4 hours ago
The first quarter of the year is past, and as I sit down to share this reading summary, I am a little disappointed in it. I was sure I read more than this in the first part of the year - but when I look at my stack of half-finished books, perhaps this somewhat short list makes sense. I'm quite late in sharing my quarter-one reads, so I'm just going to slap this round-up post on the blog even though I feel like I forgot a few books. Hopefully there will be more to share next quarter!
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Drowning by T. J. Newman - I started this book the day I had my gum surgery as a distraction, and it was perfect! A plane goes down in the ocean, and a few passengers are trapped in the body of the plane underwater (this has been an actual nightmare I've had). This book is about the efforts to get them out, with the story of one broken family interspersed along the way. I was worried I wasn't going to like the ending, but it ended up being very satisfying. I definitely recommend! Content Notes: There is some bad language in this book, including the f-word, and many of the people from the plane die a gruesome death.
Stand: Christianity Vs. Social Justice by Jon Benzinger - This book is a wonderful rebuttal to the social justice movement from a Christian perspective. The author approaches everything with lots of Scripture, and gives great practical advice for how Christians can stand up against the unbiblical version of justice which is the social justice movement. There are also really thoughtful discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which makes it perfect for a group discussion setting. I highly recommend it for any Christian, whether you are currently facing issues in this area or not.
Advancing Christian Unity by Anthony Burgess - I am attempting to read a book written by a Puritan each month this year, and this was my read for January. Burgess does a great job of addressing Jesus's heart for the unity of the church, obstacles to unity, as well as defining what true unity looks like in the church (which does not exclude doctrine!). I highlighted so many pages and found this book so personally encouraging - I think it would also help someone to know how to handle situations where unity is being sinfully threatened.
Fallen by Tim Chaffey - This book is a deep dive into a passage of the Bible that has caused alot of puzzlement, Genesis 6. While the author speculated somewhat in this book, he was really upfront about what things he is drawing from Scripture and what things are just his own speculation. I wasn't sure I would put things quite like he did in some spots, and some aspects of the subject matter were disturbing, but it is rather a dark subject. His goal was to argue for the fallen angel view of Genesis 6 over the Sethite and other views, and I think this book was really persuasive on that front. Wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless you are already wondering about this passage, but if you are, I thought he did a good job of presenting his case.
Rules For Walking In Fellowship by John Owen - This was a great, short Puritan read that was packed with Scripture (I believe it's actually only a portion of a longer work). I thought this book gave alot of useful reminders of how we are to remain in fellowship with other Christians, and I really found it uplifting. It would be a great read to start with if you are new to Puritan writings!
Everywhere To Hide by Siri Mitchell - This book would be in the suspense/thriller category. Whitney Garrison suffers from face blindness, so when she is witness to a murder, she can't identify the killer. When she finds out the victim was actually waiting to meet her, the mystery deepens. Siri Mitchell's thrillers, including this one, are set in Washington D. C., and I think she does a good job of weaving in the political intrigue without being boring or too complicated. I enjoyed this one! Content Notes: Aside from the obvious violence involved in the plot, this was a clean book.
A Lady's Guide To Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin - This book is set in the regency era, and gave alot of Pride And Prejudice vibes - but from the perspective of the fortune hunter, which is usually the villain in Austen novels! This book was a fun and quirky romance that was perfect for an Austen aficionado like me. I loved it! Content notes: I think there may have been a couple mild curse words, and references to "ladies of ill repute", but it was otherwise clean.
The Biblical Case For Cessationism by Tom Pennington - In this book, Pennington argues the case for cessationism, which is the view that the miraculous gifts, such as tongues and miracles, were for the apostolic era and have now ceased. Alot of continuationists spin that to say that cessationists don't believe the Holy Spirit is working today, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I loved how Pennington gave the biblical arguments while explaining the gifts biblically, the reasons why we think tongues, etc, were important in the early church, and how the Holy Spirit works in the church today. Highly recommend no matter what side of the fence you are on.
Shipwreck At The Bottom Of The World by Jennifer Armstrong - I read this book to the kids for school, and it was a great one to read as winter is ending. This is the story of Shackleton and his ill-fated expedition to traverse Antartica. The most amazing part of the story of the Endurance is how every man survived! This book explains the grueling conditions that the crew suffered, and the tenacity and leadership of Shackleton as he led them to a rescue. A couple things that weren't covered extensively but were mentioned in this book are the faith of some of the men, and a mysterious event where three of the men, who were trekking across a brutal island in search of rescue, later found that they all kept thinking there was a fourth man with them - it reminds me of a certain Bible story. Content Notes: Mentions of millions of years, and a joke the men had about "wives and sweethearts" never meeting.
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis - This was a re-read for me. In this book, Lewis imagines a group of tourists from Hell visiting the very outskirts of Heaven. I have found this book a bit confusing in the past as it is purely an imaginative interpretation of what such a scenario could be like, not based on any biblical arguments. So I wouldn't read this as any sort of doctrinal treatise. What shone through for me on this reading was Lewis’s insight into human nature and the sinful inclinations which keep a person from turning to God. As a sobering look into our sinful nature and choices that keep us from the truth, this book was very worthwhile - if you are looking for biblical accuracy on the afterlife, this isn’t that book, and I don’t think it’s meant to be.
Hoax For Hire by Laura Martin - I love reading middle grade fiction for a mental break, and this one was purely for fun! A family of hoaxers is secretly responsible for every strange story or legendary creature you’ve ever heard of, going back centuries - but 12-year-old Grayson wants out. He has plans to apply for a photography scholarship to a boarding school - until his dad disappears and his grandpa appears to be kidnapped by a competing hoaxing family. Grayson and his brother must figure out how to save his dad and grandpa, and the family’s livelihood. Content Notes: Quite a bit of parental neglect as the boys are mostly on their own, but it’s resolved in the end. Grayson’s brother is high-school aged, and “makes out” with his girlfriend or mentions it a couple different times.
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What is the best book you’ve read so far in 2024?
Despite the snow outside my window right now, my favorite day of spring, Resurrection Day, is right around the corner! I am planning a few crafts this week to point my kids' back to Jesus's death and resurrection, and I have a whole Easter study planned for morning time. I'm also going to finish getting my kids’ Easter baskets ready - we don't usually give our kids alot on Resurrection, because we want the day to be about celebrating Jesus’s resurrection first and foremost. But we always do some type of Easter basket, and I thought I'd share what I got with you this year (just for fun).
First I should say, the bedrock of our Easter baskets every year is a new Adventures In Odyssey volume for each of our five kids. I save up our credit card points every year to pay for Easter baskets, and so we've been able to collect quite a few of the old Adventures In Odyssey CDs for no extra cost to us. We will probably stop collecting after the James Dobson Odyssey era, so we only have a couple more years of doing this, which will be just about right for our kids' ages. We really enjoy listening to the stories in the car, and they also provide good opportunities to discuss biblical or character topics.
Another thing that has been practically free for the girls' baskets this year has been earring sets from Claire's. My youngest got her ears pierced last fall, and Claire’s had a deal that you can get a “year of free earrings” with an ear piercing, so each month we receive an email coupon for any earring set under $17. Since my older girls didn't get this deal when they got their ears pierced, I decided to split the free earrings for all three of them, so I've been collecting the earrings with the coupons, and I'm adding them to the girl's baskets!
So in their individual Easter baskets we'll have:
-An Adventures In Odyssey volume
-One of these devotional books by Joel Beeke
-Earrings for the girls
-Sunglasses for the boys
-Playdough eggs
-Candy
-Peeps
I decided to do an extra all-kids basket this year as something a little different (for us). Even though actual spring doesn't come to our mountains for another month or two, I wanted to give them some things to enjoy on warmer days, so the communal Easter basket is my chance to do it! I also collected a few Christ-focused books for them over the last couple months, and I'll sneak them into the basket too.
For the group Easter basket I got:
-A very large bouncy ball
-A colorful volleyball
-A colorful football
-A kite
-Bubbles
-A light-up bouncy ball
-Sidewalk chalk
-Socker Boppers
-Splat balls
Books:
-The Knight's Map by R. C. Sproul
-The Poison Cup by R. C. Sproul
-Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L. Taylor
-Big Truths For Young Hearts by Bruce Ware
It's nothing too special, but with five kids there are always those little items that they point out in the grocery store that we have to pass by. They are such good kids and never give me a hard time when I say "no" to something. I'm using this Easter basket as my chance to give them all those fun odds and ends!
The group basket is also a good excuse to collect some beautiful picture books that I've been eyeing for a while and add them to our family collection. What I love about R. C. Sproul's books is how he communicates such poignant biblical truths in story form. I've also heard good things about the other books on my list - we've read Pilgrim's Progress with our kids already, but I think having read it they will enjoy this illustrated version even more. Big Truths For Young Hearts is supposed to be almost a systematic theology for kids, which we'll go through as a family. The “Building On The Rock” devotionals for their individual baskets are something we will end up reading all together as well!
Do you have any items that you put in your kids' baskets every year? Are you adding anything new to the mix this year?
It's been a while since I've written a currently post! Honestly, we are at this difficult in-between stage in homeschooling where I know that homeschool is just going to take over my life between the months of September and May - I've accepted it. I have a couple hours this Sunday afternoon, the school week is already planned out, and I am doing a little not-too-serious blogging.
Currently...
Drinking: Holly Jolly coffee. You can see the recipe here.
Wearing: Brand new leggings, because we have a puppy that finds joy in chewing up all my clothes. I have taken something of a break from my no-buy project, because I have had to replace so many items that have been destroyed! She's literally chewed up every one of my workout leggings, among other items (including five dollars - literally, just a five dollar bill she found in my closet). I know this chewing phase will pass, but goodness, at what cost? So far she's dismembered at least $300 worth of stuff. Ouch. At least she's cute.
Reading: Hoax For Hire by Laura Martin. I really enjoy Laura Martin's middle grade fiction - she comes up with such interesting plots. In this one, a family has been hoaxers for generations, fooling people into believing they've seen Bigfoot, Nessie, etc, etc. It is Middle Grade March, so it seemed like a good month to pick it up.
Here are a couple other books I'm reading too.
Watching: Derek and I have been going through Parks & Rec again. Ron Swanson literally (read that the way Chris would say it) makes that show. We've also been catching up on Survivor. We usually wait until after a season has aired and then we subscribe to Peacock for one month and watch it all at once.
Planning: The kids' Easter baskets. I think I might even whip out a separate post about it, just so there's more to read on my poor, sleepy blog. But I found some fun things for their baskets, and I might be more excited about it than they are.
Dreaming: About warm summer days. This is always the stage of spring that drags by for me, as we are constantly teased by warm days bookended by snowstorms. We had a doozy last week, with 27 inches of snow at our house! The kids were thrilled, and I didn't hate it. We took a rare homeschool snow day! However, it's all melting into a muddy mess now, and that is the part that makes me pine for tank tops, pool days, and reading on my porch in the sunshine. Soon.
Listening To: A Johnny Cash playlist. It's just hitting right.
Baking: Alot of bread. I have finally perfected my fresh-ground grain bread recipe for my bread maker, and it turns out perfect every time now. I also was able to experiment at making cinnamon raisin bread and apple bread, and it's been yummy. It's a good way to add some extra protein to our diets, and it takes me about 20 minutes to throw everything into the bread machine. Two hours later, we have a beautiful loaf. Sourdough is nice and everything, but I doubt it can beat the ease of my bread maker recipe ( though I might still try sourdough sometime).
Working On: Cleaning out all the nooks and crannies of our house. When we first moved here, my cabinets and closet were fairly well organized, but the clutter has slowly crept back in. It's amazing how much can accumulate in a short five years! I did a major kid clothes cleanout a few weeks ago, and our SUV is piled full of 8+ bags full of stuff to donate. And I haven't even tackled my closet yet (that's on the agenda for next weekend). I'm looking forward to going through my clothes and packing away the things that I haven't worn this past winter. My method (currently) for getting rid of clothes is packing away items that I haven't wanted to wear over the past season, then revisiting it in a year. If it's packed away and I haven't even thought about it in a year, it's probably safe to get rid of it, so each year I go through my bins and do a final purge. I have to do this two-step process to help me be a little more ruthless on what to consider giving away - it helps me to know I can always undo it before my final purge.
Loving: How laid-back I'm feeling this spring. Aside from the year that I took completely off of social media, this past year I've probably spent the least amount of time I ever have on scrolling. I notice that when I am not constantly bombarded with aesthetic Instagram posts, I feel less compelled to have photographic evidence of everything we do, and hence I'm less stressed and more able to enjoy things and just relax. I've also spent more time communicating with friends through mediums other than social media, and I think that is a really healthy thing. It's just helpful to pause every now and then, and recognize how far I've come in the way I use my phone, and the positive changes I've seen since making adjustments.
Now, I still spend too much time on podcasts and Youtube, but that's a different post. One problem at a time.
For the past several years I have been learning more about church history than I ever have before. There is such a rich history and tradition that we as Protestants sometimes fail to tap into - and that's a shame! There is so much to learn from Christians who have come before us, so many beautiful thoughts and prayers that we can make our own and pray with brothers or sisters in Christ from ages past.
Because this has been something I have been focused on for several years, for myself and my kids, when I stumbled across Jonathan Gibson's series of liturgical books last fall, my curiosity was piqued. I bought O Come O Come Emmanual this last November and read it over the Christmas season, and it was such a lovely experience. Because of that, when I saw that an Easter addition to this series was coming this Spring, I jumped on the chance to review it!
O Scared Head Now Wounded: A Liturgy For Daily Worship From Pascha To Pentecost is a gorgeous book. The actual book is cloth-bound and looks almost like a hymnal, and it comes in a hardcover purple sleeve with gold edging. The colors chosen are perfect for Easter in my opinion, and the attention to detail in the design is so well done. This book is heirloom quality.
Not only would this volume look gorgeous on a bookshelf, but the content is just as rich. The book starts with chapters explaining the intent of the book, which is to help Christians in reflection and remembering what Christ did for us by His resurrection, as we are commanded to do in Scripture (2 Timothy 2:8). The focus of this volume is specifically remembering Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
"We forsake because we forget. And we forget because we choose to forget - deliberately, willfully, consciously. We forget our Creator - His covenant and commands, His ways and works and words; we forget our Redeemer - His promises and precepts, His redemption and righteousness." pg. 25
This book is a beautiful tool to help Christians focus their mind on Christ during the season of Easter (ie. Pascha). The book starts forty days prior to Easter (on Ash Wednesday, though this liturgy is in no way affiliated with the Roman Catholic practice). Each day there are sixteen elements to this routine (ie. "liturgy" which the dictionary defines as "a customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances" ), which include:
Meditation - quotes from church history
Call To Worship - Scripture reading
Adoration - hymns or psalm singing from church history
Reading Of The Law - Scripture reading
Confession Of Sin - prayers from church history
Assurance Of Pardon - Scripture reading
Creed - repeated historic Christian creeds
Praise - Gloria patri or doxology singing
Catechism - select questions from the Heidleberg or Westminster Shorter catechisms
Prayer For Illumination - prayers from church history
Scripture Reading - a Bible reading plan
Prayer Of Reflection - prayers or praises from church history
Prayer Of Intercession - prayers from church history, along with prompt to pray for personal requests, your church, and the world
The Lord's Prayer - from Scripture
Benediction - weekly benedictions from Scripture
Postlude - Sing a doxology from Psalm 72
You'll notice how to many of the categories are actually just Scripture readings - this book is saturated in Scripture, and if you used it exclusively for your daily Bible time, you would not be lacking in reading God's word. When listed out, this seems like alot of categories, but I can say from experience (when I read the Christmas volume) that going through this routine truly only takes about 15-20 minutes each day.
“The aim of this devotional liturgy, designed for daily worship from Pascha to Pentecost, is to prepare us better for the season in which we remember the life, death, burial, resur-rection, and ascension of Jesus, as well as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit— all while we wait for his return. To be clear, the season is not about what we can do for Christ by our work or prayers or fasting; rather, it is about what he has done for us in his work and prayers and fasting — a work that began in his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of his Holy Spirit, and which will conclude in his return in glory.” pg. 30
Each page gives so much food for thought that you could fill the entire day with reflecting on the material here. I use the books in this series for my personal quiet time during the appropriate seasons, but I think this liturgy would also work beautifully for use with a family, especially with kids that are a little older (middle school and up), though you could easily explain the concepts to younger kids as well.
It’s especially wonderful to me that this book is about focusing our hearts on Easter. Christmas gets so much attention because of all the bells and whistles that come with the season, and advent devotionals abound, but there are less books focused on preparing for Resurrection Day - even though it is just as important as Christmas, and in alot of ways is much more of a Christian holiday culturally than Christmas is.
I can't wait to dive into this book in my personal quiet time, starting on Valentine's Day (though there are allowances for missed days in the schedule, so it would be easy to catch up). If you are looking for a way to more deeply meditate on Jesus's work for us on the cross this Spring, with a Scripture-filled resource that also gives you a taste of the riches of church history, I highly recommend checking out this book!
Note: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
I found a rare day to escape to a local coffee shop to write a bit. This is a new coffee shop to our little mountain town, and local chatter swirls around me as I type. I can see my dad's shop out the window, snow covers the ground and low clouds threaten more. A little greenery brightens my table, a Chinese evergreen stem in an old glass bottle. My heart-topped latte is almost gone.
Reading can get a little difficult for me during the school year, but I was able to knock out quite a few of the books I had going over Christmas break. It's time for another book update! I wish I could read consistently enough to do these updates monthly instead of sharing a huge chunk of books all at once, but honestly, I'm just glad to finish books whenever I get the chance. Lots of winners on the list, mostly because I started quitting books that I knew I wasn't going to like! Highly recommend doing that to keep yourself out of a reading rut.
A Tangled Web by L. M. Montgomery - I really enjoyed this book from Anne Of Green Gables author, L. M. Montgomery. In this book, there are two very large extended families that are connected by a bunch of marriages, and they all are after Aunt Becky's old jug. They come to a will reading, and we get a peak at a myriad of different characters who all want the jug for different reasons, and we follow their stories through the rest of the book. Notes: I've noticed that in Montgomery's lesser-known works, she does seem to have references to occult practices or witchcraft scattered here and there, and it was the same in this book. Also, the book ended on rather a cringe note as the last sentence of the book has a racial slur that was much more commonplace back in Montgomery's day.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (along with A Worldview Guide To Frankenstein by Canon Press) - This is the first time I've read Frankenstein, though you can hardly live to be my age and not have some idea about the plot. I can see why it's a classic, though I found Shelley's writing a little tedious to listen to (the narrator did a great job though). I very highly recommend reading this particular worldview guide along with the book, as it was really enlightening to Shelley's background and possible state of mind while writing the book. It convinced me the message of the book is alot different than I've been told my whole life (some nonsense about the monster representing Shelley and her daddy issues) - instead I now think of Frankenstein as a tale about the monsters we ourselves can create when we are driven by passions to throw aside the natural constraints that God has placed on us. Really interesting.
The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda - I've liked some of Miranda's thrillers in the past, and this one was particularly spooky to me since we had an unreliable narrator, and lots of unexplainable events (until the end of course). Arden was swept away in a flood as a child and trapped in a pipe before being found three days later, but she has no recollection of it. The resulting media attention ruined her life, so she changed her identity and moved away. But now, a character from her past shows up dead in her neighbor's yard, and she has to figure out what is going on. Notes: Some bad language in this one, and really messed up family relationships.
The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay - This book starts with a funeral - Madeline's aunt has died and left her a failing bookshop. She hasn't visited her aunt in a while, but her life as a big time lawyer isn't going as planned, so she puts her plans aside and tries to see if she can get the bookshop in the black before selling it. Along the way, she becomes friends with two of her aunt's employees as they all reevaluate their life choices and work in the bookshop. Overall, really cute and cozy, with normal-type problems that all work out in the end.
Giant Pumpkin Suite by Melanie Heuiser Hill - This is a middle grade novel that I don't think has gotten nearly enough hype. Rose and Thomas are twins, but have almost nothing in common aside from their birthday. Rose is tall, Thomas is short. Rose is advanced and taking classes at community college at the age of 12, and Thomas struggles through his school work. Rose is working to become a professional cellist, and Thomas...starts growing a huge pumpkin with their neighbor. Rose's piano teacher and mother decide Rose should be more involved in this project, and she reluctantly agrees - until a terrible accident ruins her cello plans. As she is forced to slow down and connect with her neighbors, the pumpkin keeps outrageously growing. I enjoyed every minute of this book, it was a perfect before-bed read to calm me down after a long day! I'll probably have my kids read it next fall. One note: A female "pastor" is mentioned one time (but isn't even a character in the book).
Deeper Heaven by Christiana Hale - This book is an in-depth analysis of C. S. Lewis's space trilogy, which in case you didn't know, is not really about actual outer space at all, so we will call it the Ransom trilogy. Hale gives us background information about Lewis and his life as a professor of medieval literature, and that backdrop makes all the difference in understanding the Ransom trilogy. Lewis's ulterior motive for the trilogy was to give us a vivid picture of how a medieval person would have viewed space and the cosmos, and Hale guides us through the different symbolism and messages in each of the books. I loved this analysis, and honestly wouldn't even consider recommending the Ransom trilogy without having a copy of this book right alongside it. Excellent.
Prayer by John Bunyan - I've been trying to read the Puritans over the last couple years, and this is the 4th or 5th Puritan book I've read. Bunyan gives an in-depth theological look at what it really means to "come to the throne of grace", as well as Christ's work as a sacrifice, priest, etc. What does that have to do with prayer, you may ask? I admit, I was struggling to find the connections with everything he was saying, but in the last chapter he tied it all together into a beautiful picture of what it means to pray. I do find myself more drawn to prayer when I consider his points in this book, and so it was a success.
Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews - This was a really fun Christmas novella. Sophie is courting Mr. Edward Sharpe, but decides to break up with him, because it doesn't seem like they are connecting. He is very difficult to talk to, and she wants to marry someone she can learn to love. However, when she sees the effect her decision may have on her family, she decides to give herself and Mr. Sharpe one more chance to get to know each other. I thought this book was really cute, and a great, short Christmas-y read for the busy holiday season, Notes: There were a couple uses of curse words.
Bambi by Felix Salten - Like so many kids, I watched Bambi as a child and found it all rather sad. But as an adult, I discovered that old Disney movie is actually based on this book. One of my kids was asking to read it, and I decided to pre-read it for them. I actually quite enjoyed it! The book, as always, was better than the movie - one of the main differences is that there is more of the Old Stag in the book, and more of the animals erroneous beliefs about "Him" (ie. man). I thought one of the last scenes of the book, in which Bambi finds out that Man is not all-powerful, but is a creature as well, was an unexpected development that added some depth to this book. The deer's obvious conclusion that there is a Creator over all, man and animals, was an interesting development in the story, but could also see someone taking the final message in an anti-God way. However, I took it as poignant that the animals know there must be an all-powerful, all-good Creator, they just needed to learn that Man was not Him. Notes: Some of the animals definitely die, so this book wouldn't be suitable for sensitive or younger kids. As a hunter myself, the book seemed less anti-hunting than the movie, but obviously any book involving hunting from animals' perspective is going to seem that anti-hunting to some extent. But as someone who has my wildlife management and conservation philosophy firmly established, I didn't find this book offensive or annoying. Opposition to hunting was clearly not the point of this book, at least to me.
Homecoming by Kate Morton - Morton's latest book is perhaps one of her longest, but I also feel like it hearkened back to some of her earlier books in a good way. Jess must fly back to Australia to attend to her injured grandmother - but when she tries to figure out what her grandmother was doing when she got hurt, she stumbles upon a family tragedy that is rife with secrets. Alot of the reviews of this book mentioned that they thought it was too wordy or long, but I didn't feel that way at all. It was enjoyable from beginning to end to me. Notes: Plot involves some infidelity, etc. Mild language.
He Rules The World by Ben Zornes - I listened to this Advent devotional and quite enjoyed it. I wouldn't say this is a Bible-based devotional, more just Christmas thoughts and inspiration from a Christian viewpoint. I loved the encouragement to enjoy all the trappings of Christmas to the glory of God.
Rejoicing In Christ, The Newborn King by Taigen Joos - This was our family Christmas devotional this year, and I loved it! The devotions were short and sweet, based upon different Scriptures, very theologically grounded, and each devotion ended with a hymn recommendation we could sing together. Reading this took less than five minutes each day, but added alot to keeping our Christmas focused on Jesus. Loved it, and will probably read it again.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Jonathan Gibson - I bought this book for myself to read over the Christmas season, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Each day of advent includes a "liturgy" for family or personal worship, including hymns to sing, Scriptures to read and meditate on, quotes to prompt prayer or praise, and psalms to sing with a tune index in the back. I loved going through this from the beginning of Advent through epiphany, and found so many wonderful quotes and encouragement in it. The book itself is also gorgeous, with cloth binding like an old hymnal with a fancy sleeve cover that makes it look lovely on the shelf. The publisher is going to send me the next book by this author, and I'm very excited to dive into it, because I loved this one!
Forbidden Child by Gwen Newell - In this book, Piper has grown up on a ship since the world flooded 40 years ago. The ship is run as a dictatorship, where all the citizens exist to serve the ship and it's "godmother". Piper is on a task force to find those breaking the rules, and then one day she stumbles upon the greatest offense of all - a baby that was born without permission, an "illegal organism". She must decide whether to turn the baby in, or turn her back on everything she has ever known and find a way to rescue the baby. I was very unsure about this book because I don't really like the "global flood" plot point, since obviously as a Christian I believe God promised He would never flood the earth again - but this book ended up working for me since you can't really trust anything the godmother says anyway, and the ending resolved that conundrum for me in a really satisfactory way. I completely loved the ending, and definitely had a "book hangover". Enjoyed it alot.
Five Lies Of Our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield - I had read Butterfield's other book, The Gospel Comes With A Housekey, so I was excited to find this book at my library. Butterfield has so much insight and wisdom to share about our culture's current conflicts, especially as it relates to feminism, gender issues, etc. This book is very rooted in Scripture, and Butterfield draws from the Bible and her personal experience to challenge ways that our culture, and the church, have been willing to accept subtle lies. I don't feel I am doing it justice with this description - I highly recommend it if you need some encouragement as a Christian living in our anti-God culture.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - I re-read this book with my two oldest this year, and it was such a fun experience. First of all, if you have never read A Christmas Carol aloud, I recommend it. It's so fun to do the different voices for the characters in this book. My kids also enjoyed it much more than I thought they would, and we can officially watch the movie now since we read the book first.
The House Of Love And Death by Andrew Klavan - Sometimes Klavan's books get a little too graphic for me, but I have enjoyed this series enough in the past that I wanted to pick up the next book. I really like how this one turned out. Cameron Winter is a literature professor, but he has a "strange habit of mind" that helps him solve crimes on the side. In this book we find out more about Winter's past, and I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel of his inner darkness, which was a heavy theme in the other two books. In this book, he must solve the mystery of what happened to a family that was murdered in a house before it was destroyed by a fire. Notes: Definitely some crude language and curse words, violence, and infidelity/fornication are involved in various parts of the plot.
What was your favorite book of 2023?
My top non-fiction books would be:
-Musing On God's Music by Scott Aniol
-Deeper Heaven by Christiana Hale
-The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
-Counterfeit Kingdom by Holly Piveck
-Five Lies Of Our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield.
Top fiction:
-Tales From The Perilous Realm by J. R. R. Tolkien
-Homecoming by Kate Morton
-Giant Pumpkin Suite by Melanie H. Hill
-Glitch by Laura Martin
-Meet Me In The Margins by Melissa Ferguson.
Total: 71 books (approximate, since I don't really do a clear cutoff between January and December). Better than I thought I did, honestly, and most of them were actually good since I quit forcing myself to read books I wasn't enjoying or knew I wouldn't be able to recommend! Life's too short to read bad books.
You can read all about all the other books I read for 2023 in these posts:
(This year I noticed the sun shining on our tree every morning like this, and I so enjoyed it.)
It's been quite a while since I sat down to write a "just life" sort of post, and since I've spent the last few days sitting on the couch and dreading every time I have to eat or talk, I figure now would be a good time for an update!
To make sense of that last sentence, I got a gingival graft last week - which basically means they sliced a square of gum tissue off the roof of my mouth and patched it into the lower front of my mouth. I'm not allowed to brush my lower front teeth, drink very hot liquid, exercise, eat chips, or pull my lower lip out to show anyone my Frankenstein-esque wound. Jury is still out on whether I'd recommend this particular surgery or not, but if your dentist ever has to recommend it for you, you have my full sympathies.
In contrast to this not-very-fun start to my January, our December and Christmas was very nice. A few of the highlights were a Christmas light trail with my family (always so impressive), our Sunday school Christmas party (which I volunteered to help plan on a whim), a snowshoeing trip with the kids in new-to-us mountain town (our first time trying snowshoeing), and a visit to the aquarium (a rare occurrence). I got a good head start on present shopping and wrapping, so I actually had a time to do a few Christmas crafts with the kids in December too! Crafts are always something that falls by the wayside, so I was pretty satisfied that we finally made a couple happen. I also got this game for a December surprise, and we really enjoyed playing it as a family! It's simple, but oh-so-hilarious for the kids, and seeing them so happy made me happy.
We saw both sides of the family the weekend before Christmas, and then stayed home on Christmas Day, and it was relaxing and laid-back. My big gift was a new coat, which I've been window-shopping for the last few months. Derek heard alot about what I like and don't like when it comes to coats, and he did quite well on applying all my random requirements! It's a nice army green wool coat, knee length, with two buttons and robe tie. I feel just the right level of fancy when I wear it with jeans. I love it.
I'm going to confess right now that my no-buy project suffered in December, and I did cheat on it a little bit, but I'm back at it in January. I want to take a few steps to keep myself more on track, so I hope to start a no-buy project journal to keep track of my goals and successes, and I am going to read a couple books about shopping wisely/saving money (starting with this one).
With my graft making talking so difficult, we are still on a sort-of break from school. I'm having the kids do a few independent assignments to sharpen up their skills, and hopefully we'll get back to regular lessons next week. I'm trying to be okay with not getting anything done this week - I had so many things I wanted to accomplish before we got back to school, but I find myself just sitting on the couch, zoning out with a book or video. My body just feels exhausted. I suppose all the energy is going to healing my mouth. Either that, or the lack of solid food is taking a toll.
One thing on my list though was writing this post, so that's something that is getting accomplished at least.
One more bit of family news before I finish this up - my husband talked me into another puppy! We stay in touch with the people who gave us Lulu, and in December they texted Derek to say that Peanut (Lulu's mom), had another litter of puppies. I was unaffected, but Derek decided this was the time to get Lulu a little pal. He eventually talked me into it. We've noticed that Lulu is so happy whenever she gets a chance to play with my extended family's dogs, and we thought it would be good for her to have another dog around. This little one is her full sister, though they are such different colors! Her name is Dot, and she's very cute. I'm not loving the whining keeping us up at night (especially when I'm trying to heal), but her puppy snuggles during the day make it worth it. Now I have more company on the couch.
(A comparison photo of Lulu and Dot around the same age. Ignore my weird smile in the Dot picture. I literally can't move my face properly - I'm afraid I might need physical therapy just to smile normally again. The puppy versions of Lulu and Dot are cute though, no?)
Hope you all are having a brighter start to the New Year than I am! Happy Twenty Twenty-Four!
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