Purposeful Encouragement
Happy Memorial Day weekend! Summer is peaking around the corner.
Here are four fun things for you…
1. An Instantpot recipe that is dangerously delicious: https://myincrediblerecipes.com/crack-chicken-noodle-soup/
2. Get your Enneagram on and check out this podcast: https://www.typologypodcast.com/
3. A fiction reader’s heaven: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/
4. Speaking of books:
Blessings, friends!
T’was a rich, deep, and fun year of reading. I read 44 books and enjoyed most of them, so it was tough to scale my list down to 13 for this one.
This is year number 5 of doing the books blog. I always appreciate the feedback and it is a joy to write. Enjoy!
*Please note that I rate my books in part on their clean-read value.
Hard to put down. An unfathomable life and extraordinary success story. Brilliant writer. Brilliant woman! 4 and a half stars because of violence and language.
Loss, abandonment, and God’s healing redemption. A beautiful narrative of God’s power in our lives. God can make a life His masterpiece. Four and a half stars. Fabulous writer and storyteller. I’ve loved her books for many years. Clean-read with inferences and adult subjects
I love Bob Goff! His books are inspiration and motivation to just go out and love! I had the pleasure of hearing him speak in September and he is beyond wonderful. My favorite section is the end (witch doctors, oh my!).
I’ve read quite a few books about the Holy Spirit and this one is my favorite. 5 stars! Francis Chan is intense and oh so sold out for God. Powerful personal stories.
Loved. Loved. Loved. For such a time as this. This book spoke to me right where I was, just when I needed it. Sheila Walsh is authentic and so stinking funny. She blankets this book with grace. My favorite story is at the end. Five stars.
A book club book. Impossible to put down. The ending… wow! I give this a four-plus instead of 5 because of sex and violence. It is powerful! Beautifully written by a daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Etaf Rum takes the reader to a world of women who are second class (or last class) in their culture. We read a second book along this same vein for book club called Inside the Kingdom by Carmen Bin Ladin.Continue Reading
Hello friends, this marks the fourth year of the books blog. I experienced a rich year of reading and enjoyed 39 (counted) books. One of my goals for 2018 was to start a book club. So, along with my dear friend, Sarah, we launched our cozy club called Books With Friends. Before I get to the books, I’ll share a few ways that I keep track of and enjoy my reads.
Firstly, I use the library. It’s one of my favorite places and it is FREE!
Next, my family has a subscription to Audible. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, this is the way to go. I often listen to Audible or Podcasts on vacations or long car trips.
And finally, I use the Goodreads app to keep track of my books and see what my friends are reading. Feel free to follow me if you use Goodreads. You can also check out the Books page to see some of my all-time favs on this site: https://tanyar8.sg-host.com/books-that-have-changed-me/
Now, how about I share some of my choice wins from 2018?
This book. Wow. It is deeply personal to the author, she is real and vulnerable, and shares parts of her story. Oh, how it spoke to me. It is Scripturally solid and relatable and hope-filled for anyone struggling with grave disappointment and the pain of a life that has not gone as desired. Five stars.
I read three Mark Batterson books in 2018. This was my favorite and I like it as much as the book above but for different reasons. God used these words to pull me out of discouragement and I continue to return to it. I am praying boldly again!
Imagine Heaven is a book I picked up after a dream of two brothers saying goodbyes before one enters Heaven. I wanted to learn more and hold on to this beautiful dream. This book is a mind-blowing, faith-filled and radiant look at Heaven with story upon story. I will read it again.
Another book that came at the perfect time. I read a few 
Brene Browns this year, but this one was spot on in my healing journey. I love this quote, “You have to be brave with your life, so that others can be brave with theirs.” I am slowly learning to be whom I’m supposed to be. This book has a blog-like feel with social science led research that I found fascinating.
This is the second memoir written by this remarkable young woman. Daring to Hope contains more of the author’s heart struggles (tied to scripture) than the first book, and not as many stories (although the ones included are amazing). It is somewhat of a Bible study and illustrates the heart of the gospel. This inspiring woman is a model of the hands and feet of Jesus.
Kelly Corrigan is the new Erma Bombeck. She is f
unny and poignant. I was moved to tears and laughed out loud during my reading. This is a mother-daughter story with heart and humor. Love the metaphors! PG-13 for language and sexual innuendo.
Can we talk about books?
What fun. This subject is one of my favorites and this is the third year of writing the “Books” blog.
The beginning of 2017 was dry as novels go. I read and read hoping for a delicious novel to sweep me away. It took heaps of reading to get there.
Because I don’t read many current Best-Sellers (I wait until they land in my library, a friend loans one to me, or prices drop), the books shared here have been around awhile.
I adore the Goodreads app. When I hear about an interesting read, I look it up on Goodreads and put it on my list. Goodreads also notifies its users when Amazon holds Kindle sales.
Another way to enjoy books is by listening. Our family subscribes to Audible (mobile.audible.com). I have spent hours driving to my dad’s these last eight-plus months during his illness. Listening to books and podcasts helps brighten the drive time.
I found some jewels I’d like to share with you.
Now, let’s talk books…
This was my favorite, favorite non-fiction book of 2017! I am a big fan of the author; he is deep and funny and loves God. The premise of this book is that we can live life without taking offense. Yikes! A challenge: we have no right to get angry, to take offense, and “righteous anger” is not justified. Hansen backs his suppositions with scripture. What a perfect time to embrace this virtue (offense is everywhere these days). The virtue of “unoffendableness”.
This one was on my list for a few years. Malcolm Gladwell writes beautifully. I enjoy his podcast and his use of language. Brilliant man. Gladwell has chosen stories and interviewed a mix of people to support his theory: the underdogs, less fortunate, less gifted, and misfits often have an edge and therefore win, succeed, and flourish in life. *Strong language in some of the quotes.
I read this Beth Moore book for the second time. An intimate peek into the life of Jesus based on the book of Luke. This walk through the life of Jesus is a deep one and granted me a greater understanding of my Savior. As usual, Beth is humorous and authentic.
Oh, rejection, you stink and you have tried to define me. Lysa Terkeurst did it again. The author truly speaks to where so many of us live and directs us to God’s inviting love for us. I needed this and God used Lysa to speak to me.
An amazing, inspirational girl is Malala! She is the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. My mouth was on the floor for much of this sometimes-intense read. I learned the history of Pakistan and the Taliban. My heart broke for this brave, sweet girl and the millions of girls who cannot attend school. Malala was an activist with her father from her earliest days. A long, but worthwhile read. *There is an abridged version for younger readers.
The authors have a beautiful, biblically charged redemption story. The tale oozes in inspiration and hope. Even further, they believe God has called all married couples to thrive and have “beyond ordinary” marriages. No matter what our story is as couples, we can move beyond selfishness, immaturity, and ordinary to extraordinary.