I guess I can say that I have a love for reading! As a child, I read A LOT! I even won the STAR reader award for my age group at my local library. Of course like many people, once I entered into college and reading was mandatory, leisure reading faded away. Last year, I decided to pick it back up. I had a desire to fill my time and brain with more quality stuff. I started to get tired of the same ole shows on TV and quite frankly…a lot of it was trash and didn’t breed anything positive for me.

So I kept the expectation low and I read eight books in 2018. Now to some, that may not be a lot of books but for me especially a person who has a love for reading but fell off, that was a big jump from the previous years. I’ll list those books below with brief thoughts:

1. Mirroring Effect by CN Nash: Great book! This was the author’s 1st book and it explored the stages of grief through the fictional story of teen sisters. One unexpectedly commits suicide and the other has to slowly but surely move through those stages. I definitely felt apart of the story and the author did a great job creating the narrative.

2. Black Privilege by Charlamagne Tha God: This one was OK. Entertaining book simply because the author is entertaining and has had a ton of living which does make for a good story. There are good points that are made and he does a good job keeping it real. I will say this again about a later book that I will mention but there is a difference between someone who writes books for a living versus someone who just decides to write a book. I often felt like the book was disorganized and jumped around a lot.

3. Influencer by Brittany Hennessy: I picked up this book to help me and my husband with our digital presence and I am glad that we did. A very easy read, quick book, & to the point! She quickly goes through how to build your brand & how to build your following if you had zero followers to 10s of thousands of them. Good book for the newbie (even veteran) in the digital space.

4. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: I was unaware that this was a book…I just thought it was a movie. Clearly by liking the movie, I was intrigued to read the book. I am so glad that I did because the movie does not do the book justice! We’ve all heard that the books are better than the movies but there was a marked difference here! And something that I did not know was that this book is part of a trilogy. The fictional story is so whimsical and mysterious and thrilling that it takes you on a good ride! If you like a good fictional thriller, this is a good book for you!

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: I’ll have to admit, I really enjoyed this book! I believe this was the author’s first book as well and she did a great job with it. This is another book that I saw the movie first and the book is way better than the movie. Like I slick can’t watch the movie anymore because I’ve read the book…same with Miss Peregrine!

6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: This is a good inspirational book. Many people including celebrities recommend this book and I really can see why. It’s an easy read and has a great storyline behind it. I checked this out from the library but I will probably purchase it for my personal library. The story is all about going after your dreams and believing in your abilities. Definitely a good book to read multiple times!

7. The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish (Audiobook): This book was OK. This is the memoir of the comedienne Tiffany Haddish and it is very entertaining mostly because her life is very entertaining. She really has had a lot of life in her years but I will have to say again that just because you write a book does not make you an author. Some people are just gifted with words and will paint a picture that engulfs the reader in that world. Tiffany is an actor and comedian but not author. But if you are nosy (like I am) and you are a fan of hers, you still will enjoy the book.

8. Educated by Tara Westover (Audiobook): This book was 2018’s #1 book of the year and it deserved it! This is the memoir of the author and her life is something else. She pretty much grew up in survivalist mode with her family and eventually went off to college and struggled internally with what she grew up knowing versus what she learned in the world. It was really good to read about a person who grew up so differently from myself and that was important for me to start incorporating books that are totally different from who I am and my perspective in order for me to learn more others. It was a great book and you should definitely read it!

This year, I want to kick it up a notch! I want to read two books a month...so in order to keep myself honest, I am going to post those finished books at the end of every month to get keep myself accountable. This month the two books I completed were: Believe Bigger by Marshawn Evans Daniels and The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley.

1. Believe Bigger (Audiobook)—This book was OK. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten this as an audiobook but often times I was unable to really follow along with the author. She references a lot from study guides and other materials that I assume come with the printed book. Unfortunately, I don’t want to buy the hard copy and read it again so…yeah. Also at the end of the book, I thought she was very redundant and had made her point. All in all, it was a good book. She used a lot of scripture (which I like!), very inspirational and I was able to take away some good practicals that I can apply.

2. Malcolm X—Y’all!!! This was by far my favorite book out of everything that I have read! I just can’t say enough about this book! First off, though this was an autobiography, it was told to Alex Haley so it was impeccable writing! Malcolm X was such an intelligent, shrewd, calculated, and deep person. There was so much that I did not know about him and I realized that there’s a huge conflict with what society thinks of him and who he really was. Now I don’t agree with all of his convictions & stances but for the time, he was a needed figure. I recommend every and anyone to read this book no matter what race or religious background. This is an awesome book! It is a CLASSIC!

Well, I know this was a lengthy post but hopefully, this will inspire you to read more! I would love your book recommendations below because my list is ever-growing so drop ‘em below! Until next time…