Week 1 Update for #BFCr4:
🏋🏻‍♀️ Went to the gym 1/3 times. However, I did do three short hikes while visiting family in Blowing Rock, NC, so I feel like I hit this.
🧘🏻‍♀️ Practiced yoga 1/3 times. Missed one of my classes due to family trip mentioned above.
🍝 Ate more than my goal of home cooked meals!
📚 Read 7/16 books! The tagged book was a pretty good gothic YA - perfect for October.

My brain had a hissy fit this week, so instead of pushing myself at work, I did what needed to be done and then hid with my Kindle. The benefits of working from home...?

As a result, I need to up my book goal for #BFCr4 because I‘ve read all six books that were my original goal. 🤣 My goal now is 16 books — two per week, plus the six I got done in the first week.

(I didn‘t continue the series b/c my library doesn‘t have #6 available right now!)

My #BFCr4 goals are:

🏋🏻‍♀️ Go to the gym 3x a week.
🧘🏻‍♀️ Practice yoga 3x a week.
(Photo is my Experiential Anatomy Yoga homework.)
🍝 Eat a homemade meal 3x a week.
👂🏼 Go to therapy at least once in the six weeks.
📚 Read/listen to 6 books.

I fell off Litsy during round 3, but I‘m back on the necessary meds now and I‘m ready to enjoy things again! Good luck team! 💪🏻

I haven‘t posted a #BookHaul in forever!

The Intimacy Interviews was written by a friend of mine and I‘m reading it for book club this month; the rest are for my yoga library and a series of workshops I‘m planning on the chakras. 😄

#BFCr3 Week One Update (w/ bonus pic of Moonshine!)

Yoga Every Day ✔️
Sometimes it was just one pose, but it was every day!

6,500 Steps / Day ✖️
I‘ve gotten them the past two days though!

Two Home Cooked Meals / Week ✔️✔️
Salmon Cakes & Breakfast for Dinner

Freedom from Soda (Positive Spin on “No Soda) ✔️
Today was the hardest day, but I made it.

3/10 Books Read, including the tagged book. ✔️
Other two tagged in the comments.

#TeamFitLit

I almost bailed on this book because I wasn‘t feeling the chemistry of their “meet cute,” but I‘m so glad that I stuck with it! This contemporary romance feels more like real life than the regencies I read, which means their relationship built realistically. I loved getting to know them, their friends, and becoming invested in how it all worked out.

Book 2/10 for #BFCr3, #TeamFitLit! The photo was taken as I finished the book after a walk w/ Bo.

If you haven‘t yet, you should read this book.

If you love audiobooks or you want to fall in love with audiobooks, you should read this book.

If you have ever had a complicated relationship with a parent, you should read this book.

Everyone, of you haven‘t already, you WANT to read this book.

It‘s beautiful and raw and smart and has ALL the feelings.

It was the first book I read for #BFCr3. #TeamFitLit

So glad to be a part of #teamfitlit once again! I‘m going to work on posting more regularly this time around, as well as hitting my previously posted goals. 😬

🏡 I live in Barboursville, West Virginia.

🕒 Third time‘s going to be a charm!

💪 According to the VIA survey that @4thhouseontheleft linked, my top two are ❤️ of Learning & Kindness.

🧘🏻‍♀️ Being kind to myself & connecting with the other people on my team and in #BFCr2 is the goal!

#BFCr2 was tough b/c I was traveling, so for #BFCr3, I'm focusing on staying grounded in my good habits, even when I'm on the road. My yoga practice helps, so I'm stepping it up. Even if I simply do some warm ups or one pose, focusing on my breath helps me stay grounded, so I'm striving to do it every day. Cooking at home helps too, so I've rearranged my kitchen and plan to use it! In fact, I'm off to do my grocery shopping now...

#TeamFitLit

This poor little free library isn‘t empty anymore!!

I found this at a local park while getting some of my #bfcr2 steps in, so I took some of the books I was going to sell to Half Price Books and brought them here instead. This is right next to a playground, so I put some of my favorite YA in — Akata Witch, Escape from Aleppo, and Gail Carriger‘s YA Series, to name a few — as well as some Kingsolver and MacLean for the parents who‘re watching. 😄

Spent an awesome evening outside finishing this book. 🥰 It feels so good to be home — even the mosquitos couldn‘t put a damper on my mood!

I adore the Grishaverse and can‘t wait to pick up KING OF SCARS sometime soon.

Here‘s my #nomakeupnofilter selfie for #BFCr2!

One of the best things I‘ve learned during this round is how much I like getting out in nature & listening to nothing. I had to adjust my book goal accordingly, but it‘s nice to just listen to my breath and Mother Nature!!

I remember loving this book when I read it years ago; the paths Bryson walks along the Appalachian Trail are very similar to what I‘m walking in my own corner of Appalachia!

After a long week of conferencing, my sister and I spent our Monday off at the beach! I didn‘t want to bring my Kindle, so I borrowed this one off of her shelf and now it‘s going home with me tomorrow. 😂

This definitely counted as meeting my “go outside” goal for Week 4 of #BFCr2. I love the water, so this was the best goal met of the whole challenge! 😍

I finally finished this one. I loved the execution of the audiobook — it really sounded like a “Behind the Music” type production — but I wasn‘t crazy about the story itself. I cared about the characters, but wasn‘t super excited to listen to the drama — I get enough in real life. 🤣

This was book #4 of 10 for #BFCr2! (I also hit my step goal this week, but not the food, nature, or yoga goals. I‘ve been at a conference all week, so it‘s ok!)

I‘m in Philly for a conference this week (meeting my step goal easily for #BFCr2, hah!) and, although I don‘t have much time for reading, I would MAKE time to visit your favorite bookstore! So — anyone have a “can‘t miss it” suggestion??

A quick check in for #BFCr2 Week 2!

Here‘re some pictures from the 3 (!) nature walks I did this week, plus a bonus photo of my husband napping with our nephew. (We‘re visiting this weekend.) ❤️

I‘m revising my book goal to 10 books, NOT limited to audiobooks listened to while exercising. I‘ve found I enjoy listening to nature better when I‘m hiking in the woods. I‘m at 3 read so far!

My hikes have sparked a desire to re-read the tagged book.

#BFCr2 Week 2 Check In!

I met my step goal the last two days of the week; coincidentally, those are also the days I taught yoga, so I feel there‘s a correlation, hah. I also cooked at least one meal at home and walked some of my steps outside, enjoying the great outdoors! All in all, a good week for me — and I celebrated by treating myself to this book to inspire me as I continue to plan future classes! 😄

#BookFitnessChallenge

Finished my first audiobook for #BFCr2 yesterday while walking and Pokemon-ing in my local park. 😄

About the book — I love Scalzi and Quinto was an excellent narrator. It‘s a novella, so I don‘t want to give away the whole plot, but it centers on the discovery that, all of a sudden, people who are murdered don‘t stay dead and an industry has popped up to kill people who are about to die terrible deaths so that they get another chance at life.

Here are my goals for round two!

I've got two physical goals, two mental health goals (yoga counts for both physical AND mental!), one food goal, and -- of course! -- my book goal. (Finishing the tagged novella will be my first goal met.)

Looking forward to doing this with my team, as well as all the other Littens making books and health a priority. 💪

#BFCR2 #bookfitnesschallenge #TeamFitLit

While I was cooking my weekly home made meal for #BookFitnessChallenge, I didn‘t listen to an audiobook, but I DID listen to the GET BOOKED podcast, which put the tagged book on my TBR. Has anyone read it? 😄

This recipe is Cold Pork Noodles with Cucumber and Peanuts from the NYT. I tried to copy the link, but it kept opening in my NYT Cooking app, lol. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#BFC

I finished my third (of six) audiobook for #BookFitnessChallenge this weekend while driving home from a family reunion in DC! I got some steps in (even with the six hour drive) by walking around each rest area I came across. These photos are from the WV Welcome Center on I-64W. 😍 #BFC
I love Alyssa Mastromonaco, although this one didn‘t connect with me as well as her first one did. It just felt a bit disjointed, although I love her stories!

This book was absurd in the best possible way. I tried to read it twice before getting the audiobook from Libby - that was DEFINITELY the way to go for me. I didn‘t get as caught up in the words and was able to appreciate the feel of the book - a weird, crazy romp from London to the edge of the galaxy, with descriptions of alien biology, home worlds, and artistic proclivities spelled out in funktastic descriptions. My 2nd audiobook for #BFC.🤘🏻

My plans for the long holiday weekend — books, tea, sleep, and enjoying my back patio! Oh, and getting my steps in for the #bookfitnesschallenge, of course! 😄
My hands are still a little sore from all the brickwork we did on the patio, so I chose small paperbacks and my Kindle. On the Kindle, I have the tagged book, MIDDLEGAME by Seanan McGuire, and DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland. 😍

After the crazy work on my patio over the past two days, I claimed today as a #BFC rest day. 😊
I hit my upped goal of 6,500 steps/day 5 out of 7 days this week — I missed it today and a day when I spent 7 hours in the car. 🚙
I‘ve read 6/6 books since the #BookFitnessChallenge started, but I was really aiming for 6 audiobooks, of which I‘ve finished 1. 📚

Yesterday was a big project y‘all. 🥵 Fortunately it was in the 70‘s and not the 90‘s like it was today!
It was all worth it though — the “after” is my new morning reading spot! ☕️📚😌 (And evening, honestly, once the sun goes down and if the bugs aren‘t bad. 🍺📚😂)
#BookFitnessChallenge #BFC

I met my (simple) goals every day this week, so I‘m kicking it up a notch! Next week, I‘m aiming for 6,500 steps/day and one home-cooked meal/week. (The photo behind my check in is a caprese salad made with basil from my little herb garden!) 🙌🏻
I can‘t believe I only finished one book this week, lol, but it‘s because I‘m reading three things concurrently at the moment. 🤷🏻‍♀️

More audio-weeding with this delightful audiobook for #BookFitnessChallenge. I still had to walk a lap around the neighborhood to get the steps in at the end of the day — working from home just doesn‘t get me there! 🤷🏻‍♀️
#BFC

Rewarding myself for another day of reaching my step goals for #BookFitnessChallenge with a bubble bath, hot tea, chocolate dipped date, and this book, one of my last #2019HugoFinalists novellas I need to read. 😄🙌🏻☕️
#BFC

Finished my first book of the #BookFitnessChallenge!
I‘m loving this series. It‘s been on my bookshelf for years (😬); I don‘t know why it took me so long to read them.

Still listening to Veronica Speedwell work herself into a pickle when actually walking, but finished CRESS right before hitting play on tonight‘s GoT. 😄

(Had to walk a lap and a half today to make my steps because assisting with a yoga class doesn‘t get me enough. #BFC)

For the second day of my #BookFitnessChallenge, I started the latest book in the Veronica Speedwell series (FANTASTIC on audiobook) while weeding my flowerbeds. I haven‘t had to walk around my neighborhood to meet my step goals on either of the first two days! 🙌🏻
#BFC

I've seen a lot of people sign up for this so I'm going to give it a try too!
My goals are 6 books and 6,000 steps/day over the next 6 weeks. 😄
(I work from home, so even 6,000 steps a day is a challenge if I don't make myself intentionally walk!) I'm hoping this will also help me clear a backlog of Audible books since I haven't been traveling as much for work in the off-election year. I never thought I would say that I miss being in the car! 😆

#2019HugoFinalists: Only the 1st book was nominated, but I had to go right into the 2nd one; now I‘m looking forward to books #3 (coming in 2020) and #4 (2022).
These books mix a post apocalyptic world (meteorite) with an alternate history timeline (opens in the 1950s with President Dewey) and how that era‘s racial issues would have translated into a world where the space program was “international” but people were still terrible.
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀/5

Haven‘t done one of these in a hot minute, but love reading everyone else‘s so — here‘s to being a participant vs. a creeper! 😂
1. Tagged; it‘s the first book for a new book club I just started with some female friends from the state Capitol.
2. Yoga Teacher Training info session (sharing my experience) and Experiential Anatomy homework (for my current YTT program).
3. Yup!
4. Depends on the genre. 🤔
5. Will do! ❤️
#friyayintro

This was a tough one for me. Not because of the subject matter necessarily, but because I realized early on that these events were going on when I was old enough to have been paying attention but I didn‘t. 😔 This realization was made worse by the fact that I read this book the evening after the Notre Dame Fire, when its destruction was everywhere on social media, yet the cultural devastation of the Syrian War has made barely a blip. 😭 cont.👇🏻

Reading my way through the Hugo Award shortlist, starting with the Novelettes. This cover is awesome (even cooler in color) and the story itself was such a great, twisted alternate history. 🐘💚
http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/04/2019-hugo-award-1944-retro-hugo-award-final...

So happy to be back out on my porch on a gorgeous, sunny day reading this vibrant book — a story inspired by events in the life of Margaret Mead. The writing is just as beautiful as the cover! (Note: I found the receipt in the book from when I originally bought it — it‘s only been sitting on my shelves for 4 years...🤪)

None of the books I‘ve picked up this week have caught my attention, but it‘s okay because this came in the mail today! Thank you, @Liberty , for the bookstagram giveaway and for sending it so quickly! ❤️

Y‘all, #BOTM has a YA subscription now!! 😱
#yasofthemonth

I just finished this book and — dang y‘all, I don‘t have the words for it right now. This is an important book and I hope the “YA” categorization doesn‘t keep people from picking it up. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸/5

Hubz and I went to Columbus yesterday for a one day getaway and we hit two Half Price Books and The Book Loft in German Village. I read “Shadow and Bone” last week, but didn‘t have the rest of the series...until now!! And the Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom set has the colored page edges that I‘ve been wanting...😍

Audio meal prepping for the week ahead. I think Mrs. Obama would approve of my lunch choice. 😄
#readblackwomen #audiocooking #womenmakehistory

This was my Sunday morning vibe. 🥰
#readblackwomen #womenwritescifi #womenwritefantasy #nytimescrossword

Any WV Littens planning to see this author speak in Charleston at Taylor Books on Friday evening? I‘m only about a third of the way through the book, but I‘m sure it would be fascinating/infuriating to hear Chris McGreal talk about his research and meetings with the families in the book.

I‘m mad at the MC of my #monthofboyne read, so I put it down to read about murdered cheerleaders. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Unfortunately, the book was pretty formulaic and, while there were surprises, there wasn‘t anything that made me put the book down to say “what just happened??”
I‘m still not ready to pick “The Heart‘s Invisible Furies” back up quite yet, so I think I‘ll check another library loan off the list...

A few Littens have posted about this book recently and then one of the sequels was on sale during the Black Friday Kindle-palooza, so I put this reread at the top of my “first read of 2019” list. There‘s something to be said about knowing you‘ll enjoy the first book of a new year. 😄

I love these books for not glossing over social, medical, & political issues of the time/place (mid 1600s Bavaria), while also giving you a strong mystery to solve.

When I took this photo, I was picturing a relaxing day with a good book. I was not expecting this book to absolutely gut me over and over. 😭
This book is beautiful, but it is HARD. Much like the Alaskan frontier that Hannah describes so vividly, there were moments of pleasure and moments of terror for the characters she brought to life.
I‘m sending this to a friend, along with a box of tissues and the trigger warnings that I‘ll hide below.

I am officially on break until Jan 2 and I *FINALLY* had a day where I didn‘t have to do anything or go anywhere yesterday. So I stayed in bed, ate some banana bread, drank some coffee, and devoured this book. 🥰

My husband once again knocked it out of the park in the book giving dept. This book sucked me in immediately and was perfectly paced for short breaks to refuel. I loved the complicated characters and the fullness of their relationships.

This was a perfect book to read on a lazy Thanksgiving morning. (We‘re going to my fiancé‘s grandma‘s for dinner, so no cooking for me!) There are sad moments, for sure, but the overall feel of the book is one of being thankful for the animals in our lives, no matter how long we might have with them.

Bo was himself a good creature in posing for this picture. ? #dogsofLitsy

Wow. I haven‘t read an adult literary novel in quite a few months — my attention span has only been long enough for YA or romance — so I wasn‘t sure if I was ready for this. It took me a few chapters, but the atmospheric writing found its way under my skin and I found myself unable to put it down. It‘s dark and moody, even when the sun is shining. A great re-entry into the land of adult fiction. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Over the past two weeks, I‘ve wrapped up an election cycle (with good results for me!) and graduated from my Yoga Teacher Training program (I‘m now an RYT 200!). Now I‘ve got my wedding to pull off in 12 days, but FIRST...I‘m going to take an evening to relax and dive into this beautiful book. (Enjoy the bonus Bo in the background. 😄)