Happy Thursday! September is winding down and I’m sharing the five books that I read (or at least started to read) in September! I read four fantastic books this month, and one that was probably the worst book I’ve read this year. And somehow that one had fantastic reviews. So strange.
I also shared on my Instagram stories how I tend to organize my TBR (To Be Read) list and how I choose what book to read next. Many of you went into severe panic attacks over my system and had lots of suggestions for how to make it “better”…but y’all! This is my system, and I do it because I love it, not because I don’t know there are other ways!
So, anyways…what I do is I have an excessively long word document on my computer that is my TBR list. I kept this list for a long time until I started realizing that I was adding the same books two or three times, which was driving me nuts. So I decided to alphabetize my list (so I could see which titles I had doubled). THEN, I got the brilliant idea to also READ my list in alphabetical order. Now, that would not make much sense to read a billion books that start with the letter A, so I read a book that starts with A, then a book that starts with B, then a book that starts with C, etc. Now, the part that drove most of you nuts is that I CHECK ALL 26 BOOKS THAT START WITH LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET OUT OF THE LIBRARY IN ONE GO. It makes my heart so happy to see them all lined up on my shelf.
So here were some FAQs I got about my method…
Why don’t you just use Goodreads?
I do use Goodreads! I love Goodreads! Goodreads is where I keep track of the books that I HAVE read. Sometimes I’ll things to my Goodreads TBR list, but I love having it on a word document on my own laptop.
How long does it take you to read all 26 of those books?
It usually takes me between 4-6 months.
How many books does your library let you check out at once?
75 books. We go to the library once a week and get around 30 books for Tera to read, and then I still have plenty of room on my library card for all my books.
How many times does your library let you renew a book?
I’m pretty sure I can renew a library book for up to a year? I’m not actually sure on that but I’ve never had a library book that I’ve had to pay for (except for the one Heavenly lost and the one Tera lost). I just renew them every two weeks (usually when we are at the library once a week). The only exception to this is if someone else puts the book on hold…then I can only have the book for two weeks. I’m also usually taking back 1 or 2 books each week, so my 26 book pile gets smaller and smaller.
Do you ever detour from your list?
Yes! If there is a book that I really want to read or a book club book that is assigned, I’ll go off the path. Also, if I realize that someone else is putting a hold on book “s” and I’m still on “g” I will go ahead and read “s” next so I can take it back to the library.
Why do you do this?!?
I don’t know! I love a system of organization that I can cross off the list and see visible progress. I also love a shelf full of books, even if they are from the library. I love paying and supporting the library in my fine money (my husband loves that, too). I also love the variety that this gives me in my reading life…I’ll have a novel, and then a non-fiction and then a memoir and then another novel. It’s always juuuuust unpredictable enough for me to feel like I’m wild + cray, but still predictable enough for me to be Type A. I also check out all 26 at once because I’m constantly adding to my TBR list, which constantly messes with the alphabetical order. I like to do the alphabetical list at this point in time and then when I finish with letter Z, I’ll start over again at A!
Anyways…if you have any other questions about my ridiculous book reading strategy, feel free to drop them below!
Does anyone else have a crazy way that they tackle their reading list?
Ok, sorry! Now onto the five books that I read this month!
A Hologram for the King
What even was this book?!? I literally didn’t finish it. It made no sense. It had no plot. It had no character development. It had no relationship building, except then it suddenly and randomly had two rather strange sex scenes. I honestly read a good 100 pages, then skipped to last chapter and thought to myself…thats it? THEN WHAT HAPPENED IN the middle 100 pages? The answer is…nothing. Absolutely nothing. Still, this book had fantastic reviews and was in the top of the New York Times bestseller? Still baffled. Don’t recommend it at all. One star.
P.S. It’s also been made into a movie now with Tom Hanks. I cannot imagine how this movie would keep anyone’s attention, but maybe the movie is way better? Let me know if you have read the movie or watched the book!
Three More Words
After the disaster of that first book, I needed to pick up one that I knew would be good. Since I had just read Three Little Words last month, I knew this one would be good…and it did not disappoint. In Three Little Words, Ashely chronicles her life growing up in the foster care system. In Three More Words, Ashely chronicles her adult life. She writes about working to overcome trauma, maintaining (or not maintaining) relationships with her birth family and her adoptive family, her marriage and becoming both a foster Mom and a biological Mom. I LOVED this book. It was real, raw, SO ACCURATE and didn’t shy away from the horrors that are still found in the foster care system. However, it didn’t just beat a dead horse but gave so much inspiration and good reminders to make a difference where I am at. Every foster parent must read this book!
Eligible
You guys, I thought this one was so fun! It could have done without the casual sex throughout, but it wasn’t graphic in it’s descriptions. It’s a modern retelling of pride and prejudice, and I love how she was daring enough to keep the character names the same and make it feel kind of old-fashion-y while being totally modern. I really loved the whole book until the very last two chapter and I just felt like it wasn’t wrapped up correctly. But I still really enjoyed this light and fluffy chick lit!
Age of Opportunity
We started reading this book back when we had Heavenly, and it is a MUST read for any Christian home that has pre-teens or teens. It actually has a lot of good parenting advice for younger children, too. It’s packed FULL of great advice and based completely on Scripture.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
This one was also SO GOOD! Amy Chua chronicles her motherhood journey as a Chinese immigrant. She describes Chinese parenting and Western parenting in such fabulous detail, writing about how different they really are, and the motivators behind each. I LOVE memoirs, and I LOVE hearing about parenting in other cultures so this one was really interesting to me! I did not, however, love how this ended. Even the author wrote about how she didn’t know how to end the book, since her children are not “grown adults” yet. I think that she needs to write a sequel in a few years to really tie up all the missing ends and tell us how her kids really turn out!
I couldn’t stand Eligible. I disliked everything about it. The only reason I’m commenting about it is that I normally agree with you on books. When I read that you liked it, I had to look it up to make sure I had read the same book that you reviewed (I thought maybe I had the title wrong in my mind and I was disliking a different book than the one you reviewed, lol). I guess even similar minds disagree sometimes!!
I don’t really keep a list of to be read books but I do add them to my Amazon wish list so they can be bought as Kindle books. But when I go into our little missionary library, I work through the books in alphabetical order by author, lol. I don’t read every book, just the ones that look interesting. I love that you bring home 26 books at a time! I only bring one or two.