I still have some of my first book lists so just for fun I pulled them out as I was writing this post.

They are a testament to the organized person I used to be. Besides the title and author(s) of each book, the list also includes the number of pages, the month I read the book, whether it is fact or fiction, and where I acquired the book. In the year 2000 – the year I turned 15 – I read 80 books. In 2001 I read only 21 books, suggesting that homeschooling was a major factor in the number of books I read. I finished 10th grade at home and started attending a private Christian high school for 11th grade in 2001.

Interestingly, two authors I read in 2020 are prominently featured in my 2000 book list: C. S. Lewis (ten books), and Robin Jones Gunn (30 books). One book got the word BORING beside it. I still remember slogging through that one. Looking over my old book lists was a fun trip down memory lane, and I noticed the genres of my reading material are basically the same now as then.

I’m listing 27 books I read this year, and have divided them into four categories: fiction, books I read aloud to my daughters, theology/spirituality and personal growth, and miscellaneous. I have previously read seven of the 27 books, some of them multiple times (there is always more to glean from classics like Mere Christianity). I also have certain authors I’m enjoying in this season of life, and I like to read something by them each year: Brené Brown, Timothy Keller, Rachel Held Evans. I discovered John Mark Comer this year and plan to read all his books.

Fiction

• Grace, by Shelley Shepard Gray
• Moonlight On The Millpond, by Lori Wick
• A Time to Dance and A Time to Embrace, by Karen Kingsbury 
• Finding Father Christmas, by Robin Jones Gunn
• Engaging Father Christmas, by Robin Jones Gunn

I admit my fiction list is extremely narrow and uninteresting. All the titles are Christian romance novels. Robin Jones Gunn is my favorite fiction author, and I often re-read her Glenbrooke Series. This Christmas I signed up for the Hallmark Now 7-day free trial so I could watch the three movies based on the Father Christmas stories.

I tried to read the Anne of Green Gables series again this year, but I got bogged down. I’m not sure what that was about. I loved those books when I read them as a teen, and if I remember correctly I read them multiple times. Perhaps being mother to a talkative eight year old causes me to have an aversion to a character who talks continuously. Ha!

Books I Read Aloud To My Daughters

• Dr. Rabbit, by Eric B. Hare
• Love Does for Kids, by Bob Goff and Lindsey Goff Viducich
• Born Free, by Joy Adamson 
• Living Free, by Joy Adamson
• The Seven Secrets of Somewhere Lake, by Sam Campbell
• Soul Surfer, by Bethany Hamilton (with Sheryl Berk and Rick Bundschuh)

Other than Love Does for Kids, all these books were re-reads. My daughters (ages 6 and 8) especially enjoyed the Joy Adamson books, which tell the story of lioness cub Elsa, and the author’s continued friendship with her as Elsa became an adult lion and was released to the wild. According to wikipedia.org, Born Free spent 13 weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in 1960. I had not read these books since I was a teen, and it was fun to revisit the story with my daughters.

Another favorite author from my childhood that I am now sharing with my children is Sam Campbell. During the spring COVID quarantine Your Story Hour posted read-alouds on YouTube for the book Loony Coon, and my girls ate up every minute of it. They were also fully engaged in the funny and heartwarming story The Seven Secrets of Somewhere Lake. If you’ve not read Campbell before, don’t start with a philosophical read like How’s Inky. Try Loony Coon or Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo… and Still – Mo: Lessons in Living From Five Frisky Red Squirrels.

Soul Surfer was the middle step in a three-step experience of learning Bethany Hamilton’s story. First we watched the documentary Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable. Then we read the book. Last we watched the 2011 movie Soul Surfer. Besides enjoying the story, this was also a great way to look at how nonfiction is often woven with fiction for storytelling purposes such as a movie.

Theology/Spirituality and Personal Growth

• I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough,” by Brené Brown 
• Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis (reread)
• The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller (audio book)
• To Hell With The Hustle, by Jefferson Bethke
• Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline, by Catherine McNiel
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer
• Living Loved: Recognizing and Responding to God, by Laurice Shafer (reread)
• The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
• A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master,” by Rachel Held Evans
• The God-Shaped Heart: How Correctly Understanding God’s Love Transforms Us, by Timothy Jennings
• The Sonship of Christ, by Ty Gibson 
• Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human, by John Mark Comer

For me this genre always clocks the most reading hours. My favorite of all the books I read this year was The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. I don’t entirely understand why, but that book was water to my soul. I drank it up, I sank into its cool depths, I was inspired and refreshed and given permission to breath.

Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline is a book I wish I had read every year since my first daughter came along (a tall order considering it was not yet published). The gift it gave me was the realization that the tasks of mothering are acts of worship. It reframed the daily grind in a way that gave me permission to breath a little deeper. I recommend it to anyone with a baby or young child(ren).

Miscellaneous

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
• No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks, by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts
• Seriously…I’m Kidding, by Ellen DeGeneres
• Rebel With A Cause: Finally Comfortable being Graham, by Franklin Graham

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind opened my eyes to another person’s world, and that is what I loved most about it. The Ellen DeGeneres book was purely entertainment. The other two stories were fun and interesting reads about men who have an almost insatiable thirst for adventure, and a high tolerance for risk. Since I’m at the opposite end of that spectrum, reading is the ideal way for me to share their experiences.

That’s all, folks. I’d love to hear about what you read in 2020, or what’s at the top of your list for reading in 2021.

Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels