The Best Books I Read in 2024.

     2024 wasn't my best year for reading, but I did still manage to read seven books that managed to get a five-star rating from me!! Each year on my blog, I enjoy sharing the very best of the best (five-star rated) books that I read the previous year. Let's get into my favorites from last year!

The Best Books I Read in 2023.

      I read 42 books in 2023, and it's time to recap my absolute favorite reads. For several years now, I have done a recap post sharing only the very best books of the year. I give out five-star book ratings on Goodreads pretty sparingly, so you know that if one of these books is featured in today's post that I truly loved it. I had four novels, and three non-fiction books make the cut this year! One book was a re-read from a few years ago, the rest were all new to me. 

The Best Books I Read in 2022.

       In 2022, I was able to read 45 books! That's the most I've read since 2019, when it was one of my resolutions to read 52 books (a book a week). I was shooting for 40 this year, but all of the time that I spent sick last summer gave me a ton of time to get ahead on reading, and I knocked out some extra titles thanks to that. 

       I would say that the majority of books that I read I rate at three or four stars. I am pretty picky with what books I will give my coveted five-star rating to. 2022 brought me a ton of three star reads, but also eight stand-out books that got my five-star rating! Here were my favorite books of the year:

The Best Books I Read in 2021.

       My reading goal for 2021 was 40 books, and I actually exceeded it slightly and read 42 books! Read and listened to I should say, as this was the first year in many that I got back into listening to e-books.

      Looking back over my Goodreads for 2021, I was reminded that I read a lot of average books this year. In these blog posts I only recap the absolute best books of a year (ones I'd recommend to everyone), the ones that I gave five stars to on Goodreads. That was surprisingly only six books in 2021!! Three fiction and three non-fiction. I'm hoping 2022 will bring more five star reads, but for now let me recap my six favorites of last year: 

The Best Books I Read in 2020.

      2020 wasn't as quite of a big reading year for me as 2019 was (when I read 52 books- a book a week!), but I still read some great titles last year, and still exceeded my reading goal! I set a goal of reading 25 books in 2020, and I managed to read 36 thanks to the extra time at home. 

2020 Gift Guides: BOOKS FOR HER

     Wrapping up (ha- pun not intended!) Gift Guide Week with one dedicated to one of my very favorite things to both give and receive: books! I think giving a book to a friend, family member or significant other is always a wonderful choice. 

     Typically, I think a non-fiction book or cookbook is the best way to go for a gift, versus fiction. I tend to read 99% of my fiction from the library or a cheap local used bookstore, it's rare that I buy a fiction book brand new at full price. But I have been lucky with fiction and read some truly wonderful novels in the past couple years, so I did include two of them that I think would appeal to a lot of readers in this guide.

The Best Books I Read in 2019.

     In 2019 I completed my resolution of reading 52 books- one book per week! I read a good mix of fiction and non-fiction throughout the year. A few of the books I read were awful, a lot were decent, and some were absolutely wonderful- the type of books that stay with you and that you can't help but recommend to everyone you know.

The Country Guest House: A Lighthearted Winter Read.

     This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx on behalf of Harper Collins.

     One of my favorite hobbies is reading, and I feel like the two seasons that I doing enjoy it the most are summer and winter! Summer because of the opportunity for reading by the pool (I literally do this almost every sunny weekday afternoon from May-September), and winter because I can get all cozy at home with blankets and tea and warm up with a good book.

     In 2019, I set a New Year's resolution to read 52 books. I'm thrilled to share with y'all that I did in fact complete it; I finished my final book of the year on December 30th. I'll be doing another blog post soon with all of my favorite reads of the year and sharing my tips for accomplishing such a large reading goal, but for today I wanted to share a review of book number 52 for me in 2019- which was a brand new novel, The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr.

Best Books I Read in 2018.

    2018 was the year that I really prioritized my love of reading! I read 48 books in 2018, and tracked them all on Goodreads. A suggested blog post topic by a few friends was that I review the very best books that I read in 2018! I feel like out of the 48 books that I read last year, a lot of them were "eh." Not the worst books, but not something I'd necessarily go out of my way to recommend to someone either. But there were a few stand-outs! Two fiction trilogies, and a non-fiction book on travel. Today on the blog, I'm review the best books I read in 2018 (everything that I gave five stars to on Goodreads)!

Photo by Kate Greer

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Elegant Blue Sundress + 4 Books I've Read Lately.

     I wear and review clothes regularly from Shein on my blog. (If you're unfamiliar, Shein is an online fast fashion retailer, similar to Forever 21.) With Shein's very low prices, sometimes items I get are great, and sometimes they're not so great. We have a win today though! The dress that I'm wearing in today's post was one of the best Shein items I've ever gotten, and I'm so excited to share it with y'all. It's also been awhile since I've shared book reviews, so I thought I'd let y'all know a few things I've read lately.

Photography by Kate Greer

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Dress c/o // Shoes {old from Marshall's, similar here} // Purse {from a local boutique in my hometown, very similar here} // Bracelets old // Lipgloss // 

      This pretty blue eyelet dress has stolen my heart. It's definitely a clothing item from Shein where the quality of the dress is better than the low price point- or at least I think so! I typically size up with Shein purchases- I'm wearing a M and it fit me pretty well. Just a tad loose on me- but the flowy look works with this dress. I can't wait to wear this again and again during the rest of summer!! I think the fabric and style makes it a tad too summery for it to be a fall transition piece, but you bet I'll be wearing this up until Labor Day Weekend.  

     I haven't shared any book reviews on the blog in awhile- the last post I did was a massive book review reading list a couple months ago! Don't worry- I've still been reading regularly since then. Unfortunately, a lot of the books I've read this summer I haven't been crazy about, but there have been a few that weren't bad. Sharing four books I've read lately for you: 

     *The Identicals by Elin Hilerbrand: This is such a great summer read! The Identicals tells the story of two adult identical twin sisters, who each live on a different island in Massachusetts. Their parents had a messy divorce when they were growing up- one sister went to live with their father in Martha's Vineyard, and the other with their mother in Nantucket. Sisters Harper and Tabitha have a pretty estranged and complicated relationship at the beginning of the book. Things take a turn when after a series of events, Harper goes to live in Nantucket, and Tabitha comes to Martha's Vineyard. This book was a fun read, and of course featured some family and dating drama. I also enjoyed the vivid depictions of summer on the coast in New England- it made me miss my hometown in Maine a little bit! 

     ***3/5 stars

     *Settle for More by Megyn Kelly: Back in Vermont, I developed a new weekday morning tradition. I'm sure many of you share it with me as well- it's watching TODAY on NBC, followed by Megyn Kelly's new NBC show. I never used to watch Fox News back when Megyn had her show on that network, so I wasn't too familiar with her journalism until starting to watch her new NBC show last year. I really enjoy her interviewing style and a lot of the guests that she has on the show, so when I saw her autobiography at my local library a couple months ago, I knew it would be a good read. I did enjoy it overall! Some chapters were a little longer/tougher to get through than others, but I loved learning about Megyn's upbringing and her law career, and how she got into TV news later in her career. 

     ***3/5 stars

     *The Wild Zone by Joy Fielding: If you've been following my other book review posts, you know that I've gotten really into Joy Fielding's books this year! She writes unique suspense novels, and they just about always have a huge plot twist or surprise near the end. I enjoyed The Wild Zone! It tells the story of a woman caught in an abusive marriage, and how she met a few men at a bar one night, and then things spiraled out of control for everyone involved. It should be stated that this book has graphic descriptions of verbal and physical abuse in it- so if you're sensitive to reading about that, I wouldn't recommend this book. However- I thought it was still a good read, and in typical Joy Fielding fashion, I didn't see the ending coming AT ALL.

     ****4/5 stars

     *Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch: I mentioned above that while I have been reading a lot this summer, a lot of the books haven't been that great or noticeable. I picked up Girls in Trucks because it was on display at my local library, and the cover art interested me, and gave me an idea of what I thought the book would be about (the inner cover described it as being about a South Carolina debutante and her coming of age). What it actually was like couldn't have been more different. I don't usually stick with reading books that I dislike by halfway through, but I guess I kept holding out hope this would get better. The answer is nope. This book was written in an extremely confusing way, and kept leaping forward between the past and present in each chapter, but in a complicated way. It's poorly written, and I didn't like the ending. A lot of loose ends are never tied up in the book. Definitely don't recommend this one- goes to show sometimes judging a book by the cover doesn't work! 

     *1/5 stars

      I hope that y'all are having a great week so far! It's a rainy one here in Virginia, but I'm hoping that the summer sunshine will return soon.

    

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese 

My Happy Places...

      We're not only talking happy places in today's blog post, but I'm also literally showing y'all one of mine! I've been blogging for almost six years now, and working with photographers for content for Southern Belle in Training for over two years. That's a lot of blog pictures and photo shoots in that amount of time- sometimes I have to think a little outside the box to still be creative with my pictures. Last month, I had the spur of the moment idea to shoot one of my outfits for the blog in one of the Charlottesville libraries! It was so fun, and totally out of the norm from the types of places I normally do blog photos, but hey, sometimes it's fun to mix it up. 😊

Photos by Lacey Botteon

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training! 

Top {similar} // Shorts c/o {such a bargain!} // Shoes // Necklace // Earrings {similar} // Bracelets c/o // Purse // 

     Let's talk about the outfit details for a second! So in one of last week's blog posts- I shared an outfit from my favorite online discount retailer Shein that was actually kind of a miss for me (a "get what you pay for" in terms of quality situation). The shorts I'm wearing in today's post also from Shein.... but WOW! These are a win!! They are only $10, and fit well and are really cute. As with most things from Shein, I did size up in them! Usually in the summer months I wear even brighter and colorful outfits than I normally do, but this outfit is all black and neutrals and I still really liked it.



      Now let's talk about happy places! We all have them. You know what I'm talking about- a place that you can arrive at and instantly feel at peace, or at least able to forget a bit about the distractions and stress of everyday life. I'd love to share a few of mine with you, and please let me know in the comments what yours are!



     *Library: Probably a given from these photos! I've loved libraries and reading since I was a little girl. There's not a lot of things that are truly free to enjoy in the adult world, but public libraries are a rare gem! I am such a big bookworm, so letting myself get lost in a place that's completely dedicated to the love of reading and books is something I'm always down for! I've had a local library card in every city/state that I've lived in- it's usually my motivation to go to the DMV for my new license when I move, because new license equals being able to get a library card!


     *Mall: Okay- it's no surprise that I love fashion since I have a fashion blog! However, one thing that I've noticed from a lot of girls' blogs that I read is that a lot of bloggers admit to preferring shopping online! While there are some online-only retailers that I do like shopping at, I still love the retail experience and going to the mall. Maybe it's part childhood nostalgia (I have the best memories of looking forward to mall trips for my birthdays or other special occasions growing up!), or part the fact that I did work in retail for a bit myself, but malls will always have a special place in my heart. There's just something about the smell of cinnamon buns wafting from the food court- you know what I mean! Even if I'm not going to the mall to buy anything specific, if I have a few hours to kill and want to get out of my apartment, it can be a nice place to walk around, especially in winter when the weather isn't great.


     *Beach (especially in my hometown): Okay- cliche answer here! Who doesn't like the beach, right? But it holds a special place in my heart as a happy place, since I'm from a small coastal town in Maine! Now that I live in a landlocked place, my heart misses the ocean where I'm from, especially in the summer months! Maine beaches are very natural and serene, most of them aren't built up or commercialized. I don't get homesick very much as I really do love the South, but sometimes I do long to take a long walk on one of my hometown beaches! I definitely appreciate it a lot more when I get to visit home now, as visits are few and far between.


      *Radio studio: I feel so lucky to be working in my dream industry, one that I dreamed of being in since I was a little girl! Being in my station's studio, where I spend the majority of my workday, really is a happy place for me. Some days I have to take a minute and just reflect about how lucky I am to be able to play great music, and bring joy to people's day in their cars or workplace (or wherever they listen to the radio!) - like that's my actual job!


     *Airport: Okay- this one needs a little explaining. Airports definitely stop becoming a happy place when severe flight delays are involved. But if everything goes smoothly on the travel end, I love airports! I feel like there's so much excitement in the air to see everyone hustling and bustling around, off to different destinations. And I think airport gift shops are so fun- I've found some of my favorite touristy souvenirs in them!


     *Church: There's just something so sweet and special about coming together to worship God and hear a great biblical message with other believers! This goes beyond just traditional Sunday services though. Church being my happy place includes bible study meetings, service opportunities, or just general times of fellowship with my church family!


     *Waterfalls: I love hiking and checking out beautiful places outdoors, but I have a special affinity for any trails that lead to waterfalls! There's just something magical about seeing them for yourself in nature. (Or maybe my love stems from my obsession with 90s music and TLC's hit song Waterfalls.... hahaha!)



     Okay- those are my favorite happy places! What are yours?


     Hope your week is off to a good start!!

     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese

   

BIG LIST of Great Books to Read This Spring!!

     I'm not sure what's quite gotten into me, but since becoming a Virginia resident, I've been bitten HARD by the reading bug! I was always a huge bookworm as a little girl, and I enjoyed reading for fun in high school as well. It was in college that I lost my passion for reading for fun for a few years- I just couldn't find the time between school, internships, starting my blog, Greek life, and everything else I was involved in! In Vermont I started to rediscover my love of reading, and now that love has come back full force, and I think it's actually more of an obsession. Since getting my Charlottesville library card, I've read 10 books in three and a half weeks! One of my resolutions for 2018 was to read 30 books this year... something tells me that I'll be having no trouble with hitting that goal, and doubling it or even tripling it!


     I have started using Good Reads to track my weekly reading goals and progress (you can follow me on there here!), and I also enjoy rating each book that I finish on Good Reads. Most of the books that I've read lately I've rated five stars, and they've made me want to text friends and say "YOU NEED TO READ THIS ASAP!" Each book has been so enjoyable, and I am really excited to share this book reviews post with y'all today. Typically I include book reviews in one of my outfit posts, but there are so many great books that I'm talking about today that I thought they deserved a full post of their own. 😊

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     *The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle: I first heard about this book from this book reviews post from Caitlin! It sounded really interesting. This book tells the story of married couple Iris and Will- who have a seemingly perfect marriage and life in Atlanta. There is a tragic plane crash with a flight headed from Atlanta to Seattle, and Iris is informed that her husband was a passenger on the plane, and is among the deceased. She is in shock, as Will had told her that he was en route to Orlando for a work conference. Iris begins an intense search for the truth;  both the truth about her husband's past life, and if he actually was on the crashed plane to Seattle. This book definitely held my attention through the whole story, and I really felt Iris's pain and shock!
     ****4/5 stars



     *Whispers and Lies by Joy Fielding: This was my first Joy Fielding read, and the cover caught my eye amongst the library stacks! Books that I judge by the cover (literally) can be hit or miss, but I'm glad I decided to try one of Joy's books, as this was a very intriguing read. This is a psychological thriller, and the while the first 75% of the story is a bit slow (and some details of the start of the story almost seem insignificant), the final 25% of the book is shocking and mind blowing, and also a little bit disturbing to be honest. This book tells the story of Terry Painter, a single, 40-something nurse who resides in coastal Florida. She has inherited her late mother's house, and takes in tenants to help offset living costs. Terry feels immediately drawn to building a friendship her newest tenant, a young woman named Alison. But at the same time, Terry also finds herself very wary about Alison's mysterious past, and her reasons for being in Florida. I can't stress enough how shocking the end of this book was- I enjoy reading thrillers but out of all the ones I've read the ending of this one really had me for a loop!
     ***3/5 stars



     *Grand Avenue by Joy Fielding: After being so shocked by the ending of Whispers and Lies, I wanted to give another Joy Fielding book a try. Grand Avenue tells the story of four friends, Chris, Barbara, Susan and Vicki, who meet in the 1970s and discover that they're neighbors and all have young daughters around the same age. The book follows each of the four women through the years and explores their romantic relationships, their roles as mothers, their careers, and other topics like domestic violence, having affairs, and workplace issues. Similarly to Whispers and Lies, there is another big plot twist near the end of Grand Avenue (I'm starting to think this might be a theme with Joy Fielding's books?), but I felt a little more prepared for it this time. This book did have some heavy sexual content and strong language in parts, but I felt that it fit the story and helped make certain scenes more believable (if that makes sense), but I did want to note that. Overall I think I liked this one slightly more than Whispers and Lies, but both were definitely very unique books.
     ***3/5 stars



     *A Baxter Family Christmas by Karen Kingsbury: I was absolutely obsessed with Karen Kingsbury's books in high school. Karen is a Christian fiction author, and to date I've read over 30 of her books! I even had the chance to meet her at a book signing during my freshman year of college. My high school years were a really bad time for me (I suffered with anxiety and depression amongst other things), and I credit Karen's books to really being a light for me during a rough time. Anyways, her Baxter Family series was always my favorite!! She's written over 20 books about these characters. The Baxter Family books are set in Bloomington, IN, so it was really cool for me to visit Bloomington in January this past year- home of one of my favorite book series! Anyways, The Baxter Family books recently got a TV series deal, and the books are currently being developed into a show. Karen also has started writing more books about the Baxters, so I picked up with A Baxter Family Christmas from the library, which I really enjoyed! I'm not sure that this book would be as enjoyable as a stand-alone title if you haven't read the 20+ other Baxter Family books (these characters feel like old friends to me at this point), but since I am very familiar with the story line, I did really enjoy this book. Now I have three more newer Baxter Family books to catch up on!
     ***3/5 stars



     *Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians #1): OH MY GOSH- this book!!! I am so glad I decided to read this trilogy before the movie comes out later this summer!! I am not usually a stickler at all for reading a book before seeing a movie... but in the case of Crazy Rich Asians- I absolutely recommend reading all three book before the movie releases in August! If you were a fan of Gossip Girl, I can 100% guarantee you'll be obsessed with Crazy Rich Asians. The first book tells the story of Rachel Chu, an American-raised economics professor, who will be spending the summer in Singapore, with her history professor boyfriend Nick Young. Despite the fact that they've been dating for a couple years, Rachel knows very little about Nick's extended family in Singapore. When she arrives for their summer vacation, she is in shock to discover that they are one of the wealthiest families in the country, and he is heir to a great fortune. Rachel is very humble and doesn't care much about Nick's family's money, however his family isn't very welcoming to Rachel since she was raised American. This book also follows the lives of several of Nick's cousins and other family members, and the drama and plot is just so juicy!! I was seriously depressed when I finished this book and immediately requested the next two books in the trilogy from my library.
     *****5/5 stars



     *China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians #2): The second book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, and Kevin Kwan wrote an amazing follow-up to the first novel! This book chronicles Nick and Rachel's wedding, but also adds some new (very rich) characters into the mix, and follows another summer of crazy adventures in Asia for many of the characters from the first book. One of the main characters in China Rich Girlfriend is Colette, an insanely wealthy Chinese fashion blogger, so it was interesting for me as a blogger to read a bit about what the Chinese fashion blogging scene is like, since social media is a bit different over there. I loved this book as well, and it made me very excited to read the final book!
     *****5/5 stars



     *Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians #3): The final book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy I thought was the perfect ending to the series. This books centers around the fact that Nick Young has to return to his family's estate in Singapore unexpectedly after a family member falls ill. Something that I really liked about this trilogy was how the first book really explored the wedding customs of Asia's wealthiest families, the final book looked more closely at familial duties and funeral customs, which I found interesting to read about! This book also wraps up some loose plot ends from the second book, and I was very pleased with the ending. All in all, a great ending to the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy!
     *****5/5 stars



     *Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter by Lisa Patton (Dixie #1): This trilogy!! Oh my gosh. This is one of my favorite library finds ever. The first book in the Dixie trilogy follows Southern Belle Lele Satterfield, a doting wife and mother who happily resides in Memphis, TN. One day, her husband gets the idea to move their family to Southern Vermont (!!!) to buy and renovate a bed and breakfast in a small mountain town. Lele is initially very opposed to move to Vermont, but eventually goes along with the plan to uproot their family. After moving, she is in shock for the first few months of acclimating to life in the Green Mountain State- let's just say that I could relate so much to Lele's depictions of Vermont life, and the native Vermonters that she met! This book was set in a fictional small town in Southern Vermont (near Manchester), probably about three-ish hours from Burlington, where I lived. But despite that, I still felt like I could relate so much to the character of Lele and this story in general! It made me laugh, it made me sentimental, and I just felt like I "got it"!! For anyone who doesn't understand the culture shock I went through after moving from Charlotte to Vermont... read this book! Haha. Anyways, this was an absolutely delightful read, and I couldn't wait to read the rest of the trilogy. Spoiler alert: this book ends with Lele leaving Vermont to go back South.... doesn't this sound familiar!? 😉
     *****5/5 stars



     *Yankee Doodle Dixie by Lisa Patton (Dixie #2): I loved the second book in the Dixie trilogy possibly even more than the first! Lele Satterfield is back in the South, newly single, and job searching. She ends up taking a job at a radio station in the promotions department- seriously, did author Lisa Patton know about my life for the past year when she wrote these books?! Haha! Granted, Lele's adventures working in radio weren't all quite realistic, but it was super fun to read about! Lele also has a whirlwind romantic adventure in this book that added a fun plot line. A wonderful follow-up to the first book!
     *****5/5 stars



     *Southern as a Second Language by Lisa Patton (Dixie #3): The final book in the Dixie series was a great ending to Lele's adventures! This one is also set back in the South, but some of the beloved Vermont characters from the first book do make appearances in this book. Lele has left her job in the radio world and ventures into starting her own business, and realizes that just like running one in Vermont, there are also struggles with doing that in the South. I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to Lele and the other characters when this book ended! I can't wait to check out other books from Lisa Patton. If you're headed on vacation soon, I think this trilogy would be ideal vacation reading.
     *****5/5 stars




      Please let me know if you've read any of these books and what your thoughts were about them! Or if you've read another good book lately- let me know in the comments on this post. I'm probably going to be making another library trip soon and I'll be planning to grab a lot of good books to read!



    Shop all of my favorite reads below:

     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese

Lilly Pulitzer Sophie Dress + 4 Books I've Read Lately.

    So excited to be "back at it" with new fashion content today - here's my first outfit post from Virginia!! I'm also sharing an updated round of book reviews with the books that I read at the end of winter. I haven't read anything in the last month since I haven't gotten a Virginia library card yet.... hoping to change that soon!

Photography by Meredith Sledge

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Dress c/o Pink Colony // Shoes {Not online, almost identical linked} // Sunglasses c/o // Ring // Purse {new style linked} // Lipstick c/o // 

     What better way to kick off new fashion content from Charlottesville than with a spring Lilly Pulitzer outfit? Virginia is the perfect place to wear Lilly, and I am so excited to break out all of mine once the weather is a little warmer. This darling Sophie Ruffle dress is from Pink Colony, the charming Lilly speciality boutique in Stowe, VT that I got to visit and work with for SBIT this winter! (Check out my most recent collaboration post with Pink Colony here!) I cannot get over how pretty the navy and hot pink colors are for the flamingo print on this dress. I love it! I know I'll be wearing it on repeat all spring and summer. Pink and navy really is the cutest color combo that I don't wear enough of. 

     It's been so long since I've shared any book reviews on the blog, and that's made me sad!! One of my new years resolutions was to read 30 books in 2018. I got off to a strong start with three books in January... then one book in February... then no books since! 😭 Job applications and moving out-of-state, while working full time and running a blog is no joke!! My new apartment does have a pool that will be opening once the weather gets a little warmer, so once I get a local Virginia library card, I'm hoping to make reading by the pool a weekly, if not daily occurrence!! There's still time to hit my resolution goal right? Anyways- here are the four books I've read so far this year. Differing from my past reviews- 3/4 of these are non-fiction! 

     *Smart is the New Rich: Money Guide for Millennials by Christine Romans: This was the first of a few books that I asked for on my Christmas list this year! A personal goal of mine for this year and next is to become more financially savvy. I think that I already manage my money fairly well for someone my age (I'm responsible about large purchases, I've never had credit debt, I've been working hard to pay off my school loans, etc), but there's still so much related to personal finances that is foreign to me!! I want to develop the best money habits and practices I can while I'm young. This book received good reviews on Amazon and the name caught my eye, so I requested it on my Christmas list. It wasn't bad! I think it's more geared for college students... I probably could've gotten more out of this read a few years ago, during the time when I was investigating school loans and applying for my first credit card for example. But with that said, I enjoyed Christine's straightforward writing style and still got many takeaways from the book! (I will say- I do disagree with her point that millennial college graduates should live at home to save money. I'm definitely team #MoveOutofStateForNewExperiences!)

     *** 3/5 stars 

     *The Best Travel Hacking Guide by J.F. Warden: Another topic that I want to educate myself more on this year and next is the concept of travel hacking. It is incredible to me that people are traveling pretty much for free, simply by how they are able to utilize their credit cards, airline miles and rewards points! This was another book on my Christmas list, and I loved it!! It's a very small but extremely informative guide to travel hacking. The author is very well-versed in the ins and outs of the major airline carriers and rewards credit card companies and provides so much handy information. His travel style would be a bit different from mine (He writes that he's a fan of the "couch surfing" method of lodging... since I've had bedbugs in the past, you literally couldn't pay me to do that haha!), but there was still so much useful information that I got from this book. I probably won't be starting my travel hacking journey in 2018 since I just started my new job and don't start getting PTO for awhile, but hopefully in 2019 I'll reread this book and finally start this new hobby! 

     ****4/5 stars

     *Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It in Your Career. Rock Social Media. by Aliza Licht: Oh my gosh- I had such high expectations for this one. I put this book on my Christmas list because the title really grabbed me! In early December I was starting to prepare my resume and portfolio for job applications, so I thought this book would give me some motivation as I started looking for new radio jobs after Christmas. Similar to the first book I reviewed above, I think I might have a totally different view on this one if I'd read it in college (or even high school?). Aliza tells the detailed story of how she unexpectedly ended up working in Fashion PR in New York City (her original plan was to get into the medical field), and while her story is interesting, I found the book to mostly be about her personal story, and not as much about offering advice for others in their careers. The advice that was given in the book was really just geared to college students who want to work specifically in PR or fashion related industries, so I didn't find many takeaways that helped with my own job search this winter. But- there were still parts of Aliza's story that I enjoyed reading! 

     **2/5 stars

     *Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin: My former blog photographer and sweet friend Deeana gave me this book for Christmas, and I loved it! It tells the story of Ellen, a New York City photographer, and her marriage to her husband Andy. Their marriage seems perfect... until Ellen runs into an ex-boyfriend, and she starts having confused feelings for her past. This book hooked me in from the start, and it was a lovely and fun read! One quote from the character of Ellen resonated with me so much that I actually used it in my blog post where I announced my move to Virginia. 

     ****4/5 stars

     

     Thanks so much for reading today's post! I hope your week is off to a great start. My outfit details and the books are all linked below!

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese 

Vermont Holiday Look + 6 Books I've Read Lately.

      Happy Day after Christmas! Hope that yesterday was a peaceful and wonderful day of celebrating for you. My holiday took an unexpected turn after I ended up staying in Vermont for the weekend instead of going home to Maine (the weather here was less than ideal), but I've tried to remain positive despite this happening! In today's post I'll be sharing one last holiday look that I wasn't able to post before Christmas, and also an updated reading list! I know it's been awhile since I shared one, but I wanted to let you guys know what I have been reading in November and December, before the new year!

Photography by Amanda Rose Photography

This post contains  affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Top // Scarf {not online, similar here} // Pants {mine from The Limited, similar here} // Shoes {old from Zara, similar here} // Necklace c/o // Earrings c/o // Lipstick: LipSense in Bella // 

       This velvet peplum top was one of my Black Friday purchases this year, and I just love it! It comes in numerical sizing, but I found it fit true to size. It's a versatile winter top that you could easily pair with a cardigan for the office or school, and you can dress it up as well with a pencil skirt or skinny dress pants (like I did here!) for a holiday party look. This top also comes in a few other colors, and they're also super cute! I thought that gold accessories would be the perfect compliment to the dark red of the top, so it was the perfect chance to wear my new favorite statement earrings from Lisi Lerch! They kindly sent me these in time for my Kentucky trip, and I had fun wearing them there too! They're just gorgeous, and I know they will brighten up lots of my winter outfits.


      By the way- it was 10 degrees outside when Amanda and I took these photos!! I still can't believe I survived. She sure is a trooper! Hopefully my teeth don't look too gritted and you can't see my goose bumps in the pictures. 😊 Quite a note to start to end on for one of my last outfit posts of the year!




      Alright- let's dive into what I've been reading over the past couple months. My reading pace has slowed down a little bit from what it was this spring and summer, but I'm still trying to visit the library once or twice a month! Here's what I read in November and January:


      *Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinksy: You guys know from my past book review posts that it's rare for me not to finish a book. This was a rare one that I just couldn't get through! I think I made it about halfway. The plot of this book was about a single divorced mother who learns her high school aged daughter is not only pregnant, but is in a pregnancy pact with her best friends. The book sounded interesting... but ended up being hard to follow, and actually quite boring. I couldn't get through it! (I recently watched a Lifetime movie with a similar-ish plot to this book, and let's just say that had much more drama and excitement! Haha.)


     *Shattered by Karen Robards: This was a thriller set in a small town outside of Lexington, KY. Since I read it about a month before my Kentucky trip, it actually got me super excited to visit the Bluegrass State! Karen Robards does a great job of setting the scene of the Kentucky landscape in the book. As far as the plot itself, I loved the first half of the book, and then found the second half got a bit hard to follow and more unrealistic. This book is about an attorney named Lisa Grant who investigates an unsolved case from almost 30 years prior, which ends up hitting too close to home. There's also a romance involved in the plot as well.


      *Friendship Bread by Darien Gee: This is a feel-good read all about friendship, small town life, healing, and the power of baking. Thinking of Hallmark Movie type vibes, but in a book! It follows the lives of three women, all living in a small town in Illinois. As the women become friends and a baking obsession sweeps over their town, change is on the horizon for each of them. This was a cute read, and I thought it was so sweet that the author included recipes in the back of the book.


     *Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer:  This book is set on the New England island of Nantucket, and the main character is an island resident and librarian named Darcy. The book follows Darcy's life for a whole summer, through her friendships and dating relationships, and also paints a very realistic picture of what it's like to be a permanent resident on one of New England's smaller islands. Although there weren't any major plot twists in this book, I did enjoy the story, and I especially enjoyed the vivid descriptions of summer on Nantucket. I've never been to Nantucket, but some parts of it reminded me of summer in Maine. I'd be interested to read some of Nancy Thayer's other books!


      *First Comes Love by Emily Giffin: Amazingly this was the first Emily Giffin book I've ever read! I've seen her books before as they're quite popular, but I'd never picked one up for myself before. I really enjoyed this book. It explored the concept of coping in the years after a great loss, and the challenges that come with a relationship between two sisters. I'd love to read more of Emily's books now!


      *Vanished by Karen Robards: I took out another Karen Robards book on my latest library trip, and I'm actually still reading this one! It's another thriller. This book follows the story of workaholic district attorney named Sarah, whose daughter was tragically kidnapped years prior. The book begins when Sarah is a victim in a crazy convenience store robbery and shooting (which as a warning, is a very graphic scene). Sarah being on the scene of such a great crime leads there to be questions if this could be connected in any way to her daughter's kidnapping years prior. There's also a romance developing between Sarah and one of her best guy friends. I'm looking forward to finishing this book.

     


       My outfit details are all linked below. I'm excited to share my first year end recap post on the blog tomorrow! If you haven't read mine from years prior, I always share one post recapping the year in my personal life, and one recapping the year in blogging (as that's a ton to include all in one post!). Here is 2016's personal post and blogging post if you're curious in the meantime!

       God Bless,



       xoxo Annaliese
   



      

How I'm Wearing The Embroidery Trend + 4 Books I've Read This Month.

    Embroidery has been one of the biggest trends in 2017! In my traditional fashion, like with a lot of other fast fashion trends (off-the-shoulder, anyone?), I have ended up embracing it, but all in all in small doses, and it took me a little longer to do so than some other bloggers and trend lovers. Today's outfit shows a couple easy ways to incorporate embroidery into your fall looks! This casual outfit is also definitely something that I would wear to work! This summer I shared a "How a Radio Personality Dresses for Work" blog post, and today's outfit would be my fall version of that! 

Photography by Melissa Lynn Studios 

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training! 

Top c/o // Jeans // Shoes {TJ Maxx find, similar here} // Sweater {old, similar here} // Purse {similar} // Bracelets c/o // Earrings c/o // Lipstick // 

      This top is definitely a trendy item, between the lace up detail and the embroidery. But I really ended up liking it! I never spend a lot of money on super trendy pieces, so the under $15 price point on it worked well for me!! You might notice if you frequent here a lot that I don't usually wear too much red. To be honest I'm not really sure why I don't wear a lot of red. I love to wear pink and wear all shades of it- everything from blush to fuchsia. But with red, I guess sometimes I shy away from how bold it is. Anyways, red is a great fall color, and I think the red color looks great in this top! Yay for trying new things. 😊

     These jeans were my splurge item in this year's Nordstrom sale, and they're still available (though sadly not on sale currently). They're the comfiest jeans ever, and I'm already looking forward to buying another pair in next year's sale! 

     After taking a little break from reading for fun during the end of summer due to the craziness at work, my schedule has finally settled down, and I've been on a reading frenzy for the past month or so! I've already made a dent in October's reading list, but here's the four books that I read in September:

     *Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner: This was my second Lisa Gardner thriller- I read my first one back in July's book review post. Say Goodbye is a chilling story that involves a devoted FBI agent, disappearing prostitutes.... and spiders. Lots of spiders. If you are scared of spiders, this is probably not the book for you, haha. I enjoyed the story and the ending ended up being a lot more complex than I expected, but I think overall I liked the other Lisa Gardner book that I read this summer better than this one. I'd still like to read more of her books though! 

      *Under Her Skin by Susan Mallery: Under Her Skin is about as a-typical of a paperback romance novel as you can get.... but hey, sometimes we all need a light read like that! I've definitely read worse romance novels before, and this one actually had a plot that I enjoyed, not just unrealistic love scenes. This story follows Lexi Titan, a businesswoman from a powerful family in Texas, who becomes engaged as apart of a business deal. However when feelings end up developing for her fake fiance, things get complicated! You can probably guess how the story ends.... but like I said, I still enjoyed it as a light read, and I've definitely read worse romance novels.

      *Mr. Maybe by Jane Green: I have also reviewed a Jane Green book before in a past book review post, and wasn't that impressed by the past book that I read of hers! I decided to give Ms. Green another try though, and actually really liked this book! Mr. Maybe is what I would call the definition of a "beach read" - total chick lit, and kind of a fluff read. But it was really entertaining! This book centers around main character Libby, a late 20s PR professional living in London, who struggles with dating. Her heart is currently torn between pursuing a guy who she has great chemistry with, but who is unemployed, or chasing a wealthy and mature bachelor who she has little chemistry with. Even though Libby and I view dating pretty differently, I still found myself laughing at and relating to a lot in this book! This would be a great vacation read especially I think.

      *The Other Half by Sarah Raynor: This is the second novel set in Britain on today's reading list! The Other Half is about a cheating husband, and the story switches between the perspective of his wife, and his mistress. I found it to be an interesting read. I'm obviously super against unfaithfulness in relationships, but it was intriguing to read a book with so much of the perspective being from quite literally, "the other half." I would rate this book about the same as Mr. Maybe- a fun beach or vacation read, but not like life changing literature or anything!

     And that's September's books! I'll share October's after my next library visit. 

      

     Have a wonderful start to the week! I had such a fun day yesterday and I can't wait to share more about that with y'all soon.

      God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese