Hello Friends,

It’s time for another life/reading update! I had hoped to be posting more often but life is busy and the inspiration for writing just hasn’t been there lately. Our little family is keeping busy with the church plant and planning lots of outreaches and events coming up this summer. Not to mention corralling my busy little one year old while simultaneously doing house projects and “keeping the home.” We moved last June and we’ve been slowly knocking out random house projects since then. It’s exciting to see things take shape in all these different areas of our life. I think we’ve settled in well to our new home, our new town, and our new roles. Things are always a “work in progress” though. 😉

Enough about “life”… let’s chat about books! I did manage to read four books last month, but right now I’m in a bit of a reading loll. I think I need a good a fictional book or biography to shake things up (if you have an exciting book to share, please tell me in the comments!).

In the meantime, here’s what I read last month:

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April Reads: What I’m Reading Month by Month

Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy

This book has a weird name, but excellent content. It’s full of practical ways to beat procrastination and get more stuff done. This isn’t the first time I’ve read this book, in fact, it’s probably one I should read every year or so! Brian Tracy is definitely a “self-help” author and a bit humanistic at times, so take his advice with a grain of salt. All in all, this book is very practical and I was constantly highlighting helpful tips. Planning every day in advance, upgrading your skills, and motivating yourself into action are just a few of the topics mentioned throughout the 21 short chapters. If you’re a natural procrastinator (like me) and need some help getting more things done, you might want to give this one a read! I gave this book four stars on Goodreads.

7 Simple Skills for Every Woman by Pam Farrell

This was another super helpful book. As women, we have a lot on our plates and it’s easy for life to get overwhelming. This book talked about developing 7 important skills for navigating life (being proactive, decisive, wiser, reliable, relational, healthy, productive). The author has an interesting and easy-to-understand writing style (although there were times when I felt like the chapters and information weren’t organized the best). I didn’t agree with everything the author had to say, but overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be very helpful and motivating. Life sometimes feels like a juggling act, and this book will help you learn how to balance it all well. I gave this book four stars on Goodreads.

The Whole 9 Months by Jennifer Lang

This book is all about pregnancy nutrition from conception to birth. I enjoy reading these types of books because I’ve learned how important it is to eat properly before, during, and after pregnancy so that baby has everything they need and mama has a smooth pregnancy and birth. This book is full of colorful texts and photos and is honestly quite beautiful to look through. I really liked the way the information was organized. Part one talks about eating during pregnancy (in general), part two talks about the three trimesters and which nutrients and foods are especially helpful for baby during each trimester. Finally, the last section (part three) is full of recipes! As much as I loved this book, the nutrition information did feel a bit incomplete. The author made it clear that she’s in favor of a vegan and/or vegetarian diet (even for pregnant women). It was obvious she favored plant-based forms of nutrients (including protein and calcium). Thankfully, she still included animal foods in the book and did give them a nod occasionally when talking about certain nutrients and which foods contain them. I will likely reference this book again. In the end, I gave this book three stars on Goodreads.

Last month I read Real Food for Mother and Baby and that one is still probably my favorite book on this topic!

The Finishing School by Valerie Woerner

Okay, I LOVED this book. The subtitle is: “how one book nerd began living what she learned.” As an avid read myself, I could relate to the author and her writing so much! The book took on the theme of a “finishing school” giving you the knowledge and expertise to navigate everyday life (how practical and fun is that?!) Here are a few of the topics covered by Valerie in her book: prayer, Bible study, goals, distractions, self-control, habits, boundaries, balance, friendship, hospitality, health, rest, margin, and more! Seriously, this book covered a lot. I need to work on so many of these areas myself and Valerie shared a lot of practical advice for each one. I will definitely be referencing this book again in the future. I gave this book five stars on Goodreads.

(On a negative note, I did notice a lot of typos throughout the book. I don’t usually pick up on that kind of thing, but it was incredibly noticeable. It didn’t really bother me, just made the book appear less professional).

If the name of the author sounds familiar, it’s because Valerie is the creator of the Val Marie Paper Prayer Journals and the author of Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday (and other books).

How About You?

What have you read this month? I would love to hear about your April reads! And remember: if you have any recommendations for an exciting book, let me know! I need something to shake things up for me! 😉

Related Posts:

• January Reads
• February Reads
• March Reads

Happy Reading!