Tag: Amazon

Down The TBR Hole #11-20

Post author By Tanisha Rhenae
Post date August 12, 2019

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #11-20. Head here to get more information on this meme that I am doing. As a reminder, here are the rules:

I am starting this week with 4,676 books on my To Be Read list.

1. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

This book is on every productivity recommendation list I have ever come across. I have the physical copy of this book and had started to read it but ended up putting it down. This was during the season where I couldn’t find joy in reading because of other things happening. I will eventually read it, so I’m keeping it.

2. Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman

Another book that I have a physical copy of. As someone who is recovering from being all about doing things and doing them right to please others, I bought this one when I was in Altar’d State out of town. I started another book by Emily P. Freeman recently, and it’s pretty good, so I think I will be keeping this one for now.

3. Sacred Influence: How God Uses Wives to Shape the Souls of Their Husbands by Gary L. Thomas

I will take all the books on marriage I can take. It is literally the hardest thing I have done. I am keeping this one.

4. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs

A friend let me borrow this book, and I fell in love with it. I took my time reading it, took a ton of notes, started to implement some of the recommendations, and then decided to order my own along with the workbook. Then I stopped reading it. I started again on my sabbatical but couldn’t get back into the flow I was in before. But this book is beyond amazing, and I will read it and soon. I’m keeping it.

5. Sink Reflections: Overwhelmed? Disorganized? Living In Chaos? The FlyLady’s Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order–and It All Starts with Shining Your Sink! by Marla Cilley

I use to follow the FlyLady, and it did wonders for keeping and maintaining my house clean and organized. I still follow the essence of her advice as it has become routine for me, but I’m not strict with what she recommends. I also believe I can find everything in this book on her website. So although I own a kindle edition of this book, I am removing this one.

6. Boundaries in Marriage by Henry Cloud

I’ve had Dr. Cloud’s books recommended to me a million times. I felt like he was a legend at my previous home church, and everyone swore by his books like they were the Bible (which should have been my first clue). A friend let me borrow the audiobook. I bought the workbook. I think I downloaded the eBook. I could not get into this book. Or the regular Boundaries book. And you know what I am done trying. I’m removing it.

7. Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely

This book was one of the books I picked from the free Audible Originals one month. It looks like it will be a quick romance to listen to so I am keeping it.

8. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington

I love Arianna Huffington. She’s done and launched amazing things. Her story of burnout resonated with me from when I worked in Corporate America. I have already read one of her books and loved it. I own this one on Audible, so I am keeping it.

9. Win From Within: Finding Yourself by Facing Yourself by John Gray

I have been a fan of John Gray for a while and until recently would watch most of his sermons. He went through some criticism lately, and his response to that was to become an angry preacher, so I stopped watching him. But I do plan on reading his books, and maybe one day I’ll check back in on his messages. I own this one on Audible, so I’m keeping it.

10. Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington

Another book I received for free from Audible Originals. I love reading autobiographies from women of color, and her living on the top floor of a library made me want to add this to my collection. Plus her father being a custodian and her love for literature was something that made me relate to her as my father had a job as a building custodian at one of the apartments we lived in, in New Jersey. And I shouldn’t need to say how I relate to her love of literature…since you are on my book blog :). Needless to say, I am keeping it.

Final count: Removing 2; Keeping 8; TBR down to 4,674

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Tags Amazon, Audible, Audiobook, Autobiography, Burn Out, Christian, Down The TBR Hole, eBook, Kindle, Marriage, Physical Book, Productivity, TBR

Rhenáe's Recap

Rhenáe’s Recap: 08/04/19 – 08/10/19

Post author By Tanisha Rhenae
Post date August 12, 2019

This has been a pretty light week on the blog as I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time detoxing and sleeping. Because of that, I didn’t read or write too much but instead thought through some decisions I needed to make to help with my reading slump. I think I was finally able to break it with some easy romances and hoping that having spent some time organizing what is in my head will help make next week a lot more productive.

New & Notable

In the reading world this week, we had the passing of a legendary author, Toni Morrison, on August 6th. (Photo Cred: AP/CNN)

August 9th was Book Lovers Day.

I launched a new weekly book meme (book lingo for a challenge), Down The TBR Hole. I take ten books from my TBR list on GoodReads that I have been building since 2017 (2016 in Evernote) and decide if I will keep it on the list or if I am no longer interested and will be removing it. It’s a great way to see what I thought when I added the book and what my thoughts are on individual books now.

Currently Reading

If you have read any of my previous Rhenáe’s Recaps, you may have noticed at least two of my currently reading books have been the same. I’ve started a new book each week and am now at four books that I am just struggling to finish. They are great books, and I can’t wait to read them, but I’ve had some block. So I decided to put down three of the books I am not making progress with. I won’t add them to DNF because I WILL finish these books. I’m just not going to push myself to do it right this moment.

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss – I went to the back, and there are 705 pages. It’s broken into three sections, the first being “Healthy.” I expected to skip this section altogether, but as I was flipping through it, some items made me stop and read it. I am currently on page 167 in this book and have been making progress each week.

Finished Reading

Thank goodness for Amazon Kindle and Apple Books deals. These books were free this week, so I downloaded them. Two quick romances and a suspense/mystery that I was able to read in one day.

Her Texas Cowboy by Debra Clopton

Entangled by Barbara Ellen Brink

Full Circle by Mona Ingram

Recently Acquired

I signed up for emails that send me Amazon Kindle and Apple Books deals. To keep my budget under control (and my husband happy), I only download the books if they are free. With that being said, I tend to download probably about five new books a day. That’s crazy, I know, and I probably won’t read all of these books. But I’m a book hoarder, and with them being eBooks, I don’t see a problem. This is how I have been able to discover amazing authors and some different genres that I am enjoying.

Let’s do some quick math. ~5 books a day, seven days a week means I am probably downloading 35 books a week. I think what I am going to do is share those on my Instagram and Facebook stories each day (you can get in on the deals also). Then in my Recap, I will share which ones I am looking forward to reading the most.

Goodreads Challenge Update: 44/52

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Tags Amazon, Apple Books, Book Lovers Day, Book Review, Down The TBR Hole, Kindle, Rhenae's Recap, Toni Morrison

Rhenáe's Recap

Rhenáe’s Recap: 07/28/19 – 08/03/19

Post author By Tanisha Rhenae
Post date August 4, 2019

Reviews

The Four Agreements

My first 1-star review on the blog and the first book that I didn’t finish because I just couldn’t. What I learned from this book was to be okay with putting a book down (or anything really) if I feel like it will do damage to my subconscious. I’ve worked hard for the past year or two to think about what I allow into my mind and remove things that I think negatively impact my thinking. Sometimes with books, I try and push past my initial hunch because I feel like no matter what I can always learn something. But with this book, I realized how dangerous that was. I have plenty of other books I can read.

The Printed Letter Bookshop

I love reading cute little romances to help break up the sometimes heavy self-help and business books I tend to lean towards. While this one wasn’t the best book, I couldn’t help but love a book about a bookshop. My lesson from this book? While it is okay to live your life, primarily when you work so hard, there comes the point where it can start to become irresponsible. Where and how am I careless with my life? If my world changes tomorrow, what would I need to change?

Currently Reading

This week has been a mess for me. Typically, I turn to reading when I need to escape, but it didn’t work so well this time. But I do feel like I am coming out of my slump and I am setting a crazy goal to finish three of the below books this week. Pray for me!

Rich Habits Poor Habits by Tim Corley and Michael Yardney

Messy Beautiful Friendship by Christine Hoover

The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

Finished Reading

Letters to the Church by Francis Chan (for the second time)

Recently Acquired

I made the switch from mostly using Libby and Hoopla to Scribd this week. I was getting caught up in the 14 or 21-day timeframe to read a book. While I usually finish books in 1-2 days, sometimes having up to eight books downloaded at once, made that a struggle. Luckily, I was able to find three of my currently reading books there (the other I own as a physical copy). I also download a few books that caught my eye while scrolling. It’s a pretty long list, so I may do a separate post. If I do, I will come back and link it.

Goodreads Challenge Update: 41/52

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Tags Amazon, Book Review, Christian, eBook, Hoopla, Libby, Rhenae's Recap, Scribd

Rhenáe's Recap

Rhenáe’s Recap: 07/21/19 – 07/27/19

Post author By Tanisha Rhenae
Post date July 28, 2019

Reviews

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Since this book was about Emoni’s passion for cooking, I decided to take two action items away dealing with food. My first item was I need to do a better job on buying and cooking meals that follow the Low FODMAP diet I should be on thanks to my digestive issues. My next item was to plan a date night that involved a cooking class. I haven’t decided yet if this will be a date with myself or with my husband.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

Although I didn’t give it that great of a review, I still had some takeaways. My main one was to start paying attention to what I am buying and making sure the company is following some ethical and moral guidelines. I’m looking into Fair Trade Certified products. I already use Grove to deliver my cleaning products, but I looked into their other products like toilet tissue, paper towels, etc. I included my referral link if you want to check it out and get a free gift. (I do earn from qualifying purchases, if you use that link, at no extra charge to you!).

Currently Reading

Messy Beautiful Friendship by Christine Hoover

I didn’t get too far in this book last week, but I haven’t read a single page this week.

The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman

It’s been a while since I’ve started this one and I realized I need to start over again instead of jumping in where I left off.

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

I decided to start this massive book after seeing someone’s post on how to read the book. Apparently, you can jump in at any point and start reading. It’s more of a collection of nuggets so I figured I would get started. But I am going to read it in order.

Letters to the Church by Francis Chan

I ordered the physical copy of this book to re-read, this week. This one, along with the two under Recently Acquired, were easily in my top favorite books that I have read this year.

DNF

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

There wasn’t anything wrong with this book, and I think it is one I will eventually read and like. But I borrowed it from Libby, and by the time I had to return it, I didn’t make it that far. I was reading it all week and only made it to chapter three. I’m a little over eBooks right now.