I have always been an avid reader. When I was little, my mom would take my sister Emily and I to the library and we’d come home with a stack of books (read: like 10-15) and finish within a week. I spent my summers reading outside, where most kids spent their time playing Sims or watching tv – nope, not this girl! Fast forward to now, and you can almost count on me to have several books going at once. Right now, I’m in the middle of 5 different books – all of different genres. Depending on what I’m doing or the time of day, I like to read different types of books.
Above, I rounded up a few that I’ve either read, am reading, or have on my list & breaking them down below. Some of the ones above are my absolute favorites books – that I will read over and over. I also have shared a few of these on my snapchat over the last few months, so if you’ve found yourself here from my snapchat fam to catch the juicy details on any of these, well hi!
FOR THE #GIRLBOSS ENTREPRENEUR
- I AM THAT GIRL – BY ALEXIS JONES // This book was recommended to me by my friend Danielle. I just started it this past weekend and love the positive encouragement it offers to women entrepreneurs. We need to support each other in our roles and fields, empowering one another rather than bullying or bringing down. As I always say, as entrepreneurs, we are essentially coworkers!
- GIRL CODE: UNLOCKING THE SECRETS TO SUCCESS, SANITY, AND HAPPINESS FOR THE FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR – BY CARA ALWILL LEYBA // After I finish I Am That Girl, I’ll be diving into this one. It’s along the same lines of encouraging one another, empowering, and working together as Girl Bosses!
- LEAVE YOUR MARK – ALIZA LICHT // Aliza Licht is the former DKNY PR GIRL who created a booming twitter phenomenon and following for the DKNY brand back in the early days of twitter. She has since left her position of Global Communications Executive at DKNY (I interviewed to be her assistant back in the day!) to pursue an entrepreneurial career – with her first step being writing Leave Your Mark. This has been on my ‘to read’ list since she announced she was writing it.
FOR AN AFTERNOON AT THE BEACH (OR A RAINY DAY IN)
- THE SINGLES GAME – LAUREN WEISBURGER // A handful of my friends have picked up this book for beach vacations and such. I’ll be at our beachhouse the entire month of July so you know I’m adding this one to my list for an easy, fun beach read! I tend to pick girly or easy to read books on the beach so I can kind of zone out and relax – versus the first category where you have to be so invested in the content.
- THE GIRLS IN THE GARDEN – LISA JEWELL // I order all of my books on Amazon (because, hello Prime!) and saw this one while browsing the other night. The setting is London and I have a feeling there’s a little bit of suspense in this one.. just right up my alley. (Anyone else read the entire Nancy Drew series?)
- SO CLOSE – EMMA MCLAUGHLIN + NICOLA KRAUS // I want to read this simply for the cover – but seriously! Do you guys read books based on the cover sometimes? The girls who wrote this also wrote The Nanny Diaries which I read a few years ago, so I think I’ll like this one too! The main character grew up in a trailer park and is determined to break out of that environment – love a good, overcoming type read!
FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND FAITH BUILDING
- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN WALK IN FAITH – LYSA TERKEURST // Lysa is my absolute favorite author – I have read a ton of her book and just keep reading and rereading them. She’s the President of Proverbs 31 Ministries and is incredibly knowledgeable – I love how she writes her books from personal experience and perspective. I recently ordered this book after going through some major personal changes in my life, and it has spoken to my situation in ways I cannot even begin to explain. It has challenged my faith and taken me deeper in my walk with Christ. The book is broken up into the 5 stages we take in a ‘faith walk’ and I’ve chosen to slowly go through the book as I go through the 5 stages in my own life. This is a must read, ladies.
- PRESENT OVER PERFECT – SHAUNA NEIQUIST // Being present over perfect is so difficult in today’s world, especially with social media and the rise of so many entrepreneurs. While both of those things are positive, they can also be so negative if you’re too caught up in the hustle of it all. I’ve talked about work/life balance and other things on this blog many times, and have adopted certain practices in my own life to do away with the frantic ‘I have to be present online all the time’ attitude to just sitting back and taking in real life. This book is up next on my list for this category!
- THE BEST YES – LYSA TERKEURST // This is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. Again, Lysa kills it in the life department and tells us as women that guess what, we don’t have to say yes to everything to be successful, fulfilled women! We’re in a world that constantly demands our attention, time, money, effort, and everything in between. Lysa details out that it’s okay to say no, when to say no, and how to say no. Read this. It absolutely changed my life!
If there’s a book I’ve shared not on the above list, chances are you should still read it! Let me know if you have any questions and happy reading, everyone xx