Unlimited LDS Audiobooks and Ebooks - All on YOUR Smartphone!

What does a 30 day FREE membership get you? 

1,500 free ebooks

500 audiobooks

All on your smartphone!

Deseret Book has launched it's new ebook and audiobook service called Bookshelf Plus. And for a monthly fee of $9.99, or an annual membership of $99/yr, you get access to thousands of books. 

I am a book fanatic. (I don't just write books, I avidly ready them too.) I listen to or read a new book almost every 3 days. But it can be very hard to find LDS ebooks at a reasonable price! Drives me crazy! So it is a great gift that I can FINALLY access the Deseret Book catalog, and listen to them on my phone. 

Fun fact- The subscription/membership (service) is called Bookshelf Plus - that's the membership/subscription service that allows you to read or listen to UNLIMITED ebooks and audiobooks.
The actual app you download (from the Google Play store or the Apple iTunes store) to your phone is called the Deseret Bookshelf. You can use Bookshelf without a Plus membership. You will just be limited to a small amount of free materials. You can still use the app to buy ebooks/audiobooks at regular price.

To clarify- pay for a membership with Plus, and you get access to THOUSANDS of free books. Without a membership, pay regular price to buy ebooks. 

Bonus- when I downloaded the Bookshelf, it wasn't some crazy huge app that killed the memory on my iPhone 6. (With over 1,000 pictures on my phone, mostly of my adorable baby nephew Charlie, free space on my phone is a thing of the past. And don't even dare suggest I remove some of the pictures!) 

When you download the app, it comes with links/icons for official Church materials (Gospel Doctrine lesson book, Teachings of the Prophets, etc) right on the front. It even has links to the most recent General Conference talks right there the minute you download the app. That's links to both the audio and e-book version, which is really convenient. There are even links to classic church talks, and to free literary classics (I immediately downloaded Les Mis and Large Catechism (by Martin Luther)). 

You can see from my phone screenshots below how easy it is to download a book. You see it in the "discover" tab, click on it, then click download and open, and voila, it downloads. That fast and easy. And because you have your annual membership, you don't have to pay for it!

Don't forget the 30 day free trial membership if you aren't sure you want to commit yet! But you will want to commit, trust me. It's great!

Let's say you wanted to buy my first published book, "Beyond Perfection." If you check it out on Amazon, the Kindle version is $14.99 (of which yours truly gets something like 50 cents if you buy it.) (Seriously, moms, don't let your babies grow up to be authors.) 

On Deseret Book, you only have to pay $9.99.  But if you have a Bookshelf Plus membership and the Deseret Bookshelf app, YOU GET IT FOR FREE!

If you are a regular consumer of Mormon books, LDS Church materials, clean e-books, and uplifting audiobooks, you are going to love this new offering from Deseret Book. 

RECAP-

DESERET BOOK BOOKSHELF PLUS MEMBERSHIP

30 DAY FREE TRIAL!!

THOUSANDS of free e-books! THOUSANDS!!

Tons of audiobooks that you can't get anywhere else!

After your 30 day free trial, it's either $9.99/mo, OR $99/yr. 

And you can get it all on your smartphone. 

Affiliate Blogger Disclaimer- I did not get paid to write this post. I am a beta user and blogger of the product. If you use my links to purchase the Deseret Book Bookshelf Plus membership, I receive a commission. But it no way, shape, or form, effects the cost of your membership or purchases for me to receive the commission. 

Personal Life Reboot

I'm going through a personal life reboot right now. Yet again, through events completely out of my control, the world has been turned upside down on me. A month ago I was the church youth group leader (YW president), and then released completely unexpectedly. And then last week my job came to an abrupt (but welcome) end. (I had expected my job to last 2 more months.)
Not bad changes.
Just completely unexpected changes.
Suddenly, I have nothing to do. And I really do mean absolutely nothing.
I do have a book launch I'm slowly getting through. And I'm writing a book as much as my muse allows me. But really, no obligations, events, time sucks, etc. going on.
I've forgotten how to be this way.
But before I can figure out what comes next, I'm doing a very intentional personal life reboot. I'm reading books that have meant something to me and guided me professionally. I'm contacting mentors for advice. Organizing my material objects. Indulging in some creative activities. And really making sure I know what my priorities are, so that I can make a plan on how to achieve and focus on those priorities.

Some of the books that have helped me figure life out include the following

Who Moved My Cheese? 

This book, told as a story about mice in a maze, is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. Change occurs whether you are ready or not, but the book affirms that it can be positive. I come back to this book every time an outside force moves the cheese on me (again). 

A Sequence of Little Nudges

My friend Rebecca wrote this book (and I helped edit and format it). She is a training and organizations expert that really understands the process it takes to set a goal and work towards it. Most importantly she understands and values the importance of motivation to help you get going and stay moving. This isn't a feel-good story book. It's more factual and yet casual. A good one to come back to when I am contemplating new ideas and goals for the future. 

Outliers; The Story of Success

Some people may consider this a strange book for me to count in my list of personal life reboot books. But this was one of the most life-changing books I've ever read. Malcolm Gladwell (one of the greatest writers in modern times, if not the 21st century) explains the extraordinary success of some very high profile people- Bill Gates, the Beatles, etc. And he explains their personal backgrounds and experiences that led to their exceptional success. For me, to understand how and why some people have achieved such remarkable success, while others who are equally talented and smart have not, really hit home. It wasn't about being the smartest or most talented. And in some cases it wasn't about hard work either. In many (if not most) it was about timing- being in the right place at the right time. Bill Gates wouldn't be Bill Gates if he hadn't grown up in an affluent neighborhood in Seattle at precisely the time he did. The Beatles wouldn't be a phenomenon if they hadn't accepted one of the worst gigs ever in Hamburg. (leading to what is now known as the Hamburg principle.) 

And like some people have had extraordinary success all due to timing, some people have encountered more setbacks, through no fault of their own, due to timing. He doesn't address failure much at all. But the converse of what he did talk about is what made a huge difference to me when contemplating some of my own successes and failures. 

For instance, I had a major professional setback for several years. Why? For a long time I struggled with the "why" question. Why couldn't I get a job? Why did I get laid off? Why did some friends seem to have so much success, while I kept getting setback further and further? This book helped me find the answers to the why. 

And helped me start seeing my way to success.

What a Week

I'm back!
I enjoyed a long and fun trip to the beach with friends. It was the "annual spontaneous gathering of Mormon singles at Duck Beach" for somewhere around the 30th year in a row.
As usual, our house was incredible, the friends were desirable, the food fantastic, and a good, wonderful time was had by all. (And there were some pretty intense Phase 10 games, made even more entertaining by spontaneous outbursts of song, that I may never stop laughing about.)
And somehow I've also kept up with the tradition of coming home from the beach with a nasty head cold. I have no idea how that happens every single year. It's one tradition I wouldn't mind killing off.
I read a ton, got a decent tan, and even got some good writing done. My goal was to meet Maslow's first 3 levels of needs, and relax, so that I could reach the top 2 levels, and find my creativity again. It took a few days, and I fell victim to lots of fun distractions repeatedly (for which I hold no remorse), but I'm happy to say, I did relax and write eventually.
The week was also (interrupted?) punctuated with the publication of "A Love Letter to the Single Men." It was an article I wrote for Meridian before I left town, that caused a few ripples and waves in the singles pool. I predicted I'd get positive and negative feedback, and I was right. It was just unusual to be surrounded by singles day in and out when the article came out. There was no escaping me or them, for better or for worse.
All in all, it was a great experience. Now it's time to put my energies into preparing for Russia, Serbia, and Romania. And finding a way to make a LOT more money. No one is getting rich on unemployment around here, believe you me. 

Most Influential Books I've Ever Read

A few weeks ago, at the recommendation of a friend, I read the book David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell. It wasn't what I expected it to be. I had predicted a book about how small businesses can beat out big ones.
If you've ever read a Gladwell book before, you can feel free to laugh at how little I knew about his writings style.
That was far, far, far away from what the book was actually about.
Here's the actual description from Amazon:

Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won.
Or should he have?
In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.
Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms---all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity.

The book pretty much blew my mind. It was fascinating and an addictive, engaging read.
It was so good, that before I was even finished with it, I went and downloaded Tipping Point, Outliers, and Blink to my Nook.

 I'm about halfway through Outliers: The Story of Success.  It isn't just fascinating and engaging. It has me reconsidering my life, my successes, and how I have compared myself to others (both in and out of my generation) for years.
In a strange way, looking at the world through this new prism Outliers has given me, has made me feel better about my life. It has given me permission and understanding to take certain pressures off my past failures.
If that doesn't make sense, here's the real description of the book:

There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them-at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date. And in revealing that hidden logic, Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.

It has turned my view on "low hanging fruit" around, and helped me accept why sometimes there isn't "low hanging fruit" available.
The book makes this fascinating case study about why guys like Bill Gates have experienced so much success. Gladwell presents much of this with scientific and anthropological fact. It is all quite fascinating to see what common threads these "outliers" share. And to understand why there hasn't been another success story to the same degree of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. (Although using the knowledge gained in this book I can see now the same pattern that sets Mark Zuckerberg apart.)
But in a very strange way, Outliers has strengthened my faith and belief in God. While the book may present it all as a series of events and fortunate timing, the Christian, God-believing heart can see more. I see that it wasn't a series of good luck and fortune. But that God in His infinite wisdom made sure that someone with the talents and gifts of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were placed on Earth at those strategic times so that they could be outliers.
The point is made very clear in the book that if Bill Gates had been more just a few years earlier or a few years later, +/- 3 years maybe, they would not have enjoyed the successes that we have so generously benefited from.
If you haven't read these books yet, I highly recommend them. They are, without reservation, the most enjoyable non-fiction studies I have ever had the good fortune to pick up and read. You'll forget you are reading non-fiction because the storytelling is just that good.
Go pick them up today!

Books

Is there anything better than a book so good that you stay up all night to read it? A story so compelling that you would rather just keep reading than do anything else?
I'm always on the hunt for the next book that will do that to me. If a book doesn't make me want to stay up and keep reading I may never finish it.
A few weeks ago I read a friend's review of the book "Downtown Owl" by Chuck Klosterman. I read it while I was at the beach over Labor Day. It took less than 10 pages before I knew I was going to love the book and keep reading and reading and reading. And since the only thing better than reading a great book for hours on end, is getting to read that great book on the beach, or in a porch swing in the shade really close to the beach, I had a pretty awesome weekend.
I liked "Downtown Owl" so much that I downloaded another book by Klosterman this past week. Tonight I picked up, "The Visible Man" and read it for about 5 minutes. And immediately had to put it down. Why?
Because I need to get some sleep. And I could tell already that I was going to be up all night if I didn't just put it down and step away!
(What I wouldn't give to have Klosterman's insight and writing style!)
So what book or kind of book does that to you? What book was so good that you lost sleep to keep reading it? I need more books and recommendations!