Book Club Questions For The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware & Starting All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

The Women In Cabin 10 surprised me. I really enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat for the last part of the book!
What did you think of The Women In Cabin 10? Here are a couple questions to get you thinking about the book.

1. What’s the effect of having Lo’s e-mails and various news reports interspersed throughout Lo’s narration?

2. Who is Carrie? Did you like her? Why or why not?

3. Judah tells Lo that “I still think, in spite of it all, we’re responsible for our own actions” (p. 334). Do you agree?

The seventh book we are going to be reading is All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. We will be starting The Woman in Cabin 10 on July 31st and ending on August 28th.

Synopsis From Goodreads: "As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible "adult" around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer."

A reminder that this is a very relaxed book club. You can read a book than skip a book then come back and read another book with the club. Whatever you want to do. We are super excited to get started and hope you all will join us. :) To learn more visit the 2017 Books Without Borders Tackk!

Let's Get Reading!

Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins

Yes, you are worth the effort!  ❤️  I am nourishing myself today by catching up on personal development and food prepping for the week. 

Here is one of my favorite recipes for Sunday meal prep. 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Almond Flour

2 Eggs

¼ Cup Honey 

½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

1½ Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

½ Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Cup Blueberries

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F and prepare a muffin tin with 8 muffin liners.

Add all ingredients except the blueberries into a large bowl. Mix together until ingredients are combined. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter evenly into muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

How are you nourishing yourself on Self Care Sunday?

Enjoy! 

Book Club Questions For Into the Water by Paula Hawkins & Starting The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I was really disappointed with Into the Water. I loved Gone Girl and was expecting so much from Into the Water, but it did not meet my expectations. What happened?!

What did you think of Into the Water? If you have read Gone Girl how do you think it compares?

The sixth book we are going to be reading is The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. We will be starting The Woman in Cabin 10 on July 10th and ending on July 31st. 

Synopsis From Goodreads: "In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

With surprising twists and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another intense read."

A reminder that this is a very relaxed book club. You can read a book than skip a book then come back and read another book with the club. Whatever you want to do. We are super excited to get started and hope you all will join us. :) To learn more visit the 2017 Books Without Borders Tackk!

Let's Get Reading!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

Took some time today to create a new recipe for you guys! It has been a while since I have created anything new, but you won't be disappointed with these yummy and easy Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls. 

Here are the ingredients and directions on how to make the Peanut Butter Balls: 

 And here are the ingredients and directions for the Coconut Oil Chocolate: 

I did coat the Peanut Butter Balls twice with the Coconut Oil Chocolate. I coated them and put them in the fridge for thirty minutes and then did it again. The reason I did this is because the Coconut Oil Chocolate is pretty thin.

Here is the final product! They turned out amazing. I think they would have been good without the Coconut Oil Chocolate as well.

Give them and try and let me know what you think! 

Until next time,

Bri 

How I Found My Ideal Niche

Do you ever feel like things come into life right when you need them the most? This is how I felt this morning as I listened to Natalie Eckdahl's podcast. The podcast was called The Magical Art of Niching Down. At the time I was expecting a regular podcast that I would listen to as I did my morning routine, but the podcast grabbed my attention when Natalie said "when you try to talk to EVERYONE, you end up talking to no one". 

The reason this spoke to me is because I have been feeling this way in my business latley. I have so many passions and I want to help everyone, but that is not realistic and it is stretching me too thin. I took Natalie's advice and took 30 minutes this morning to brainstorm my ideal niche and I am so happy with my results and wanted to share how I found my ideal niche! 

I started my brainstorming session by sitting down with a big piece of paper and wrote my top ten passions and interests. To create my ideal niche I knew that I needed to find something that I truly was passionate about and that could make the biggest difference. After making this list I found a common theme...EDUCATION! 

The other day I was telling my mom how dissapointed I was that I did not learn practical skills that I can use in my business throughout college. My mom has always been a huge influence in my life and was actually my high school librarian. Today my mom, Shannon Miller is an International Speaker, and Consultant, Author, Future Ready Libraries and Project Connect Spokesperson and so much more.  I have seen her make a huge difference in so many people's lives and I want to do the same.

Based off this frustration and how I can see personally that there is a gap in education I made this one of the main problem that my ideal niche is experiencing. My ideal niche is having problems with resources and support to help them make a change in the education world. From here I found that I can help solve this problem by being a voice to help spread the word by sharing through social media and marketing.

Based off everything that I found and an amazing brainstorming session with my mom I found that I want to focus on educational sales reps, influences, and organizations who are looking to change the education world. I am going to help my niche by supporting them to make a change. 

It was hard choosing one main thing to work towards. Especially with my passions in so many different areas, but I am excited about my niche and I know that putting all my efforts into this niche is going to make me the happiest and help me to make a difference. 

What do you think? Are you ready to find your ideal niche? 

Book Club Questions For Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard & Starting Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

I have to apologize for being so far behind! For those of you who do not know we took two weeks off and went back home to Iowa to celebrate my graduation and birthday. We had an AMAZING time, but I have been getting caught up with everything for the past couple weeks. That being said, I am back and ready to get on with our next book, but first let's talk about Red Queen. 

I thought Red Queen was an amazing book. I read it in a couple days and went on to finish the entire series in about a week. Red Queen was my favorite book of the series and really drew me into Mare's story. What did you think of Red Queen?

Here are a couple questions:

1. What would you have done in Cal’s position (at the end)?
2. What do you think will happen in book two?

The fifth book we are going to be reading is Into the Water Hardcover by Paula Hawkins. We will be starting Into the Water on June 26th and ending on July 10th.

Synopsis From Goodreads: "A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.


Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.

Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath."

A reminder that this is a very relaxed book club. You can read a book than skip a book then come back and read another book with the club. Whatever you want to do. We are super excited to get started and hope you all will join us. :) To learn more visit the 2017 Books Without Borders Tackk!

Let's Get Reading!

Book Club Questions For Caraval by Stephanie Garber & Starting Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I was blown away by Caraval by Stephanie Garber! Oh my gosh..one of the best books I have read in a long time. I loved it so much that I read the entire book in one afternoon. I can't wait for the second book in the series. 

I would love to hear what you thought about Caraval either in the comments or on social media! 

The fourth book we are going to be reading is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. We will be starting Red Queen on May 1st and ending on June 5th.
Synopsis From Goodreads: "This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart."

A reminder that this is a very relaxed book club. You can read a book than skip a book then come back and read another book with the club. Whatever you want to do. We are super excited to get started and hope you all will join us. :) To learn more visit the 2017 Books Without Borders Tackk!

Let's Get Reading!