Hip, hip hooray! I passed 100 books again this year. I really think it's because I've been reading a lot of fiction, and because I have the library's Libby app on my phone, which allows me to read anywhere and everywhere. Anyway, onto the books:
95) Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck—Caroline Sweeney has stayed in her hometown for far too long. She had longed to leave, and has opportunities to do so, yet always ended up staying. Now, with an overseas job offer on the line, she’s staying to manage Frogmore Cafe, a restaurant operating at a net loss, and somehow in her hands. Then her high school sweetheart, Mitch, a man she still loves, shows up. This book has lot of twists and unexpected turns. There is a fairly clear gospel proclamation, but one that includes depiction of charismatic gifts. Although this was a good read, the end was inconclusive, leaving me feeling a little more sour than sweet.
96) Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast Moment World by Emily P. Freeman—We live in a culture that does not celebrate smallness, but this book does. Author Emily P. Freeman writes about what it is to embrace ordinary Tuesdays, sit on benches, and commune with God, others, and self. She’s doesn’t write self-righteously, but rather honestly, as a fellow struggler. She gives readers prayers to pray and questions to ask as they consider their smallness and God’s greatness. This is a beautifully written book, showcasing strong writing skills throughout the themes woven through it. The book honestly probably has a lot more than I got out of out, but for now, I’ll say I’m simply grateful to have read it.
97) Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck—Another book in the Lowcountry Romance series, this follows Elle Garvey as she continues to search for love. She thinks she's found “the one,” and gives up everything, only to have her wedding fall through. As she works to process her pain, she becomes a woman of prayer and seeks to hear God's voice. Meanwhile, widower Heath McCord is trying to recover from the pain of losing his wife and becoming a single father. He calls on Elle more than once for help, and both begin to question if they are in the right places at the right times. This is a poignant read about love, and the ultimate truth in love that is only found in Jesus. There were some charismatic faith elements to this book that felt a little uncomfortable to me, but overall this was a book that left me with all the warm feelings and inspiration the real love should.
98) Something Old, Something New by Amy Clipston—A delightful story about learning to leave the old behind and become something new, this book follows Christine Sawyer as she pursues her dream of owing an antique mall, and Brent Nicholson who is back in town to renovate his aunt's home,, but that is all, or so he says. Christine lives in the shadow of her twin sister, Britney. Brent lives in the shadow of his failed football career. The two become fast friends and are determined to be nothing more, but at the same time, there is something new happening. This book resolves just a few too many relationships all at once, but the redemption is beautiful, too. I enjoyed reading this little bit different romance for something new.
99) Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe: A Daily Guide to Scripture-Based Prayer by Sharon Jaynes—What a solid, scriptural resource! In this book, the author provides 30 days of prayer guides for husbands. Each prayer is based on a scripture, and each day contains prayers for 16 areas of the husband's life: mind, eyes, ears, mouth, neck, shoulder, heart, back, arms, hands, ring finger, side, sexuality, legs, knees, and feet. The prayers were convicting to me personally, as well as for how I need to pray for my husband. I think I might actually like to pray one prayer a day to focus more earnestly. The appendix contains prayers for additional areas of a husband's life as well (salvation, fatherhood, and healing). I definitely want to come back to this book!
100) All Our Tomorrows by Irene Hannon—A shorter, but mostly well-paced read, this book has love, suspense, and gospel message. Caroline James is trying to recover after the tragic death of her fiancee Michael Sloan. Michael's brother, David, is trying to find meaning in life. It turns out that David needs Caroline's help, and Caroline, David's, but can they let the past go and move on? With a poignant quote from Mother Teresa about the value of faithfulness over success, and a meaningful ending sermon from David's friend, Reverend Steve Dempsky about seasons, this made for a great autumn weekend read.
101) Am I Overthinking This? By Michelle Rial—A clever book of charts about overthinking, this book is worth reading for a chuckle, and for provoking some thought, too. The charts are unique, to say the least. Rather than overthinking how to describe it, I'll just say you have to see it to believe it.
102) His Small-Town Girl by Arlene James—Tyler Aldrich drives to get away from his fast-paced, stressful corporate life. Running out of gas, he ends up in Eden, Oklahoma at Heavenly Arms Hotel. There isn't much to speak of in the town, but the hotel boasts the Jefford family, a family that welcomes him in, in ways he has never been welcomed in before, even with all of his money. As with many romances, this story line is a bit fast. Still, it has some real merits, specifically many true representations of the gospel. With elevated prose and a little bit different story line, this book gives readers room for thinking about love, wealth, family, faith and so much more.
103) A Mommy in Mind by Arlene James—A few things bugged me about this book: First, the title is very trite and not fully reflective of the rich, nuanced story about adoption and foster care. Second, I had a really hard time getting over what seemed to a major ethical flaw of lawyer Ramon Estes getting involved with the opponent of one of his former clients, and potential adoptive mother, Lori Sumner. Besides that, this story is rich in redemptive, gospel message and learning that God’s will are not a person or a purpose, but rather, in Lori’s words: “to serve and obey [the] sovereign Lord God, Who would never abandon her, ignore her, or indeed, any of His children.” I wish I. I wish I could get over the things that bugged me about this book, but unfortunately, they stayed in mind, diminishing my enjoyment of the overall story.
104) Everything All At Once by Steph Catudal—I wanted to read this book after hearing the author on the Ali on the Run show. Plus, I felt some affinity for its author, who once lived in the Flagstaff, Arizona running community. The book was both beautiful and brutal. The author has a gorgeous writing style and many profound things to say. Her forward and backward writing style [even chapters being stories about her upbringing and odd chapters being about her husband Tommy Rivers Puzey's (Riv's) fight against extranodal natural killer T-cell lymphoma] is creative. The topics she writes about, though, losing her father to lung cancer, and the details of how she coped with that grief through alcohol, drugs, and sex are awful! “The ECMO Diaries” chapter is a little hard to follow, as it is a collection of her Instagram posts. Add to all this that Catudal was raised Mormon, but no longer believes in God (using a lower case “g” when mentioning Him), and instead believes in love being a god, and I really cannot recommend this book. I do pray for the author, though, that one day she will know the true God, the God who loved us so much He sent His son to die for us; the only God who is big enough to handle the everything all at once that life throws at us.
105) Work Simply: Embracing The Power of Your Personal Productivity Style by Carson Tate—This was a good book, more business- than life-minded, but still helpful. In the book, Tate helps readers discover their productivity style (Prioritizer, Planner, Arranger, or Visualizer) and put it to use. She writes about apps that can help each productivity style, and most helpful to me, shares about how to work with those whose productivity styles differ from my own. With helpful acronyms and frequent reminders to “work simply to live fully,” this book is worth at least a simple skim read.
106) Connecting: Healing for Ourselves and Our Relationships by Larry Crabb—This is a very thought-provoking book! In in, Christian counselor Larry Crabb suggests a new paradigm for healing: everyday, common, Christ-infused relationships. Yes, there may be room for professional counselors for specific issues like ADHD, bipolar disorder, OCD, psychosis, etc., but there is more room for connecting. Crabb writes often of marriage being a healing relationship. He writes of working to so allow Christ to live in the self that the self brings out Christ in others. He details urges to be killed and energy of Christ to be released. I benefitted greatly from reading this book, especially since it relates to the work I do. I think I will need to read this book again in the future to see what else God might want to show me through it!
107) The Courage to Dream by Margaret Daley—Rachel Peters returns to Magnolia Blossom to care for her younger siblings Amy and Shaun. Her parents long ago left she and her siblings with their Aunt Flora, and now Aunt Flora has died. Rachel is loathe to return to this place, having big plans to start at restaurant in New York City. She knows the pain of parental abandonment, though, so has decided to step into the gap. The only problem is the man she left behind: Michael Hunter, who has his own pains of abandonment after the woman he married after Rachel left walked out on him and his son Garrett. This book contains some great truths about family and forgiveness, along with quite a lot of softening and sweetness. I wish divorce was not part of this story, but in today's society, it is, and it does require a lot of room for forgiveness before there is courage to dream again.
108) Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World by Lauren Fleshman—Lauren Fleshman, a decorated American runner, tried, at various points in her professional running career with Nike, to advocate for better understanding and treatment of women, but she writes that they shut her down. Now a coach in her own right, Fleshman bares her personal story in an attempt to show why there needs to be a different paradigm for women runners, one that respects and honors their unique physiology, and makes room for processes like becoming a mother without penalty. Part memoir, part expose, Fleshman weaves research into her personal story in an engaging way. I read this book in a weekend, the writing was that good! While the book does contains some socio-political ideology which which I do not agree, as well as some language, this book has very important things to say. Young female athletes, and more so, their parents and coaches should consider reading before immersing themselves in a pro running world that though better, is still not that good for girls.
109) The Dance by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley (10/28/23)—I like restoration stories, and this is one! After over 25 years of marriage, Jim and Marilyn Anderson have a relationship of prestige, but nothing more. Marilyn decides to leave, not permanently, but to get some perspective. Jim is angry, until dance mentor Audrey Windsor teaches him a thing or two about marriage. Then he starts to try to pursue his wife again, but is it too late?
This book has some plot holes. Rarely in marriage are things one sided. Marilyn seems a bit too “right” in this story. Some parts of the story made me really nervous, but never actually crossed my morality line. (Read to find out more.) Some of Gary Smalley’s DNA of Relationships material seems a bit forced into the story. Still, overall, this was a great story, with a helpful interview with Gary Smalley at the end to round it out.
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