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Books Read in 2017

18 Sunday Feb 2018

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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. 

DSC_0010I’m a little late to the party with this post, what with major blog changes last month and major life changes this month, but I hope you’ll nevertheless enjoy these micro book reviews as much this year as in past years when I have been more prompt.

New for this year, I’ve divided up my list into two categories–things I’ve read for my own benefit or interest (what could be called “Mother Culture“) and others which have directly involved my children (sometimes for school and other times for what I suppose you could call our “Family Culture”).

Happy reading!

Personal Reading or Mother Culture

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Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie  I’ve had many friends in the homeschooling world read and recommend this book, so I thought I’d check it out. Teaching from Rest certainly lives up to its praise and its name. If homeschooling has become a chore or you feel caught in the educational rat-race, this book will be a game-changer. Sarah offers a gentle challenge to homeschool moms to re-evaluate our perspective and our curriculum so we can start from a place of resting in the Lord, see our children for who they are, simplify our to-do lists, and focus on what really matters. This is a book I’m quite likely to revisit.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer  This book is on my reread-it-every-few-years-until-I-die list. Packer manages to lead the reader on a tour de theology without getting weighed down by heartless intellectualism.  Quite the opposite, every turn along the path is a new opportunity to have your heart encouraged to adore, worship, and live for our great God.  Highly recommend, as usual.

The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien Can’t go wrong with a little Tolkien on the list, now can we, precious? I think my favorite theme in this book is that of friendship.  As Frodo prepares to leave the Shire and the only world that he has ever known, he discovers that his closest friends are better to him than he had ever anticipated.

You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin–to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours–closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.

The fact that the book is essentially a story of one great, big backpacking trip is not lost on me either.  I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about Orcs when our family hits the trails!

Inheritance of Tears: Trusting the Lord of Life when Death Visits the Womb by Jessalyn Hutto  I met Jessalyn when she started attending the church I went to during our college years, and I got to know her better through fellowship, a missions trip, and many games of Ultimate Frisbee. I’ve followed her writing over the years and was quite excited to finally get my hands on her book. I have never experienced a miscarriage, but I have stared down the very real threat of stillbirth before my second child was thankfully born alive. Many times over I’ve wondered how different things would be had he not made it. On that level, I found this book incredibly, biblically encouraging.  

Despite my own experience, however, I really can’t identify with the pain that my sisters bear who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth. That’s the other reason I was drawn to Inheritance of Tears. Jessalyn shares not only truth-based encouragement, but also her own heart and experience through two miscarriages of her own—giving a window for others into the world of a suffering mother. If you have lost a child or know someone who has, I encourage you to check out Jessalyn’s offering of tenderness and truth.

Led by the Spirit by Jim Elliff  My husband read this short book this year and suggested I do the same.  How do we make decisions in our lives as Christians? We know we are to submit them to the Lord, to let Him lead, but how does that work? Led by the Spirit seeks to answer this question. If you’ve ever slogged through Decision Making and the Will of God, it might help to know that this book has much the same premise—proposing what Jim Elliff calls “sanctified reason”—but Led by the Spirit is far more succinct! And along with greater brevity comes, I believe, a greater balance between reasonable, scripture-based decision making and humble, prayerful dependence upon the Lord (if only for the way the subjects are proportioned).

The hazards of becoming a mere rationalist are obvious. You must be as vigilant to avoid running aground on that sandbar as you are of being swept over the waterfall of mysticism. The guided believer recognizes the decided value of appropriately relating to Christ and not just assuming, in a casual way, the blessing of God on his thinking. You need God.

For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay  I read this book 2016 (and thus wrote a micro book review last year) and then again in 2017 with my local Schole Sisters group. For a great full-length review of For the Children’s Sake, check out this article by my friend Jessalyn (yes, the same one mentioned above).

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness by Andrew Murray  Mystie Winckler recommended this book while I was taking a run through of her Art of Homeschooling course. Humility was free for Kindle (and still is!), so I jumped right in. Murray is a bit mystical at times and apparently really likes the word “secret” (which makes for a few statements that seem a bit over-the-top), but it would be a shame to allow those rather minor differences in word choice and emphasis to overshadow Murray’s incredibly edifying–and truly humbling–message.  I loved reading this highly-quotable book and will likely come back to revisit it again in the future.  Here’s just one quote that I find particularly poignant at this time in my life:

He prays for humility, at times very seriously; but in his secret heart, he prays more, if not in word, then in wish, to be kept from the very things that will make him humble.

Yep.  That’s me all too often.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will, by William Shakespeare When I’m able to keep up, or when it aligns with the direction my reading ought to be going anyway, I have loved reading along with and listening to the Circe Institute’s Close Reads podcast. I wish I could join in on every book, but alas, in 2017 Twelfth Night was the only “close read” on my list.
I listened to this dramatic reading available on Librivox (the voices were all fairly well done, with the exception of one character’s voice seeming a bit out of place). Duke Orsino thinks he loves Olivia, who thinks she needs to mourn her brother’s death for the next seven years (a task which leaves no room for romance, says she). While these two sink deeper in their own delusions, other characters weave their way into the web of romance (or lack thereof)—and some of them in disguise! While I loved the language and the humor of the social and romantic twists and turns of the play, the podcast really brought so much more to light for me, including the significance of the upside-down ridiculousness that features so strongly throughout. Some of my favorite lines from the play came from the rather witty fool:

Wit, an’t be thy will, put me into good fooling!
Those wits, that think they have thee, do very oft
prove fools; and I, that am sure I lack thee, may
pass for a wise man: for what says Quinapalus?
‘Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.’

I suppose I could nearly add The Taming of the Shrew to my list since we saw the play at an open-air performance this summer. It was our boys’ first experience with Shakespeare, and boy was it memorable—from the popcorn, balloon animals, and face painting before the show, to the live cracking of a whip on stage. But…you tell me. Does watching a Shakespeare play count on my reading list???

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If I be waspish, best beware my sting!

With the Kids, or Family Culture

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Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace  My family and I listened to a Librivox recording of this book on a road trip in early 2017. Ben Hur is a tale of historical fiction in the time of Christ. Lew Wallace put a lot of research into his descriptions of places, beliefs, and customs of the time, and this shines through his narrative. Part one provides an in-depth introduction to three desert travelers following a star. Finally in part two we meet the title character and begin to follow his life story as it weaves in and (more of the time) out of the biblical accounts of the life of Christ. While there is a bias toward a fair-skinned, light-haired Madonna and Messiah, much of the historical world-building is an incredible help for those eager to get a sense of the cultural climate that Jesus entered into. It’s also an incredibly moving and faith-building story, though I will leave it at that so as to avoid any spoilers. Suffice it to say, the recent movie rendition, though it was fun to watch, didn’t do it justice.

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney  This was another lovely road trip listen-through. I never read about the Pepper family growing up, so this was my first introduction to the joy-filled but impoverished home of Mrs. Pepper and her five children.  There’s work to be done, fun and adventures to be had, and trials to overcome.  My kids really enjoyed this story (and so did I).

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner  Road trip listening strikes again.  I DO remember reading this as a kid, so it was fun to experience it again with my boys.  Four as-good-as-orphaned children are trying to get away from what they suspect to be a bad situation when they find an abandoned boxcar in the woods and decide to make it their home.  This book was a good introductory survival story, despite the fact that every subsequent book in the series falls in the mystery genre (but my eight-year-old has no complaints!).

Heidi by Johanna Spyri  Yep, we listened to this one in the van, too. Seeing a pattern?  We did a fair amount of traveling with my husband for work this year.  Heidi is the classic story of the impact a cheerful little girl can have, both to soften hard hearts and strengthen the weak.  While there are some explicit lessons on learning to trust God will answer prayers in His time and for the best, which contributed to good discussion with our children, there is also in the background an immersive experience of the Alps in all their beauty, grandeur, and health-inducing fresh, open air.  The story of Heidi refreshes the soul with cheerfulness, hope in God, and the mesmerizing beauty of His creation.

Flowers are made to bloom in the sun and not to be shut up in an apron.

The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter  Finally, here’s one I read aloud to the kids (for probably the third time).  Most people are familiar with The Tale of Peter Rabbit (though don’t count on modern video interpretations to give you the original story).  Have you heard of simple-minded Jemima Puddle-Duck?  Of cunning and conniving Mr. Tod?  Rude Squirrel Nutkin?  Tom Kitten?  Timmy Tiptoes?  The stories and their characters are a lot of fun, and Beatrix Potter’s illustrations are lovely.

Arkansas Autumn by Tim Ernst  This fall I gathered a grand collection of seasonal books from our local library, including this gem. Tim Ernst is an avid hiker and the foremost nature photographer in Arkansas.  We enjoyed gawking at all of his beautiful fall pictures, reading about where and how they were taken, and guessing at the types of leaves featured close-up throughout the book (answers were in the back of the book).
As an added bonus, we got to meet Mr. Ernst at a presentation he gave this fall.

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If you love nature photography in general, and if you love outdoor adventures in Arkansas in particular, you ought to check out the many photography collections and guidebooks Tim Ernst has published.  Our family loves them.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson  Christmastime calls for its own kind of reading.  I’m pretty sure I watched the movie based on this book as a kid, but this was, to my knowledge, the first time I’d read it for myself (and out loud to the boys).  I bawled my eyes out through the entire last chapter.  This is a beautiful story of the hardest of childhood hearts being softened by an honest encounter with Jesus.  We’ll be adding it to our read-every-Christmas list for sure.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens  Here’s another classic Christmas book that will stay in the rotation for many years to come. I’m sorry to say that I had never read Dickens’ ghostly Christmas tale before this year, either!  I didn’t care much for Dickens when I was in school, but I came to appreciate his humor and style in A Christmas Carol and hope to give his other works another try.  I think I’ll be able to “get” them now.

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.

We also watched the Muppet Christmas Carol to, you know, make sure we had a well-rounded experience with Mr. Scrouge.  😉

Hallelujah: A Journey Through Advent with Handel’s Messiah edited by Cindy Rollins  I snatched up this Advent guide with birthday money I received in November. Our family doesn’t have many long-established Christmas traditions of our own, and our kids are old enough now that it seemed like a good time to explore some different options.  I never grew up celebrating Advent, so Hallelujah provided both a focused tradition (listening to and meditating on Handel’s Messiah and the scriptures it was based upon) and some background information on the season from several different perspectives.  Our family does not feel compelled to follow any church calendar and we do not attend a liturgical church, but still we found great value and encouragement in these pages for making more of the Christmas season than we have in the past.
While we unfortunately were unable to keep up with the devotions toward the end of the season due to a bout with the flu, we have this resource and some experience now in making much of Christ in our anticipation of His coming, and I think these will serve us well in years to come.

A Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling This was me trying to keep up with at least a small amount of my eight-year-old’s reading.  We have read Holling’s Paddle to the Sea several times over as an enjoyable way to learn about the Great Lakes.  A Tree in the Trail traces the history and ways of life on the Santa Fe Trail by following the life, death, and re-purposing of one special tree.  Native American mysticism is present in the story, but it’s a good opportunity to discuss what other people believe.  I enjoyed having a window into a part of the country and a time in US history with which I am less familiar.

There are many other books that I read this past year, but these are the ones I actually finished… Sometimes I think I start more books than is good for me.  At any rate, I’ve got a good start for 2018.

What did you read in 2017?  What are you reading now?  I’d love to hear about it!

Books Read in 2016–The Wrap-up

31 Tuesday Jan 2017

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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. 

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In past years I have shared the books I’ve read based on an academic calendar, because when I started recording what I was reading I was using a planner that followed that format.  I’ve since decided it makes more sense to post my micro book reviews as a round up of all the books I’ve read in a calendar year.

Which brings me to this post.  The transition had to happen sometime, and it’s happening now.  So, without further adieu, I give you the books I’ve read in the latter half of 2016.  If you’d like to see the eight other books I read in 2016, they are at the bottom of my 2015-2016 post.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin  I made the mistake, dare I say, of picking up this novel around 4 o’clock one afternoon when I heard that it would soon be discussed on the Circe Institute’s Close Reads podcast; and, since my husband was traveling and would not be home that evening, had the opportunity (and by compulsion took it) to read the entire thing in one night.  Once upon a time five or more years ago I had tried to read Pride and Prejudice, but found it to be nothing more than the screenplay of the A&E film version of the story, so I didn’t make it more than a few chapters before I felt there was no need of reading it.  Having not seen the movie adaptation in several years, when I picked it up this time the banter and character development of the film which was even more prevalent in the book drew me in at once.  As Miss Elizabeth Bennet learned, so have I:  some things, upon second evaluation, are found to have much more merit than we may judge them to have at the first.  Plainly stated:  I very much enjoyed this book and regretted having not read it in its entirety much sooner.  (The article that provoked my reading was “Don’t Follow Your Heart”.  I highly recommend it and the podcast discussion of the novel.  It was great fun!)

Courtesy in Christ: An Ettiquette Handbook for Christian Teens by Diane Pickup  I found this on our shelf one day and my curiosity got the best of me.  I have little boys, so training them in courtesy is on my bucket list for them.  I enjoyed how the author tied acts of courtesy and consideration to scriptural attitudes and commands to put the needs of others before our own.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Listening to the Close Reads podcast also led me to this interesting read.  It’s a children’s story, but not just a children’s story.  Some of the vocabulary is very challenging for a children’s book (or for the adult reader, if I’m honest).  But I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out new words as I followed the wanderings of Mole and Ratty and the mischievous escapades of their foolish friend Toad.  The discussion on Close Reads explored similarities between The Wind in the Willows and The Hobbit, The Illiad, and even Shakespeare.  Grahame’s skill in writing and thematic depth make this a thoughtful book for adults, and maybe especially young adults ready to leave home for the first time but who find themselves longing for it once they’re gone.  I do have a major caveat, however:  chapter seven “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” involves Mole and Rat finding a lost little friend with the pagan deity Pan—and they worship him.  While I think some generalized lessons can be drawn from this chapter with its wonder and awe, and while I think that it’s placement by Grahame in the center of the book is perhaps significant, the rest of the story line can be enjoyed without it.  My husband and I agree that there is so much wealth of children’s literature out there that we don’t feel any urgent need for our children to read The Wind in the Willows.  If we do read it out loud as a family while our children are young, we will skip chapter seven.  Most likely, however, we may save this as a fun return to childish anthropomorphism when our boys are in their late teens, where the themes may be particularly meaningful and when our boys could take on chapter seven as an exercise in practicing discernment.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi  On a much lighter note, we listened to the audio version of this classic on a road trip this year.  Our boys, 4 and 6 at the time, gobbled it up!  What does it mean to be a real boy?  What are the consequences of having your own way and ignoring those who give you wise counsel?  These questions are addressed in a very outrageously funny, though sometimes violent story.  I highly recommend this story, though parents should consider the age-appropriateness of some of the darker elements (Pinocchio kills the cricket, a cat’s paw is bitten off, Pinocchio is hung by his neck from a tree, etc).  For our kids, these were effectively shocking—they grabbed the attention—without causing any bad dreams or inspiring violent play.

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder  We read Little House in the Big Woods in the first half of 2016, so naturally we moved on to the next in the series.  We enjoyed following Laura’s family as they traveled to Kansas and set up their home and everything they needed from scratch.  We all gained some perspective from imagining a life in which all of your family’s belongings fit on a simple covered wagon.  And since we live in the country, there have been ample connections for us to make—they set up a garden, and we started our first garden last year; they had to dig a trench in order to protect their home from a prairie fire, and we have discussed fire safety measures like that as well. All in all, this is a series that no child should miss.

What was your favorite read from 2016?  What’s on your list for this year? 

Books Read from July 2014 to July 2015

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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It’s my goal each year to read at least twelve books. I’ve met this goal for the past several years, logging twenty this go-round, and I want to track and briefly review the books I’ve read for each year. Some books are great, some are not so great, but still were worth a read for me personally. I hope you’ll benefit from these micro-reviews.
Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss Many friends of mine had read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp over the past couple years. I can’t speak for or against that book, as I have not read it for myself, but it seemed to me that Choosing Gratitude was an attempt to produce a “more solid” alternative to Voskamp’s book on thankfulness. Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s book was encouraging and scripture-based to be sure, but I did not find it to be mind-blowingly challenging. There’s nothing wrong with that, and if you’re looking for an easy-to-read study on thankfulness this is a great book for you. However, having just read Knowing God by JI Packer before picking this book up, I might have had my taste buds trained for more meat.
The Abolition of Man by C S Lewis This was an incredible read (or listen, rather—we have the audiobook). Lewis examines a concept of universal morality and then reasons from it to the existence of God, while also examining the effect on humanity when we reject these things and analyze and deconstruct everything in our view. Highly, highly recommended.
The Great Divorce by C S Lewis Packaged together in the same audiobook was this work of allegory. It’s a bit strange, and its setting is not intended to be taken as theological truth, though by use of its setting it certainly dabbles in it. This is an imaginative examination of people’s rejection of Christ and all that heaven offers. As with The Screwtape Letters, this book is a gem more for its insight into human nature than for its apparent theology—much license is taken in that regard.
Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne These two books come together in our Complete Collection of Winnie the Pooh, along with the collections of poems: When We Were Young and Now We Are Six. I’ve read these stories and poems to my children three times already, and we’ve actually just started through it all once more. Milne captures the wonder, imagination, and reasoning of a child beautifully on every page. Our family pretty much adores these stories.
Jesus Calling by Sarah Young Some will be surprised to see this on my list, but it was recommended to me by a friend during a very low point of struggle with chronic illness and depression. So at the time, it provided some needed encouragement, and I can see how many claim to have benefited from it. We need loving, encouraging words, and exhortations to trust in the Lord through our trials, but there is, sadly, great danger in the format. Putting words in Jesus’ mouth is nothing new, of course—even hymns have done this, even the Jesus Storybook Bible does this to some extent. But this is an entire book penned in Divine First Person. It may indeed provide some level of encouragement, but as far as being recommendable, I’d say no. You’d do much better with Keep a Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Elliott. (For a more thorough review of Jesus Calling, check out this one at Challies.com.)
The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballentyne And here I must now admit to my little paleo food detour. Having an autoimmune disease, I was excited to read this tome (seriously, all 400-or-so textbook-sized pages of it), because it dealt directly with the problem of autoimmunity, providing both understanding and suggestions for improving the condition with diet and lifestyle changes (The Autoimmune Protocol, or AIP). The elimination diet it proposes is extremely strict and limiting, and I know this by experience…
The Paleo Approach Cookbook by Sarah Ballentyne This is the cookbook that accompanies the more science-y text listed above. I’ve found it interesting, and I’ve certainly gained some new recipes from this book, but I would recommend steering clear of the “Hidden Liver Meatloaf”—yeah, the liver isn’t so hidden after all.
The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott This is another recipe book that falls in line with the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) outlined in The Paleo Approach. I think I actually use this cookbook more than the other. Each of them provide decent recipes with the very limited selection of foods that are on plan. I still use a handful of these recipes despite having thrown the AIP to the roadside because they are, indeed, very healthy, whole food recipes.
*Just a quick summary of my experience: The AIP didn’t reveal anything for me that a Whole30 hadn’t previously. I lost weight, some skin issues cleared up. But this time my bowels were in pain, far worse than before I did the AIP. I found things got way better after I reintroduced things like beans, and even grains. Being that my disease is in remission, it was difficult to say that the diet had any real effect on it specifically, so if you’re not currently facing the onslaught of your autoimmune disease, this may not be for you. If you do deal with daily debilitating pain or other continuous complications due to your autoimmune disease, it may be much more worth your while (maybe). My takeaway is that variety is a good thing. I may have some sensitivities, and I’ll watch for those as I move forward, but for now I’m enjoying all the food God has given me without major issues. I’d say the lifestyle factors of the AIP are more important for me than the dietary guidelines (though junk food is still clearly not helpful!).
Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Hubbard This is a wonderful book that makes a biblical case for both discipline and instruction. I love that it encourages using scriptural language as we correct our children, helping them to think biblically about their sin. Great read for Christian parents.
Diet Recovery by Matt Stone This was me rebounding from The Paleo Approach. This was a free e-book, and an interesting read. The main function in view here is restoring your metabolism after wrecking it on restrictive diets (especially calorie- and carb-restricted ones). I don’t think I wrecked my metabolism on the AIP, but I was looking for ammo against it as it had made my life pretty miserable (restricting a foodie is like taunting a pack of lions with fresh, raw meat—you will make them angry–strike that–hangry). The basic premise: EAT THE FOOD! Oh, and get LOTS of sleep.
A Faith to Grow On by John MacArthur I read this with my boys. It’s a good overview of the faith for youngsters, organized by theological topics. There are activity suggestions, but we didn’t do those as my kiddos are quite young. This is probably aimed more at kids from age seven to about twelve, so I will likely have my boys go through it independently when they are more established independent readers.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Can I just bask for a moment in the thought of this book? I remember my dad reading The Hobbit to me as a child of probably eight years. Riddles in the Dark was my favorite chapter then, as I loved the clever riddles exchanged between Bilbo and Gollum. I can’t believe I had never read this classic tale for myself until this year!
Shopping for Time (How to Do It All and Not be Overwhelmed) by Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw This was a decent book on time management. The title still makes me laugh, though—in part because I am not a “shopper” and in part because the promise of not being overwhelmed is a bit audacious! All in all, this was a good, short read, though I found that it didn’t have much new content in it for me, just a reminder to do what I already know to do (that is the hardest part, now isn’t it?).
Hope in God: A Bible Study on Depression by Kristie Gant If you struggle with depression or anxiety, or someone you love does, ignore everything else on this list and get this study!!! It is formatted to be used independently, or in counseling or a group setting, with options for a “quick study” through each section’s content or going deep and hitting all of the material in each lesson, whichever you are currently capable of doing. Each section covers what the scripture has to say on a particular topic, such as depression, anxiety, bitterness, and suffering loss, as well as one of the names of God, highlighting who He is and how we can hope in Him despite our circumstances. There is also plenty of soul-searching, in which God’s word was made to apply to the particular wrestlings of my heart. In my own struggle with depression, this has been one of the best tools for helping me to think biblically and rest my hope in the right place.
The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard This book was recommended to me along with the Hope in God study. It is an adaptation of two of John Owen’s works, Indwelling Sin and The Mortification of Sin. Indeed, thinking rightly about the sin in our own hearts is important to aligning our hearts with God’s word and finding the peace we long for in Christ our Savior. I found this a very helpful book, though most of its examples applied more readily to men than to me as a stay-at-home mom. I don’t fault the author for writing what he knows, and I still found it an incredibly useful book, making me want to read Owen for myself, but it has also sparked an idea in me of someday writing something in the same vein that applies more directly to the sins women struggle with most.
Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson This homeschooling resource has been around for something like 25 years. I have the updated version and have found it to be a huge help in fleshing out what homeschooling will look like in our home. I have read it through for myself and have been reading it through with my husband so that we can discuss it. Since Nathaniel was homeschooled with a very similar philosophy as what is presented in this book (discipleship focused, living books, etc), most of it gets a “Yeah, of course” response out of him, as if to say, “Why do we even need this book?” He probably doesn’t need it! But I do. And he sees that. Since I am coming at homeschooling without any experience with it, this book has been an invaluable inspiration and guide, and a great tool for discussing with my husband the holes in my understanding that I didn’t know existed!
The Happy Housewife’s Guide to Dealing with Picky Eaters by Toni Anderson I came across this ebook in one of those big bundles I purchased a while back. I found it a short, helpful read given our own experience with picky eaters.
Expert Lifemanship by Warren Wiersbe This was given to me by a friend who has struggled with disease and depression much like I have. She found it to be encouraging, and so have I. A lot of scriptural imagery is used both in the written encouragement and in the beautiful, full-page photographs. It seems a bit like a professional inspirational or self-help book of some sort, or at least like it is being sold as such, and then, surprise! It’s actually full of Bible.
The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo This was a much-needed book on parenting. The primary focus is on biblically dealing with anger in children, but it of course rightly identifies common parenting mistakes that can lead to anger in children, and this is where I found its application so personally applicable. Praise God I have pretty normal little sinners, and nothing too out-of-control as of yet, but I can see my own sins and shortcomings could cause problems in the future. Thus, The Heart of Anger is good whether you’re in the thick of it with an angry child, or as a preemptive consideration for young parents like me. I imagine this is one I will be revisiting for its clear application of biblical truth to the hearts of parents and children alike.
Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic This has to be the most frequently revisited parenting book I own. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read it! The chapters are short, so it makes for a great bathroom book (you know, for when mommy needs to escape for just a few minutes). And each chapter, while humorous and encouraging, also works like a scalpel on my heart, helping me make sure I am doing rightly, loving fully, and seeing my children for who they are. LOVE this book!

How about you?  Have you read any of these titles?  What books have you found interesting in the past year?  Any that you’d like to recommend to me?

Books Read from July 2012 to June 2013

13 Saturday Dec 2014

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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.