Book List

Jennifer asked me to recommend some books worth reading, and I thought I would turn it into a post on some of my favorites from the past year.  I will try to categorize, including fiction--just because I personally always love a good fiction recommendation.  I am quickly typing this as John takes his morning nap, and Ada is watching cartoons, so please excuse improper formatting and punctuation of titles and things.  I also didn't include links to each book for the sake of time.  Here goes...

Living according to the gospel

--The Discipline of Grace (LOVE THIS ONE)
--The Enemy Within (haven't finished, but so far very convicting and eye-opening)
--Radical (just started, but, again, loving)
--Prodigal God (Tim Keller, to me he never fails to teach and convict and provide a new perspective)
--Counterfeit Gods (also Tim Keller)

Biblical Womanhood (including parenting)

--The Shaping of a Christian Family (reads like a story, and it was hard for me to even put it down.  So encouraging and fascinating--the biography of Elisabeth Elliot's mother)
--Let Me Be a Woman (also by Elisabeth Elliot, she is one of my favorites)
--The Excellent Wife (full of scripture on our role as women in the home)
--Sheperding a Child's Heart (read this while pregnant with Ada, but I recently picked it up again.  Very helpful)
--When You Rise Up (technically a homeschooling book, but I would argue that it is valuable for any parent, no matter your school choice--it reminds me of what my goal should be each day)
--Let Us Highly Resolve (again, this is technically homeschooling, I think, but worth reading even if you aren't going to homeschool)

Marriage

--Again, The Excellent Wife
--Sacred Marriage (probably my favorite book on marriage--His point is that the purpose of marriage is to make us holy, not happy, it's one to read again and again)
--Let Me Be a Woman (could also fall under the marriage category)

Children's Books/Resources

--The Singing Bible (4 cds that cover the entire bible, Genesis to Revelations.  I enjoy listening to this as much as Ada, and it keeps the big picture of the bible on my mind, can find it for super cheap on Amazon)
--Hermie and Wormie scripture memory songs (scripture to music, again, good for me as much as for Ada)
--The Seeds cds--we have Seeds of Courage (also scripture to music, can't get too much scripture in my head, right?)
--The Jesus Storybook Bible (continues to be a favorite)
--Honey For a Child's Heart (explains the importance of good books for a child and provides lists of best children's books, categorized by age)
--Read Aloud Bible Stories (Ada loves these.  We read them every night before bed and she has many of them memorized)
--Ada is receiving the Frances books on CD for Christmas.  (We checked out Home For a Bunny on CD from the library, and she loved reading along, so I am going to start building her collection of books on cd, hoping this will help with rest time every afternoon.  These are also good for the car.)

Fiction--

--read the Harry Potter series and couldn't put them down
--read several Jane Austen books--Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, loved them and need to read more soon
--And The Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers (somewhat cheesy at parts, but still a great read)
--Jan Karon's Mitford Series (I personally love to read this.  I think they are so cute and want to read them all)

Misc.--

--Friday Night Lights (non-fiction story of the importance of highschool football in Odessa, TX.  Coming from a small town where Friday night football was a HUGE deal, I found this book fascinating)
--A Year of Living Biblically (non-fiction, story of one man's attempt to literally follow the Bible for an entire year.  Written by an agnostic, not a Christian book, but a fascinating look at the Bible from a secular perspective.  Though at times I want to jump through the pages and correct things he says, thinking, you're missing the point!!!)

I am sure there are more that I could list, but I wanted to get the post done, since it has been several days since Jennifer asked me about it.  I love hearing about books worth reading, so if you have any suggestions, please pass them along!!!

Sidenote:  I do read a lot, on average two books a week, but it's because I read very, very fast.  It's one of those random things--I read strangely fast.  It's true.  This is great for reading easy fiction.  Love it, it's a great way to unwind at the end of the day.  It's not as great when reading Biblical books because I sometimes get through several chapters and realize that I haven't "taken in" what the book said, which makes the fast reading pointless.  And worse, the reading can begin to take the place of studying the Bible, which obviously is not okay.  Anyway, I just wanted to add that since my list might seem long, but there is a reason for that and even a downside.