I have, for quite some time now, wanted to keep a record of the books I’ve read each year.  What better place than on a blog?  I started keeping track of this in 2012 in my day planner, but now here it is making its debut on the interwebs.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp  Excellent overview of parenting and child-training according to biblical commands and principles.  At the time I had a one- and three-year-old, so it was a good time to take a first pass at this book.

The Autobiography of George Mueller  Incredible testimony to God’s grace and provision, not to mention a great example of faith and prayer.  Must read.

The Hand of God by Alistair Begg  This book was given to me by my youth pastor when I graduated high school.  It’s a look at the life of Joseph, eleventh out of the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel), sold into slavery in Egypt, raised up from the dungeon by God to save his people and declare God’s good purposes in it all.  It’s a Romans 8:28 kind of story.  And one that I’ve read through twice now.

Managing God’s Money by Randy Alcorn  Very thorough look at the Christian view of stewardship.  Challenging our usual perspectives, freeing us to give generously and manage our money well so that we can use it wisely for God’s purposes (because, as the title suggests, it’s all God’s anyway).  I only slightly disagree with the handling of the subject of debt, being that my husband and I have a conviction to never go into debt–even for a house.

Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic I read this little gem of a parenting book twice that year.  Encouraging.  Hilarious.  Spiritual heart-surgery for moms.

Lose Your Mummy Tummy by Julie Tupler  Having a one-year-old at the time and recently discovering that my stomach muscles were not quite where they used to be, I picked up this book and have been doing the exercises (when I think of it) and have indeed significantly improved my condition.

Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot  One year after giving birth to my second son, I had just gotten off of prednisone, and the darkest year of my life was finally giving way to somewhat brighter days, but the struggle for joy, vision, and stability continued.  Elisabeth Elliot’s words in this devotional pointed me to tough, trusting stability in Christ and in Him alone, helping me to crawl out of my pit of depression.  God bless Elisabeth Elliot.

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson  Dealing with depression you can hardly see straight enough to motivate yourself to do anything, much less inspire your children as you care for and train them.  This book by Sally Clarkson gives fresh perspective on motherhood, encouraging moms to give grace to their children, looking to the life of Jesus as our example.

Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon  This would be a follow-up to Nourishing Traditions which I must have read the previous year.  They promote properly prepared grains and legumes, whole foods, low sugar, and healthy fats (particularly coconut oil and cod liver oil) to aid weight loss and alleviate health problems.  Good read, but many of the recipes are far fetched for my lifestyle.

Preschoolwise by Gary Ezzo  Love ’em or hate ’em, I have read most of the Babywise books.  I don’t necessarily endorse them, but have found them helpful in establishing order (generally more so with toddlers and older) and especially for the tools I can add to my child training toolbox (blanket time, anyone?).

The Pilgrim’s Regress by C S Lewis  Listened to this as an audiobook.  Fascinating exploration of ideologies that compete with a biblical worldview.  The “regress” section of the book, however, is quite disappointingly short, but that is understandable since Lewis penned this book shortly after becoming a Christian himself.  He couldn’t write what he didn’t yet know.  🙂

Oh, For Real! by Heavenly Homemakers’ Laura Coppinger  This is a cookbook.  And it is a wonderfully practical whole-foods cook book.  Yes, I do read cookbooks.  This one has a great bunch of introductory information and tips.

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst  As you may have noticed, there are a couple of cook books on this list.  So you might safely assume I have a thing for food.  And that explains the need for this book.

Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman  I revisit this book regularly.  It’s a great read every time, and a great resource when I need to refocus on one particular area of my life as wife, mom, homemaker–so much is covered in this book.  It is a manual for life.  I believe this was the second time I read it.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry  The follow-up distopian novel to Lowry’s The Giver.  Nathaniel and I read this together on a road trip.  I still need to find a copy of The Messenger to complete the series…

The Jesus StoryBook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones  I have read this through I don’t know how many times with my boys.  What a joy to cover the stories of the Bible from beginning to end, all with an eye to the main story of redemption through Jesus Christ.  It is beautifully and whimsically illustrated.  While I enjoy this book with my children, I do feel that at times it does a bit more interpretation than I would have liked, especially in the way it puts words into Jesus’ mouth that are not even real paraphrases of things He actually said.  Creative license?  Yes.  Main message remains unchanged?  True.  But it is still an area in which I think we ought to exercise a bit more caution.  That is all.