On the bookshelf in January
Here are a list of books that I read during the month of January!
I rarely read personal development books (that don’t associate with my job) just because when I read, I really prefer fiction. However, one of my goals this year is to read more in this genre. I read You Are the Girl for the Job: Daring to Believe the God Who Calls You by Jess Connolly. I enjoyed the honesty from the author of this book & that it was easy to read. Some chapters were quite a bit longer than others, but I tried to read a chapter a day to keep myself going. I gave this book three out of five stars.
The second book I read was The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore. I don’t have a lot to say about this book because honestly, I thought it was super boring & slow. Even the parts that were supposed to be the plot twists seemed super obvious & predictable to me. Plus, there were some pretty hard things that happened & they were just magically fixed with the snap of a finger — but that is soo not real life. It took me way too long to finish this book, but it was all because I didn’t ever want to pick it up… I ended up giving this book two out of five stars.
The third book I read was The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, & Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams. This book was beautiful & heartbreaking all at the same time. The author walks you through her cancer journey — from the beginning of her diagnosis, to when she leaves this earthly world. & while walking you through her journey with cancer, she reflects on her life & how she got to this point. Julie’s story is by far one of the most resilient stories I’ve ever read. & her brutal honesty about how she came to terms with leaving this life too soon was refreshing. I gave this book three out of five stars.
The fourth book I read was Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward. I actually really enjoy reading books about cultural diversity. This book was really interesting because it gave firsthand knowledge about what it's like to be an African American person in the south in the early 2000s. The author lost four important men in her life in a four year period. Reading about their lives & their stories was fascinating to me. While I will never be able to fully understand what this is like, it doesn't hurt to educate & culture myself. I gave this book four out of five stars.
Have you ever read the whole Bible? I’ve always wanted to & I’ve tried a few times but it’s hard. It’s just so hard to understand! I had heard several people talk about the Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible & wanted to give it a try. Tara-Leigh Cobble walks you through reading the Bible chronologically in one year & she has a podcast that goes along with it. While that all sounds great, I knew that truly reading it every single day was not attainable for me. Yes, I feel guilty saying that. After all, He has done for me, I should be able to spend that much time each day reading His word. However, I know myself & I know I wouldn’t & I also know that getting behind would stress me out & then I’d want to give up completely. Then she wrote a book & I knew this was the answer! I just read it when I can! I try to make it a priority but if it doesn’t happen that day, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Her summary of what you read is absolutely amazing. I cannot believe how much I’ve learned already!! It’s designed to be read in a year, however if it takes me two, that’s okay! Because reading the entire Bible in two years is better than not at all. If I’m honest, I’ll probably start over once I finish because it’s that good & I’m sure I’ll learn something new each time, because He’s where the joy is!
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