Monique's Bookshelf

I'm a twenty-something girl. I like to read in my free time. I blog over at smalltown20something.wordpress.com and created this little tumblr to focus on all things books.

Enjoy!

To Read: Suggested Reading

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

To Read: Business Type Stuff

Bubbly on your Budget by Majorie Hillis

Content Rules by Ann Handley & CC Chapman

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination by Hugh MacLeod

Hamlet’s BlackBerry by William Powers

Handmade Nation by Cortney Heimerl

How to Make Money Using Etsy by Tim Adam

How to Sell Your Crafts Online by Derrick Sutton

I love you more than my dog by Jeanne Bliss

Let My People Go Surfing

Life After College by Jenny Blake

Multipliers – How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman

Never get a “real” job by Scott Gerber

Onward by Howard Schultz

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman

The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin

We First by Simon Mainwaring

To Read: The World in Books

Angelina Jolie’s: Notes from My Travels by Angelina Jolie

Dear Exile by Hilary Liftin, Kate Montgomery

Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost

God Sleeps in Rwanda by Joseph Sebarenzi

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Haiti After the Earthquake by Paul Farmer

It happened on the way to war by Rye Barcott

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway, John Bidwell

Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson

The Boy from Baby House 10 by Alan Philps, John Lahutsky

The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

To Read: Series(s)

Face of Betrayal (Triple Threat #1) by Lis Wiehl

Hand of Fate (Triple Threat #2) by Lis Wiehl

Eyes of Justice (Triple Threat #4) by Lis Wiehl


If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Where She Went (If I Stay, #2) by Gayle Forman


The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

To Read: Cats, Dogs and Horses

Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards

Cleo by Helen Brown

Dewey by Vicki Myron

Dewey’s Nine Lives by Vicki Myron

Dog, Inc. by John Woestendiek

From Baghdad, With Love by Jay Kopelman

Marley and Me by John Grogan

Tell Me Where it Hurts by Nick Trout

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan

To Read: Stephanie Plum Series

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

High Five by Janet Evanovich

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

To the Nines by Janet Evanovich

Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich

Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Currently Reading

Ask Me Why I Hurt by Randy Christensen

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

My Boyfriend Wrote A Book About Me by Hilary Winston

Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson

Recently Read

Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen

Room by Emma Donoghue

The Third Wave by Alison Thompson

Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin

Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose

Review: Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie

The book started off with a poem about success (often attributed to Elizabeth Anne Anderson Stanley), which at the time I was reading this book I wasn’t quite feeling very successful. But the book and poem reminded me that there are many ways to define success.

The book then starts telling the story of TOMS, which is a mix of things that as a huge TOMS fan I already knew, as well as information I didn’t know before reading.

It’s not just about TOMS. Blake also talked to others who “started something that matters” including the guys behind method, an eco friendly cleaning brand. I was fascinated to learn that beef fat is a common ingredient as a softening agent in dryer sheets.

It’s an easy read, with the book split into different sections such as learning how to tell your story, facing your fears, which includes a great story about Blake’s mom! There’s also great advice like when Blake suggests reading biographies and that the timing is not going to ever be right. I thought it was a pretty quick read. Whether you just want to learn more about TOMS, want to make a difference, or want to learn how to do what you love, it’s a good book to check out.

Review: Heart of Ice by Liz Wiehl

I recently found a website called Booksneeze.com and they give books to bloggers. I found a few different titles that I liked on their website, and signed up to review my first book. Hopefully, there will be more where this came from!

I had not read any of Lis Wiehl’s books before starting this one, including the other Triple Threat books. I really did not like the book at first. I had to write down who the different characters were and what their jobs were so that I wouldn’t get confused. And the fact that the chapters were anywhere from 1-6 pages and switched whose point of view it was kind of annoyed me. And I think if I had read the other books and kind of knew the different characters it would have bothered me to keep getting that information again in this book.

But once I got through the beginning, I found myself not being able to put the book down. I really liked the different characters. I devoured the book in two days. I have now put the other Triple Threat books on my “To-Read” list.

Disclosure: I received this advanced copy e-book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.