My Top Ten Books of 2018
It has been an exciting and eventful year, and it all started with a book!
1) You are a Badass--This is the book that kicked it all off. If you haven't read it yet, check out my review and get your copy. Jen Sincero inspires you to live your best life while entertaining you at the same time.
2) You are a Badass at Making Money--Another phenomenal book by Jen Sincero. It is not an understatement to say that both of her badass books have dramatically changed my life.
Sincero reveals (in a way that finally clicked for me) that the way to changing your life is by changing your thoughts.
3) Girl, Wash Your Face-- "Rachel uses her infectious energy to empower women to take control of their lives and pursue their passions without fear. Motivational, inspirational, and always approachable."
The above quote describes Rachel Hollis so well. I LOVED, LOVED this book. I was telling my nurse one day about how I had been inspired by You are a Badass, and she told me I needed to read this book.
Somehow, I knew that I needed to read it and went home and ordered it from Amazon right away.
Rachel has motivated me, inspired me and empowered me to pursue my passions without fear, and I love her for it.
4) The Pursuit of Happyness-- I can't believe that it was only a year ago that I first saw the 2006 movie based on this book. The movie really inspired me to not give up on my dreams.
As with most things in life, the movie only showed a portion of how hard things were for Gardner and how long it took him to get back on his feet. To say this is an inspirational true story is an understatement. Once you get into the meat of the book it is hard to put down.
5) Never Broken--I heard Jewel speak at a radio convention in Orlando. She talked about her work helping people cope with anxiety. It really spoke to me and I researched more about her and discovered this book.
Jewel's life story is incredible and her hardships have helped create a woman who is full of insight and wisdom.
This book was therapeutic and helped me to gain insight into my own life as well. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
6) Dream More--I've only recently become aware of what a bad ass Dolly Parton is and I'm impressed. She came from very humble beginnings but believed in herself and God. She followed her dreams no matter how many people told her she couldn't, and has achieved success on multiple levels.
She is not only a successful singer and actress, but she has done amazing things for her hometown which branched out to being nationwide accomplishments. She is known to be the book lady by many because of her huge efforts to combat illiteracy.
This book is just a snapshot of her words of wisdom on how to live a meaningful life. It is inspirational and a must read for anyone who wants to live life with a purpose.
7) What Would Dolly Do?--This year has been one of self-discovery and finding the courage to finally follow my dreams. I've found some role models who have paved the way and Dolly Parton is at the top of the list. The more I learn about her, the more I am impressed and amazed.
She has not only followed her dreams and accomplished huge things, but she has given back and done unbelievable things through her charities. She has smashed through the glass ceiling in so many ways, we could all learn so much from her life.
The author of this book does a great job of enabling us to learn all the lessons from Dolly's life. This book was a great idea and well executed.
8) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings-- Maya Angelou is my other heroine of the year. I didn't realize what an incredible woman she was until watching a documentary recently. When I started looking up her books I found that she had written numerous autobiographies of her life. This one was the first one, it was painful to learn of some of what she'd been through, but amazing to see her resilience.
She was an advocate for civil rights and women's rights, and an incredible role model for us all.
9) Phenomenal Woman--A great set of empowering poems for women by Maya Angelou.
10) 29 Gifts--This book was mentioned and recommended by Jen Sincero. I decided to check it out and was not disappointed. I found Walker's journey through the 29 gifts inspirational. As a result, I started my own 29 gifts in 29 days journey myself.
