Just in case you are brand new here and you don’t know this already (Hi! Glad you’re here, btw!), I love to read. I am thrilled about getting immersed in a good book. I delight in being transported to a different place in a glorious piece of fiction. I savor feeling elevated and enriched by a quality piece of nonfiction. I am always reading at least one book, but typically I am in the middle of
For example, if I am reading a self-help book and it is really resonating with me, I will want to stop and really process what I have read and
As a former middle school English teacher, I feel pretty passionate about the importance of children reading. But it’s also important for moms to take the time to read. I head-up the virtual book club for the Houston Mom’s Blog for this exact reason. The HMB book club has taken me a bit out of my comfort zone because it is pushing me to read more adult fiction than I might read otherwise. I know, not necessarily a bad thing. Growth never happens in a comfort zone. To keep people engaged, we try to find new releases and get moms excited about reading them with us. Sadly, this makes finding an available copy at the library next to impossible without waiting on a 100+-person waiting list! But I didn’t want to buy every single book either–my shelves are all full!
That is why I have come to LOVE Scribd. It has many of the most popular new releases available as part of their monthly subscription. I can read as many of the books or listen to as many of the audiobooks as I have time for and I only pay the monthly subscription price. Since last Fall, I have read and listened to excellent reads. I want to share a few of them below and share my thoughts on them: sharing is caring!
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, Ph.D.
This was
- The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto
- “Who we are matters
immesasurably more than what we know or who we want to be.” - “‘Let your face speak what’s in your heart. When they walk in the
room my face says I’m glad to see them. It’s just as small as that, you see?'” - “You can’t claim to care about the welfare of children if you’re shaming other parents for the choices they’re making.”
- “Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger predictors of how our children will do than what we know about parenting.”
This book is one I have gone back to several times in only the past few months as a reference for something I am thinking
Becoming by Michelle Obama
I bought this book as soon as I saw it at Costco. I had already planned on the HMB book club reading it, so I sprang on it the first chance I got. And it did not disappoint. If you were worried about reading it and being weighed down by the political slant of it: don’t. Michelle Obama repeats throughout the book her disdain of politics. This is not a political memoir. She could have been the wife of a busy CEO or someone else heavily distracted by his work and her story would have been equally relevant. A few of my favorite things in her book include:
- “…as I’ve said, failure is a feeling long before it’s an actual result…”
- “Until now, I’d constructed my existence carefully, tucking and folding every loose and disorderly bit of it, as if building some tight and airless piece of origami. I had labored over its creation. I was proud of how looked. But it was delicate. If one corner came untucked, I might discover that I was restless. If another popped loose, it might reveal I was uncertain about the professional path I’d so deliberately put myself on, about all the things I told myself I wanted. I think now it’s why I guarded myself so carefully, why I still wasn’t ready to let him in. He was like a wind that threatened to unsettle everything.”
- “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end. I became a mother, but I still have a lot to learn from and give to my children. I became a wife, but I continue to adapt to and be humbled by what it means to truly love and make a life with another person. I have become, by certain measures, a person of power, and yet there are moments still when I feel insecure or unheard.”
- In sharing my story, I hope to help create space for other stories and other voices, to widen the pathway for who belongs and why…Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”
This book is so good! I was so inspired by her and grateful that she shared so much of herself with the world.
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
This book was recommended to me more times than I can even count through the years and if I’m being completely honest the title is what turned me away. It bugged me that I, a woman, would be subjected to such a sexist book. I shunned it again and again. But earlier this year, I heard it recommended by someone I respect and I decided to look and see if it was available on Scribd. I listened to an audiobook recording of it in about an hour, while I did some cleaning around the house.
I didn’t find myself stopping to write down any deep inspiration, but I was glad I listened to it. It reminded me of some universal truths that I think we sometimes forget.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity by David Allen
This is a big deal. I am a fan of the book Deep Work by Cal Newport for its science-based research on how to get the best and deepest work from ourselves. It was so insightful. This is along those same lines. I was inspired by April Perry of LearnDoBecome.com as she recommends this book and has patterned an entire online course and support community around it.
David Allen gives practical steps for how to put systems in place that will organize your life and the way you process information from your thoughts to your papers. I implemented several of his suggestions in my household and in my little office and I though I am still working on improving my habits, I am encouraged as I take the information from this book and combine it with the inspiration from the LearnDoBecome podcast.
Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
I met Liara Tamani at a reading of her book soon after it came out. She signed my copy and shared some of her experiences as she has progressed along her writing journey. Because she is a local author, I thought it would be fun to include her book in the HMB book club. Her prose is so fantastic! Here are is my favorite excerpt from her book
“…Closer, I see his eyes are closed. Closer, I see his face isn’t shining like the brass he holds. Besides his cheeks, his face is soft in a way I’ve never seen, like ice cream that sat in a bowl too long and is starting to melt away.
He fingers the brass keys but doesn’t press down. I close my eyes to listen to his silent song. I never knew these mornings sounded so sad, like the lost notes of a sweet dream. He stops fingering, removes his lips from the saxophone, and lets out his breath.
I want to go to him, lay my head on his big belly, and say, “Daddy, everything will be okay.” I want to say, “It’s not too late to learn how to play.” I want to tell him, “I’m so sorry for making you take four bills from your worn
wallent , twenty by twenty, and lay them on Mary Turner’s counter.” But I can’t. I’m too afraid of his sadness.I slide away from him, returning to bed. I don’t want to feel what he’s feeling. I don’t want to wake up before the sun and pretend to play something I’ve never learned to play. I don’t want cheeks pregnant with chocolate smoke–lost dreams packed away in a black case.”
p.105–Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
Isn’t her writing gorgeous?
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
This book ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Repeatedly. It was fantastically-written torture. And even though his writing is phenomenal, I did not recommend this book to anyone because of the language. It was a translation. I wish the translators would have left the profanities in the other language, similar to what Markus Zusak did in The Book Thief. It was a LOT of profanity. I would not have finished reading this book if it were not for the fact that I was co-hosting the virtual HMB book club meeting on the book. It came highly recommended from someone I respect and while I can see why it would have stayed with her, it still haunts me. I was so heavy after reading this (even though I was super relieved to get fantastic, vindicating closure at the end of this book–a hugely generous gift from the author), that I devoured the next book on this list in one day.
Both the print and audiobook versions are available on Scribd. I alternated between the two and have to applaud the audiobook reader. She does a phenomenal job of reading this text.
Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis
I thought about writing an entire blog post all about this one book. Like I mentioned above, I listened to this audiobook in one day just to get some of the weight of Beartown out of my head. It worked.
I really appreciated Rachel Hollis’ book Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be. When I saw the title of her book was Girl, Stop Apologizing, I thought she must have written this book for me. I am the queen of apologizing. I apologize so often in conversations, that the other person will inevitably use this phrase on me, “Stop apologizing!” And what do I say in response EVERY TIME?
“Sorry.”
Yup. So when I saw this book and its all-too-familiar title at Costco, I put it in my cart. Sadly, when I went to check-out, they informed me that someone had put the book out too soon and they weren’t allowed to sell it yet. And so I didn’t buy it. I only listened to it. I’ve listened to the audiobook chapter 12 of 26 (audiobook chapters are usually different than the book, so I can’t tell you exactly how they align) a few times. It has caused me a LOT of deep introspection. I am still working on it, in fact.
What I do know from this book is that Rachel Hollis and I have very different ideas of success. I never want to be a media mogul. Never. I am not lying when I say that I have always wanted to be one of four things: a mother, a singer, a writer, and a teacher. I have had opportunities for all of those four now and I am beyond grateful.
But just because Rachel Hollis and I don’t have the same
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
I came to this book after several people recommended it. I listened to the audiobook and really appreciated that Greg McKeown reads it himself because he has a fantastic accent! But seriously, his research is excellent and his insights right on. I am perpetually spread across multiple projects and interests at the same time (remember: I don’t even read just one book at a time most of the time). So I knew I had a lot to learn from Greg McKeown. And I still have a lot of work to do in this area.
I love how he uses relatable stories from people in all different walks of life to illustrate how universal the principles of essentialism are. I was grateful for a reminder to focus on the things that are most important to me and to allow many of the less-important things to fall away. Listening to this book in the middle of The Home Organization Challenge was especially helpful as it really bolstered me in my efforts to de-clutter!
The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose by Oprah Winfrey
Leave it to Oprah to make the world’s greatest audiobook. Seriously. Not only does she narrate it herself so you can hear her fantastic inflections and rich voice, but almost every single quote is heard in a clip directly from the interview in which it was said! Each chapter is like listening to a themed highlight-reel of Oprah’s interviews through the decades. Amazing. I loved it so much that as soon as it finished I started it from the beginning again and am listening to it a second time. Usually my kids tune out when I am listening to audiobooks or podcasts, but this one engaged them, too. They didn’t even complain when I started it over!
There are so many takeaways from this book. If you are looking for some beautiful, guilt-free inspiration served up
This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
I started this audiobook one day when I had to drive around to run some errands. I wasn’t expecting much from this book because
Fortunately, Seth Godin’s idea of marketing isn’t the same as that stuff I dread. He talked a lot about serving people and listening to their needs and sharing your strengths. Those things all resonated with me. I gained insights into how I can serve people at church, in my neighborhood, in the Houston area, and within this blog community as well. I even got some parenting insights! It was far more insightful and inspiring than I was expecting. I honestly didn’t expect to listen all the way through. I thought, “I’ll start it and listen till I don’t feel like it anymore.” I finished it without ever tiring of it and wanting to move on. That is huge for a book about marketing if you ask me.
Make a Scene: Writing a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time by Jordan Rosenfeld
I recently read an article by Jordan Rosenfeld in a writing magazine and it really resonated with me. I liked it so much, I looked for her book. I was so excited to find it on Scribd! I started it immediately. Her writing instruction is very thorough and relatable. I will continue to go back to it again and again with each book I write. A few of my favorite things from her book:
- “The audience is watching. The first draft is your one shot to tell yourself the story without anyone breathing down your neck. After that, you must write (and especially revise) as if the reader is sitting behind your desk, awaiting your finished pages.”
- “Let your characters do the storytelling through their words and deeds while you take a back seat.”
- “Each new scene is a spoke in the wheel of the plot you started with, and the spoke must be revealed in a way that is vivifying for the reader and provides an experience, not a lecture.”
I could go on and on. But then you wouldn’t read it for yourself! If you are looking for a great book about writing, you won’t go wrong with this one.
Plus, there are a few wonderful children’s books, too! George Santat’s After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) and Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Little Pea are both on Scribd in ebook version PLUS quite a few of Beverly Cleary’s fabulous books (Ramona Quimby Age 8, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Henry Huggins, etc.).
My “Saved Titles” that I haven’t yet gotten to read include
- Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living
- The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
If you are looking to do more reading, check them out! This link is my personal referral link from my personal account. I am not an affiliate of Scribd and was not paid by them or asked to write this article. Just sharing the free one-month trial with you because it is something I have found a lot of value in. I hope it makes reading more accessible and easy for you and your family!
