January Book List

January started off a little bit rough for us Hines.

I rang in the New Year sitting next to Ezra’s bed in the hospital, and that wasn’t very fun. It has taken me several weeks just to get back into the swing of things and overcome the mental, emotional and physical battles that we went through at the beginning of the month.

Normally, if I had spent five days alone in a room with my newborn, I would have probably blazed through at least four books. But there was something about the exhaustion and mental/emotional exertion of having a hospitalized baby that made it very hard for me to read. I grabbed a book to take the hospital with me, but I knew I had to have just the right book. A book that wasn’t emotional, and one that had no triggers. A book that wasn’t motivational (because it’s very hard to get things done when you have to just sit and be in the hospital). A page turner. Unfortunately, I did not find that book and therefore did not read much. I listened to podcasts, listened to a lot of music (mostly Ellie Holcomb’s Red Sea Road on repeat), and scrolled through A LOT of Instagram. So this month of January I barely scraped through three books. One was meh, one was very thought provoking and one was excellent.

Unashamed // 4 stars

I, like most white Christians, became a huge Lecrae fan nearly 8 years ago. Lecrae is a hip-hop artist who began his career as a Christian rapper. I found Lecrae during my college years, when I was attending an inner city church and doing a lot of ministry in the inner city. His music made me feel trendy and connected, yet his lyrics were brimming with the truths of the gospel. I loved Lecrae’s music and was quite sad when he chose to go mainstream and step away from the Christian circles. I didn’t have anything wrong with his decision, I just realized that I wasn’t his target audience anymore. This book is a powerful autobiography of Lecrae and his whole life. I didn’t realize what a troubled childhood he had, and how much he had to overcome in order to be where he is now. I found myself crying and laughing and swept up into his powerful story. It is such a testimony of the goodness of God and such a reminder that the power of good relationships can change the course of a life. The last few chapters of the book he uses to explain why he decided to go mainstream. I appreciated how included those chapters, and I now have more of an understanding of why he made the choices he did. I did, however, feel like parts of the book were just written to “explain” his choices to anyone who disagreed. Sometimes it rubbed me the wrong way, like the whole book was just written to show that his choices were the right choices. I think that within the next few years, Lecrae will have another book of how the Lord is continuing his journey. I will for sure be picking that one up, too!

Daughter of Liberty // 3.5 stars

This book was great in theory, and I truly enjoyed the plot…but it just didn’t work for me. Elizabeth is a young woman in her parents household during the beginnings of the revolutionary war. She chooses a side of the war and works undercover to free her country.., but will love cause her to switch allegiances? The plot is fantastic, and the character development is great. However, the book is heavy on the history – I personally could have done with more fiction and less history (just my personal opinion and preference). The book was long and dragged in parts (I found myself skimming a lot towards the end). I also found the characteristics of the main character, Elizabeth, to be quite unrealistic for her time. The role of a woman in those times was NOT how it is portrayed in this book. I think that this is a book that might work better as a movie!

The Great Alone // 5 stars

Wow!

This book was nearly impossible to put down. It was one of those ones that I felt like I was THERE, living out the story in my own life. Kristen Hannah is a brilliant writer, but this is my favorite of all her books so far. Leni is a young girl who is caught up in the life decisions her parents have made. It is the 1970s, and Leni’s Dad is still trying to regain his footing after being involved in WWII. They pack up and move to Alaska- the wild wilderness proves to be perfect for their strong family, but also makes it impossible to work through their struggles. Leni finds herself 18 years old and stuck. Stuck between love and hate, stuck between the beauty and the ugly. This book certainly has A LOT of triggers- PTSD, depression, domestic violence/abuse, death. It doesn’t make light of any of those things, but rather brings them to light. It’s raw and it’s a slightly depressing book, if I’m being honest! Still, I cannot give this book enough stars.