SUMMER READING

What is it about summer time? The sun is up at 5:30am and doesn't set until 8:30pm and suddenly, I have time to read. READ! Since when do I have time to read?! People. I have an (almost) 10 month old, I ride several horses a day, clean stalls, do house and ranch chores, give riding lessons, plus I work 3-5 hours every morning managing social media accounts and handling the marketing for a fun toy company... and suddenly I've gotten the notion that I have time to read!

After feeding horses, dogs, chickens, cats, a goat, baby, and husband, I practically fall into bed at night... and yet, here I am with not one or two but three books on my nightstand! Not only that, I am currently, religiously listening to a Mompreneur podcast (I'll talk about this later) and a social media podcast-- nerd alert, I know. Finally, I am on my second audiobook since the beginning of June with at least one more queued up for the month.

Ladies and gents, I feel so good about myself! After I had my sweet Teal baby I went into a slump. I mean, a reading slump a creative slum. Looking back, I was definitely in a season of rest. I worked but the creative energy just wasn't flowing as much. It's probably only natural after having a baby? Now, I feel like I am in a season of change. I am getting my stride, even during the midst of Teal's most recent cognitive leap-- the 9/10th month old leap is rough!

So, all that to say, here it is. Here is my summer reading list. A few of these books will speak specifically to moms, entrepreneurs, and busy working ladies and a few of them will speak to those who like a good fiction!

Good Reads for This Summer

1. JUST FINISHED: THE HARRY POTTER SERIES by JK Rolling (Audiobook)

This is cliché, I know. However, if you're outside cleaning 10 stalls or at a desk doing something mindless-- basically, if you're too busy to READ 7 books, this is your series. Harry Potter is easy to listen to and easy to get lost in. To me, it makes doing chores easy-peasy.

2. CURRENTLY: THE MOMPRENEUR PODCAST

Talk about uplifting! Even if you aren't a mom yet, these ladies will having you wanting to run out and start an empire or shouting, "I can do it!" The Mompreneur Podcast is where it's at.

From their podcast description: "Sincere and candid confessions alongside essential and real-life business how-to’s from biz-boss-moms whose passions include motherhood AND entrepreneurship."

Several times I have found myself trotting circles while listening to this podcast and proclaiming, "Totes been there!" It's left me commiserating, choking up, laughing, learning and making me feel confident that I can be a SAHWM (stay at home working mom). That I can actually juggle it all. And most importantly, that there are other women who are in the exact same spot I am in.

3. CURRENTLY: CHURCH OF THE SMALL THINGS by Melanie Shankle (book)

I actually started this book back in March. Church of The Small Things is one that I can put down and pick it up 2 weeks later and still remember where I had left off... which, as we all know, is an important thing for moms who hardly get time to sit down at night.

I think this book is special, especially for moms. However, if you're reading this and don't have children, this can totally be for you, too. It asks the question that some of us sometimes ask ourselves, "Is my ordinary, everyday life actually significant? Is it ok to be fulfilled by the simple acts of raising kids, working in an office and cooking chicken for dinner?"

"The million little pieces that make a life aren’t necessarily glamorous or far-reaching. But God uses some of the smallest, most ordinary acts of faithfulness—and sometimes they look a whole lot like packing lunch." - Melanie Shankle, Church of The Small Things

SPOILER: It's totally ok to be content in your ordinary life.

Shankle's book, told in first person narrative, is light-hearted, humorous, and makes the reader walk away feeling uplifted.

4. CURRENTLY: GIRL, WASH YOUR FACE by Rachel Hollis (book)

Since we're on a girl empowering roll, here's another feel-good read/listen. I downloaded Girl, Wash Your Face on Audible and within 10 minutes of listening, I marched right into Target and bought the hardback. Ok-- full disclosure, by the 10th minute, I was already pulling into the Target parking lot for my bi-weekly test of willpower.

Side note: I am always so impressed with myself when I checkout with JUST a box of Honest diapers and some formula.

Anyway, I had to have this book in my hands. Yes, listening to it was fine but I could tell from the introduction alone that there were sentences in this story that I would want to highlight, circle, or reference later. The only other book I had done this to (besides the few college textbooks I highlighted as a way to convince myself I was learning) was Eat. Pray. Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert.

In Hollis's own words, "Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward."

I am loving this book. You will too. In fact, I may give it away when I am done with it so that more people can enjoy it.

5. JUST FINISHED: THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion (audible)

I just finished listening to this one. The Rosie Project was a fun, easy to read/listen to story. It will make you frustrated, make you laugh, and possibly even make you cry (I didn't cry but you never know).

Here's a short synopsis:

"The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers."

6. UP NEXT: THE ROSIE EFFECT by Graeme Simsion (audible)

As you may have guessed, this is the second part of The Rosie Project. Why not? The first was entertaining enough and we all know I love series... or did you not know that? Well, now you do!

Synopsis:

In The Rosie Effect, Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice. [edited to avoid TOO big of spoilers]

7. CURRENTLY: A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness (Audible)

Truthfully, I've always had a thing for stories evolving around mythical/magical stuff. A Discovery of Witches is one I bought last year when I was pregnant but never got around to listening to it. I can't believe I waited so long! It's got witches, demons, and vampires (done very tastefully). Plus, it's based in England and if you didn't know, you know now. I am a tried and true anglophile. At this point, I am probably half way through this book and I just found out there's a trilogy of books. As a horse person, my only pet-peeve is that they pronounce the word "dressage" as "dress-age" and that irked me. However, I've made myself let it go.

Synopsis:

Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Yep. I'll promptly start the next one and finish with the last one before the end of July, I guarantee it.

8. CURRENTLY: OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon (book)

I have read and/or listened to five and a half of the eight of these books. I quit in the middle of the sixth book. This is something I normally NEVER do but it was a heavy one and I needed a mental break... for two years. I should finish it one of these days.

Anyways, I do so love the first few Outlander books and I am huge on re-reading books because you always catch things you didn't catch the first... or second or third time around. It's based in Scotland which happens to be my most favorite place on earth (besides home). Also, it's a little mythical mixed in with solid historical facts-- I love history, too. Lastly, it's a love story. So, obvs. I was totally sold.

If you've never heard of it, here is a quick little synopsis:

"Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743."

I don't know if I will be reading the rest of the Outlander series this summer but book one is a great place to start.

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There it is. There's all the books that I decided to pick up or finish or start with in the next month. I will be so insanely proud of myself if I even finish half of them by Christmas.

So tell me, what books do you have sitting on your nightstand or downloaded to your phone? I am always looking for a new book recs and I am sure other people will gladly be jotting them down, as well!