clearly, i like books.  they might be my favorite thing to shop for.  books and beauty products, probably.  and, when it comes to books i’m a two timer.  i usually have a few books going at a time.  this can be bothersome, at times, but it works for me.  i tend to always have some sort of fiction going along with an inspirational or personal growth book (or should we just say, self help).  with that, i’m also always thumbing through cook books, magazines, and anything designing i can get my hands on.

without a doubt, i still prefer reading an actual book.  long live print – – books, magazines and newspapers.   there is just something magical, and now, seemingly, old fashioned about holding a book, and turning it’s crinkly inky pages.  i love everything about the tactile experience.  i do read on my iPad when i’m traveling, on the treadmill, or if i want to stay up way late and read a book in bed.  i have found that when it comes to personal growth / self help books i always prefer print because i love to underline, write thoughts, and just mark the heck out of it.  for quick easy reading fiction the iPad is great.

click through to see what i’m reading and have currently read:

Quiet / The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.  I’ve heard this is a good book for some time, and as an introvert i’m intrigued.  It’s very text booky so i imagine i may read this over a period of several months. the author debunks the myth that introverts are hermits and poor leaders.   rather they are a people that recharge and find energy from time alone and prefer listening over talking.   what did you think of this book if you’ve read it?

Giada’s Feel Good Food / loving these new healthy recipes + giada’s tips on how she takes care of her body and stays so thin.  it goes a bit beyond eating small portions, which i appreciate.

It’s Not How Good You Are You, It’s How Good You Want To Be /  i’ve had this on my shelf for a few years and for some reason thought it was about something other than it is.  this is a quick motivational read for anyone that wants to be great or do great things.  if you are a business owner or creative or just anyone that wants to go places this is a good one to have in your pocket.  “firstly, you need to aim beyond what you are capable of.   you must develop disregard for where your abilities end.  try to do things you are incapable of….”

Bird By Bird /  this was recommended to me by my author friend as book to help you with your writing. i’ve just started, and so far so good.  i appreciate her thought that “one of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places and explore.  Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around.”  writing causes us to pay attention to teach others to pay attention.  explore, pay attention, write.  gosh that makes my heart beat kind of fast.

What Alice Forgot /  a book by liane moriaty that i’m enjoying for a light little escape.  it’s a perfect vacation, on the treadmill or late at night kind of read.  the idea of what happened to alice is an eery one.  you really feel for her circumstance and i can’t wait to see what happens in the end.

Little Paris Kitchen /  i loved this show (which could be described as amélie gets a cooking show) so much when it aired on The Cooking Channel.  it was a visual paradise for me combining many of my loves; france, food, brits, and darling design and decor.  an anthro like little kitchen in the heart of paris churning out fanciful food all prepared effortlessly by a darling and stylish brit, rachel khoo, who made me want to cut my bangs, braid my hair and bake.  so of course, i only found it natural to need to add the cookbook to my collection.  it’s just as pretty, i promise.  don’t ask me about the recipes, though, i haven’t tried any yet.  i’m ashamed to admit (well, not really) that a pretty cookbook is just as good as yummy one).

The Goldfinch /  the book everyone is reading.  i wanted to love this book so very much.  all 771 pages of it.  but, i still was unsure by, like, page 683. there were times i loved and then, quite, disliked the protagonist.  the story is a hauntingly sad tale and perhaps could have been shared in less that 771 pages.  however, donna tartt certainly has a magical way with words.  she can manage to take a terribly sad thought and weave it into the most beautiful thread of words you’ve laid your eyes upon.  a thought that otherwise might be devastating is decorated in beauty.  i found myself underling.  and, whether the story ended the way i wished or did not doesn’t matter because, i think, if i find myself underlining in fiction than i’ve found a weighty writer who enriched my world.  there was a thought, on “things” and beauty, at the end of the book that was so simple and yet so profound that i can’t stop mulling on it (i think i’ll save it for another post).  i find myself thinking about the characters, still.  and any book that keeps my attention after the pages have gone blank is one for the keeping.

Hinds Feet in High Places /  this book holds a special place in my heart.  it’s a spiritual book and is an allegory about a girl named much afraid who lives in the valley and is surrounded by fear.  she is called to go on a journey with the shepherd to the high places.  although living in the valley is painful, the change and work of journeying to the mountains, to her, seems even more painful.  i first read this book in high school and it was brought to my remembrance this past summer when i was going through a difficult time and i re-read it.  it was an like an ointment to a wound and a love letter to my heart.  i’m sure it will be a book i’ll reference over and again throughout my life.  “all the fairest beauties in the human soul, it’s greatest victories, and its most splendid achievements are always those which no one else knows anything about, or can only dimly guess at.  every inner response of the human heart to Love and every conquest over self-love is a new flower on the tree of Love.  many a quiet, ordinary, and hidden life, unknown to the world, is a veritable garden in which Love’s flowers and fruits have come to such perfection that it is a place of delight that the King of Love himself walks and rejoices with his friends….but always their greatest victories are like the wild flowers, those which no one else knows about.”  i’m currently reading the sequel Mountain of Spices.

Where’d You Go Bernadette /  a fun read on the weekend or on vacation.  i can’t say i was totally pleased with the ending but i’d still recommend it.

The Husband’s Secret / i learned about this australian author, liane moriaty, from laura (she always has good recommendations).  if you like light hearted chick lit (and i hesitate to use that description) that is also engaging than this is a great read.  i felt invested in the characters and couldn’t put it down as i had to know what was going to happen.  liane is brilliant at telling the story from all characters perspectives and going back and forth between them all without any sense of choppiness or confusion.

Carry On Warrior /  this book is by blogger glennon doyle melton.  it full of essays, some from her blog that are heart warming and sometimes a little heart breaking.  glennon has coined the term that life is “brutiful,” and her writing reflects that.  i first came to like glennon’s writing by way of this article on parenting.

The Casual Vacancy / sometimes i don’t finish a book and this is one.  i just couldn’t quiet get all the way into it.  have any of you read?  did you like? love? loathe?

A Moveable Feast / had to read this after The Paris Wife.  It only helped to fuel my current obsession with Ernest Hemingway and his words that are haunting in the best kind of way, “paris was never to be the same again although it was always paris and you changed as it changed.”  Now trying to figure which of his other books to add to my list next.

what are you reading or what you have read recently that you loved?  chime in on any of the books above if you’ve read them or have further questions.  i’d love to hear your thoughts.

more on books here.