14 hours ago
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
These are all the things I’m saving…quotes I’ve highlighted, books on my reading list, websites and articles I’m saving, photos I’m taking, and things I don’t want to forget. If I had a notebook that held everything in one place, it would look something like this!
Commonplace Quotes
“Trust God in the dark. We are safer with Him in the dark that without Him in the sunshine.”
- Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light On Dark Clouds
“There is only one practical remedy for this deadly sin of anxiety, and that is to take short views. Faith is content to live ‘from hand to mouth’, enjoying each blessing from God as it comes.”
- Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light On Dark Clouds
“If he saw the responsibility as too great for his ability, it was because he had a realistic idea of how immense that responsibility would be. For such a trust, to lead an undisciplined, poorly armed volunteer force of farmers and tradesmen against the best-trained, best-equipped, most formidable military force on earth - and with so much riding on the outcome - was, in reality, more than any man was qualified for.”
- David McCullough, 1776
Recommendations
The Everyday Reading Summer Reading Guide - Summer reading is a different animal, and I love stretching my genres and trying new authors in the summer. This is my favorite summer reading guide! I exercise a little caution on the romance titles especially, since I like my books clean, but I have found so many great books from this guide over the years! If you used to enjoy the guide from Modern Mrs. Darcy back in the day, you need to try the one from Everyday Reading - I like it even better! Hint: She also has a really fun summer reading chart here.
Kyle Hates Hiking Youtube Channel - I have a weird interest in National Parks, mountaineering, and survival or true crime stories, and this channel brings those three things together! I’ll often play one of these videos while folding laundry.
Ask Dr. Jo Youtube Channel - My nearly middle-aged self often rolls out of bed with a crick in my neck or a sore shoulder, and I am so grateful to have found this physical therapy channel! Every time I have a knot in any of my muscles, I just search on this channel for stretches, and it fixes it within a couple days. I even used these videos when I had a pretty bad case of costochondritas, which is inflammation of the muscles between your ribs that make it feel like you are having a mini heart attack every time you breath. Her videos were the only thing that helped!
A Fun Way To Add More Classic Literature - This article about creating literary book boxes for kids has my wheels turning for the summer.
Books I’m Reading Right Now
The Music Of The Hemispheres by Michael Clay Thompson (Teacher’s Manual) - I am reading this book aloud to my middle schoolers as we finish up the school year this week - I think I am learning just as much as they are! I have always liked certain poems that have a clear rhythm and rhyme scheme, but had a harder time with other types of poems. This book explains the structure of poetry and some of the poetic elements to notice in even non-rhyming poems, and I feel like I understand poetry so much better now.
God’s Light On Dark Clouds by Theodore Cuyler - This book is a beautiful exploration of God’s purposes in suffering, written by a mom that just lost his daughter. I think the encouragement in here is so applicable to any kind of hardship or suffering, and I’ve been finding passages to highlight almost every day as I work through it after my Bible reading. I recommend reading it even if you are not currently going through any trials.
2084 And The AI Revolution by John Lennox - One of my personal study projects this year is to learn more about AI and technology. This book is a thorough treatment of the history and philosophies associated with AI, from a Christian perspective. I am learning so much! I know things with AI move so fast that some of the information in this book is probably already out of date, but I think the author’s analysis is timeless.
Bits Of Nature
We have been going from winter, to summer, then back to winter over the last week or so. My kids were literally playing at a splashed in 80-degree weather last week, and then woke up to fog and snow on Monday morning. That’s May in the mountains. These are photos I’ve snapped outside over the last few days.
Moments Of Happiness
-Wrapping up all of our school year read-alouds, including The Wind In The Willows, pictured above. It feels so satisfying to close the last page.
-Going through boxes of old notes from family and friends, and piles of artwork from my kids’ little years. So many memories were revived, and everything is filed away nicely now.
- Starting The Wingfeather Saga as a read-aloud with my kids - the first book is more light, and the silly footnotes are making us all laugh! I’m already anticipating the tears that will spill when we get to the ending of the series, but they will be good tears.
-Watching my girls in their ballet class. We haven’t done any ballet since the crazy covid times, and we are at a stage where they all three can be in the same class. I love seeing how graceful they are becoming.
-Having friends reach out to me for a get-together, not just vice versa.
-Noticing that the pools are opening a little early this year, with Memorial Day and our especially warm weather. I’m keeping an eye on the weather to determine our first pool day of the summer.
-Making summer plans, especially for the 4th of July!
Twenty-two books is alot.
Maybe not by some people’s standards, but it’s a good amount of reading for me four months into the year. It also is alot when someone tries to write about twenty-two books all in one post, as I’m doing today.
I intended to write monthly book roundups in 2026, but I should have known better during the school year. Instead of subjecting you to multiple posts of book reviews, I tried to write mini book reviews here. Three or four sentences max. I tried anyway.
Mini Reviews
The Pilgrim’s Regress: Guarding Against Backsliding and Apostasy In The Christian Life by Mark Jones - 5 stars - Jones gently and humbly presents reasons why people may backslide, with very practical advice about how to keep advancing forward in our Christian walk to draw closer to Jesus. I found myself so encouraged to read my Bible more faithfully, work on my prayer life, and turn to the Lord with every failing knowing no one can snatch me out of His hand. Highly recommend if you have been in a spiritually “dry” season and need some encouragement to get back on track.
Broken Bread by Tilly Dillehay - 5 stars - There are so many ways that Christians can fall into sinful “ditches” surrounding food, and Dillehay breaks them down into four categories: Asceticism, Gluttony, Snobbery, and Apathy. I so appreciated her biblical and common-sense encouragement to avoid these attitudes surrounding the table. I didn’t fully agree with her chapter on wine, but it would take some more thinking for me to express what exactly pushed my buttons there. Aside from that, this book was “chef’s kiss”.
How To Read A Book: Advice For Christian Readers by Andrew Naselli - 5 stars - This book gives encouragement for Christians to develop as readers. I most appreciated his breakdown of different ways of reading books - from surveying, macro reading, and micro reading. It was very interesting as a lifelong reader who mostly macro and micro reads to consider that surveying a book can be just as legitimate a way to read.
Leadership and Emotional Sabotage by Joe Rigney - 4 stars - Rigney gives advice to leaders and the pitfalls they may fall into when they try to please everyone or avoid offense at any cost. Valuable advice here, especially for men and pastors since this book is geared more toward them.
Prey by Michael Crichton - 4 stars - When our main character has a chance to visit one of the factories for a product his wife is developing, he jumps on it - only to find that a nano-robot swarm has escaped the factory and is wreaking havoc in the Nevada desert. This story kept me interested from beginning to end. The ending left me feeling conflicted, but I’d still recommend it. Content Notes: Some cussing, some violent or gruesome descriptions, evolutionary explanations throughout.
Timeline by Michael Crichton - 4 stars - A very unique time travel story where the characters go back to the Middle Ages - slower for a Crichton novel, but once I was into it I couldn’t put it down! Content Notes: Some cursing, one character survives by seducing men, violence.
Matched by Allie Condi - 3 stars - This book reminded me of everything I don’t like about the YA genre; too much angst. Content Notes: This book was pretty clean! I can’t recall anything objectionable.
Pretty In Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton - 4 stars - A funny YA in which the main character finds herself reliving the same first day of high school over and over (as in the movie Groundhog Day). Really creative and fun, and made me want to re-watch all the 80s teen movies (which I typically don’t even like). Content Notes: At one point a boy surprises the main character with an unwanted kiss, and grabs her behind.
Live Your Truth And Other Lies by Alisha Childers - 4 stars - I agreed with everything in this book, and think alot of the messages are much needed for Christian women; I found it more of an entry-level book for developing a Christian worldview, so not as helpful for me personally at this point in my life.
Authorized: The Use and Misuse of The King James Bible by Mark Ward - 5 stars - Great book addressing the King-James-only perspective of Bible translations! Very informative, high view of the Bible, and I found it inspiring.
Bad Therapy: Why The Kids Aren’t Growing Up by Abigail Shirer - 4.5 stars - This was a re-listen for me. Shirer explores iatrogenic harm that can come from unnecessary therapy, and how that may be hurting our kids. Just as good as the first time.
Good And Angry by David Powlison - 5 stars - This is the best book I’ve ever read on overcoming unrighteousness anger from a Christian perspective! Highly recommend it for anyone who has ever lost their temper or stuffed angry feelings down.
Vacation Friends by Christy Barritt - 4 stars - A suspense/mystery book in which the main character is traveling with her fiancé, who she plans to breakup with, but then someone is murdered. The main action is interspersed with an alternate storyline with a seemingly unrelated character. It was fun to see how the two tied together in the end! Content Notes:Violence, infidelity and fornication are part of the plot.
After That, The Dark by Andrew Klavan - 3.5 stars - The fifth book in the Cameron Winter series, and one of the best ones so far. Winter unravels an “unsolvable” mystery with a dark tech company at the center. I am enjoying seeing the main character finally overcome some of his demons! Content Notes: This series is not clean, which make them hard to recommend, but I keep reading because I am invested in the characters at this point. Curse words, violence and gruesome deaths, the main character sleeps with his girlfriend in this book (closed door), some descriptions of what goes on in a seedy strip club.
Julius Ceasar by William Shakespeare - 4.5 stars - How does one review Shakespeare? Read it with my kids, interesting, sad. Half star only taken off because it’s my second-favorite Shakespeare that I’ve read (I’ve only read two so far). Content notes: Violence, omens, everyone dies in the end.
Anne Of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery - 5 stars - A re-read with my kids. We all love Anne! I think there are some great lessons about life and finding a spouse in this book, so it was timely for my teens, especially.
Squanto, Friend Of The Pilgrims by Clyde Bulla - 4 stars - Read this to my little girls. Great summary of Squanto’s life, and they seemed pretty invested in the story!
The Future Of Everything by William Boekestein - 4 stars - A great summary of different aspects of eschatology that all Christians agree on - the author tipped his hand as more of an amillenial, but I thought he remained pretty neutral while pointing us to the things all Christians can look forward to when Christ returns!
The Chaos Grid by Lyndsey Lewellen - 4.5 stars - A very unique setup for a dystopian fantasy novel. I did think some of the world building was a little fantastical for what is supposed to be set in a future version of our world - if you can suspend your unbelief though, it is quite an interesting story! It only took me until 4/5 of the way through the book to recognize the Jonah analogy. Content Notes: Drug use by villains in the story, one villain threatens to do unlawful things to the main character.
Hearts Overboard by Becky Dean - 4.5 stars - Funny and sweet romance - I think this is classified as YA because the characters are seniors in high school, but a more manageable level of angst made it enjoyable. Content Notes: The female characters note the male character’s “tight end” - hardy-har-har. I feel this would be in poor taste if comments went the other way, so I don’t love when female authors do this.
How To Plot A Payback by Melissa Ferguson - 4.5 stars - A cute romantic comedy on the set of a sitcom. The pacing was just right, and the characters were interesting, with not-too-serious stakes.
The Cinderella Plot by Pepper Basham - 4.5 stars - This was a really sweet YA about a girl who decides she needs a transformation the last year of high school - but then everything starts to go wrong with the people she cares about the most. The messaging was a little redundant through the book, but the plot was good and kept me interested to the end!
Favorite Fiction So Far This Year: Pretty In Punxsutawney, The Chaos Grid, Timeline
Favorite Nonfiction So Far This Year: The Pilgrim’s Regress, Broken Bread, Authorized
What are your favorite books so far this year?
I had a hard time getting into a groove with fiction this year - my fiction reading was mostly overshadowed by my unsuccessful attempt to finish Anna Karenina before January 1st. Anna Karenina is so good, it’s just so long. I occasionally found myself binge-reading a lighter fiction book on the side, and that’s how I read all of these. Cheers for good fiction to get a person out of a Tolstoy-induced reading slump!
Yes, the photo does not match the books actually mentioned in this post. I’m sorry.
The Vanishing At Castle Moreau by Jamie Jo Wright
This was my first book by this author, and wow! If you want a creepy mystery that will keep you on your toes, look no further. Cleo, mysteriously on the run at the beginning of the book, is hired by a millionaire to help his grandmother with her hoarding - in a castle, no less. However, creepy noises around the castle and sightings of a ghostly lady make this more than a decluttering project. What exactly is going on in the castle? The pacing of this book was just right, and everything comes out okay in the end. I recommend it.
Blue Shoes And Happiness & The Good Husband Of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
These are the next two books in the No. Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which is an ongoing reading project for me. The events in these two specific books don’t matter too much - all the books in this series are similar to me in that the characters charmingly tackle not-too-serious mysteries, with all their foibles and quirks and bits of wisdom thrown in. These are my nighttime comfort reads, and I’m sure I’ll be reading more in 2026.
Ecochondriacs by Douglas Wilson
I got this Kindle book for free in November, and started reading it on a whim, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A climate scientists accidentally reads an email thread from her superiors which reveals man-made climate change as a massive scam. A hit is put on her once her bosses realize what happened, and she must go on the run with her Christian neighbor. Through the book she is forced to rethink everything she believes. Wilson’s voice in this novel is really unique among fiction books, as he writes as an omniscient narrator with a good dose of humor thrown in. He also writes Christian characters in a non-cheesy way, and I really appreciate that.
The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson
This book was a fluffy read for me at the tail-end of the year. Bryony has written a book that she hope will save the immigration center her Grandmother founded, but she can’t get a publisher to pick it up…until Jack, a literary agent, says he’ll take her book on if she will ghost-write for another one of his authors. Bryony finds herself writing best-selling books for this other author, while her book languishes. This was just a fun read, especially for anyone who is interested in the publishing industry. I think Ferguson included some of her own publishing experiences and insights in these pages. I will say that the book felt a little wordy or wandering in places, and I do wonder if the immigration aspect was prompted by recent political issues (if so - annoying). But overall it was cute.
That’s it for my 2025 books - I will be sharing a stats post soon, along with my reading hopes for 2026!
Let me clarify that these are not all the history books I read in 2025, but these are the ones I read in the last quarter of the year. Keep an eye out for a reading analysis post soon to get the bigger picture of what I read, but for now, here are a few historical books I enjoyed!
Once again, disclaimer that the books in the photo do not match the books in this post! It would take me too long to request the books from the library and take the pictures again, so please just tolerate my mismatched photos.
Everest, Inc. by Will Cockrell
I have an ongoing interest in the topic of mountain climbing, even though I have never even climbed a 14-er myself. I especially am fascinated by the conditions when climbing Mount Everest - how the early mountain climbers accomplished that incredible challenge, and how the experience seems to have been cheapened or tainted in more recent years.
This book was an overview of the history of climbing Everest, but taken from a sympathetic perspective to those who still feel called by the mountain today. I thought the author struck a really nice balance in presenting the problems with the industry today, but also honoring the accomplishments of those who have climbed the mountain. I tend to lean toward the view that it seems like any Joe-schmo with enough money can climb the mountain these days and that cheapens the accomplishment, but this book challenged some of my biases (though it also confirmed others).
Christian History 101 by Sinclair Ferguson
When I ordered this book I expected to receive a massive tome - imagine my surprise when I realized it was just over a hundred pages! This is an excellent and accessible overview of church history through the centuries, and I really appreciated the length. This year was more difficult than I would have liked, and as a result I didn’t read as much history as I would have liked - it was nice to get some history reading in through this very approachable book.
Meet Martin Luther by Anthony Selvaggio
Our family celebrates Reformation Day, so October was a great month to pick up this little biography of Martin Luther. I’ve attempted a massive biography before and was never able to finish it in this busy season - this one was a perfect length. I was so glad I read it when we watched the Luther movie in October, because I understood all the events the movie alludes to! Highly recommend for a balanced overview of Luther’s life, including his strengths and weaknesses.
The Freedom Of The Christian by Martin Luther
I picked up this book in October as well, the first book I’ve read actually written by Martin Luther himself. The length of this book was perfect if you are intimidated, but it still packed a punch. It was interesting to read some of the thought processes that led to the Reformation from Luther himself, and I found various parts not just academically interesting but personally encouraging.
The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey
I finished this one up during the last week of the year after taking a long break in reading it. This book goes through the months of the year and tells how people living in medieval times would have been living through the different seasons. I found it very engaging and interesting. This was a recommendation for my son’s high school history curriculum next year, and while I mostly think it would be a great read, I would have him skip the “November” section, which had to do with the relationships between men and women. Other than that, I very much enjoyed it and would recommend it as an approachable book about the social history of the Middle Ages!
Next up: the fiction books I read to finish out the 2025 reading year!
You may notice that the books in these photos are not actually the books I’m sharing in this post. A few weeks ago I took photos of the books I still needed to write about, but I ended up combining them into different posts than the photos. If I wait until I can regather all the books from the library and re-take the photos, these posts will never get published, so please just view the books in the photos as previews for what is to come, and not necessarily for the particular post!
At the start of 2025, I created some reading goals and categories. I am going to revisit that post soon, but one category I did not include was reading about fashion and clothing. Maybe I thought it felt too frivolous for Substack at the time, but one of my unspoken goals was to read books to help me rethink how I shop for and wear my clothes. I’m sharing two of those books in this post.
One category I did not include, and indeed would probably never include, in my reading goals is to read books about philosophy. It’s just not my jam. But that’s what I accidentally did end up reading a couple times this year. So there are two books that dip into philosophy below as well.
How To Dress Your Best by Ellie Jean Royden
This book was great for helping me to analyze my personal style from a different angle. Royden has created her own systems for developing personal style, the most original of which is her “style roots” system. I really resonated with this method of thinking about style, and it has helped me understand the common themes I am drawn to in my clothes.
I also really appreciated her way of explaining “dressing for your body type”. She has broken down body lines by width, length, and curviness, and her advice has given me a new understanding of why I like certain silhouettes on myself and dislike others. Her approach is very body-positive in that she doesn’t want you to think of one body type as superior of another (this is disconnected from weight). Overall, I found it very helpful.
Note: There is one sort-of nude picture in the middle of the book - all critical areas are covered, but I was careful when reading that page around my kids.
Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline
I listened to this book over the summer, and what stands out to me as I reflect on it now is the historical information about how fabrics were produced in the past vs. now. The author explores how clothing has become more and more disposable. She focuses on the impact to the environment and the conditions for factory workers in developing countries. A great book to make you think about the clothes you buy.
Shop Class As Soul Craft by Matthew Crawford
This is one of those books that is impossible to absorb upon the first reading - I feel like I need to read it again even to explain it well. This is a philosophy of work, particularly the trades and the value of working with your hands in some way. My takeaways from this book are that the trades have been branded as being for the people that are not “smart enough” for college, but in reality require a ton of intelligence, creative-thinking, and problem-solving skills - and are often more intellectually satisfying than many of the desk jobs that require a college degree.
One of the chapters stands out in my memory because it made me think about how as everything has become more computerized, we have lost a tangible, physical connection to our belongings. People no longer understand how to fix basic machinery, as they once did, and indeed it is sometimes impossible for an average person to fix their own appliances because we have computerized too many things. It has made the world more disposable in our minds.
Those two things are just a sampling, there was so much in this book. I need my own copy the next time I read it so I can annotate and highlight to my heart’s content.
The Kingdom Of Cain: Finding God In The Literature Of Darkness by Andrew Klavan
I was interested in reading this book because I have picked up some of Klavan’s fiction books and enjoyed them, and I’ve also put down some of his fiction books because of overly graphic content. In this book, he talks about being a writer of crime stories and his philosophy behind doing that as someone who considers himself a Christian (as an aside, I can never figure out whether he is Catholic or not). I was expecting a little more literary analysis in this book - instead it’s a lot more about analyzing movies inspired by real-life murders, and the trail of evil philosophies behind them. He discusses several real life murders as a jumping off point for some of his philosophical and moral points, weaving his own conversion story into the book.
While there was a lot I agreed with, there were many points that I disagreed with. He at times veers toward a touch of sacrilege, and he comes off somewhat cavalier toward certain serious sins (getting involved with dark subjects to research books, for example). There were also theological points he made that I don’t think are biblical. This review would get far too convoluted if I tried to address every point that I took issue with. I’ll just give one example – Klavan suggests that death did not come into the world as a result of sin. He speculates that perhaps Adam and Eve would have died anyway, but that may be death wouldn’t have been such a terrible thing if not for their knowledge of good and evil that came as a result of the Fall. This is not in line with what Scripture teaches. Of course Klavan takes one of the very verses I would cite and abandons the plain meaning of the text, interpreting it in a way as to support his own thinking on the subject. I generally urge caution with Christian writers who treat Scripture that way.
When Klavan shares about his journey from being an atheist to coming to faith in God, that is where his writing really shines. Some passages were really beautiful. So whether I agreed or disagreed with various parts, this book was at times inspiring and gave me plenty to think about.
Content Notes: Several murders are described in all their depravity, though Klavan tries to be delicate in explaining certain details.
Every Believer Confident by Mark Farnham
This book is a “philosophy” of evangelism in a way, but at the core it is a very practical book about how to engage unbelievers in spiritual conversations. Notice I didn’t say “how to present the gospel” - the author does cover that, but he doesn’t believe in beating people over the head with the gospel whether they like it or not. Farnham promotes having real conversations with people about what they believe, in order to fully understand them, and then includes how to naturally move the conversation toward the truth of the gospel. I love his emphasis on gentleness and also on clarity. He explains how to be clear about the gospel and warns against phrases or techniques that will leave the listener feeling ambushed, or leaving the truth of Scripture muddied. I learned alot from this book that I hope to be brave enough to put what I learned into practice. I will be having all my kids read this at some point in high school. I highly recommend it as a bridge between learning about apologetics and actually practicing it!
I have two more book posts to share in the queue, so stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
