September 2019 Reading List
Hey y'all! How was everyone's weekend? It was a very lazy weekend here which is what I would call successful! It was fricken hot outside here in Raleigh but it was perfectly fine because there was plenty of college football on to keep me entertained. No but I did get some stuff done that I needed to because it is going to be an absolute crazy week in the life of Danielle. I have a concert to go to tonight, midterms getting ready to happen, big blog shoot to do for a lot of content, hockey season starting on Thursday, and lots of filming. Stuff like this though keeps me motivated, I just have lots of lists to help me stay on track and focused. What do y'all have going on this week? Anything exciting?
Can we just talk about how it is the last day of September already! Where did the time go? Of course y'all know what that means. It is time for me to share my September reading list filled with the books that I read during this month. Y'all know I love to read and putting these books together is great because I get to relive the stories all over again. This month, I have revisited some books that were passed down to me and some that I was truly to young to read at the time. I hope y'all enjoy!
What have y'all been reading recently? Do y'all have any good book recommendations that I should try out?
~THE WEDDING PARTY BY: JASMINE GUILLORY | Maddie and Theo have two things in common: 1. Alexa is their best friend 2. They hate each other. After an “oops, we made a mistake” night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa's wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they're comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won't fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn't looking, agreeing they would end it once the wedding is over. When it’s suddenly pushed up and they only have a few months left of secret rendezvouses, they find themselves regretting that the end is near. Two people this different can’t possibly have a connection other than the purely physical, right? But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don't fall in love. If y'all have read my other monthly reading lists, you know that I love Jasmine Guillory's series of books that are all connected in a way. This one is no different and is a story of non-friends with benefits that of course turns into more than just that. It is beautifully written and has so much humor in it. The thing that I love about Jasmine Guillory's writing is that you can relate to it in some way.
~BORN TO RUN BY: CHRISTOPHER MCDOUGALL | An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. What an epic adventure this is to read about. When I first started running I found this book but I was so young that I didn't really relate to what it was talking about. Flash forward 7 years later and I have reread it and can finally understand the meaning of it. The journey that Chris McDougall takes is one for the books and not only are you reading his journey's about running, you are also reading about different groups of people that have such amazing history all across North America! For me, this made me want to get up and go for a run after reading even a little bit of it.
~THE HONEST LIFE BY: JESSICA ALBA | The Honest Life recounts Alba's personal journey of discovery and reveals her tips for making healthy living fun, real, and stylish, while offering a candid look inside her home and daily life. She shares strategies for maintaining a clean diet (with favorite family-friendly recipes) and embraces nontoxic choices at home and provides eco-friendly decor tips to fit any budget. Alba also discusses cultivating a daily eco beauty routine, finding one's personal style without resorting to yoga pants, and engaging in fun, hands-on activities with kids. Her solutions are easy, chic, and down-to-earth: they're honest. And discovering everyday ways to live naturally and authentically—true to you—could be honestly life-changing. If y'all do not know about Jessica Alba's company, Honest Life, you need to go and do some homework. Alba has created this multi-million dollar company now that does all of this research and science into making everyday products from baby wipes, to make-up, to clothing, that are healthy and don't contain all the bad things in them. And when I say bad things, I mean all the really long words in the list of ingredients that we can't pronounce so we don't bother paying attention to them. The Honest Life really gives you a glimpse into Jessica Alba's life and the things that she works so hard for for her family and other families in the world.
~SWEETBITTER BY: STEPHANIE DANLER | Newly arrived in New York City, twenty-two-year-old Tess lands a job working front of house at a celebrated downtown restaurant. What follows is her education: in champagne and cocaine, love and lust, dive bars and fine dining rooms, as she learns to navigate the chaotic, enchanting, punishing life she has chosen. The story of a young woman’s coming-of-age, set against the glitzy, grimy backdrop of New York’s most elite restaurants, in Sweetbitter Stephanie Danler deftly conjures the nonstop and high-adrenaline world of the food industry and evokes the infinite possibilities, the unbearable beauty, and the fragility and brutality of being young and adrift. Sweetbitter takes you for a ride you are not ready for. It is a very dark book and has many turns that leave you with more questions than answers. Tess is a very strange character and there are moments that are discussed about her past but it doesn't delve in a lot to let you understand how she got to where she is. A rollercoaster of a book for sure!
~DEWEY BY: VICKI MYRON WITH BRET WITTER | Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. On the coldest night of the year in Spencer, Iowa, at only a few weeks old—a critical age for kittens—he was stuffed into the return book slot of the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility (for a cat), and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most. As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming community slowly working its way back from the greatest crisis in its long history. Dewey is a book that has been passed down to me from my Mimi, who shares a love for reading like I do, and this is such a sweet story. I try to stay away from animal books because sometime they are just too much for me to handle, but I absolutely loved reading Dewey because it is amazing to read how one animal can provide so much joy, warmth, and excitement without even having to work at it. What I love about this is that Dewey does so much to be there for people and somehow knows when they are going through their hardest times.
As always thank y'all for stopping by and reading! I will see y'all back here next time!
Love, D
