December Reads

I can’t believe that it’s the last month of the year!

I remember starting off this year with a goal to read at least two books a month…totaling 24 books. I somehow blew that out of the water and have read a total of sixty two books!

This month was also a slower month and I was only able to read three books.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

This book was an excellent and thought-provoking read, especially in light of the approaching New Year. Since I’ve gotten married, had kids and bought a house, I have realized the great need to minimize things. I would not consider myself a minimalist, but I am very choosy about the things that I bring into my home, and how much stuff I have.

This book was all about cutting out the unnecessary, and therefore filling your time with only the necessary. McKeown stressed the fact that Essentialism is not a trendy idea, but a lifestyle. He gave many great ideas of how to say no, cut back and only take on what you really want to take on. I found that this book was written more for an audience of people in the workplace, but I was still able to glean a lot of information and good ideas for running my household and being a Mom. I really appreciate the mindset of Essentialism, and it is something that I want to work towards!

This was an easy read and I recommend it!

The Pilot’s Wife

Oh, man…this was a good read! I was hooked from beginning to end! The Pilot’s Wife finds out that her world is not what she thought it was when her husband is killed when his flight goes down. The whole story is a mystery and I just had to keep reading to find out what happens next! I appreciated how it was clean and so well-written!

This book didn’t make my top 10 list, but it was very close to the top. I highly recommend it!

I will add that this story could have a lot of triggers for people who are afraid of flying! Be warned!

 

The Meaning of Marriage

I have such a love for reading, and I usually get all my books from the library, but I recently started reminding myself that I have lots of books on my bookshelves that either need to be read (for the first time), re-read, or vacate my home (see above reading on Essentialism). This was one book that was given to us for our wedding that I read back when I was a fresh-faced newlywed. I remember loving it and highlighting in it and thinking how great I was going to have this marriage thing down.

Fast forward a little over four years, and Theo and I have passed the honeymoon stage! We are still absolutely loving being married to one another, and I would never change that, but I thought it would be a great time to pick up this book again!

And indeed it was! I absolutely love this book, and I think that everyone should read it. Yes, everyone. Married or not. It takes a step back from our cultural expectations of marriage and redefines what God says about marriage: that it is a union designed to bring our significant other closer to holiness with God.

It’s convicting and it’s challenging, and it’s encouraging. I highly recommend! I also highly recommend buying your own copy of this book so that you can highlight and underline all over the place!

 

And that’s it for 2016!

I am looking forward to 2017 and all the books I have on my reading list!

Do you have a reading list or reading goals for 2017? I’d love to hear them!

 

And don’t forget to check out which books made my top ten list in 2016!

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One comment

  1. Nancy says:

    I’m putting all three of these on my wish list! My goal was to read 50 books this year and I only got to 33. I’m determined to finish one more book before Sunday to make it 34!

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