4 hours ago
This year started out strong for my reading life, but I'm not going to lie, March threw me for a loop. I'm hoping I'll have a longer post for my Quarter Two roundup, but these are the books I've read so far this year! My favorites so far have definitely been A Chance To Die and The Wingfeather Saga!
The Wingfeather Saga: The Monster In The Hollows & The Warden And The Wolf King by Andrew Peterson - I did a whole video on Instagram about this during my month back on Instagram, but this series was so moving. The last book really wrecked me for a few days, because I was just so sorry to see the series end! It was a series hangover. I love how these books bring in some biblical ideas or themes, but in a way that is truly unique to the world of Aerwiar. This series isn't an analogy to anything, it's a totally unique story, and I loved the picture of sacrificial love at the end. As far as content goes, I will probably wait until my kids are at least 12 before letting them read this series - the first book is fairly light, but some more serious themes and plotlines come into play in the next two books, including the deaths of several characters.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - I read this as part of The Daily Wire's Third Thursday Book Club, before I realized that I wouldn't be able to watch the video live until I become an official member! Which I should probably do anyway one of these days, and then I'll be able to tell you if the Book Club lives are worthwhile - but I did have access to Ben Shapiro's notes after reading the book, and it was really interesting to read his take. Huckleberry Finn was a really fun classic to read to start the year off, and the characters won me over so quickly. I love how Mark Twain can write in the rather convoluted thoughts of a 13 (14?) year old boy, and still pull out so many interesting themes and commentaries on the Old South. Content Notes: Definitely some negative portrayals of religion (Twain was rather anti-Christian), violence, and mentions of slavery (one of the characters is a slave trying to escape) and the n-word is used alot (maybe this was a realistic portrayal of the south at that time? But still hard to read with modern eyes).
A Chance To Die by Elizabeth Elliot - This is a biography of Amy Carmichael written by Elizabeth Elliot, and I was NOT expecting to love it as much as I did! This is a really readable biography, and though I didn't know alot of details about Carmichael before this book, I feel like I know her now. Elliot really brought Amy Carmichael alive. There were so many things I highlighted in this book, and maybe I'll try to share quotes here and there on the blog, but one aspect that really stuck out to me was how difficult it was for her family members to let her go to be a missionary so far away. It was inspiring and heart-wrenching to read in some of their letters about their process of trusting their daughter into the hands of the Lord, loving God enough to give something precious up to His service, so Amy could follow His will for her life. What also struck me was the emphasis Amy placed on prayer - in all her letters home, that was the things she urged the most. This book made me want to focus more on my prayer life.
10 Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier - I listened to this book a while back and talked about it a little bit in this post. It's written by a Big Tech insider, who sees alot of problems with social media and advocates deleting your accounts for various reasons which he explains in this book. I disagree alot with him politically and on religion, but his insights into how social media interferes with our personal autonomy in subtle ways were really interesting.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - This is one of the few of Austen's works that I hadn't read, and I enjoyed it very much! I thought the process of Fanny's personal growth was really interesting in this book. She has her own opinions from the start, but she begins with little confidence in her own judgement and we see her develop that confidence throughout the book, until the end when she is proved right for all to see. I also thought the relationship between Edmund and Mary Crawford was thought-provoking - it was a good example of the dangers of infatuation, because Edmond is blinded to the conflicts between his and Mary's worldview until a crisis situation makes it painfully obvious. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book because of a badly done movie adaptation I watched years ago, but I think this may rank up there with one of my favorite Jane Austen books!
Out Of The Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis - I decided to start reading Lewis's space trilogy, and this book is also helpful in understanding it. I won't go into detail here since I wrote about Out Of The Silent Planet in this post, but I will say that I started Perelandra, and I'm already annoyed with a few things in the beginning so I'm not sure I'm going to like it as well. We'll see.
Saving My Assasin by Virginia Prodan - I listened to this for a book club! This is a memoir written by a woman who was a lawyer for persecuted Christians in Romania before she was threatened by the communist government there and forced to flee to America. Years later she reconnects with a man who tried to assasinate her, and learns that a simple conversation she had with him ultimately led to him finding Christ. A really interesting story and peek into what it would be like to live in a country that persecutes Christians.
What's the best book you've read so far this year?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
