I’ll be honest. This month, I was a little bit slack in my reading. I only ended up finishing two books. There were a couple of reasons for this. My husband and I have been looking at houses, which has taken some of my prime weekend reading time. It’s been a really busy month at work. Also, we downloaded Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and I’ve spent slightly less time reading in the last month and more time building the ultimate theme park. Also, we’re going to the coast this weekend and I don’t think I’ll get much reading done there, so I finished the month at only two books (I’m scheduling this before we leave, so even if I were to finish anything, I wouldn’t have time to post about it). Regardless, here are the books I’ve read this month:
Emma by Jane Austen
I’m a huge Jane Austen fan. Her books are just so good! They have everything you could want: romance, humor, plot twists. What else do you need really? I’ve read everything Austen wrote, most of her books multiple times. Emma is actually the one I’ve probably read least (besides Lady Susan, but I’m not sure that counts since it’s an unfinished book). That’s not because I like Emma less, it’s just because it was the last one I actually got my own copy of.
It’s funny. I read Emma when I was in high school, but I think I missed the whole point of it. One of the “morals” that Austen is trying to get across is that you shouldn’t match make. I picked that one up. I think the biggest “moral” though is that you shouldn’t assume you understand what people are up to/you should analyze or overanalyze their actions. I totally missed that and it probably would have done me good.
Emma is, unsurprisingly, about a young woman named Emma who prides herself on being a good matchmaker and reader of humanity. She finds out that she’s wrong through the course of the book as she tries to set her friend Harriet up with at least two different men, all the while being blind to her own heart.
Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
For those of you how are Donald Miller fans, but aren’t aware of what he’s been up to recently, you should know that this book is completely different from any of his other works. This book isn’t about God or theology or life. Instead, it’s about how you can use the elements of story in your business/organization to increase your sales and/or your impact.
If you have a blog or a business, this is a super helpful book. It’s not just about concepts either. He really gets into the nitty-gritty of how to put these concepts into action. He has practical tips about what should be on your website, what your email marketing emails should look like, and much, much more. As a bonus, he also has free tool available online where you can write your own StoryBrand Script (his marketing method based on the elements of story) that will help you guide your marketing efforts. It’s a great, free tool (and who doesn’t love free?).
The only thing I didn’t like about this book is that as a baby blogger still and someone who is currently only selling one product (by the way, have you looked at 30 Days of Grace?), there were some things that didn’t feel like they applied to me or I wasn’t sure how to apply them. There were far more things that did apply, but still, in a few places, I felt a little lost. Also, the book is kind of a sales pitch for his company, StoryBrand, so there’s that. I’m far too small and cheap to have need of his company’s services right now, so it felt like unnecessary advertising to me, but I guess it’s nice to know they’re out there if I ever do need them.
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash