The following is a short review of the book You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) that was released last week by Jeff Goins.  I signed up on his site a few weeks ago to do a review in exchange for a copy of his book.  So, unlike most of my book reviews, I did technically receive some compensation for this one…I got a free copy of the ebook.  However, don’t tell Jeff, I would have bought his book as soon as it was out because I was really excited to read it

I shared last week that I have been following Jeff’s blog a bunch lately.  Really, for the past few weeks, it has been the only blog I have kept up on. Why? Read the rest of this entry →

Big month in reading over here.  How is your reading going?

This month I read the two books I intended to and wanted to share with you my thoughts.  Read the rest of this entry →

Isn’t this cool?  My husband took this picture while we were camping last weekend.  He merged it with 3 different textures and did a bunch more cool editing stuff with it.

I love books!  Welcome to the simply books book club post.  Every fourth Sunday of the month I post about what I have read and what I plan to read the following month.

I would love to have you join me reading some of the books.  I would also love to hear what you are reading.

My March reading list included:

The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World – I loved  this book!  It was inspiring, and fun to read.  Chris Guillebeau just seems like such a great guy.  He advocates intentional living, benefiting others, travel, self-employment and enjoying life.  I don’t remember the page or the exact quote but he said something to the affect that ‘he would rather work 24 hours for himself than 1 hour for someone else’.  I could relate to that. We have loved working for ourselves and hope we can continue.

My two favorite pages of the book (pages 118 and 119) talk about creating a one-year, self-directed, alternative graduate school experience.  I checked his blog, but it doesn’t look like he has the information up about it there.  What he basically said is that you can get all the knowledge and experience of a graduate degree for about $10,000 or less with motivation and determination.  I read through his list and was very inspired to create my own graduate degree program to work through.  So much knowledge and experience is out there.  I want to learn, but I don’t care so much if I have special papers to prove I learned it and tested through.  Definitely would recommend the book to anyone wanting a more intentional life or just wanting to get a different perspective.

Also this past month I got hooked on Seth Godin. I read Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Poke the Box, and The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick).  Loved them all. Really, I would recommend his books to everyone.  He writes about business, but the kind of business he writes about is what everyone needs to know.  Everyone is, or should be, in business of some sort. His books are easy reads with simple to understand, deep concepts.  Even though his books are short they are packed.  I could write almost the whole book out to you as a quote I loved.  I can’t wait to get more of his books.  He breaks rules and asks the right questions.  Entertaining, though provoking, motivating, mind changing, good stuff.

…. and I read my own book 321 Stop – stop running and start living a lot…I think I can quote it in my sleep now.  My favorite quote from my book is:

I am not here to help you organize your stuff. If when you dreamed up your perfect life in the introduction it included tons of labeled totes and hours of sorting, then you have the wrong book. You can’t organize crazy. You either have it or you don’t. My ideal life has more beach and sunshine and no totes.

Okay, on to April

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business – this is a fat book, but I am 28 pages in and I am really enjoying it.  He founded Personal MBA.com as a resource for people wanting to get the best business training and books without going to graduate school. (check out the site for a book trailer and a great video presentation from the author. I watched his presentation on Friday and really enjoyed it.)

On a lighter note

Strip Off Your Fear and Slip Into Something More Confident – I love the stuff that comes from Married With Luggage.com.  They are just cool people.  They have a great message and share it with a bit of in-your-face, entertaining love.

What have you read and enjoyed in the month?  What are you planning to read in April?

Another awesome picture by my hubby.

Hi, Welcome to Loving Simple Living. How did your reading go this month?  The forth Sunday of every month I post about books.  Keeps me accountable.  I would love to read and pass book ideas back and forth with you  I love non-fiction mostly and like intentional, simple, minimalist, and other life topics.

Here is a recap of what I said I was going to read:

• I never did finish The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.  I loved the beginning and got about 2/3rds of the way through before I put it down.  … usually the beginning is the best part. He is a brilliant man.
• I started but didn’t really get into The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life.  I like Leo’s website and writing, but the book just didn’t grab me.
• I read Falling While Sitting Down: Stories.  I thought the writing was good, and he used words and structure well.  I am just a non-fiction person, and the fiction I like to read needs to be all rosy and happy (cause reality is dark enough sometimes)

The book I liked the most was How to Be Remarkable.  It is basically a collection of short ‘posts’ on different attitudes or practices for a good life.  Lots of it wasn’t new, but it was a good reminder.  It was short, sweet, entertaining, to the point and easy to understand.

Favorite quote:

The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less” Socrates -via How To Be Remarkable

Really excited about reading in March:

• The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World (already started it, and it is great)

What have you been reading?  Any good recommendations?

We have passed on 2 books so far, here is the 3rd. (I have purchased all e-books this month to read… so I don’t know when the next passing the pages will be )

This month I am passing on Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller. I talked about it in my simply books post last Sunday. It is an excellent book for living in the present and embracing it.

Now I am done and I want to pass it on (cause I live in a tiny apartment and have a very small bookshelf )

My friend (super-great-person and an amazing writer) Jessy gave this book away a few months ago to a friend of hers, who passed it on to me, and now it is headed to someone else. This books got a history!

Here’s the idea:

I will mail the book to whoever wants it. You just have to want it (comment that you want it) first and I will mail it to you.

Sound fun? Want to join in?

Not everyone wants to give away good books, but if you are ‘hanging’ here ’cause you are minimalist or flirting with the idea, this is an awesome opportunity to pass the pages or ‘un-buy the book’.

1. If you got a book that you loved and want to pass on you can put it in the comment section or create a ‘pass the pages’ post on your site and link to it in the comments of this post. If you put a book you want to pass on in my comment section and someone else comments that they want it I will send both of you an e-mail with both your e-mail addresses. If you do it on your site it is up to you to connect people.
2. If you want a book that is noted in the comments, just be the first one to comment

Mailing book rate in the US comes out at less than $5 with a priority envelope (and even less with book rate). I am willing to mail in the US for the book I am giving away:)

(Out of country or between countries is more expensive so if you want to specify what country you are in or where you are willing to mail that is great. There are readers from South America, Europe and Australia that frequent this site (so my analytics tell me). Feel free to participate and we can try and match you with someone from your spot on the globe)

So, is there anyone out there in the US who wants Hand Wash Cold? Comment first and I will send it too you.

Have a book to give away (and ship), note it below.

Welcome back to Simple Living Books! I am excited about this series coming the 4th sunday of every month. I love reading, it is my ‘mind food’ for energy.  Huge part of my minimalist and intentional living is reading non-fiction books that make me think.

This month I read 2 books:

First I read Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller. The title got me ‘Hand Wash Cold, care instructions for an ordinary life.” Then I got it (thanks to Jessy giving it away on her blog to a friend, who was nice enough to pass it on to me when she was done. I will pass it on next Sunday to the first person who wants it) and realized it was by a Zen Buddhist priest. I am Christian and I didn’t quite know what to think of reading a book by a Buddhist priest.

However, I loved the book.  I wanted to share with you these quotes:

Having the good life can be so simple when you savor the one you have. P99

No one has to master living in the now.  It’s impossible to live anywhere else.  Just as you can never leave now, no one will ever take away your past or withhold your future.  Effortlessly, your past accumulates.  Instantly, your future arrives.  What matters is that you notice your life while you can still call it ‘alive’.  That’s now. P106

What I loved about the book was its focus on living the life I have and accepting it in the present and not for what I wish it would be.  It also talked about doing what was in front of me (laundry, dishes, etc) without worry or question.  Is this all there is to life?  Yes, right now, this is my life.

I saw a lot of these concepts in the life of Christ that I hadn’t seen before.  He did what was before Him and given to Him to do, one sermon, healing, touch, at a time without all the mess, planning, baggage, that I sometimes try to put with it.  If I can live my life with Christ, following Him, one step at a time without always worrying about 5 steps ahead or if I took ’5 steps behind’ right, life really looks much simpler.

The second is Ken Robinson’s The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
I have to confess that I am not through this book yet.  So far I really like it.  Just like his speeches he is both funny and brilliant at the same time.  There aren’t that many people who are so smart both with knowing the facts and applying them and funny.  I hope to get to his book more this week. (I have been working really hard on some other exciting projects that I hope to be able to tell you more about later this week, so make sure to come back in a few days )

For February, this is the plan:

• Finish The Element
• The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life- on sale till the end of January

and if I have time – these books are free till Monday (I believe, get them today to be sure)

• Falling While Sitting Down: Stories
• How to Be Remarkable

Shorter books this month but all three of these authors have great blogs and I have been wanting to read more of their work.  Want to join me?  I would love to hear what you think of them as well in 4 weeks.

What did you read this month?  What did you think of it?

Wanted to at a note to welcome all my new Google Currents subscribers.  I just got an ‘edition’ on currents on Friday and already have 200 subscribers.  Thanks! and Welcome!  If you are looking for a good way to view Loving Simple Living on a mobile device the free currents app is really good.   I am in the library under lifestyle.

a pic by my hubby

Tried this last month on Loving Simple Living and it was fun so I am trying it again.

This month I am passing on One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  I talked about it in my simply books post last Sunday. it is a poetic, extremely authentic picture of how the author has come to understand thanks, grace and live in the present.  Just her understanding of herself and her willingness to share is awesome.

Now I am done and I want to pass it on (cause I live in a tiny apartment and have a very small bookshelf )

My friend (super-great-person and an amazing writer) Jessy had a great idea with passing on books through our online groupies (community).

Here’s the idea:

I will mail the book to whoever wants it.  You just have to want it (comment that you want it) first and I will mail it to you.

Sound fun?  Want to join in?

Not everyone wants to give away good books, but if you are hanging here cause you are minimalist or flirting with the idea, this is an awesome opportunity to pass the pages or ‘un-buy the book’.

1. If you got a book that you loved and want to pass on you can put it in the comment section or create a ‘pass the pages’ post on your site and link to it in the comments of this post.  If you put a book you want to pass on in my comment section and someone else comments that they want it I will send both of you an e-mail with both your e-mail addresses.  If you do it on your site it is up to you to connect people.
2. If you want a book that is noted in the comments, just be the first one to comment

Mailing book rate in the US comes out at about $5 with a priority envelope (or less with book rate).  I am willing to mail in the US for the book I am giving away:)

(Out of country or between countries is more expensive so if you want to specify what country you are in or where you are willing to mail that is great.  There are readers from South America, Europe and Australia that frequent this site (so my analytics tell me).  Feel free to participate and we can try and match you with someone from your spot on the globe)

So, is there anyone out there in the US who wants One Thousand Gifts?  Comment first and I will send it too you.

Have a book to give away (and ship), note it below.

Here is my hubby’s impressionistic and textured shot of our tree.  You can’t even tell it is made out of hangers

Merry Christmas!  Somehow my 4th Sunday ‘book club’ landed on Christmas.  I scheduled this post ahead so don’t worry, I am not posting Christmas morning

I love reading.  Writing is starting to come up there too, but nothing quite feels the same as reading.

This month I have read One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  I was excited about it because I had read good things on so many blogs about it.

It is hard to put a finger (or a key) to this book.  I was pulled into this book and have cried, laughed, and felt peace.  She is a very different writer and I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of it.  I am a very fact oriented, clear, bullet point, and list loving reader (and writer) and she is the complete opposite.  I felt like I was in english class a few times trying to figure out what the sentence really ment.  My small vocabulary sure didn’t help either.  However, I loved reading this book.  It was a way of leaving behind the ‘to do’s’ and embrace the present.  Many people read novels to escape, but this book was like an escape into the truth.  An alternate reality to how I see my life, but a clearer reality.  There was something so incredibly simple that could be said in so many fewer words, and yet at the same time, something so earth shattering and not fully covered in what she was writing.

The book, really simplified, was about giving thanks for the small things in life that are a gift from God.  I love this and have been trying to look at my life differently in this past year.  In several posts I have talked about being thankful and content with what we have instead of assuming that what we have we deserve, and then if it is taken or if there are gaps, get upset.  Sure, loss of health, life, or other areas of our life are sad and difficult, but what about all the days we have these things?  Each day we have life, friends and family, and everything else we have, is a gift.

Have you read ‘One Thousand Gifts’?  What did you think?  (I will be giving away my copy next Sunday morning right here on my blog)

Read something else this month you would like to share?

My January reading is Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson (thanks to Carmen who told me about it)

Want to join in?  Read these books, or have something else on your reading list for January?

This is a pic my hubby took on vacation last summer.  I thought the ‘reflection’ was good with the book theme.

Just last Friday I finished The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?.  It is an amazing, 40 day devotional book that helped me understand the purpose for my life.  I loved it because it was broken up into just a few pages a day and had a great idea to process/think on.  I am trying to get in the habit of morning devotions and this book was great for that!

Now I am done and I want to pass it on (cause I live in a tiny apartment and have a very small bookshelf )

My friend (super-great-person and an amazing writer) Jessy had a great idea with passing on books through our online groupies (community).

Here’s the idea:

I will mail the book to whoever wants it.  You just have to want it (comment that you want it) first and I will mail it to you.

Sound fun?  Want to join in?

Not everyone wants to give away good books, but if you are hanging here cause you are minimalist or flirting with the idea, this is an awesome opportunity to pass the pages or ‘un-buy the book’.

1. If you got a book that you loved and want to pass on you can put it in the comment section or create a ‘pass the pages’ post on your site and link to it in the comments.  If you put a book you want to pass on in my comment section and someone else comments that they want it I will send both of you an e-mail with both your e-mail addresses.  If you do it on your site it is up to you to connect people.
2. If you want a book that is noted in the comments, just be the first one to comment

Mailing book rate in the US comes out at about $5 with a priority envelope.  I am willing to mail in the US

(Out of country or between countries is more expensive so if you want to specify what country you are in or where you are willing to mail that is great.  There are readers from South America, Europe and Australia that frequent this site (so my analytics tell me).  Feel free to participate and we can try and match you with someone from your spot on the globe)

So, is there anyone out there in the US who wants Purpose Driven Life?  Comment first and I will send it too you.

Have a book to give away (and ship), note it below.

Here is a fun pic my husband took a few weeks ago that I really liked.

Fourth Sunday of the month is book sunday   Want to join in?  Here is a link to where we started.

How has your reading been this month?  Any thoughts on the November books (Simplicity Parenting and Spiritual Parenting)? Got anything you have read that you would recommend?

This month I read…

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids

This book was hard to get my hands on at the library and I waited on the hold list for a while.  When I got it, I realized why.  It was so good.  Not that his writing was gripping, or that any one page or idea was revolutionary, but that the whole book just spoke truth.  None of it is complicated or rocket science, but it is amazing how much we have lost the ability of simplicity.  Most people would agree that we live way to fast pace lives, but often what we feel is helping our children is actually training them for the same craziness that we are struggling with.  They are hitting it sooner and are less prepared.  We all need a bit more simple and this book gave great specific tools as well as general ideals.  Definitely recommend it.  I posted on some of my first thoughts a few weeks ago and I will post again on it this Wednesday.

Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today’s Families

I have to make a confession.  … I haven’t finished this book yet.  Simplicity Parenting took me a long time to get through and I ran out of time.  I have started it and I am enjoying it.  What I have gotten so far is that spiritual parenting isn’t about controlling kids behavior it is about creating a environment where they can grow to have a relationship with God that is personal and real to them.  This I love, and I am excited about finishing the book over the next week or so.

Moving on to December

For the month of December I am going to read One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.  I have seen some mixed reviews, but mostly they have been good.  The writing style if Ann Vondervan is a bit different and is interesting to me.   (this has 31 holds at my library so I will probably just get the kindle edition)

What about you?  Want to join me in reading One Thousand Gifts?  Have other book plans for December you want to share?  Read any good books lately?  Books are my window to the outside, grown-up world and I love them