Carla's Book Crush

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
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Most of us have a habit we’d like to change, and there’s no shortage of expert advice. But as we all know from tough experience, no magic, one-size-fits-all solution exists. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.
 
In Better Than Before, acclaimed writer Gretchen Rubin identifies every approach that actually works. She presents a practical, concrete framework to allow readers to understand their habits—and to change them for good. 
 
Infused with Rubin’s compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better Than Before explains the (sometimes counterintuitive) core principles of habit formation and answers the most perplexing questions about habits: 
 
• Why do we find it tough to create a habit for something we love to do? 
• How can we keep our healthy habits when we’re surrounded by temptations? 
• How can we help someone else change a habit? 
 
Rubin reveals the true secret to habit change: first, we must know ourselves. When we shape our habits to suit ourselves, we can find success—even if we’ve failed before. 
 
Whether you want to eat more healthfully, stop checking devices, or finish a project, the invaluable ideas in Better Than Before will start you working on your own habits—even before you’ve finished the book.

How it changed me: It helped me understand how to set and meet goals for my personality. While I have posted goals on the blog for fun, I know that is the worst way for me to meet goals. I’m one of those people who goes against the norm and if I truly want to meet personal goals I keep them to myself. Sending goals out into the world is too much pressure for me and is essentially self-sabotage.

The Living Clearly Method: 5 Principles for a Fit Body, Healthy Mind & Joyful Life by Hilaria Baldwin 
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Hilaria Baldwin knows what it means to be pulled in many directions—as a mother of young children, businesswoman, yoga instructor, Instagram sensation, and wife of actor Alec Baldwin, she has to work hard to remain centered. Through her life experiences, struggles, and personal growth, Hilaria has developed an illuminating method for using movement and mindfulness to create an unbreakable mind-body connection.

The Living Clearly Method shows how to blend purposeful movement with conscious breath to move through our lives with grace, calm, and positivity. By using Hilaria’s five simple principles—Perspective, Breathing, Grounding, Balance, and Letting Go—you can flow through any situation with the beautiful union of mind, body, and spirit that a yoga practice can create.

But learning to honor the body and listen to the soul does not end when you get off the mat. Hilaria believes strongly in finding ways to integrate the five principles into your entire life, so for each step she also shares her own routines that keep her active all the time—from the little motions that engage her body during household chores and the foods that keep her well nourished to the philosophy that grounds her when she’s being pulled in a million directions at once.

With practical tools such as timesaving tips, delicious recipes inspired by clean and plant-based eating, mini-workouts that seamlessly integrate your everyday routine, breathing exercises, and customized yoga and meditation practices, The Living Clearly Method will help you live the healthiest life possible, both inside and out.

How it changed me: I own this one on Kinde and in paperback because apparently who knows when I may need to break out into a spontaneous yoga session. In all seriousness, this book helped me realize that I don’t need to do what everyone else does to remain fit. After reading this (okay, after reading it a couple of times), I stopped purchasing all the latest fitness programs and just started doing what feels good to me.

The Food Babe Way by Vani Hari
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Did you know that your fast food fries contain a chemical used in Silly Putty? Or that a juicy peach sprayed heavily with pesticides could be triggering your body to store fat? When we go to the supermarket, we trust that all our groceries are safe to eat. But much of what we’re putting into our bodies is either tainted with chemicals or processed in a way that makes us gain weight, feel sick, and age before our time.

Luckily, Vani Hari — aka the Food Babe — has got your back. A food activist who has courageously put the heat on big food companies to disclose ingredients and remove toxic additives from their products, Hari has made it her life’s mission to educate the world about how to live a clean, organic, healthy lifestyle in an overprocessed, contaminated-food world, and how to look and feel fabulous while doing it.

In The Food Babe Way, Hari invites you to follow an easy and accessible plan to rid your body of toxins, lose weight without counting calories, and restore your natural glow in just 21 days. Including anecdotes of her own transformation along with easy-to-follow shopping lists, meal plans, and mouthwatering recipes, The Food Babe Way will empower you to change your food, change your body, and change the world.

How it changed me: Even after reading this and making such a huge impact on me, my eating is not perfect and I still eat some processed foods although not as many or as often as before. However, since I finished reading this book back in 2019, there are some things I just won’t budge on. The biggest one being that I won’t touch artificial sweeteners. That’s just a big fat no for me. While I don’t reread this book, I do look at my highlights and notes when I am concerned about something that might be in my food.

Lessons from Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott
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Inspired by Paris, this lighthearted and deceptively wise contemporary memoir serves as a guidebook for women on the path to adulthood, sophistication, and style, perfect for any woman looking to lead a more fulfilling, passionate, and artful life.

Paris may be the City of Light, but for many it is also the City of Transformation. When Jennifer Scott arrived in Paris as an exchange student from California, she had little idea she would become an avid fan of French fashion, lifestyle, and sophistication. Used to a casual life back home, in Paris she was hosted by a woman she calls “Madame Chic,” mistress of a grand apartment in the Sixteenth Arrondissement.

Madame Chic mentors Jennifer in the art of living, with elegance and an impeccably French less-is-more philosophy. Three-course meals prepared by the well-dressed Madame Chic (her neat clothes covered by an apron, of course) lure Jennifer from her usual habit of frequent snacks, junk food, sweatpants, and TV.

Additional time spent with “Madame Bohemienne,” a charming single mother who passionately embraces Parisian joie de vivre, introduces readers to another facet of behind-closed-doors Parisian life.

While Francophiles will appreciate this memoir of a young woman’s adventure abroad, others who may not know much about France will thrill to the surprisingly do-able (yet chic!) hair and makeup lessons, plus tips on how to create a capsule wardrobe with just ten useful core pieces.

Each chapter of Lessons from Madame Chic reveals the valuable secrets Jennifer learned while under Madame Chic’s tutelage—tips you can master no matter where you live or the size of your budget.

Embracing the classically French aesthetic of quality over quantity, aspiring Parisiennes will learn the art of eating (deprive yourself not; snacking is not chic), fashion (buy the best you can afford), grooming (le no-makeup look), among other tips.

From entertaining to decor, you will gain insights on how to cultivate old-fashioned sophistication while living an active, modern life. Lessons from Madame Chic is the essential handbook for a woman that wants to look good, live well, and enjoy that Parisian je ne sais quoi in her own arrondissement.

How it changed me: According to Amazon I bought this one in November of 2018. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve read it since then. I have been a fan of capsule wardrobes ever since. I own very few clothes per season (not counting shoes) and I wear them until they are are not presentable anymore or I no longer fit in them. In additon to making it much easier to get dressed in the morning, it reduces waste.

Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering Etiquette by  Myka Meier
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he founder of The Plaza Hotel’s Finishing Program spills her insider knowledge to help you become instantly more polished.

In her debut book, Modern Etiquette Made Easy, the Queen of Good Manners Myka Meier takes formal etiquette that she learned while training under a former member of the Queen of England’s household and breaks it down into five easy steps to help you feel 100 percent confident in the areas of social, dining, business, and networking etiquette.

In this refreshingly entertaining etiquette guide, Myka combines her passion for etiquette and love of humor to share tips that are sure to give you a competitive edge in both your social and professional life. Through easy-to-follow chapters and relatable lessons, you’ll learn how to: 

Create the best first impression
Become the most coveted party guest
Network like a pro
Practice good table manners
And much, much more!

Perfect for everyone who’s ever gone for the cheek kiss as the new acquaintance offered a handshake, or hobbled home from a networking event in stilettos. Fitting for messy-bun millennials who find themselves suddenly adulting without a clue, or mid-career professionals hoping to revamp their image. Or really, for anyone at all—at the end of the day, we could all use some more respect and kindness, and Modern Etiquette Made Easy offers advice and insight like a friend.

Pinkies down!

How it changed me: After checking this out from the library and reading it for the about the fifth time, I finally bought myself a copy. Whenever I feel myself getting slopping or think I need a brush-up, I reread this book. If I could, I would gift everyone I know, or even meet, with a copy of this book. No matter how well mannered you are, I think there is a hidden gem for everyone in here.

My original goal was to publish ten books but since I have not reviewed my nonfiction reads, I felt that if I couldn’t remember the book vividly in my mind then it reall didn’t change me.

What are some nonfiction books that have made a difference in your life?

Thank you to The Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!