Books Archives - Kristin Saatzer

Four Favorites for June

June 1, 2023 By Kristin Saatzer 4 Comments

Happy June, friends! Here are four fun things I’ve enjoyed lately that may heighten your summer mood…

Tis the season to grill! I gave my son this fun little gadget for his birthday, perfect for marinating your favorite meat. https://amzn.to/43izoii

Looking for a fabulous summer read? This memoir unfolds like a novel, as Beth Moore is a master storyteller. Impossible to put down: intense, funny, poignant, and profoundly moving. I am reading it for the second time with my book club. https://amzn.to/45IJLO4

Before you slather on all that sunscreen, check out this app that will tell you if it is full of chemicals or clean. Scan the product with the QR code. Household cleaners, makeup, and personal products, too. Think Dirty® Shop Clean – Clean Beauty App – Shop Clean Products – Think Dirty® Shop Clean. (thinkdirtyapp.com)

I read this book countless times as a tween and was excited to see the movie. It did not disappoint. The acting is fantastic, as is the nostalgia. Grab your BFF, sister, daughter, or mom. Pop the corn, break out the candy, and escape the heat on a hot summer night. https://amzn.to/3OTr586

What are you enjoying these days?

A Time to Rest and Refuel

March 21, 2023 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

Lent looks different for me each year, but I always find my way to rest. Rest from the pressures of life, from social media, sugar, rest from my to-do list.

Sabbath. A beautiful word in the Jewish/Christian tradition from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means to stop.

The Lenten season points us to the cross, a time to bring more of God into our hearts and minds. A season for our souls to pause for breath and catch up with our bodies. A beautiful break to refuel for the future.

It sounds lovely, doesn’t it? But of course, it will only come about if we put the brakes on our schedules, take some things off the calendar, say no to commitments, and intentionally make space for it to happen.

Purposeful rest requires purposeful action and intention.

After taking things off the plate, we can ask what fills my soul? For me, it is getting outside with a book, walking in nature, and laughing with my family. A Sunday afternoon with nothing scheduled. A morning without the alarm ringing. Beautiful moments in life to savor and cherish.

My Best-Loved Books of 2022!

January 12, 2023 By Kristin Saatzer 6 Comments

Happy New Year, welcome to the annual books blog!

I enjoyed a great year of reading. There are simply too many to review, but here are a few of my favorites from the 51 books I read in 2022.

Self-help/Christian Inspirational:

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry https://amzn.to/3ZaR395 by John Mark Comer. I read this book twice and plan on rereading it—a perfect book for the new year. A few favorite quotes: “….and how we spend our time is how we spend our lives. It’s who we become (and don’t become).” “The whole point of apprenticeship is to model all of your life after Jesus. And in doing so, to recover your soul.”
WayMaker https://amzn.to/3ksAWF0 by Ann Voskamp. Beautiful prose and deep thoughts. Truly transformative for me. I read it a few times and review my highlights often. So many beloved quotes; here is one: “There is no pleasing God without trusting God. Trusting God is no small thing! To God, it is everything. God wants to be chosen too.”
No Cure for Being Human https://amzn.to/3lXkZY7 by Kate Bowler. A mix of memoir/self-help/inspiration. I resonated with her words. “Life is beautiful and terrible, full of hope and despair and everything in between, and there’s no cure for being human.”

Four Faves: Fall Edition

October 17, 2022 By Kristin Saatzer 6 Comments

Hi friends! I hope this finds you well and enjoying some cool, crisp temps. Here are some fun things I have been enjoying lately…

Book: My book club enjoyed an excellent fiction read last month; it was a hard one to put down:

Podcast: Get your science on with this one, there are new episodes each week:

https://hubermanlab.com/welcome-to-the-huberman-lab-podcast/

TV Show: This is a new show to me (rated PG), but it’s in its second season. I thought the first few episodes were entertaining. It is on ABC and streams on Hulu.

Recipe: We are gluten, dairy, and (mostly) sugar-free around here. This one does have sugar, but you might substitute monk fruit, and I exchanged the regular flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour. These cookies were a hit with high schoolers and adults alike:

https://www.simplywhisked.com/dairy-free-pumpkin-cookies/

What are you reading, baking, watching, or listening to? Let me know in the comments.

Blessings,

Kristin