Monique's Bookshelf

Review: My So-Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:21:20 -0400

I loved this book! To any young freelancer just starting out, it’s like a bible! She covers a range of topics from names to money/financial things. It’s a great read for anyone who might be thinking of making the freelance leap before they actually do it. Although she’s a freelance writer, she had other freelancers of different specialties who contributed to the book.

I just gave it to my sister to read, who is thinking of becoming a freelance personal trainer!

Review: Life After College by Jenny Blake

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:11:53 -0400

Jenny was working at Google, and running her blog (Life After College) when she hit a quarter life crisis. She eventually left Google to be a coach/writer/speaker.

It was a great book with tons of tips and quotes in its pages. It covers a variety of topics, and was organized very nicely. There are exercises in every chapter, so it’s a book where you will have to have a pen and paper handy, as well as time to think on the questions. She got advice from others, which meant you saw a good variety of different point of views on the different subjects, which included everything from dating to work to having a social life.

Review: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:46:00 -0400

Oh my goodness. Okay. First off, I have had this book sitting on a bookshelf in my room for a while now. I didn’t get started reading it until this week, after the movie had come out.

I have 2 issues with this book. It’s genre is Young Adult, and I think with some of the violence in the book, I’d only recommend it to older teens, not like a 12-13 year old.

And I wasn’t super happy with the last few pages.

Other than that, I was hooked. I loved the characters, like Peeta, Katniss, Gale, Prim, Rue. It’s an interesting premise for the books. But honestly, probably one of my favorites now!

Rated: 5/5

April Bookstack

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:57:00 -0400

Books I’m hoping to read/finish in April:

The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel

The Handmade Marketplace: Kari Chapin

My So Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman

Paper Towns by John Green

Life After College by Jenny Blake

Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson

& hopefully Catching Fire & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins if I can borrow them from my friend Lizzy!

Three Books on Thursday

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:54:00 -0500

On the first Thursday of every month, I share three related book recommendations with you & link up with Jess at Faith Permeating Life. Click here for more info about Three Books on Thursday.

Here are three Inspiring Recent Reads!

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis
Mother Theresa’s Lessons of Love and Secrets of Sancitity by Susan Conroy
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman

With Kisses from Katie, she writes about how she felt God calling her to Uganda, where she decided to stay, and adopt 13 children. She started a ministry where she sponsors many local children to go to school. It’s incredibly inspiring and I have so much appreciation of what she does. Oh, and did I mention she’s only like 22?

Mother Theresa’s Lessons of Love is a book that is signed by the author and was a Christmas present to me from my grandparents when I was younger after I learned of Mother Theresa and said (& this is a direct quote) “I want HER job.” It’s about Susan’s trip to work in Calcutta while in college and she’s also an inspiration too. Both of these books are based on religion.

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, is also inspiring but in another type of way. It covers a variety of topics from credit to buying a house, a car, and student loans. I skimmed some parts (like buying a house since I’m not doing that at the moment) and really focused on the parts I could really take to heart and use in the moment, like the information on credit and student loans.

The books I read in February.

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:26:25 -0500

The books I read in February.

To Read: Books I've added to my To-Read List in the Past Month & A Half

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:17:08 -0500

Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres

Deadly Intent by Kylie Brant

Border Songs by Jim Lynch

Kara Goucher’s Running for Women by Kara Goucher

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Someone Else’s Life by Katie Dale

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:40:00 -0500

As the movie based on this book was about to come out, I was very interested in reading the book as well as see the movie. About a boy named Oskar who is 8-years-old, he finds a key among his fathers belongings. His father, who died in The World Trade Center, is no longer around for Oskar to ask him about. So Oskar sets off on an adventure to find the meaning of this key.

I enjoyed Oskar’s character, he was very likeable. I had a problem with the fact that the book alternated between his point of view, and the point of view of his grandfather. It was kind of hard to follow along with Oskar’s grandfather’s sections, and I felt like you could have done without that. The meat (the first 150-200 pages) seemed like it took me a while to get through, but it sped up at the end. Overall, it was a pleasant ending, with lovely characters. I definitely would recommend it!

I want my workspace to look like this.

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:51:29 -0500

I want my workspace to look like this.

booksandnerds: (By: Sonya Cheney)

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:51:07 -0500

booksandnerds:

(By: Sonya Cheney)

"A big book is like a serious relationship; it requires a commitment. Not only that, but there’s no..."

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:19:43 -0500

“A big book is like a serious relationship; it requires a commitment. Not only that, but there’s no guarantee that you will enjoy it, or that it will have a happy ending.”

- Mick Foley (via booksandnerds)

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Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:51:27 -0500

Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope by Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:20:20 -0500

I really enjoyed this powerful story about Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords written by her husband Mark. Although there were heavy parts where it talks about the people who died and were hurt that day, I found myself really inspired by both Gabby and Mark.

Gabby just seems really genuine. She made voting decisions based on her constituents, not how she felt personally. She also has made a wonderful recovery from the incident that happened last January. It’s obvious Mark cares very much for Gabby.

There is background of their childhood and years leading up to their marriage. There are fun little stories about people who sent letters and did other things when she was recovering, like a young boy selling his toys for a little over $2 and sending Gabby the money, or local Starbucks baristas who decorated her starbucks cup, and with the help of another regular customer, who happened to be a 2nd grade teacher, made it possible for Gabby to have beautifully designed cups with butterflies, rainbows, stars, flowers, space shuttles and astronauts on them.

Once chapter talks about Mark’s children from his first marriage, and how Gabby and the girls found it hard to really connect or bond. Another discusses being on a flight to Tuscon the day of the shooting with NPR reporting that Gabby had died, and not knowing if she was okay or not while flying to her. There are pages about the other victims of that day, which are truly touching.

My dad is the kind of person who would think that because of their jobs, and the fact that Gabby and Mark have money, they got some sort of special treatment, but from the book, I never ever felt like that was the case. They just seem so incredibly down to earth. I really really loved this book, and learning about NASA, and traumatic brain injuries. Inspiring read for sure!

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Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:04:24 -0500

To Read: Books I've added to my To-Read List in the Past Month

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:53:00 -0500

My Boyfriends’ Dogs by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Paper Towns by John Green

Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #5) by Ann Brashares

Let it Snow by John Green

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The Soul (The Host, #2) by Stephenie Meyer

The Seeker (The Host, #3) by Stephenie Meyer

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn

How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Whole Story of Half a GIrl by Veera Hiranandani

Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich

~~Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer~~

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

The Future of Us by Jay Asher

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

My So-Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman

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Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:42:37 -0500

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Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:42:25 -0500

date-a-girl-who-reads

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:21:36 -0500

date-a-girl-who-reads

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:20:56 -0500

I just want to start off by saying that I HATE “The Office” with a passion. Seriously, I think the show is not funny and I never watch it. This book by Mindy Kaling (Actor and Writer for “The Office” caught my attention because of the title and the premise of the book, and not because “OMG she’s the girl from the office!”

I honestly, really liked this book. I devoured it in just a few days. She seems super down to earth in the book. I like that she attended college, and was real about her life. She even talks about how she was overweight as a child and how she is a size 8, which is a problem to some stylists. It just proves that she is just a real girl!

She talks about life in NYC as a broke college grad living with her best friends, and a lot about experiences with family and men. She does a hilarious little chapter with the differences between boys and men. (Apparently I’ve dated lots of “boys” and not a lot of “men”.)

She has some pretty awesome quotes from the book that I just love… so I’ll share a few of my favorites.

“Not to sound braggy or anything, but I kind of killed it in college. You know that saying ‘big fish in a small pond’? At Dartmouth College, I was freakin’ Jaws in a community swimming pool.” (pg 47)

WOW. I kinda feel like I was the same way at college.

And she did a great chapter on “Best Friend Rights and Responsibilities”

We sleep in the same bed: “If there’s a bed bigger than a twin, we’re partnering up. It’s super weird for us to not share a bed. How else will we talk before we fall asleep?” (pg 81)

I have shared numerous beds with many, many girl friends. It’s totally okay and in my opinion definitely not weird at all!

"We lusty bibliophiles know that reading, unlike just about anything else, is both good for you and..."

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:11:17 -0500

“We lusty bibliophiles know that reading, unlike just about anything else, is both good for you and loads of fun.”

- Kevin Smokler (Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times)