Links I Loved This Week – 01/28/2018

I still blogged less than usual this week, but some posts is better than no posts. That’s my new motto. Feel free to join me in its use. I’m already making a ton of progress on other priorities I’ve set for myself in 2018, so if my return to blogging has had some fits and starts I think that’s okay.

I’ve actually woken up every morning this past week at 6am to take a 30 to 45 minute walk (which turned into over an hour walk on Sunday), and it’s been moving the scale enough that I made my weight-loss goal for January early. However, I used to work on blog posts during that time so it’s been a bit of an adjustment to make up the blogging time elsewhere, but it’s worth it so I’m going to figure it out 🙂

I also have kept up with my Les Miserables Chapter-A-Day read-along and the new 5-year journal I bought to write in every day. It’s the little victories!

Without further ado, here are this week’s links…

• Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. I wasn’t sure what to make of this week’s topic – Top Ten Books I Liked But Can’t Remember (full list of links here) – until I saw the contributions from everyone. Turns out basically it was a request for forgotten gems, and everyone’s links will have plenty of inspiration for your TBR lists. Some of my favorite posts included the ones at Death By Tsundoku, The Hungry Bookworm, Kelly’s Rambles, Curiouser And Curiouser, The Bookish Libra, Literary Weaponry and Going Through Books.

• I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of featuring positive reviews of my favorite book of 2017 – Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Jess at Reads And Dreams seemed to really love it like I did. Great review!

• Everyone seems to be talking about Reese Witherspoon’s book club these days, and since she included Eleanor Oliphant in her book club picks, I’m considering whether I should take the plunge and explore more the titles she selected. There are a few other titles on her list that I also liked so maybe we actually do have similar reading tastes.

• I loved this Beginners Guide To Nonfiction on Doing Dewey. It’s such a clever idea and I like how she paired up tastes in fiction with nonfiction books that might be a good fit as a result. Her recommendations are spot-on, so if you’ve normally avoided nonfiction but want to take the plunge you should use this guide.

• Sometimes I take a weird pleasure out of seeking out glowing reviews of popular books I didn’t actually enjoy. It seems to be the case right now with reviews of The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. I found it really interesting to read reviews of the novel on Lit Wit and Breathing Through Pages, despite the fact I partly don’t agree with their praise for it.

• I’ve been really enjoying reading posts from this series on The Book Review Cafe’ on A Day With different authors. This week’s installment is from an author I wasn’t very familiar with – crime thriller writer Caroline Mitchell – but reading about her transition from police detective to full time writer was fascinating.

• My real life book club picked The Bear And The Nightingale by Katherine Arden as our selection for February, so I’m finally definitely going to get to it after it languishing on my TBR for months. I was happy to see that the second book in the trilogy – The Girl In The Tower – was just released, and from this review on Lynn’s Book Blog it looks like it holds up from the high expectations set by book one.

• And as always, if you’re looking for even more bookish links, The Secret Library Blog had her post up as well!

• Here are the individual book reviews I read this week that inspired me to consider reading the books they covered:
  • The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth on Dee’s Rad Reads And Reviews (msytery)
  • Under The Dome by Stephen King on Keeper Of Pages (sci-fi)
  • The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley on What’s Better Than Books? (historical fiction)
  • A Train In Winter by Caroline Moorehead on What’s Nonfiction? (historical fiction)
  • The Coroner’s Daughter by Andrew Hughes on The Quiet Knitter (historical fiction)
  • In Pursuit Of Memory by Joseph Jebelli on Consumed By Ink (medical nonfiction)
  • Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel on Bionic Book Worm (sci-fi)
  • Best Friends Forever by Margot Hunt on Clues And Reviews (thriller)
  • Murder In Little Shendon by A.H. Richardson on Me And My Books (mystery)

• I published not one by TWO reviews this week. Yes, you may give me a round of applause. The first was a review of recently released historical fiction title Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict. It’s from the same author as The Other Einstein and I liked it enough to give it a 4 star review. After that, I also posted an audiobook review of nonfiction title Evicted by Matthew Desmond. Definitely a very important read on the eviction epidemic in America.

• I am scared to make precise plans for next week but the two posts I definitely want to publish are the February 2018 Book Releases I’m looking forward to and finally my October 2017 Book Of The Month reviews, which I’ve been sitting on for months.

• I thought the suggestions in this list of Ways To Re-Energize Yourself At Work were great. I actually recognized several that I use on a daily or weekly basis at my job. I had a slow start to the work year thanks to vacation and the flu, but I’m back at full speed now and filled with new motivation for 2018!

• Sometimes I forget to meditate in the morning and I can always tell by midday, when I start to feel frazzled or scattered. I like the idea of it becoming acceptable to meditate during errands that lend themselves to it. This article is specifically about meditating while at the hair dresser but why stop there? You could meditate during a massage, in line at the grocery store or while pretending to listen to whomever is doing your taxes. Just work it into your regular life where it fits best 😉

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Any articles or blog posts from the book world that you really enjoyed this week? Share them in the comments!

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