Books

Books to Read

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ 4 Comments

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Like I mentioned in my https://stephseekingjoy.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/2016-goals/, I’m determind to get back into a routine with reading! I’ve added books to my queue & have been gifted a few great books, too. Here’s a peek at the books next up on my list (pictured), as well as these that have been highly recommended:

Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert (just finished it & loved it!)

Rising Strong, Brene Brown

Daring Greatly, Brene Brown

Bittersweet, Shauna Niequist

Tribes, Seth Godin

Life Together, Bonhoeffer

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo

Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg

Have you read any of these? I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

bigmagic

And a massive roundup of https://stephseekingjoy.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/all-things-books/!

Books of 2015

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ 10 Comments
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photo by Blue Barn Photography

2015 + reading = not my biggest success : )

I LOVE to read, and I make it my goal every year to read 52 books over the course of the year. I’ve been able to reach that goal for a while now (and usually read over 70), and I love tracking each and every book that I read (from 2010 through now!). But I would say that 2015 was unlike any other year that I’ve ever had, and reading slipped a bit to the wayside in the my life – especially during the last half of the year. But I am also pretty okay with the fact that I “only” read 35 books this past year. I know 35 books is still a lot, but I very much miss reading!

I essentially worked two full time jobs from February through July (wedding planning with Stephanie Scholl Events and my non-profit management job in DC), and then I took Stephanie Scholl Events full-time in July and moved to Raleigh in August. I never expected to be as busy as I have been from August through the end of the year, and I’m abundantly grateful for all of that busy-ness, because it’s all amounted to some really incredible opportunities and making big dreams happen. But amidst all of that hustle, I haven’t found free time to read. I’ve read two or three books since moving. Yikes!! I’m hoping to find a little more semblance of work-life balance in 2016, and I cannot wait to incorporate reading and books back into my routine, as it’s such a relaxing, fun activity for me. I have a plethora of books on my to-read list, and I can’t wait to get started back up again!

Here is my cumulative, comprehensive blog post related to ALL things books from the past several years: more lists and book recommendations that you could ever want!

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photo by Blue Barn Photography

Some of my very favorite books from 2015 are:

All the Light We Cannot See

The Signature of All Things

Go Set a Watchman

The Nightingale

At the Water’s Edge

Make it Happen

#GirlBoss

Bread & Wine

The Silkworm

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photo by Blue Barn Photography

What about you? What were some of your favorite recent reads, and what’s next up on your list? I’d love to hear some great recommendations!

Articles Club

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ 2 Comments

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Hooray! I’m so excited to invite all of you local friends to Articles Club!! Emily from Em for Marvelous and I are joining up to host a monthly Articles Club for Triangle area friends (and new friends!), and we would love to extend the invitation and have you join us! Emily and I have been online friends for several years now, and we just recently met in person, now that I live in the area (she is even sweeter in person!). So I’m especially excited to be sharing in this venture with her, as I’ve been so inspired by her for a long while!

Just what is an “Articles Club,” you ask? I shared about the Articles Club I hosted in DC here, and it was a great success + tons of fun! (In fact, my DC friends met up two weeks ago — even if I moved away, the articles club lives on!) Essentially, it’s a book club… just with a few articles to read and discuss instead of a book! I love a good book club, and this articles club is a fun twist on that – each month, we’ll get together to discuss and chat about three or so articles that we all read beforehand. I love that it’s less of a commitment for those who might not have time to read a whole book or for friends who aren’t huge fans of reading. Three articles can be read in a very short amount of time (in DC, I’m pretty sure most of us read the articles on our phones on the way to articles club!), and we’ll be sure to choose some really interesting, thought-provoking, and conversation-inducing articles each month.

We’ll be gathering on Tuesday, November 10th in the evening for our inaugural articles club, and Emily and I would love for any local Triangle ladies to join us! Whether you live in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, or somewhere in between… or whether you read every day or haven’t picked up a book in months… or whether you know either of us or just want to get to know some really awesome local ladies… we would love for anyone that’s interested to be a part of this! It’ll be casual, very inviting, and quite fun – and we’ll discuss the articles over appetizers, desserts, and drinks.

Email me by this Friday, October 16th (email address above in graphic) to RSVP and for more details. Just a note that we will have to cap it if we get too much interest! I’ll share with you the specifics (the address and time to meet on Tuesday, November 10th), as well as what articles have been selected for November. We’d love, love, love to have you there, friends!!