Hour 7 and Book 2

I'm starting to flag. I wish I hadn't had to go to work today - then I could have napped and prepped better for this - but it is what it is.

For my second book, I chose a short one that had been recommended to me during my MBA program - WHICH I'M ALL DONE WITH - called The Miracle Morning. 

The Miracle Morning

By: Hal Elrod

Genre: Self-Help

Rating: 3.5

Summary:

What if you could miraculously wake up tomorrow and any—or every area of your life was transformed? What would be different? Would you be happier? Healthier? More successful? In better shape? Would you have more energy? Less Stress? More Money? Better relationships? Which of your problems would be solved?

What if I told you that there is a "not-so-obvious" secret that is guaranteed to transform any—or literally every area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible? What if I told you it would only take 6 minutes a day?

Enter The Miracle Morning. What’s now being practiced by thousands of people around the world could perhaps be the simplest approach to creating the life you’ve always wanted. It’s been right there in front of us, but this book has finally brought it to life.

Are you ready? The next chapter of your life—the most extraordinary life you've ever imagined—is about to begin.

YOU DESERVE AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE. IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP TO YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.

My Thoughts:

So, I don't do a lot of self-help books, the most I have read were some for my management classes for my MBA - the ones I have read weren't try to sell me something nearly as hard as this book was. Goodness, every single page was telling me to go to his website, download this program, get his special journal. Crap man, you are presenting some pretty good ideas here, stop it with the selling! 

It ticked me off.

But it didn't tick me off enough that I'm not going to try this. Granted I find it funny that I came across this when I'm doing a 24 hour readathon and so my sleep schedule is going to be whack for a couple of days, though I feel I can implement his ideas to improve my life.

Things I'm excited to try: 

• Going to bed thinking that I will wake up just fine. He says that if I do this it doesn't matter how much sleep I get, if my mind thinks I got enough sleep then I will be able to get up in the morning.
• A daily affirmation. I'm going to try this with the write down something 15 times to make it true thing that my friends got me started on.
• Visualization - I have forgotten the future I want to have and so feel like the wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead. I'm hoping taking the time to conscientiously picture my ideal future will give me purpose.

Things I'm not excited to try:

• Going to his website.
• Getting an accountability buddy.
• Sharing this book as though it was gospel.

Am I going to try this? Yes - on my own terms. Will you ever know about how it turned out?...probably not because well that's not how I roll. All in all it was a fine book. Definitely short and I think he added in all the self-promotion in order to get more pages out of it. Though I'm hoping it will at least add a little value to my life. 

Book one is done

Alrighty, so we are heading into hour 4 and I have finished my first book.
Finding Anne de Bourgh 

By: Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen

Genre: Fiction, Women's Fiction

Rating: 3.5 stars

Summary:

As heiress of Rosings Park, Anne de Bourgh’s health is of utmost importance to her mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Thus, following the shock of a recent fire at Rosings Park, the young woman is spirited away to Brighton to take the cure. While her domineering mother is bent on healing her daughter’s sickly constitution to secure her a suitable match, Anne herself is far more concerned with sketching the flora and fauna of the lovely sea town. It is in pursuit of artistic inspiration among the flowers that Anne becomes acquainted with Mr. Owen Talbot, a charming man with whom Anne feels an immediate connection, notwithstanding their differing stations.

But despite their growing esteem for one another, the couple faces an insurmountable problem: Lady Catherine has set her sights on a rich, well-connected man for her daughter, and Mr. Talbot is simply too common. With their love in jeopardy, the couple soon faces far graver problems. There has been a murder in Brighton, and Anne is innocently drawn into an amateur investigation that ultimately traces its roots to her own family. With a frightening foreshadowing regarding the de Bourghs, Anne begins to question whom she can truly trust.

My thoughts:

So this was one that I did thoroughly enjoy the concept of. Anne was never a character I gave much thought to in Pride and Prejudice. To me she was just another obstacle to Darcy and Elizabeth and nothing more. Hinrichsen follows the Austen formula while creating her own characters.

With Anne being so sickly, her mother has determined to bring her to Brighton in order to restore some health before going to London in the hopes of scraping together a match for her. As Anne gains not just physical strength but also inner strength to begin to defy her mother and live life at least somewhat on her terms. Over time she begins to make more decisions to her daily routine and even gasp what unsuitable gentleman she keeps company with.

I liked seeing her gain her voice. My favorite quote from the book is "Be assertive. Follow your heart. Be the woman you want to be." That is some good empowerment right there. She didn't turn into a domineering shrew, she simply became who she was meant to be. A daughter of the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh was NOT meant to be a doormat - not even for her mother. I am so very glad she came to herself and found some backbone. 

My critisims come with spoilers - if you would like them simply highlight between the *** We knew right off the bat who the bad guy was. He has his own chapters trying to explain his motive and we know there is a plot against Anne. I feel like this would have been a MUCH stronger novel had we not known. Let Mr. Lambert b e a Willoughby or a Wickham - someone who at first seems charming but then suddenly is not at all who we thought he was. We did get to see him change sides because of his daughter, but seriously that would have been amazing to have us feel the same betrayal as Anne. Bad editor for not catching and fixing this. Yes there was a little bit of rug pulling with Mrs. Webb but honestly not nearly enough and I was left unsatisfied.***

If you enjoy Austen for the funny wit and biting commentary, this isn't the book for you. If you enjoy Austen for sweet romance and want a light little read, this definitely does the job. I will most likely read something else of Hinrichsen if I come across it. 

Reverse Readathon! Hours 1/2

Hello all!

Oh how I love the Dewey Readathons. The fact that this is a reverse one - more relaxed, and more on my time table (I'm a night owl after all) really makes me happy. I have been listening to The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted for the first couple of hours. I didn't get off work until right when this started.

I haven't prepared for this nearly as well as I have for the past readathons, I don't have snacks, I don't have a stack of specific books to read, I don't know what this is exactly going to look like. I do know that I need to plan a lesson for my church meeting on Sunday and that I will be missing the last hour because I will be picking my parents up from the airport. But this is what I love about the Reverse 'Thons - they are relaxed.

These next couple of hours will have me finishing Finding Anne de Bourgh, The Sisters Mederos...and from there I don't know. I'm currently 8 books behind my goal of reading 75 books this year, so I would say that my biggest goal is to catch up. I also know I will be sleeping on this one. But I'm so happy that I have the chance to set aside some time to just read.

The Get to Know you Questions:

1)What fine part of the world are you reading from today? And what time is it where you are?

I'm reading from SLC UT - It's currently 7:40 PM

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

As my stack doesn't have many books actually planned I don't really know. But I do think I'm going to reread my favorite Dragon Singer and I love that one. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? 

GARDEN SALSA SUNCHIPS!!!!

4) Do you have a #reversereadathon plan of attack? 

Nope

5) Are you doing the readathon solo or with others? 

Riding Solo, I've never been able to get this organized with friends I know in person. 

Let's get this going!