July has been a weird month, full of lots of uncomfortable revelations about myself! But hey, that's a good thing I think. It is good to learn, to grow.
I enjoy sharing about books and other things that I love so thought I'd link up with Leigh's "What I'm into" quickly this month.
"Happier at Home" by Gretchen Rubin: I just finished this one a few days ago. I have got back into using the library as a way of attempting to limit my over-indulgent and unrealistic book-buying habit. So I had this one out twice as I didn't quite get through it the first time. I did enjoy it but probably not as much as her first, "The Happiness Project". It's definitely worth reading the first one and if you liked it, you'd want to read this one too.
"Grace for the Good Girl - letting go of the Try-hard life" by Emily P Freeman. This was amaaaaazzzzzing. It was sort of like she wrote it just for me. (She didn't, but I can pretend). So many revelations. So much wisdom. So much that has challenged and convicted me about my behaviour, and so much that has set me free. She has articulated things that I knew somewhere inside me but that hadn't cemented in my heart. If you grew up in a good Christian home, if you struggle with expectations and pressure, if you have anxiety and worry in your life, if you feel like you have to do-and-be-it-all, then I highly recommend this book.
Books I'm currently reading
"A french affair" and "Summer of Love" by Katie Fforde. She is my favourite chick-lit author. It's light, funny, romantic and easy to read. Both of these are library picks too. Escapism at it's best!
"Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking" by Susan Cain. I've been interested in reading this one for a while and I hope I can get through it before I need to return it. My stamina with non-fiction isn't particularly high. It is a good read and a fascinating subject. My beautiful 5 year old daughter is an introvert, and my hubs and I sway right on the line between introvert and extrovert and probably lean more towards introversion. I've gotten right into the whole Myers Briggs personality stuff recently and am looking forward to seeing what this book has to say.
"The Story of God, the Story of Us" by Sean Gladding. I bought this one a couple of years ago and am still really keen on reading it. I struggle with regular scripture reading, and I'm hoping this could help bring the bible back to life for me. It is the story of the bible, told chronilogically, from the point of view of the people who were there, living it. Well written and profound but requires concentration.
On my TV
Doctor Who! Of course. I watched all of the most recent season (I loooovvveee Clara) and started from the beginning last year too. We just hit the end of season 2 and I cried, cried, CRIED during "Doomsday". Sob. Hanging out now for the 50th anniversary special, and then more tears during this years Christmas special when we say goodbye to the 11th Doctor. SOB again.
The Delicious Miss Dahl. This is a cooking show by Brit and ex-supermodel Sophie Dahl. I rented it out and it is beautiful, just beautiful. Hopefully we'll get it on TV here one day. I definitely recommend this along with her cooking books too. I made her Toffee Apple Crumble recently and yes, it is as good as it sounds.
The Great British Sewing Bee. A school mum recommended this one and I watched some episodes on YouTube. It's great. British programs have such normal people in them! Wonderful. This is a refreshing departure from Project Runway. If you like watching people sew and construct garments, but don't like the cattiness and all that, then check this one out.
The Big Bang Theory. Hubby and I love this one. We own series 1-5 and it's great watching them in order to figure out how things actually happened. I think TVNZ kept mucking up things for a while there, in any case we could never work out if something was a repeat or new. And Penny said "I LOVE YOU" to Leonard last night!!! Eek!!!
Music
Jill Phillips had some albums up on NoiseTrade last month and I got "In this Hour". I love "Nobody's got it all Together" and it was great to hear another of hers. The title track is poignant for my season of life "You can try, but happiness is found, right here in this house, in this room, in this hour".
Also loving Sons of Korah. My husband got given this for his birthday last year and it is beautiful, haunting, peaceful.
Film
I can't say that we ever watch many movies but we have seen a couple lately - Captain America, which was good fun and great to see a real excellent moral protagonist. Highly recommended for pre-teen/teenage boys actually. And Sound City, which is a project by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana. A great music film and worth watching even if you're not a rock music nut like my husband, I still really enjoyed it and there were so many incredibly profound musical moments.
Internet
I've been on a bit of a money/budgeting buzz this last month, and have enjoyed reading through the archives of And Then We Saved. Anna makes being frugal sound more fun than it is. Ha.
I just adore the Red Velvet girls and their blogs - A Beautiful Mess, Skunkboy Blog, and Smile & Wave.
Megan from SortaCrunchy blogged for 7 days in a row last week - no small feat with twin 6 month old boys! I loved reading so much from her, she is one of my faves.
And I love anything from Tina Francis - this one and this one were great treats.
Coming out of a couple of months of injuries and sickness, I'm hoping that August holds less stress and more fun times for our family. I tend to bunker down in August and start furiously indulging in retail therapy since we are stuck inside so much. But we have been having some lovely warm days for winter, my daughter has a new bike, so who knows - we may even go walking some days. I've been enjoying doing some painting and sewing too.
What about you? Anyone discovered anything exciting in July?
xx Sarah
I'm curious about what Gretchen Rubin will write next. I loved both of her Happiness books and wonder if there's anything else to say. Loved Quiet and certainly hope Cain will write more on the topic. My nonfiction tip is to read a little bit of the book at some point every day (or every other day). It doesn't have to be a whole chapter. I read nonfiction in bits and pieces because it doesn't always hold my attention or because I need to process what I'm reading. I can plow through fiction in mere hours but I have friends who are the exact opposite!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with What I'm Into!
I found Grace for the Good Girl in a used book store last month and it's high on the list for my next non-fiction reads. Glad to hear another good review. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, The Big Bang Theory is hilarious. Such a fun show!