49) One More Last Chance by Cathleen Armstrong—Last Chance takes on a different meaning in this sweet story. Sarah Cooley, a native of Last Chance, returns to teach second grade, but with a chip on her shoulder. New-to-town Chris Reed tries to keep Dip’n Dine open, but with opposition to almost everything he tries. Then his world upends when his sister leaves with him his seven-year old niece, Olivia. Sarah takes a liking to Olivia and Chris would like her to take a liking to him, but Sarah is still hanging onto her college flame, Brandon. They both have a lot to learn about life, truth, and true love, for family, and in relationships. Good thing the Last Chance series is not over yet, because I want more of this story and town!
50) At Home in Last Chance by Cathleen Armstrong—In the third installment of the Last Chance series, Kaitlyn Reed comes home to care for her daughter. Chris Reed and Sarah Cooley get engaged and married. Kaitlyn learns what it looks like to be a good mother. Stephen Braden starts to consider what it means to settle down and make commitments. There are so many story lines, and yet Armstrong weaves them together so beautifully! This is another great book, so don’t miss the chance to read it!
51) At Home in Last Chance by Cathleen Armstrong—This book introduces two new characters to the Last Chance lot: Andy Ryan, a washed up football player come home to coach his high school time, and Jessica MacLeod, a California-trained doctor come to practice rural medicine. The town welcomes their hometown hero, but ostracizes its new one. Andy and Jess work together, and against one another as they discover what it means to live almost polar opposite lives. Kaitlyn and Stephen reunite. Elizabeth Cooley keeps mothering (and grandmothering). There is so much depth to this story, and room for more, although from what I can tell, this is the last chance to read a novel in this series, as the author has not written since 2015. It is seriously too bad!
52) The Burnout Challenge: Managing People's Relationships With Their Jobs by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter—Discussion about resolving burnout often revolves around helping people rest and become more resilient. But what if burnout is more of an environmental problem than a personal or personnel problem? This is the argument the authors of The Burnout Challenge make. They argue that burnout is more due to mismatch between person and job than anything else. “Fixing” people, therefore, will not solve the problem. Solving the problem, rather, will require continuous assessment and improvement on behalf of agencies and employers. The information presented in this book is not earth-shattering, but taken together, it presents a new paradigm for addressing burnout. Employers and employees both can benefit from taking on the challenge of seeing burnout from a new vantage point.
53) Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life by Anne Bogel—I put this book on my reading list, but forgot about it until I saw Savannah Kelly reading in on Tiny BnB. I found the book to be a refreshing blend of lived experience along with helpful tips. Bogel suggests reasons why people, especially women, overthink, and follows up with practical strategies to combat the habit, and the decision fatigue it causes. Not everything I read was new, but what was new helped, and the rest of the tips were good reminders. Each chapter ended with a, “Next Steps” section that asked questions to allow readers to reflect on what they read, too. While not overtly Christian, Bogel does make a few comments that make me think she is a believer. Overall, this was a helpful book, with no negative content, and therefore one I do not need to think twice to recommend.
54) The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions by Emily P. Freeman—Decisions are a big deal, especially if a person wants to do them right. For me, there’s even more pressure, because as a believer in Christ, I want to do them right before God, and as a perfectionist, I want to make the right decisions 100% of the time. Emily P. Freeman’s words in this book are a balm. She suggests that making the right decision is not so much about the decision as it is about seeking God in it. It is not so much about the outcome, but about living out who God has made the person to be. It’s about doing the next right thing with a life laid open for God to work. This is an excellent book, simple to read, but profound in nature. I highly recommend it!
55) Picture Perfect by Janice Thompson—When I started this book, I had the picture of myself finding the perfect light, airy summer read. While the story, about photographers Hannah McDermott and Drew Kincaid contained plenty of timeless truths, the cheesiness of the story drove me notes. It took me a full two weeks to get through the book, as I could only handle so many Irish sayings and iterations of people who would not change. I managed to finish the book, but only because it was due and I did not want to renew. This is sadly not the book, or probably the author, for me.
56) The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan Schafler— In this book, therapist and self-professed perfectionist Katherine Morgan Schafler presents a revolutionary approach to perfectionism. Instead of eradicating it, she suggests embracing it. Perfectionism is a character trait, she asserts, which means to get rid of it is to lose some of one's personality. Instead of trying to squash perfectionism, Schafler suggests accepting it, even celebrating it, and making it an adaptive force for good, rather than a maladaptive force for ill. Schafler's differentiation between intense, classic, Parisian, and messy perfectionist types might be a bit black and white, but even she agrees that people need not fall neatly into one category. Instead, they can use the categories to learn to embrace their strengths and adapt to their struggles. Some of the book is philosophical, leaning a bit heavy into female empowerment. The author also regularly uses language of which I do not approve. With that being said, I still learned a lot from the research, observation, therapeutic experience, and personal anecdotes shared in this book. I think I can benefit from thinking more on some of the concepts shared by leaning into perfectionism as how part of who God made me, instead of an enemy within that I am seeking to squash.
57) How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key—This is not your typical marriage book, especially not your typical Christian marriage book. This is a real life book about what it looks like for a marriage to fall apart, for infidelity to truly threaten the marital bond, and for two people to fight their way back. The story contains some explicit and offensive language, a lot of humility on the author’s part, some searching of scripture, and what seems like a neatly tied up bow, but that’s just the halfway point. What happens next is the realist of real, and an expose on desire, pain, forgiveness, and the power of a local church that just steps in to help instead of judging. This book won’t be for everyone. It’s real and raw and some readers won’t appreciate the tragicomedy. The insanity of it all me for, though, was a balm. It inspired hope for the institution of marriage, both my own, and the ones I see around me. Read at your own risk, but if you do, prepare for love to worm its way deeper into your heart. There is no way to read this book and come away unchanged.
58) Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants
by Louie Giglio—This is a book of great truth! While I think the author
may stretch the analogy of David and Goliath a bit too far, the truth that
Jesus has already defeated the enemy is so powerful, because Jesus has ALL the
power in the world. Covering issues like comfort, anger, and addiction, this
book is a cry to turn to Jesus for freedom, but not a call to abandon human support
or worldly counsel and medicine. Instead, Giglio calls readers to seek out God
and His wisdom and power. Whether actively in a struggle with a “giant” or not,
this book points to the Savior of all, and for that reason, it will benefit any
who read.
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