Top 3 blogs in September

Last month I started up a series to share with you my top three new blog discoveries every month but I realized that maybe I don't necessarily find three new blogs I fall in love with each month. Some months there are more than three, some months there's just one. This month the blogs I share are really three new September discoveries but I'd love to change this series a little bit and make it about the top 3 blogs I loved for that month. A lot of times I rediscover a blog I've been reading for a long time but haven't checked in a while and I don't want to keep them from you. By making the rules a little less strict I'll be able to share 3 blogs I absolutely love every month. But September was a good month and I am now three blog addictions richer than I was at the end of August. Let's jump into it, shall we?

Do you tell your best friends everything?

Today's book review is about It's Raining Men by Milly Johnson. Like the last book I reviewed (Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty) this book also focuses on the life of three women, three friends. Apparently these kinds of stories appeal to me. I picked up this book because it was in my Goodreads recommendations, simple as that. Here's a quick lay-down of the life of the three ladies at the beginning of the story:

May is dating Michael. She's ashamed of it: he's married. His wife is in a retirement home with early dementia. But is she really? One day May is in the neighborhood of the retirement home so she drops by to ask the staff if she can do anything for Susan but what she discovers rattles her world and beliefs in men.

Is blogging all about the visuals?

Having been blogging for a few years (on and off, on different platforms) before I started this one it shouldn't have surprised me how much of the actual time of blogging goes into taking and editing photographs. But it did, it does. To clarify: I'm an amateur photography lover but I own a DSLR (Canon 600D) which makes it kind of "easy" to get decent photos. For editing I don't use any fancy programs (yet) - PicMonkey is my hero - and although I have my camera settings set to shoot both in .raw and .jpeg, to this point the .raw files only take up a lot of valuable space on my hard drive, because those files are for the fancy editing program I don't have (yet), get my drift? Before you get the wrong idea: I really enjoy planning, shooting and editing the visual part of this blog. I could take and edit pictures all day long and it wouldn't feel like work. Sadly I don't have the time to spent all day taking and editing photos. (Some would disagree since I don't have a job, but that's another story for another time.) So because I want my pictures to look sleek and beautiful I only manage to post twice a week. If it weren't for the pictures I could probably post up to four times a week. So lately I have been wondering: does every blog post need (so many) pictures? Is a blog post only a good blog post when there are beautiful visuals in there?

Top 3 blog discoveries in August

Being part of the big blogger community brings so much to the blogging experience. I always thought blogs were little islands in the large online ocean but they're not. Not really. All these little blog islands and their owners are connected through invisible bridges and ferries that sail up and down the waves. Okay, not really. But wouldn't that be nice? What I mean is that bloggers not only inspires their readers. They can also inspire other bloggers to be the best possible version of themselves, online and offline.

So to give a little back to that wonderful blogger community, at the end of every month I'd like to share my top 3 new blog discoveries that inspired me that month. New, because for me they will be. It's perfectly possible that (like this month) the blogs I stumble upon and love instantly are in fact quite well known and established already but it's also possible I find a brand new up and coming blog with almost no followers yet. Size doesn't matter for this feature. Heart, passion, writing style, beautiful pictures and that-what-makes-you-you does. So without further ado, here are my top 3 new blog discoveries in August!

Do you have secrets?

Reading books for me is like going on holiday. When I'm reading I should have a sign next to me that says "out of service".  I'm not joking, my ears literally stop working when I'm reading a book: I don't even hear my phone, the doorbell or someone talking to me. It's like I'm just not there. Time and again my friends and family need to shake my shoulders to get me back to reality. Or I should say this reality. Because even though books are fiction, in there it's all real. My latest read Big Little Lies by Liane Mortiarty is one of those books with an intriguing reality.

DIY Blog Planner

I am so excited for today's post that I can barely stay in my seat (which is a sunbed in our garden actually, if you must ask). But seriously, I am over the moon to present to you: A Hearty Home's very own DIY printable blog planner! It is available in my Etsy shop as a digital instant download so right after purchasing you can start printing and planning! You can choose to purchase the complete blog planner which consists of 25 printable files or you can choose to purchase some of the files separately. This blog post is a tutorial to show you how I put together my planner. If you want to see what each printable looks like, head over to my Etsy Shop and browse the photos of the individual files. So, are you ready to DIY?

What do you really want?

Today I'd love to talk to you about a book that will change my life and probably yours. What? I know. It sounds a little weird when I say it like that but let me explain. I read "Women, food and desire" by Alexandra Jamieson in February this year, a month after it hit the shelves. I discovered it by accident, on Goodreads or on Amazon, I honestly don't remember. It was one of the first books I read on my (then) new Kindle Paperwhite 3G. I didn't even know Alexandra Jamieson even though she's quite famous for being a chef in Super Size Me. But however I found the book doesn't matter, I'm glad I did. I believe everything happens for a reason and I'm quite sure this was the universe giving me a push in the right direction, my direction. I said it will change my life because I'm not there yet. It's still a transformation in progress but from the very beginning till the last word this book hit home for me, starting with these powerful opening lines.