Inside My Bookshelf

I’ve fallen back in love… with reading. In high school, books were my adventure. So today I wanted to give you a glimpse of my bookshelf. I didn’t go to wild parties or experience monumental love stories, I read about them. At 1AM on a Saturday you would find me curled up on my bed, rereading Harry Potter for the fifth time… which reminds me, it’s time to re-read again(ha!).

Then my life changed in college. Sometime in that 4 years I became a mom, wife, was diagnosed with depression, and got my degree in photography. I was no longer, Libby the first girl who got picked to be on the team in Trivia, I was Libby, the girl who got pregnant at 20, or that’s how I felt (which you can read about here). I had no clue who I was.

And then, last year I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and connect with the things I love again, which I talk more about in my 20 Things in 2020 post. At nights, at the advice of my therapist, I started to put phone away, and instead pick up a book. I have a lot of catching up to do in the literature world, but I wanted to bring you into the books on my shelf that I love!

Side Note: I’m that nerd who like to archive what I read, and a great way to do that is on goodreads. I think we can be friends, find me by clicking here. You can see what’s on my shelves and my reviews.

My Favorite Series

1. Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling… Duh: I could (and have) reread this over and over again. Cross your fingers, we’re trying to plan a trip to Disney for 2021, and Harry Potter is #1 on my list.
2. The Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead: Hear me out, I have very adolescent tastes in books. I also went through the Twilight phase durning my adolescence (not apologizing). Longer series appeal to me more and I think The Vampire Academy is just a better overall story.
3. Delirium, Lauren Oliver: This has to be my favorite hands down. It’s about a dystopian world where scientists take away your ability to love. Granted, it’s been a while since I read these but it’s one of my favorite love stories and I definitely recommend you put it at the top of your list.

From Last Year

1. Again, but Better, Christine Riccio: This was the first book I read this year, and I think it changed my life. The whole premise of the book is, if you can have a redo button, what would you do differently. It put my life into perspective. If I can change the future now, what would I do to reach my ultimate goal. It doesn’t hurt that the main character in this book is a Taylor Swift fan either.
2. Regretting You, Colleen Hoover: So you may think I cheated, but I listened to this one on audiobook. There’s a great app called Libby (not making this up) where you can rent audiobooks from your library. If you have Amazon Prime, you also get access to free audiobooks. I found this book and became instantly excited to read more Colleen Hoover books after finishing. This book was just the right amount of unbelievable partnered with two intertwined love stories. It dives deep into grief, mother-daughter relationships, and first loves. I also just finished All Your Perfects right after writing this and I cried like a baby.
3. After Series, Anna Todd: So these books are definitely Adult but it’s a great love story to read. Let’s be overly honest, some of it was hard to read and not that well written, but it started out as a One Direction fan fic, no joke. I watched the movie with Richard on Netflix and loved it, so I decided to read the books. If you’re triggered by deeper things, including sexual assault, abusive relationships, or substance abuse these aren’t for you. But if you love Twilight-esk, bad boy, good girl trope this is a great read.
4. Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell: This book is definitely more PG, typical YA novel. It’s about a young girl who goes to college to study literature, figuring out her life without her twin sister by her side. For me this was a cute read, but I would have loved it a lot more if I had read it while I was in college. It is, however, very raved about so I definitely suggest you pick it up.

I’m Most Excited to Read

1. Cinder, Marissa Meyer: I think this is an older series, but I’ve had these on my shelf for a while just waiting to read them. All I really know about it is that it’s about a cyborg Cinderella, but I miss reading series so this is on the book bucket list for 2020.
2. Love & Gelato, Jenna Evans: Can you tell I really love classic, cheesy love stories yet? That’s why I’ really excited for this one. Plus, it’s a series and it has the word Gelato in the title.

The one Book I can read 100 Times

1. Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine: I’m not kidding you, I could read this book a million times and it will never get old. I love everything about it; the fantasy and the love. For me, it was the perfect story based off of Cinderella that’s not too much. If you don’t know, it’s about a girl who was “given the gift” of obedience when she was born. I hope you’ve seen the movie, but if you haven’t the book is pretty different than the movie.

You have to Read These

1. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch: I was given this one as a gift by my high school drama teacher. I’m not lying when I said I cried and cried and cried. It’s a pretty short book written by a professor with terminal cancer. Talk about perspective, this book will give you some
2. Girl, Wash Your Face, Rachel Hollis: You want to change your life, read this book. If your reading this, you’ve probably already read this. However, this book was passed onto me by my good friend Maddie. I then passed it onto another friend and it changed her life to. Stop lying to yourself, here are the tolls. If you love this book you need to read You are a Badass by Jen Sincero. This book dives a little deeper into our actual psychology and how you can train your brain.