This year I read an obscene amount of books. I’m not entirely sure how I managed to read so often while writing, editing, and working full time. Oh wait, I remember now; it’s that damn kindle unlimited subscription. The best/worst thing to ever happen to me was learning that I could download the kindle app on my phone. When you find the right book, reading is an addiction. I know you know the feeling. I read in the grocery store parking lot while my husband loaded up (chivalry ain’t dead, y’all), I read while waiting for pasta to cook, I even read while I was sending emails. For the record, that level of multi-tasking is not particularly efficient and will give you a headache.

Normally I try not to use my phone except for work. I have a time limit on social media apps and I regularly keep it in airplane mode. The week I downloaded the kindle app, my phone informed me that my screen time went up by 1378%. Yeesh.

Anyway, I’ve decided not to view this as a bad thing because reading is good for your brain and books are good for the soul. Let’s consider it my last hurrah because very soon I will be doing everything with one hand while a tiny, squalling human demands my constant attention. I imagine it’s going to be a little hard to read.

In the meantime, I’m finishing off my last few weeks of two handed reading with a few great books.

1. Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

I know, I know, the next book has already come out and I am BEHIND. I started this book as an audiobook in January of this year and got two thirds of the way through before completely losing my place. Normally my job (my day job) allows me time to listen to books while I work but things got too hectic for that. I almost feel like I have to listen twice because every sentence in this book is poetry. It strikes so many emotions that I have to pause and digest the words.

Having an audiobook is a great option for me right now. I was under this crazy impression that when my maternity leave started I would be less busy. What was thinking? Now I’m preparing my house (nesting, as they call it), cooking like a mad woman, and trying to squeeze in as much writing time as I can before baby comes. That means carrying around my phone and listening to my audible account is the main way I’m reading these days.

2. The Hypnobirthing Book by Katharine Graves

Certainly not exciting fiction but I’m only being honest. Much of my reading time this month is monopolized by baby books. What can I say? I want to be prepared. If you’re in the same boat as me and getting ready to bring a new person into the world, I highly recommend this book (and hypnobirthing in general).

3. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

I also recommend this one. I’m rereading for the second or third time since I got pregnant because this book is just a wealth of knowledge. There are also some incredible birth stories in here that bring me to tears.

4. Dig Deeper by T.S. Joyce

Okay, I’ve got to be honest, I would have rolled my eyes at this book a year ago. When I finished Hunter’s Moon, I set off researching every book I could find that loosely fit the same genre. This led me down a very strange rabbit hole of shifter romance novels on Amazon. Using my handy kindle unlimited subscription (which I LOVE by the way), I ended up reading more than 200 books. Admittedly, some of them were short enough to be considered novellas.

Also, I probably skipped through about half of them. I wanted to know what made them interesting to readers and how my book compared. What I discovered was that there are a lot of unique romance concepts out there. There are also a lot that fit a very boring mold. Hot alpha were-whatever falls for feisty human and drama ensues. You’ve read that one, right?

Anyway, that led me to dread any book recommendation I was given that had a half-naked dude on the cover. I even made a few jokes about it in Hunter’s Moon because some of them were so ridiculous.

T.S. Joyce, however, does it right. If you’re going to write a romance with paranormal dudes who are super strong and hardcore or whatever, then you’ve got to make them worthwhile characters. I don’t care about the buff Greek god guy that falls for the “regular ol’ human girl with nothing special to offer but her clumsiness and quirky words” story. I care about the tragedy, the heartbreak, the build-up and the letdown.

In the previous installment of this particular series, T.S. Joyce broke my heart and then put it back together again. So unexpected. Yes, I was seven months pregnant when I read that book so of course I cried a little more than I normally would. That doesn’t take away from the realness that the story had. I surprised myself by putting down a book about a guy that turns into an alligator and feeling that way but it’s true. If you’re into paranormal romance, just this book out. Trust me!

I’m always looking for book recommendations so feel free to let me know what you’re reading this September! Send me a list of your faves (0r your book) and tell me why you love it.

5. The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon

I started reading The First Girl Child on a whim. I was adding it to my general reading list (which is currently about a million books long) when I realized it was available on Kindle Unlimited. Not only that, the audiobook was available through Kindle Unlimited. I decided to jump on that opportunity because  best selling books like this one usually don’t stay on KU long. So far I’m only about a third of the way through the book and probably won’t finish it before October but I’m already blown away. Amy Harmon is incredibly talented and her story had me hooked from the very first page. I’m excited to see where this book goes. 

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