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Hey friends! While everyone is all over blogland and social media sharing their goals for 2019, I’m still processing 2018 over here!! It’s all good…I’ll get to 2019 soon!! 🙂
Before I start dreaming and planning for next year though, I wanted to share the books I read during 2018. This is short list because I didn’t read much in the first half of the year. Eeeeek!!
The good news is that I picked things up around July. And thanks to a newly formed book discussion group I’ve been attending, I’ve been reading more than just non-fiction (which tends to be my default).
So, here we go with my short book list from 2018 along with some brief thoughts on each one!!
The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse
This book was fascinating! If you know anything about Senator Sasse, you know that he’s a historian, so this book is as much about where we have come as it is where we are as a nation. Although he is currently a politician himself, this book is not a book about politics.
I believe the author makes some interesting points that are worth considering no matter your political persuasion. He’s written another book titled Them that was published just a few months ago that I’d like to read at some point!
Going Public by David & Kelli Pritchard
I picked up this book from Amazon after hearing someone share about it on their Instagram Stories. On the cusp of having two kids in the public school system, I was looking for something to encourage my heart as the new school year approached. This one did not disappoint!
If you are considering whether or not to send your kids to public school or just need some encouragement that your children can thrive there (even as a Christian), then check this one out!
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp
This book has been recommended to me by numerous people and I was glad I finally got my hands on it. This book is a great reminder that parenting well is not about behavior modification, but about heart change. After laying the foundation for this concept, he breaks things down into the different stages of parenting, based on the age of your children.
Be aware that he does discuss “the rod,” which I know is controversial to many people.
The Samarai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
I had never heard of this book until our book group read it together, but I’m so glad I got to read and discuss it with friends! I found myself drawn in to the main characters from the very start and loved getting to know them and their backstories as the novel unfolded.
The story is set in Japan in the late 1930’s, so I really enjoyed being taken back to an earlier time in a completely different place. Each chapter left me wanting to immediately begin the next! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
iGen by Jean Twenge
This book was recommended to me by a woman who spoke at a seminar I attended this fall. The seminar was about how to reclaim life in the digital age and I wanted to learn and read more! This book intimidated me at first because it had a lot of charts and graphs, but it proved to be really insightful.
The author has done her research and addresses the topic from a scientific perspective based on her findings. If you want to learn more about the generation she labels “iGen,” then check out this book! I found it fascinating and it has a lot of information that I believe we should all consider as we live in and raise kids in this smart phone age.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
I’m so glad that I didn’t judge this book by its cover because the cover looked pretty boring to me! Brown?
I absolutely loved this coming of age story about two Jewish boys in Brooklyn. I Googled and watched YouTube videos as I read the book because I was fascinated by the Jewish cultural and religious references. And the ending of the book had me in total shock.
I’m so glad that this was another book club book. I loved chatting about it with friends after I was finished!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I read this book in high school and it is one of my all-time favorites. It was so fun to re-read it as an adult, especially since I had forgotten to many of the details. If it’s not still on high school reading lists, I believe it certainly should be!
The main character of the story is a child, but the book tackles relevant topics like race and injustice that aren’t limited to only the deep south in the 1930’s. I enjoyed watching the movie after re-reading this one (although it’s not as good as the book, of course!).
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
I “heard” about this book from a friend on Facebook and it was wonderful! Since I switched over to a smart phone back in 2015, I’ve developed an unhealthy relationship with it. I love the conveniences it offers me, but I’m starting to feel suffocated by it!
This book had some great insight that is worth considering, whether or not you believe the title might be true. This is written from a Christian perspective, but there are a lot of great ideas are helpful for anyone!
So, what good books did you read this year?
I’d love to hear about them in the comments so I can add them to my reading list for 2019?
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