Listening to Audiobooks While Working Out & Running

Hello readers!

I’ve been quite terrible at keeping up with my workout schedules lately, but I’m still running about twice a week, and hopefully now that things have quieted down in my personal life, I can go back to kicking ass regularly!

I’m not the best multitasker ever, as I’m more of a focus-on-one-thing-at-a-time kind of person, but I loved the idea of listening to a book while working out and getting TWO things done at the same time, so I tried it out – here’s how it went!

The first book I listened to while working out was Skin Deep, which I listened to while on the treadmill. If you don’t know, I love running but I suck at it, and I’m pretty new to it, too. My main issue back then, and even now, is endurance – running for a sustained period of time. When I started, I did mostly walking at a fast pace and short periods of running in between, on the treadmill, and even that can be challenging for a beginner, so I thought Skin Deep helped keep me distracted, and I was so tense I ended up doing more running between walks than in other days. So, success!

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My Favorite F/F Book by Genre

Hello readers!

Today I have a post I’m quite excited about! I realized a few days ago that I actually don’t have any posts on F/F books, although I have been reading those a lot more lately and have about 10000 on my TBR. So I put a poll on Twitter and for this first post about F/F books I will be posting my favorite F/F book by genre!

Okay so I got inspired by @wlwnovels and want to do a post on my favorite F/F books, but I don't want to do a GIANT post yet because I have so manyyy F/F on my TBR that I want to do some sort of Masterlist at a later point.

How should I do this first post(s)?

— Naty's Bookshelf 👩‍💻📚 (@natysbookshelf) August 7, 2019

I’d love to get recommendations on other F/F books you guys loved! So if you see a book I list below and think “you know what, if you liked this book I’m sure you’ll like this one too”, let me know in the comments!

Also I will be changing my posting days a little – I’ve been doing Tuesday, Friday, Sunday so far, and I think I’ll keep Sundays because I’m going to go back to my Sunday Snuggle posts soon, but I am changing Tuesday posts to Monday, and Fridays to Wednesdays, because I constantly get late on answering comments and I think spreading those out through my work week makes it easier to stick to a routine than on my weekends. It’s not as easily spread out as I’d like, but I want to keep the Sunday Snuggle posts, so this is what I’ll be doing 🙂

Books my Sister and I Have Recommended Each Other and Loved

Hello book lovers!

Today I’m coming with a new maybe-series with someone who’s been my best friend for as many years as I remember: my sister. Meet Ale (pronounced: ah-LE)! We have created anime avatars at https://picrew.me/image_maker/43383 to make this post a little bit cuter and also show off a bit of our personalities 🙂

Ale & I loved reading all things Agatha Christie as kids and constantly took a bunch of those books and exchanged them during family trips, so we have a good idea of what the other person will like, so it’s no surprise that some of our recommendations to each other have become favorites! Without further ado, our favorite recommended books:

Ale’s Favorites

More Audiobook Recommendations

Hello readers!

It’s been a while since my Audiobook Recommendations post, so I thought I’d give you a few more recs! I listen to audiobooks a lot, and these are some that I thought were done really well!

I read mostly thrillers on audio, so most of my recommendations will be thrillers!

Thrillers

Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier

January LaVoy is my favorite narrator, so I will gladly recommend basically any audiobook she narrates. This one was no exception – Jar of Hearts was very popular when it came out, and although I ended up giving it 3 stars, most people I know loved it. AND the narration is fantastic.

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn

This book is just fantastic, and the narrator does a pretty good job, too! My sister recommended this one to me and boy, was she right.

Lying in Wait, by Liz Nugent

There are three POVs and three narrators to this book, which always makes me happy. I love different narrators! One of them has quite a thick accent, which for me was not so easy to understand, and talks in sort of a monotone, but the others are really good, especially Lydia.

Choose a Movie or Animation and Get a Book Recommendation #1

Hello book lovers!

I’m not a big person for movies, I surely enjoy watching them but I hardly ever do. It’s difficult for me to actually love a movie, but those I do… I watch over and over. I actually have a surprising soft spot for rom coms. And an unsurprising soft spot for nostalgic Disney movies that transport me to my childhood. Apart from The Butterfly Effect, which my sister loves but I never managed to finish because it made me AGONIZE, I love the movies below and I think some of you might too!

If you like I Give It a Year…

…read:

If you loved this movie for its emotional punch and truthful take on a marriage that might or not work out, After I Do is such a great read.

Psychological Thrillers to Read if You Loved “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn

Hello readers!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was such a phenomenon when it came out, and it’s still one of the best-selling thrillers ever. I loved it so much, and it got me addicted to psychological thrillers! Thinking about that, here are the psychological thrillers that remind me of Gone Girl and will give you the same vibes of a grey-moral character, manipulative villains, almost perfect crimes and mind-blowing twists!

If you loved Gone Girl…

You may also like:

Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan

This is not exactly a thriller, although it’s categorized as such. It’s a contemporary, charming and elegant, beautifully written – and chilling. Delphine merges fact and fiction in this book, telling the story of how she met L., a sophisticated woman with whom she develops a complicated relationship. But what are L.’s motivations? Where did she come from?

Book Recommendations for 20-Somethings

I’ve been seeing lots of discussion on Twitter about the lack of New Adult books out there and how a lot of NA books get marketed as YA so that it gets read at all. So, after reading this recommendation list by Book Riot, I thought it would be interesting to come up with a list of my own.

I don’t really have lots of self-help (I’ve seen lots of those on other lists like this) because I don’t read those much. I have on this list romance, contemporary, fantasy and classics. Maybe a nonfiction or two. So, without further ado, here are some books I recommend for 20-somethings!

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

This is a classic that keeps getting recommended to people, especially women. I agree with that assessment – many people would benefit from reading this gorgeous book. Sylvia Plath has a beautiful writing style, but more than that, she captures the emptiness that a lot of people feel, that distance between oneself and others. It’s not an upbeat book, but a great read that will get you thinking.

My Boyfriend Recommends Me Books

Hello readers!

My boyfriend and I love reading, and it’s not unusual for us to spend a long time discussing what we’re reading, passionately disagreeing about Homo Faber, raving about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s books and so on… so it’s quite usual that we suggest reading material to each other. So I asked him to put together a few of the books he’s been suggesting to me the past few months into a post! I’m still deciding which (if any) I will add to my TBR, but I’m quite tempted.

A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin)
One could say a great many things about A Game of Thrones. It is epic, smart fantasy with a strong touch of realism in its world-building, its characters, and their relationships with each other. It’s a page-turner. It’s a work that makes you question who you are rooting for and why and therefore makes you think about your assumptions and values. But as Game of Thrones has been the biggest hype of the last seven years, one can just as well be silent and expect everybody else to know what it’s about. Naty has already vowed to pick up the books once all of them are published. By GRRM’s current writing pace, I would estimate she still has time until 2030 to read other things. Like, for example…

Bookish Boardgame Review: Ex Libris, by Adam P. McIver

Hello readers!

Yes, that is exactly what you read: we’re having a boardgame review today. Of the cutest bookish boardgame I’ve ever seen in my life. I received this on my birthday last year and played it a couple times together with Clio’s Boardgames. Honestly, this is probably the most perfect game to give to a book lover. I will give more details on my review below, but spoiler alert: I loved it.

Players: 1-4

Time: 30-60 min

Level of difficulty: Easy-to-Medium

Boardgame Geek / Official Game Page / Renegades Buy Link / Amazon

This is such a bookish game, I loved it! You’re going to play a book collector trying to win the position of Grand Librarian of the magical kingdom, with gnomes and magical creatures (a witch, a bookworm, a giant robot etc) to help you build your shelves to impress!

The Best Books I Read in 2018

Hello readers!

This is the second year that I get to write a Best Books of the Year post, and I’m super excited! I love talking about books (wow, really?) and I got to read so much this year, so I have lots of new loves and lots of recommendations. This has been a brilliant year reading-wise and I am glad to share with you my favorites. I have read almost 200 books (no kidding) and while I will never repeat this feat again, it gave me the opportunity to read lots of different genres! What were your favorites this year? Tell me in the comments, leave the link to your own blog posts, tweets I want to know what you’ve read and loved! 🙂

New Favorite Authors

(only counts if I’ve read more than one book by the author)

Alyssa Cole certainly made a huge difference on how I see the romance genre. Her novels are so brilliant, so addictive and emotional without being cheesy. Gosh, I love them. I need all her books in my life. A Duke by Default is my favorite so far!

I had not read Patrick Ness until this year, but wow, I’m in love with how emotional his books are. I have lots more of his books on my TBR. I was so heartbroken after A Monster Calls, although it was such a short read. Just wow.

But I do think the medal goes to… Elise Kova. I devoured her Alchemists of Loom series and I am so excited to get to her other series. I think Air Awakens is a bit more popular in the YA bookish community, and I look forward to reading it. Although I don’t see how it could be better than this steampunk fantasy world with girls with big guns and deadly half-naked hot guys who are secretly soft in the inside. Just sayin’.

Best Contemporary Fiction