Day 3368 – Update Of Reading Challenges – Read A New Book Month Day 30!

Posted on September 30, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I decided to use the last day of this awesome month to share what I’ve read recently and to give an update on my reading goal. As I close out the 3rd quarter, me thinks 300 books is not going to happen. I’m shooting for 175 at this point, but we’ll how the next three months go. p.s. holy smokes this year has flown by!

I definitely learned a lot about having one focus on this blog for a month…in that I’m a fan (because I knew what to blog about) and not (because I knew what to blog about). My life is too varied and too many different things happen to be limited to one topic and I really enjoy the freedom of this blog to share whatever the heck I want. So, I can’t wait to jump back into the “I have no idea what I’m going to blog about today.”

Without further ado, here is my update.

Book #112 – Obama: An Intimate Portrait The Historic Presidency in Photographs – this fulfilled A book you heard about online in the Reading Bingo challenge. This was a really cool read and I recommend you check it out.
Book #113 – Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You – this fulfilled A book with an ugly cover in the Popsugar challenge. This was a really helpful guide to meditation and opened my eyes to different ways to meditate I’ve never tried before.
Book #114 – The Cake Therapist – this fulfilled A book with food on the cover in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge. This was a slower read for me, but fun story. lol, made me hungry every time I read. 😀
Book #115 – Cape Cod and the Islands: A Drone’s Eye View by Christopher Seufert – this fulfilled none of my challenges. I’ve added in some photography books to my reading challenges and this one did not disappoint.
Book #116 – The Wendy Project by Melissa Osborne – this fulfilled a book with a character who shares your name (there was a Jen in there) in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.
Book #117 – The Many Deaths of Scott Koblish – this fulfilled a funny book in the Reading Bingo challenge.
Book #118 – Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd – this fulfilled none of my challenges.
Book #119 – The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers by Alex Banayan – this fulfilled a book written by an author under 30 in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge. This was one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Book #120 – Me & McDuff: How a Dog Inspired My Journey to a Creative Life by Leslie Oschmann – this fulfilled a book with bad reviews in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.
Book #121 – Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome by Robby Novak – this fulfilled Read a book you’ve always meant to read in the BCPL reading challenge.
Book #122 – Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus – this fulfilled a book with your favorite color in the title in the Popsugar challenge.
Book #123 – Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings by Kerry Miller – this fulfilled a book that scares you in the Reading Bingo challenge.
Book #124 – Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz – this fulfilled a book based on a true story in the Reading Bingo challenge. I highly recommend this one. We’ve already seen big changes in our finances because of this.
Book #125 – What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?: Moving, Unexpected, and Inspiring Answers to Life’s Most Important Question by The Buried Life – this fulfilled a book of social science in the Read Harder Challenge.
Book #126 – Mother Bruce by Ryan Higgins – this fulfilled the first book by a favourite author in the Reading Bingo challenge.
Book #127 – PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren – this fulfilled a book about a current world issue in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.
Book #128 – Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw – this fulfilled none of my challenges.
Book #129 – Great, Now We’ve Got Barbarians! by Jason Eaton – this fulfilled none of my challenges.
Book #130 – Real Estate Fast Track by David Finkel – this fulfilled none of my challenges.
Book #131 – Santa Bruce by Ryan Higgins – this fulfilled a book with non-human characters in the Reading Bingo challenge.

If you want to check out the full lists of each of the challenges mentioned, here they are:

The 2018 #BWELLREAD Reading Challenge
The 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge
The 2018 Read Harder Challenge
The Mommy Mannegren 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
Reading Bingo – this was one I got from my local library. It’s from Penguin Random house, but I can’t find a link to it.

What are you reading right now? I’m ALWAYS looking for book recommendations!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 3364 – Read More Tip – Read Shorter Books – Read A New Book Month Day 26

Posted on September 26, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

One way you can skyrocket your read count is by reading shorter books, whether it’s a kid’s book or a commencement speech or even a graphic novel. If you’re having a hard time reading, this can be a great alternative for you. I’ve talked about how I read 200 kid’s book one year and it was really educational and encouraging. I’ve read a few graphic novel biographies, which is another way to get some learning in too.

Here are a few of my favorite shorter reads.

Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination* by J. K. Rowling

Random Illustrated Facts: A Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know* by Mike Lowery

Make Good Art* by Neil Gaiman

Find Momo: A Photography Book* by Andrew Knapp

This one right here is my favorite out of the bunch. I just love Momo and the places Andrew photographs of the hiding!

As a reminder, the links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links. As a reminder, an affiliate link is one that if you click and purchase the book (or something else) I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. I ruthlessly only share products, services, books, etc, that I have personally used and only recommend what I think is useful and valuable. I’ve marked all affiliate links in this post with this little guy –> *

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3361 – Why Should You Read? – Read A New Book Month Day 23

Posted on September 23, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve really enjoyed sharing some of my all-time favorite and life-changing books the past few weeks with y’all, but I wanted to do something a little different today, talk about WHY you should read. I have to say, I’ve missed chatting about what’s going on in our life but it has been fun to have a stricter structure to my posts. I hope you’ve found a new book to read so far, if you have, let me know in the comments below!

Here’s how reading has changed my life:

– It caused me to change careers.
– It gave me an epicly strong marriage.
– It opens my eyes to worlds I never knew existed.
– It reminded me that I’m not alone in my struggles.
– It has challenged my thoughts on things and encouraged me to look at other sides.
– It has brought me new friends and closer to those I already had.
– It has given me an excuse to take a cool trip.

Why do you read?

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3360 – Essentialism – A Book To Help You Craft A Life Out Of The Best – Read A New Book Month Day 22

Posted on September 22, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less* by Greg McKeown was such a great read. It really helps you minimize the things that aren’t as important and focus on what’s best. As a minimalist, this book was right up my alley.

If you’ve wanted to get into minimalism or if you feel like you just have so much going on and want to make sure you’re focusing on the best, this is the book for you.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less*

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3355 – Deep Work – A Book That Will Help You Focus On Work, The Right Way – Read A New Book Month Day 17

Posted on September 17, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World* by Cal Newport was a really eye-opening and convicting book. It made me think seriously about how I use my time and how much time I’m on devices or mindlessly scrolling on the internet. There is so much that distracts us from our true work. There are so many things vying for our attention that takes us away from the things we really need to do.

I think one of the biggest takeaways from this is we need to really understand what we’re meant to put out into the world and then making that a priority. As well as focusing on the things that have a bigger impact on the overall picture. Whether it’s taking tasks off the best salesman so they can focus on that or knowing that scrolling through the full Facebook feed is going to bum you out, you can take control.