Hi Jacqueline, I did read Better than Before, and although I really like Gretchen Rubin, I vastly preferred The Power of Habit. They’re pretty different, though. Rubin’s is more personal, and about how she changed her particular habits. Duhigg’s is about habits in general, how they form and break and why it matters. I can’t listen to audio books, so I have to carve out time to read. It keeps me sane! There are a few things that help: I bought a kindle and now I read much more and faster than I did before. I know not everyone is on the ereader train, but as far as taking in content, nothing compares. Having the kindle in my purse means I read when I waiting on something instead of scrolling my phone. It’s better for my brainspace, too. When my kids were littler and I didn’t have the time or energy to read, I would set the timer and tell myself I was going to read for 20 minutes, no matter what. Everyone can find 20 minutes. I’d do this during nap time or right before bed. What almost always ended up happening was I read until the timer went off and then I read for another 20 minutes more. Once I got started, it was hard to stop! But even if I did stop, at least I got 20 minutes in. And you can get through a book in a couple of weeks at just 20 minutes a pop. These days, I usually have one non-fiction and one fiction going at the same time. I read the non-fiction when I wake up in the morning, and believe it or not I still sometimes set the timer for it. So ten or fifteen minutes in the morning with my caffeine before I start the day. In the afternoon or before bed I try to get 30-45 minutes in on a novel. I don’t need to set the timer for that, just set aside the time. Overall, I try to read about an hour a day. Now, of course there are weeks when I don’t read a thing and then weeks where I cram in three books. Both are fine. But if I go too long without reading something good, I get cranky and feel off. It’s my alone time, my private world. It’s how I recharge. The whole household feels better when I’m regularly reading. :) Hope this helps!

What a nice thing to say, thank you! I plan to keep the blog archives up AT LEAST until the end of the year, if not indefinitely. I’m proud of what I’ve created here, and I know some people use the recipes/beauty tips/etc. for reference, so I have no desire to yank them down.

Yes! The plan is to keep posting link on Facebook mostly (but maybe some on twitter as well), and then the best of those will also go in a roundup in the secret posts.

That was the bonus with Blog2Print: the options were pretty limited, so it didn’t take much time at all. If I had to sit and make every page beautiful and perfect (with all the custom options in Blurb), I don’t think I would have done it at all.

I keep hearing good things about The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey! I must check it out.

I don’t listen to The Sun, I’ve never even heard of it. I’m looking it up now - Thanks!

Katherine, I have to be honest with you that your Instagram story literally had TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY CHEEKS. I was out doing errands that day while listening, and I pulled into the parking lot because I had to stop laughing. So funny. I’m giggling even now just thinking of it.

I keep hearing about Pop Culture Happy Hour, I definitely need to check it out! I know it’s a panel show, and I do like it when there is a lively group discussion.

I’ve only read Eleanor Park, which I liked but didn’t love. I know people swear by Rainbow Rowell, and I plan to read another one if there’s a kindle sale or something. In general, though, they might be more YA than I typically like.

A Year of Magical Thinking hurt my heart. I know it’s supposed to. But even reading the title just now made me ache a little bit.

I read Eleanor Park! I didn’t fall all over myself love it like some people did, but I really did like it. And I’m not super into the young adult genre.

I haven’t set the date just yet! Summer reading is spotty for everyone (or people have their own things they want to get to especially), plus I thought most would be reading Go Set A Watchman in July, so I inadvertently gave us a few weeks off. I’ll post it this week!

That’s a good question! We have people over at our house casually a LOT, several times a month at minimum. My husband will have friends over to watch sports, I host playdates and book club regularly. We finished a backyard remodel earlier this year, and since then have had friends over almost every single weekend to swim and grill. That’s been especially fun. And then we also host more formal occasions like birthdays, baby showers, and holidays, but of course that’s more infrequent. Maybe every other month? At our lake house, we have a steady stream of houseguests in the summer. That’s kind of a whole different subject, but it is training ground for recipes, etc.

I can't listen to audiobooks, either! (Some - only SOME - non-fiction exceptions, but now that I've discovered podcasts, I doubt I'll ever even try audio books again.) Loving this list, and thanks for including Sorta Awesome!