Audible Book Review Shorts: How to Train Your Mind by Chris Bailey & God's Purpose for Your Life by Charles Stanley

As part of setting boundaries, I'm giving myself permission not to write a full review of every book I've read. The following two books are ones I've listened to this year. Both were fabulous. You can read some thoughts below.

How to Train Your Mind: Exploring the Productivity Benefits of Meditation by Chris Bailey is not a typical read for me. As the author points out, I, like many others, have a preconceived notion of what meditation is all about and how you practice it. Like most preconceived notions, they are wrong. :) 

Bailey explains how helpful meditation can be for your life and your productivity without judgment and without claiming it is a quick fix for what ails you. The book offers a few guided meditations for busy people like me, who often multitask their way through life. I will be reading more of Bailey's books in the future. 

Charles F. Stanley was one of my mother-in-law's favorite Christian authors. Coincidentally, they passed away ten days apart from each other and at the same age. I doubt she would have been able to read God's Purpose for Your Life because her dementia was advanced enough in 2020, when this book came out, for her to comprehend anything new, but I am sure she would have enjoyed it.

Narrated by Henry O. Arnold, these daily devotions focus on discovering God's purpose for your life by setting godly goals and obeying God's Word. Some of my favorite Scripture passages are found within the pages of God's Purpose for Your Life, and after spending each morning in the Word, I am better prepared to face the day. This is a lovely devotional that I would recommend to anyone seeking to align their life with God's purpose for them. 

I bought these audiobooks with Audible credits. These reviews contain my honest opinions. I have not been compensated in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Aug 31

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and are about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and was then taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 

Welcome to the last Monday and the last day of August. How quickly that happened. Hope you had a nice week. I worked and worked and then worked some more. No day off for me, but I'm looking forward to a day or two off this coming weekend. I did, however, get to spend some time in the kitchen.

Cookies!

Green beans and potatoes like my MIL 

used to make

Chicken cacciatore, which my MIL

 enjoyed cooking

Today is filled with medical appointments and work appointments. Would appreciate your prayers, as I have a suspicion based on recent bloodwork that I won't like what the doctor has to say. Hopefully, I am wrong. 

In my blogging and reading world, I still need to write my review of The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. Amazing book! 

I didn't read The Eyes of River last week. 

Almost done with Staged by Caitlin Rother. 

Loving Massawa by Pam Webber. 

I still need to write a review of Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH.

I am reading:

• A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge
• The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
• Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense

Upcoming Events

• Evan's Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles - Sep 24 (Review at TC&TBC)
• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (Review)

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

I am still pretending I have self-control by not ordering or buying anything new. Of course, I haven't done much other than work, so that has helped. 

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past explores what might be the last analog Christmas in 1994. I will let you decide if that's true. You can read my post here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

New feature alert! What Do You Think? will be reaching out to readers to ask their opinions on things. It might be very quiet, but we will see how it goes. Talking about author newsletters this week. Check it out here.

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new this week, but ideas are always brewing. Season 2 of the new Little House on the Prairie is in production. I always have a hard time investing in a Netflix series because they cancel them so easily. I hope this series gets a longer run. 

That's it from me. I look forward to visiting you later today. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Jul 27

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and was then taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 

We are settling on the last Monday of July today. How is summer moving so quickly? Before we know it, the local kids will be back in school. 

Another zany week in real estate, but lots of good things too. This week might be more manageable. 

Here are a few recent photos:

Travis and Dwight 

Friday night out

Me preparing to record for the Bucket List Challenge

Theo finds grooming exhausting

Two gifts I bought from Modern Prairie to treat myself

In my reading world, I had finished The Ledger by Steven Manchester earlier. You can find my review here.

 Did not touch The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller, and I wonder if I will get to it. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River last week. 

I read some of Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts. 

Need to get moving on Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked.

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started.

Also need to read:

• A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge
• The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
• Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH
• Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense

Photo credit: Freepik

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

This week, two hardcover copies of books I own on Audible arrived, both by Oliver Burkeman: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. 

Upcoming Events

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - TBD (Review)

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts - TBD (Review)

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past post is about Christmas 1783, the first Christmas as an independent nation. You can find that here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, I reviewed In the Wide, Wild World by Natalie Horseman. You can read that here.

Laura's Little Houses

I am talking about the new Little House on the Prairie adaptation this week. You can see my comments here. No real spoilers here if you haven't watched it yet. 

That's it for me. I am feeling more accomplished, but still have a way to go if I plan to hit my reading goal this year. See you around the blogosphere!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Jul 20

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and was then taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great week. I'm still playing catch-up because I was living in real estate hell last week. However, I did have two closings last week that went smoothly. I also managed to get to the lab on Friday for my bloodwork to see if they can figure out what is going on with me. 

Today, I will start the day by taking Theo to his least favorite place on Earth--the vet. He gets a monthly allergy shot. Then I have a meeting, and in the afternoon, I follow up with my doctor. I'm still working on an issue for work as well. 

Saw this old restaurant booth in a house last week. It is always cool to stumble upon these treasures. 

In my reading world, I wrote a review of Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. I ordered a printed copy of this and Burkeman's first book, Four Thousand Weeks. You can find my review here.

Did not touch The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller, and I wonder if I will get to it. 

I am done with The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. Look for my review soon. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River last week. 

I read some of Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts. 

I wrote a First Chapter Review of Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. You can read that review here.

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started.

I reviewed Max and Her Stacks by Joyce McCullough at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. Look for my review link below. 

Photo credit: Freepik

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

I was approved for these two books by publishers on NetGalley:

A Christmas Carol Devotional: 

25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic

by Rachel Dodge

The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson

Hank also sent me his newest beginner's guide for writers to review:

Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Writing Assistant 

by Hank Quense

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - TBD (Review)

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - TBD (Review)

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts - TBD (Review)

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past post isn't up yet. Hopefully, tomorrow. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, we celebrated 17 years of blogging. I also posted a review of Max and Her Stacks by Joyce McCullough. You can read that review here.

Laura's Little Houses

Still nothing new here. Maybe Wednesday. Depends on how this week turns out.

It's nice to see some books come off my list. I'm tired of sharing the same ones week after week. Looking forward to reading your posts.