This past fall, a book discussion group formed at my church and it has rekindled my love for reading! I have always enjoyed reading, but I haven’t done much in the past few years.
I shared the books I read in 2018 (which wasn’t many) at the end of the year and I plan to share more of what I’m reading as this year unfolds.
Here are the 5 books that I read over the past 2 months, along with some of my thoughts.
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#1. Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior
I heard about this book after listening to an interview with the author and her husband on a Focus on the Family podcast. They discussed he struggles they faced in their marriage, which sounded eerily similar to some of my own. I knew I had to get my hands on the book and I’m so glad that I did!
Kim is very candid about her marriage challenges in the early years of their marriage, where she struggled to live out fierceness in a godly way. After a deep dive into her own story, she shares practical ways women can use their fierceness to live out their calling as wives.
This book was not an easy read for me, though. I related to her struggles and in many ways and often felt like I was staring at myself in the mirror.
The good news is that you can’t change what you don’t know about yourself, so I ended the book encouraged and inspired. God helped she and her husband to work through their past hurts and they are now helping others!
#2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
This book was my first book by Lisa See and I would love to eventually read some of her others. This book was set in 19th century rural China and is the story of the friendship between two “old sames.”
I found the story to be fascinating and disturbing, all at the same time, mostly because of the cultural practices (such as foot binding) at that time in history. This is not a happy read, by any means, yet I learned so much about the Chinese culture. I came away with an enormous appreciation for my own place in history.
#3. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
I had not heard of the author until this past fall when she spoke at a seminar I attended. The seminar was based on her recent book The Gospel Comes with a House Key, but I wanted to read her first book too.
This is her first book, essentially her story of converting to faith in Jesus Christ. In my opinion, no Christian testimony is dull, but her testimony is extremely powerful.
After living her life as a lesbian, feminist, tenured professor for many years, she decided to start reading the Bible for herself. Her motive was to be more equipped to argue against it with more vigor.
Instead, reading the scriptures changed her and she has not been the same since. She has a powerful story!
#4. Therefore I Have Hope
This book was given to me by some friends of mine and I’m so glad they shared it with me. The author wrote this book after experiencing his worst, the very unexpected death of his 4 year old son.
If you are grieving or know someone else who is, then I can’t recommend this book enough. The author does not sugar coat his grief journey, but he also shares the hope that he had because of his faith in God and the truths in God’s word.
It’s been over 9 years since we lost our first son (he was stillborn at 38 weeks) and I could relate to so much of what he wrote about his grief journey. I believe this will be a great source of comfort anyone who is experiencing the deep pain of loss.
#5. The Great Gatsby
This is one of those books that I feel like I should have read back in high school, but never did. I’ve wanted to mark it off my “The Great American Reads” book list for quite some time!
I read it along with my book discussion group and I’m glad that I did. Even though it’s a short read, have given up on it had it not been for the group. I found it to be a bit hard to read (I’m not even really sure why) and it took a while to get into it.
At times, it felt like I was reading a soap opera! I felt like there wasn’t a whole lot of character development either. Maybe that was because it was a short book or maybe because the characters were just shallow? Ha!
All in all, I’m glad I read the book, especially with good friends. I know I gleaned more from it than I did on my own.
Have you read any good books recently?
Please let me know in a comment so I can add some to my list!!
