guess who the killer was and didn’t find it too predictable. I felt like it really called on history a bit and the writing was fantastic. I am excited to read more by Sharon Bolton.
  • Theme Music This one really did me in, I was so sure I knew what was going on until I didn’t. I was slightly annoyed by Dixie but I think that is part of what makes it a good listen because you have to pay attention.
  • Daisy Jones & The Six I am so glad that I chose to listen to this book rather than read it. I was so weary about reading it to begin with because I wasn’t sure I would like the format. But listening to it did this book justice and it makes complete sense why so many people raved about it. I am going to do a full review later.

Kindle

  • Lock Every Door – I almost gave up on this book 1/4 of the way in. It was slow moving and not grabbing my interest. Had it not been for the fact that it the library time was coming up I might not have tried again. I’m glad I pulled through though because it picked up an ended up being a good twisty read.
  • Fix Her Up – I love a good slow burn and this one did it well! It was a sexy, fun read and just right for in between a lot of dark and scary books.
  • The Bride Test – I loved the Kiss Quotient so I was nervous going into this one thinking it was going to fail hard but it didn’t. It wasn’t as good but it was a solid cute romantic read. I’m excited to read the 3rd when it finally comes out in 2021

Physical Book

  • A Spark of Light – This book is hard to review. It touches on some very very emotional topics and should/does come heavy trigger warnings. It was far more graphic than I thought it was going to be but I love a book that faces things head on and really forces you to see. As my first Jodi Picoult book I can definitely say I want to read more. If I had a complaint it would be the going in reverse, sometimes I was a bit confused.
  • Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating – I identified with Hazel right away. I do a good job of being “normal” in public but if I let my weird out she and I could be the best of friends. Just like her having someone in my life who likes my weird makes me so happy. This book was funny, adorable, and a sexy slow burn without being too much (for those of you that don’t appreciate the really dirty stuff like I do). Is it going to be the best book you have read in 2019? No. But I always appreciate a book that has diversity in it’s romance, quirky characters and is light and fun. It is definitely a break from the virgins, assholes male characters, and hate to love.
  • Red, White & Royal Blue – So here is the deal. I went into this book not realizing that there was going to be a gay romance. OOoh was I super excited when I figured that out. I have zero idea how I missed that or if I had just forgotten by the time I got it from the library. (Thank you 8000 holds) I enjoyed it. I don’t care if it was unrealistically HEA and that the explicit scenes faltered sometimes because they built it up and you were like “𝕪𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘” and then it skipped to they had sex. Oof. #dammit and still I liked it. I appreciated the politics (Texan Democrat Woman….hey, it could happen…eventually💙) I’d recommend it to anyone who loves light, fun, romance books that aren’t your typical characters. ⁣

What have you been reading?

Don’t forget to check out my Instagram! If you love reading I post all about that here! Or you can follow me on Twitter,  Pinterest or Bloglovin

5 Habits You Can Implement to Read More

Do you want to read more but just can’t seem to make it happen?

Do you have an ever growing TBR pile?

Jumpstart your reading with these 5 habits.

Habits of people who read more books. Woman pulling book out of purse

People always asked me how I manage to read so many books a year . There is no one size fits all answer for this. My ability to read quickly and have good comprehension works for me, but that doesn’t mean that I can tell everyone to just read quickly.

I have compiled the 5 tips to read more as a better response to that question. Some, or all, of these might help anyone read more books.

Habit #5 to Read More Books: Creating a TBR list of books you like

This seems obvious, right? You would be amazed at how many books we add to our list because they are all over #Bookstagram or we saw them all over the blog world. Read the synopsis, keep in mind how realistic your time for reading is, and pick books that you really want to read!

Along those lines, do not be afraid to DNF a book if you aren’t feeling it. Put it down, walk away. Maybe you will feel differently later, maybe you won’t but it is ok to not finish a book you are not enjoying.

Never force yourself to read a book that you do not enjoy. There are so many good books in the world that it is foolish to waste time on one that does give you pleasure.

Atwood H. Townsend

Habit #4 to Read More Books: Be Realistic and Positive

Most of us have a lot going in our lives. Work, school, children, and just life in general take up much of our time. We have to be realistic about the kind of time we have to devote to reading.

If you rarely pick up a book, you might not want to start with the goal of reading 10 books next month. Be honest with yourself, pick one book you want to read, apply these tips, and read that book. Don’t set yourself up to dread reading. A habit of keeping a positive attitude towards reading can make it something you look forward to.

Use a timer to set aside time to read more books. Kitchen timer on a brown table.

Habit #3 to Read More Books: Set a Timer

I actually started to do this for reading because I can get carried away and pass 4 hours in one sitting. Maybe you want to read more but also you want to watch TV, browse social media, or go for a run.

Whatever it is, set a timer. If you set a time for TV, for Instagram, for reading you will not allow yourself to keep bingeing and skip over that time.

Working in Education has taught me that I timers/timing things incredibly helpful with children so if you have children you can do this with them as well to help you get time for reading.

Habit #4 to Read More Books: Create a Mood

Otherwise known as getting comfortable and take out those distractions. Find a spot that is comfortable for you to relax during that time you set aside with the timer. Whether it’s at home, in a reading nook, in bed, in the park, or in a hammock on your patio (my favorite spot) it should be comfortable and distraction-free.

Create a comfortable and distraction free setting to read more. Window seating with candle, mug and books.

Habit #1 to Read More Books: Take a book everywhere

If you take nothing away from this post, make this a habit. I firmly believe the reason I get through so many books is because I have access to a book at all times. If you aren’t interested in carrying a big book/kindle everywhere. Keep books on your phone with any of these apps:

  • Amazon Kindle App
  • Libby
  • Apple Books
  • Google Play Books
  • Overdrive
  • Nook
  • Kobo

You can also keep audio books around to make it easier to listen in the car or with headphones while waiting.

Take a book everywhere to read more books. A man in a coffee shop reading a book.

My reading goal every year hovers between 100-140 books because I love reading. All 5 of these habits are things that I actually do to be able to make time for reading in my life. Starting slow and picking up these habits can definitely get you to your reading goal!

If you are looking for book recommendations check out my Books Category!

Do you have any great tips or habits that help you read more?

Share them below!

Don’t forget to check out my new Instagram! Or you can follow me on Twitter,  Pinterest or Bloglovin

Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered

Do you love Podcasts? True Crime? Then you will love Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark.

Stay sexy and dont get murdered book with a glass of red wine in front of a plant

Are you a murderino?

If you aren’t then this probably sounds weird to you. The community of people who follow Karen & Georgia’s Podcast: My Favorite Murder are called Murderinos. It’s basically a cult. But a good cult, not the creepy drink the kool-aid and die kind.

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, True Crime

At first glance it would be easy to assume this is a book about true crime, especially since that is what the podcast is about but this is a collection of stories from Georgia & Karen’s lives woven into tips about to stay sexy and not get murdered with a sprinkling of true crime stories.

The biggest takeaway?

In short? F**k Politeness.

“But for women, it’s so much more than that. The politeness that we’re raised to prioritize, first and foremost, against our better judgment and whether we feel like being polite or not, is the perfect systematically ingrained personality trait for manipulative, controlling people to exploit.”

Let that sink in. How many times in your life have you ended up in a situation that was not really the best for you because of politeness?

Short & Sweet Review

They are hilarious, sarcastic, foul mouthed and kind of ridiculous and I really want to to be their best friend. I actually both read and listened to it because as I was reading I realized I would probably love it more if I could hear their voices and I was right.

I laughed out loud and I cried. When they got deeply personal about their lives and touched on topics like anxiety, therapy, and drug abuse it made it easier to relate and hard not to feel for them.

Some things to think about

As mentioned above, they drop curse words like beats and they get real personal about their lives so it is something to keep in mind. You were warned.

Ooh and definitely don’t get into cars with relative strangers. Well…I guess we do this with Uber every time so maybe just be more aware!

Add Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered to your TBR list!

If you want to learn more about the authors, check out My Favorite Murder

Don’t forget to check out my new Instagram! Or you can follow me on Twitter,  Pinterest or Bloglovin

FOLLOW

@cafeconmonica

[instagram-feed]