Top Ten of 2012

Don't you just hate it when you're challenged to pick your top ten?

And your top ten books you've read in the last year, to top it off.  It's almost like being asked to pick my favorite child.  (Well okay, not really, but still!)

The more I think about it, however, it's easy to pick my favorite book I read this year.  Hands down, this award goes to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  This book had it all--outstanding writing, intriguing plot, interesting characters, and enough to think about to keep one's brain busy for quite some time.  In the wake of our recent election and news items involving companies like Hostess and Hobby Lobby, this book is increasingly relevant.

It's also pretty easy to include two outstanding books I read this year about worldview:  Assumptions That Affect Our Lives and Life at the Bottom.  These are the kinds of books I would love to read with a good friend and chat the hours away over a Pepsi.

 These books were so well-done that I am tempted to say everyone should read them.  Life at the Bottom, a collection of essays, was the easier read, but they both will challenge and enlighten the reader about what they think, why they think it, and the consequences of their thoughts and attitudes.

 In the area of encouragement for me as a mother, Loving the Little Years easily wins a spot on my top ten.  This book was so encouraging, sprinkled with great tips, and entertaining all at the same time.  I have loaned my copy to several friends and recommended it to many others.  I literally sent an email to several friends who live a distance from me and told them they need to read this book.  Perhaps I should read it again. . .

As a homeschooling mother, I gained a great deal of encouragement and wisdom from Diana Waring's Reaping the Harvest.  This is another book which would benefit from a re-reading.

 I am a little surprised to see Managers of Their Homes on my top ten for 2012 even though it was my third time through.  I include it because it is one of the books that had an impact on my life this year.  In moving twice this year, I had let my daily schedule slip.  The motivation and inspiration I gained from this third reading got our school back on track to the point that, yes, believe it or not, our days almost run themselves.  This is a priceless feeling and every homeschool mother deserves to give it a try.

I was blessed to complete a challenge to read through the Bible in 180 days this year, but I'll not include the Bible on my top ten because, well, that's just a given, right?  But several other books blessed and challenged me in my spiritual walk this year as well.  What I Learned in Narnia by Douglas Wilson was a very rich discussion of some of my favorite books.

 I Will Carry You by Angie Smith was also a powerful testimony of a woman walking through one of the saddest trials I can imagine, but doing so with faith, trust, obedience, and ultimately bringing glory to God.  I am glad to have this real-life example of experiencing tragedy with hope.

I'm also rather reluctantly including 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess on my top ten.  Why reluctantly?  Because I read it pretty recently so I don't know if its impact will wear off over time.  I'm also rather afraid it's a "fad" book, but it has really challenged me in my spiritual walk so I'm including it.  I think it's hard to maintain a balanced life--a life lived in moderation--and she tempts me to extremism.  At the same time, I never want to fall into complacency or a comfortable, self-driven life, so it's good to examine myself again and again.

I think it's ironic that very few fiction books made my top 18 (hey, I had to start somewhere!) as I would tell you I prefer to read fiction.  I turn to fiction for an escape, and probably read more fiction than non-fiction.  But as I evaluate the year and the books I most enjoyed, or the books that made the most impact on my life, or made me think the most. . .well, it's heavy with non-fiction.

I'm surprising myself by picking the inimitable Tom Sawyer as the representative of fun fiction on my top ten list.  It was just such a fun read for me this time through, and Twain's writing was a delight.  To repeat Destry's assessment, "You can tell he was a kid once--and he loved it."

I know I said this was my top ten, but I'm going to include a bonus book that affected me this year.  Especially in light of recent events with Russia closing their borders to US adoptions--even as they have unimaginable numbers of orphans languishing and dying in their orphanages--I can't help but reflect on Alex Krutov's account of his experience in Russia's orphanage system in Infinitely More.

I do recommend this book as an eye-opener to what life is like for orphans.  You might also like to take a few minutes to read Linny's post in light of recent events.

If you want to see the list of the other 65 books I read in 2012, you can check it out here.  I would love to know your favorite book (or books) you read this year!