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| I made my goal of 100,000 pages and over 365 books! |
My dad used to tell us (especially in Yearbook class, which he taught) "It will never be perfect, but it WILL be the deadline."
Well, the deadline for this post has come and gone about 60 days ago. I had begun to write it in late December, but kept telling myself I could improve it. And here we are, in early March, with a less-than-perfect review of my Year in Reading for 2015. So, I'm here to tell you that it is NOT perfect, but it is WAY PAST the deadline. Enjoy! Hope it's an encouragement to you. (I don't expect that most people could read nearly this much, if they were actually accomplishing anything else in their lives. But this is the life God gave me in 2015, and I tried to use it to His glory as I read.)
My year in books
This year started out as any other, except that I was fully
recovered from a broken foot that took up 11 months of 2014, so I was ready to
get back into “normal life.” Much to my surprise, God had other plans. J On January 6, I woke
up so dizzy I couldn’t sit without assistance. While not every day has been
like that, every single day in 2015 has involved migraines and/or debilitating
dizziness to some extent. I haven’t been able to drive or go out of the house much,
except for multitudes of medical appointments. But I have been able to read most days!
Praise the Lord for that! On days that I couldn’t read, I listened to audio
books, and on days I couldn’t even do that, I prayed… probably for some of you
who are reading this! Thank you for your prayers and loving support of my
family throughout this year. As I learn a new normal in dealing with this
(permanent?) condition, I am reminded of my place in the body of Christ, and I
am so grateful for those who continue to uphold us, both physically and
spiritually. Here are the books God brought across my path this year.
Biography/Autobiography
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This was the most encouraging category I read in during 2015.
In no particular order, my favorites were: Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini,
was fascinating, and much better than the movie, in my opinion. There was some
language, but it was not gratuitous. We encouraged our teenaged son to read it.
Evidence Not Seen, by Darlene Deibler Rose, recounted the journey she
and her husband took as young adults to become missionaries in the south
Pacific. Their island work was halted and they were imprisoned by the Japanese
during WWII, and her testimony of faith and seeing God work in that inhuman
place was refreshing to my daughters and me as we listened to the audio version in our homeschool time. The Last of the Doughboys
by Richard Rubin is a collection of interviews with the last living World War I
soldiers as of about the year 2000. I was amazed to see how each of them had
lived an entire lifetime beyond their military service, which was from such a
different era. I Dared to Call Him Father by Biquis Sheikh (set in
mid-20th century Middle East) and Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
by Nabeel Qureshi (set in 9/11 era United States) each dealt with a Muslim’s
passage from devout worship of Allah to a miraculous New-Testament-style faith
in the One True God. I encourage you to read these books and have your own
faith challenged!
Classic Fiction (10)
For want of a better title, this category covers everything
from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockinbird and Go Set a Watchman to
Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. I saw these books as the yummy veggies on
my reading plate. They’re definitely not “dessert” like other fiction, but they
don’t require quite as much discipline as devotionals and some non-fiction
work. Les Miserables was the most challenging for me to accomplish this
year, partly because I found it at a time when I was feeling stronger
physically, and actually didn’t HAVE to lie around reading 12-15 hours a day. I
had to force myself to stick with the first 25%, but then I began to enjoy the
story more. Hugo really does have a serious problem with rabbit trails, which
he hammers on until they are modern paved highways of multiple chapter
diversions! Ugh! This category also included Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
and Billy Budd, which were not my favorites. I found it difficult to
follow characters and almost impossible to figure out why he chose to include
some of the more arcane details. My favorites included Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo and My Antonia by Willa Cather.
Middle School Fiction
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My favorites in this category are definitely the “I
Survived” series by Lauren Tarshis. My daughter found these at the library, and
both she and I have devoured every one we could find. She even convinced her
grandma to gift one to each grandkid this Christmas, so they can trade around
after they finish one! The books are historically accurate with fascinating
detail and captivating characters. Even in the worst tragedies, the author is
cautious about which characters die, making these ideal for the 4th-7th
grade set. Another series I enjoyed this
year is Flavia de Luce, by Alan Bradley. I was disappointed by the use of
vulgar language, and especially by the focus on the occult in one of the later
books, but as an adult, I enjoyed the other books. Unfortunately, I chose not
to share them with my middle-school girls because of the language. Perhaps the
best book in this category was Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. (See how I put the same author in two categories? Proves I don't have a clue! These categories are very...ahem....fluid!) Her
fiction is didactic, but without hitting the reader over the head. Her
characters are well-developed and face real problems in relatable ways. Her
writing spans many different age groups, but I haven’t found a bad one yet.
Tried to Read, but
Hated (3)
It is rare for me NOT to finish a book. I consider it to be
a challenge for me to overcome my ‘druthers’ and power through, even when it is
no longer enjoyable (see Billy Budd and Les Miserables). However, these books go down in history for being so
distasteful that I QUIT! L
Gasp! The Claim by Kevin Borgan uses angels and demons impersonating
characters to create a lousy rendition of Christian fiction. This is not Frank
Peretti, folks, it is a confusing mish-mash of powers that Scripture says we
should not use for entertainment. Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake
was just plain stupid. The characters were unclear, and the author assigned
them feelings and mindsets that were not well-developed, in my opinion. Don’t
waste your time. Finally, Truth Seekers, by Anne-Rae Vasquez, is the
first book in a trilogy that I really wanted to enjoy. The write-up on Amazon
seemed like something that could pique my interest, but again… the characters
were confusing, and the author assumed too much about my understanding of their
perspectives and their goals. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.
Devotional/Christian/Self-Help
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The other enjoyable, but still meaty, category that I read
this year involved a variety of books designed for 31-day studies, etc. Perhaps
the most meaningful book, which I’m still working on for my 2016 list, is Amma,
a book about the writings and life of Amy Carmichael. I plan to find more books
by Carmichael in 2016, in large part because she spent the final 20 years of
her life in debilitating illness. Her ministry continues today not because she
was a great missionary, but because God tested her physically in a great way. I
also read The Friendships of Women by Dee Brestin, which was kind of
disheartening, because I read it at a time when I was feeling very down about
missing church for months on end without hearing from most of the women I would
have considered to be friends. 31 Days to Becoming a Happy Wife by
Arlene Pellicane, Plenty: 31 Sips of Joy for Moms Everywhere by Kari
Patterson, and 31 Days of Prayer for my Teen by Susan Alexander Yates
both served as great one-month challenges for me. One Thousand Gifts by
Ann Voskamp and Welcome to the Funny Farm by Karen Scalf Linamen were
awesome reads, in that they were enjoyable and light-weight right up until the
point they stepped all over my toes. I found myself both challenged and
encouraged spiritually.
If you are looking for free or inexpensive e-books, I
encourage you to subscribe to these sites: Christianbookfinds.com (both on FB
and on the web), and Bookbub.com (via email). Both sites list e-books that are
available at a discount each day. I download the free ones that interest me and
keep them in a queue for when I am looking for something to read. J
Besides these two sites, I get most of my books from my
local library, or on my favorite app, Overdrive. Overdrive allows you to sign
into any library for which you hold a card (even if you are not local to that
library) and borrow e-books and audio-books through that library for a set
amount of time.
As I said, this post is incomplete, and for that, I apologize. I wish I could tell you more about every category I read. But I pray you will look up some of these books for your own edification. Tell me what you think of them! :-)
