DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to add to and remove books from this list. This list in no way prohibits my reading of a new book that crosses my path or is recommended by a friend, nor does it bind me to read a book I don't like, don't agree with, or don't have time for. : )I guess I know myself pretty well because I had 17 books on my original list and completed 11 of them (two are yet in progress) but I got distracted by eight additional books which were not on my list. :) I have links to reviews I've written. It would be very difficult for me to pick a favorite book I read this Spring as I read some really great books from several different genres. Thanks to Katrina for this fun opportunity to organize and review my reading!
Books That Weren't On My Original List
- Little Bee by Chris Cleave--Interesting, well-written, powerful yet disturbing.
- Exposed by Ashley Weiss (review to come someday, maybe. . .)--A novel which follows two women whose lives are affected by the s*x industry, one through her husband's addiction and the other through exploitation. Written by a woman whose husband has overcome his addiction through the power of the Lord.
- Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler Interesting and thought-provoking by a man who, as the title says, grew up in the Amish communities.
- The Truth About Us by Dalene Flannigan--shrug, free Kindle book
- A Mom Just Like You by Vickie Farris and Jayme Metzga--A real blessing to me this Spring, encouragement from a homeschooling mother
- Disciplines of a Godly Young Man by Hughes and Hughes--A wonderful book my son and I are now reading and discussing together.
- Infinitely More by Alex Krutov--A very poignant account of a young man who grew up in a Russian orphanage and how his experiences led him to help orphans as an adult.
- Children in Church: Nurturing Hearts of Worship by Curt and Sandra Lovelace--a great book on a much-needed topic
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon.--great revisit
Leadership and Crisis by Bobby Jindal (Governor of Louisiana).I thoroughly enjoyed it
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclassby Theodore Dalrymple. This is a must read and I hope to get my review up later this week. Add this collection of essays by a British doctor to your book list now!
The April "assignment" is anything by PG Wodehouse. Uncle Dynamite-The May assignment is Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Such a fun re-read- The June assignment is A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter, which I've never read and know nothing about. (I'm slowly working on this one still)
Setting the Records Straight by Lee Binz--great motivator, review still to come- The Deadliest Monster by J.F. Baldwin--I didn't get to this one yet. The big kids read it and said I have to read it still because it was really good.
- Know Why You Believe by Paul Little I decided not to read this one, Alan read it instead. I got overwhelmed and he was willing to read it with the big kids.
Assumptions That Affect Our Lives by Christian Overmanmy son says everyone should read this great book
The Bible--My "180-Day Challenge" turned into a 240-day challenge because I found I was doing my daily reading just to check it off the list (oh, ugly pride!). I slowed down the reading to actually ponder the verses and it has been a time of great richness. Now I'm starting back through the New Testament again.James--I am studying the book of James using Beth Moore's study guideThis was a great study, one of my favorites, and I completed my handwritten copy of the book, although I gave up on memorizing it.- The Best of A.W. Tozer--Didn't get to this one--yet again!
- The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier. Didn't get to this one either
- Monday Morning Faith by Lori Copeland. --I'm about halfway through this one, a light read which so far the best message from it involves taking our Sunday faith into our Monday mornings
Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock. This was a relatively light read, enjoyable, and it nicely paralleled our own story of rebellious, ungrateful children of God, suspicious of His love and grace.
Celebrity in Death by JD Robb.Typical Eve and Roarke, fun escape from reality, returned it to the library in less than 48 hours (do you think they smiled at me?)
Guess what!?! After almost 3 years in my 'new' small town, I have been invited to join a book club! :) A real one- real books with real pages and real people that you see (and hug you!). My first time will be Monday!
ReplyDeleteThey are reading Blue like Jazz...so I like them already for giving non-fiction a chance! I am supposed to arrive with suggestions for the next book. Which is no problem because I have you!!!! :)
Oh Laura, I am so happy for you (and a teeny, tiny bit jealous--you have no idea how much I would love to sit down with a couple good friends and a Pepsi to chat some of these books out!! Maybe I should try to start a book club here. . .). I look forward to reading your reviews of the great books you'll get to read.
DeleteI just wrote up my Limberlost post last night. That one took me awhile to read through also. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. (I also had never read it and knew nothing about it, other than it is popular.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'm going to get it done in time for the book club. . .
DeleteWow! You read a lot! Congratulations on reading 11 or your 18. That's fantastic! You've read several that look intriguing to me.
ReplyDeleteI really do like to read--who needs sleep anyway?! :) I feel like I read several very good books this Spring--hopefully I've learned/retained some of it.
DeleteGreat list! Is the challenge officially over now? Because you know today is the first official day of summer- which means half price shakes at Sonic all day, fyi!
ReplyDeleteYep, the challenge went from the first day of Spring to the first day of Summer. Don't tell me about half price shakes--I'm back on a "I'm really going to lose some weight this time" kick and shakes don't help! ;)
DeleteYou really do read a lot! Great list. And I love the disclaimer!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how "a lot" is so subjective, isn't it? As I'm looking through lists of others who participated in this challenge, I'm just pretty average with at least half of the participants reading significantly more than I did! :) I'm happy with my reading this Spring, however--I was blessed by some truly outstanding books these last few months.
DeleteHmm... I may have to imitate your disclaimer in the fall. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, you really did get distracted by fun/interesting books. I keep seeing Growing Up Amish on people's lists. What did you think of that one?
That's a hard question. . .mostly, I enjoyed it because it made me think about a lot of different things. Here's my review of it if you want to see some of my rambling thoughts: http://www.learninghowmuchidontknow.blogspot.com/2012/04/growing-up-amish-by-ira-wagler.html
DeleteI love your disclaimer. :-) That's exactly what I'd like to say myself.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the variety in your list. That's how I like to read too--I've been bogged down too much in one genre lately, so I'm trying to change that over the summer. And am loving it.
Love your disclaimer. I should probably borrow it. ;v)
ReplyDeleteLove the variety in your choices of reading. And now I have to go add some of these to my ever growing list of books I'd like to eventually read someday.
Ooooh...there are many on here that I'd like to read. I kind of wish I hadn't seen them as my stack just keeps growing and growing and my time to read keeps shrinking and shrinking!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way--there are so many books on my "want to read" list and my time is becoming more and more limited. I grab every spare minute I can and I guess I'll read the rest when I'm old! lol And I would love to read your story, thank you so much, I'll message you.
DeleteP.S. If you want me to send you a copy of my book to read and review, just e-mail me your address and I'll mail one to you.
ReplyDeleteI'm a JD Robb fan, too, and it made me smile to see that at the end of your list. :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, sounds like you got through a bunch of great books this spring!