Everything I Read in May

I started this month strong with two very educational books. I ended the month with quite a few fiction flings. I intended to read short, easy books, because well, that is where my attention span is at this point in life. Instead, I found myself in some more intense reads. Oh well. That is how life goes sometimes. With that quick explanation, here's my reading list for the month:

27) The 80/80 Marriage: A New Model for a Happier, Stronger Relationship by Nate Kemp, PhD and Kaley Kemp—I will start by saying this is NOT a Christian marriage book. For this reason, I initially hesitated to read it, as I believe that God created and designed marriage. Still, the book kept coming to my attention, so I got into it. Let me say that I was pleasantly surprised! Though not believers, the authors make a very positive case for marriage. They even reference several Christian marriage experts without being pejorative. What the authors suggest, a generous, team attitude towards marriage, is not necessarily new, but they present it in a fresh way. They describe this type of generosity as radical, or each giving 80%. The book addresses appreciation, barriers to teamwork, risks of overcontributing, resentment, and more. The practices the authors present to work towards radical generosity are accessible, and the goals attainable. Overall, this was an encouraging, refreshing read, not from professionals, but from a real life couple whose practice of the principles, they claim, both saved and preserves their marriage.

28) I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of their Time by Laura Vanderkam—In this book, Laura Vanderkam, author of the time management book 168 hours, follows the time logs of women making over $100,000 a year, trying to figure out how they do life, and work at the same time. Vanderkam shows how the choices the women make reflect their priorities, and she encourages readers to consider their own time logs and what priorities those show. In the end, she encourages readers to consider time from a perspective of abundance, rather than scarcity. “Work and life are not in opposition,” she concludes. “When you view time from a perspective of abundance, there is space for career, relationship, and self, too,” that is if the person prioritizes. While I did not take specific tips away from this book, it was interesting to read, and it did encourage me to consider my own priorities, so on those notes, it was worth my time.

29) Blessed Bouquets by Lyn Cote, Lenora Worth, and Penny Richards—Jo, Elizabeth, and Hannah make a pact never to marry. Each of them experienced the devastation of their father leaving, and Hannah lost her high school love to an accident. In this triple novella, though, they begin to reconsider. In Wed by a Prayer, Jo falls for a curmudgeonly bachelor, Bram. She learns about the real reason her father left, because of the stigma of mental illness, and out of love. Elizabeth falls for developer Jake Clark in The Dream Man, but not before needing to do some of her own work making peace with her past. The series concludes with Small-Town wedding, which wraps up Hannah's story as she heals from grief and learns to love once more. Though not without flaws in their plot lines, these stories did include a few twists and turns that kept me reading. The tender coverage of topics common to man, but often ill-portrayed in fiction (eg family counseling) refreshed me. I would say this is worth the read!

30) Life in Defiance by Mary E. DeMuth—Ouisie Pepper is a pastor's wife, but a disgraced one at that. She grew up with abuse, and married into it, too, though she hopes that people do not notice. Ouisie bears many secrets: the abuse, her alcoholism, and knowing the killer that is loose in town. Reading this book is an intriguing as it is intense. Told from both Ouisie's perspective and the third-person perspective of the killer, the story is intricate and fascinating. Characters are rich and lessons to be gleaned, many. This book is not for the faint of heart, but for those who enjoy stories heavy in redemption, this is one!

31) Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors—From the author of Kisses from Katie comes this expose about hope, about false, idealistic hope, compared with the true, eternal hope found in God. In the book, Katie weaves together stories from her life with the spiritual truth she has learned from them. This is an inspiring, encouraging, and sometimes tear-jerking read. For those who dare to partake, prepare to be convicted by the wisdom of young Katie’s words.

32) Second Chance Summer by Irene Hannon—Looking for a summer beach read? This might be it! Rachel Shaw is visiting her Aunt Eleanor for a break from teaching. Jack Fletcher, aka “Fletch,” is helping is Gram, who broke her wrist. Both are hurting, and their loved ones know it, perhaps even more than they do. When Aunt Eleanor and Gram try to set Rachel and Fletch up, they eventually fight it. As their attraction grows for one another, however, they face major hurdles from their past. This is a sweet story about forgiveness, redemption, and love. With a few subplots and story twists, this is one of the better short Christian romances I have read in a while. Readers who normally eschew the Love Inspired novellas might want to give the series a second chance after reading this one!

33) Saving Gracie by Kristen Ethridge—Gracie Garcia runs an ESL school, and of course she ends up falling for Jake Peoples, the interim CEO of a company trying to rezone the school area to make room for condos. There is more to the story than that, though: themes of family, love, legitimacy, purpose, and more. There are a few twists and turns in this story, and in the end, it is not really just about saving Gracie's school, but about redeeming legacy and focusing on what really matters.

34) A Heart Healed by Jennifer Johnson—Callie Dawson left Tennessee with a broken heart to care for ailing family. She went on to become a hospice nurse, serving dying patients and their families. All the while, she needed healing herself, and when she got the change to go back and work at her surrogate family's bed and breakfast, she jumped at it. What she did not know were the layers of healing that would need to happen for her heart, both to heal from the past, and to move forward into the future. This is a sweet read, one in which the twist of the plot resolves a bit too quickly, but for a quick fiction read when I was tired, this was honestly kind of nice, since the tale did not have to tug on my heartstrings too quickly.

35) Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert—Katie Ganshert has a way with words, and a way with stories, and this is such a poignant one! Craftily weaving together the past and present of Architect Bethany Quinn, along with subplots about Bethany's friend Robin and Robin's brother-in-law, the farmer Evan Price, this is a gorgeous story of pain, tragedy, loss, and redemption. It is a tale of faith loss and faith regained, of fear and freedom and love. The depth and breadth of the story are truly amazing. I cannot say enough good things about the colors of beauty in this book. Pick it up soon!

36) What the Heart Knows by Margaret Daley—Dr. Jared Matthew’s lost both his brother and his wife in tragic accidents. Kathleen Somers experienced the death of her husband, and now she is trying not to lose her son, Mark. Dr. Matthew is trying to help her, but in the process, both have some healing to do. This book covers some tough stuff, like addiction and mental illness. I honestly did not expect it to land so heavily on my heart, though the author covers them with a lot of knowledge and grace (perhaps because she was a special education teacher.) This is a good book, but if you are looking for a light, beach summer read, this is not it.