Reading Lately #9

Summer has been slower on the reading front for me because of other things going on (namely blog-related, like updating my website!), but I’m excited to share a few books I recently finished reading! I’ve definitely still been buying books faster than I’ve been reading them, so I’m trying to STOP taking advantage of all the Kindle book deals. 🤪🙈 Note to self: These books will go on sale again in the future when I actually have time to read them. Ha!

In the past couple of months, I finished three books on Kindle AND my very first book on audio (all borrowed via Amazon Prime). I WAS planning to cancel my Amazon Prime account this year, but I’ve since decided to use Amazon Photos as a digital backup so I’m keeping it for now. I’ll continue to borrow books via Prime as long as I have it! I’m using StoryGraph to track my reads as well as my growing TBR list. (My 2022 reading goal is 24 books!) Add me as a friend: my username is cottoncashmerecathair!

Browse all of my Reading Lately posts!

For ease, and especially for my fellow Kindle readers, all of the links below go to Amazon. If you are able, please support your local bookstores right now (and always)! Bookshop.org donates a percentage of sales to local bookstores, and if you’re local to me, check out Rediscovered Books—I buy physical books there. There are also a number of Black-owned bookstores that need support. Find one near you in tthis list of over 50 Black-owned bookstores arranged by state (all have online stores and a couple are online only).

Book recommendation: Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Book recommendation: We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Book recommendation: Have We Met? by Camille Baker | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair
Book recommendation: Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagan | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

Recently Read: June—July 2022

Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall:

This is a great nonfiction book on how to tell stories as it relates to your business, which is the most effective and probably most underutilized (or most incorrectly applied) marketing tool you have. Kindra describes the four different types of stories you need in business, breaks down how an effective story is formatted, and shares how to collect and choose the right story for whatever your end goal is. My goal is to implement her tips in blog posts and social media content!

We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers:

Y’all. EVERY WOMAN NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!!! I loved it so, so much. It was exactly what I needed to read. I loved it so much that I bought a physical copy (in hardcover even though I prefer paperback), and I also wrote a whole blog post about it. Read this book if you want a rich BFF to tell you like it is and to inspire you to get your financial ass into gear so you can start building real wealth.

Have We Met? by Camille Baker:

Corrine moves back to Chicago following the death of her best friend, and she inadvertently becomes friends with her “cousin”, Tiwanda, and her cousin’s friends. After a drunken night, a mysterious app called Met appears on her phone and won’t go away. It tells her it’s going to send four people from her past and that one of them is her soul mate, and she has to figure out which one it is… I loved this sweet novel! There was a touch of mystery with the app, some romance, a lot of Corrine finding herself. Plus, the characters were all very diverse and quite lovable! I ended up purchasing this book when it was available for $1 recently. Looking forward to reading the sequel, which follows Tiwanda’s journey with Met!

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagán:

I recently realized that I borrowed the audio version of this book in addition to the Kindle version (via Prime Reading). So, I decided to listen to it: my first audiobook! The book is 30 chapters long, so I broke it up into 5 chapters a day over 6 days. I listened to it while working from home over a week and a half. I felt extra productive because I could work or do chores at the same time! (I did have to re-read a couple of parts…once when I fell asleep on the couch and once when I was engrossed in work.) This is a novel about a 50-something shocked to find out her husband of nearly 30 years wants to separate. She does not know a life outside of her life with him, so she is stuck trying to figure out the woman she wants to be. It’s a sweet sort of “coming of age” style story but for the older generations! The ending could have gone multiple ways, and I’m happy with how it ended. I’m not entirely sure if I’m a fan of the narrator but it also wasn’t terrible.

Currently Reading

Divergent Mind by Jenara Nerenberg:

This is a nonfiction book about neurodivergence in women and how it is often overlooked in our younger years. Jenara shares the experiences of women with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder and also shares how we can benefit as a society from our neurological differences instead of trying to squeeze everyone into a narrow definition of what’s considered “normal”. I borrowed this book via Prime Reading because I really think I have some sort of form of ADHD or autism; I’ve not been tested, but a lot of the things talked about in this book fit my experiences.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir:

Even though I’m a scientist, I don’t really read a ton of science fiction… (or science-y fiction as it may be ha!) I think it might be because I need the brain break? I’ve never read an Andy Weir book (I’ve also never seen The Martian), but this book came highly recommend by many people so I’m giving it a shot! It’s super interesting novel about a lone astronaut tasked with “saving” society/humanity/Earth as we know it, and it’s very well-researched as far as the science parts go. Of note, reading this book at the same time the new deep space images from NASA are coming out makes for a very interesting mental and emotional experience LOL.

To Be Read

Here are a few books that I plan to read sooner rather than later. Check out my entire growing TBR list (which also includes the books on my wish list through the library) on StoryGraph!

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