Reading Lately

Periodically I receive emails and messages with questions regarding book recommendations. Sometimes they are for specific topics, other times just books in general. So, I thought it would maybe be helpful to write posts as I read books, rather than waiting until the end of the year to write one final book list.

One of my goals this year is to branch out and read genres of books that I wouldn’t typically pick up. I’ve had some goods ones this year, and a couple that I didn’t enjoy. I’ll try to share these posts every two months or so.

To Live is Christ To Die is Gain. Highly recommend this one. I used it as a companion to my devotions through the book of Philippians and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s not a commentary by any means, but there is some background information on Philippi, and some other historical facts that add understanding to the text.  Mostly, it helped to solidify some of the themes that Paul addressed his letter to the church.

The Fringe Hours, by Jessica Turner. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I don’t have a lot of fringe time in my day, but I am trying to utilize the little bits that I do have. I used to sit with my phone in hand, browsing Instagram, Facebook and the internet while nursing Cooper. Now, I’m trying to use that time to read. This has added almost 2 hours of reading time to my day.

There are many ways that I would love to spend my time, whether it’s decorating a room, reading a book on the couch, sitting on the beach, or sewing something.  But in this season of life, time to spend on those things has taken a back step.  Some days I struggle with that, because I want creative outlets, or just being able to do whatever I want.  We’re trying to work on how to incorporate some time for me to have to myself during a given week.  I’m still looking for ways to apply what I learned in this book.

War of Words, by Paul Tripp. I quoted this one on Instagram at least once, because I was so convicted by the message in this book. Worship and Redemption. These should be the two purposes of all our speech. I can’t recommend this book enough.

Seven Women and the Secret of their Greatness, by Eric Metaxes. I forgot how much I enjoy reading biographies until I read this one!  The lives of the women in this book are fascinating, insightful, and inspiring.  This is not one that you can ‘get lost’ in, but it certainly opened my eyes to the roles these women’s lives have played in the history of our world.

Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times. This was a fun read, and at times sad.  This was my first memoir and I found that I really love this genre. Life in the East End of London as described in this book is fascinating. It’s hard to fathom some of the struggles and issues that these families faced, not all that long ago. I enjoyed watching this series on PBS, and many of the stories were familiar from the show, but the book is always better.  I’ll be looking for more memoirs.

Exploring Grace Together : 40 Devotionals for the Family. I read this on my own, kind of as a preview to see whether or not our kids were ready to tackle it. I think it would be perfect for Isabella, our 7 year old. The stories are short (2-3 pages) but the gospel is woven throughout each one and real life topics are covered.  Some good conversation would definitely be sparked by reading this together.  Questions at the end of each chapter help to start discussion.

Books I didn’t finish:

All the Light We Cannot See.  I know, I know.  If you read this book, your jaw probably just dropped at the fact that I didn’t finish it and that I didn’t like it.  I just couldn’t get into it for some reason.  Jumping back and forth between characters was challenging for my brain, and made it difficult for me to follow.  Plus, the beginning portion was sort of a spoiler.  If I want to know the end of a story I will read the end of a book, by choice.

Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War.  I was trying to read a book that Bradley enjoyed.  I just couldn’t get into it, though.  Again, there was a lot of back and forth between characters, countries, and military commanders.  It was hard for me to follow.  I’m sure the story is fascinating, and maybe one day I’ll get into it, but I set this one aside for now.

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The girls and I took a trip to the library last Friday, and I’m already devouring the stack I picked up.

What books have you read lately?