New Year Archives - Kristin Saatzer

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.”

My Best-Loved Books of 2021

January 5, 2022 By Kristin Saatzer 6 Comments

Let’s talk about books. Since 2015, I have shared my best-loved books of the year on the blog. I enjoyed most of the 45 books I read in 2021, it was another great year of reading for me.

There are far too many good ones to review, but I pulled out some of my favorites…

Novels:

Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool: I immensely enjoyed this young reader’s book that is not just for kids. I often look for Newberry Award winners that I have not read, and this one is delicious. It is a story about a town, a girl, friendship, and so much more. It is a historical fiction that transports the reader to Kansas in the early 1900’s.

All She Ever Wanted, by Lynn Austin: One of my favorite Christian writers. This one focuses on four generations of women with heartbreaking stories and riveting writing. The best is that God wins in the end!

The Downstairs Girl, by Stacey Lee: A book geared to Young Adult readers that I couldn’t put down. The protagonist is half Chinese and it takes place in post-Civil War Atlanta with the beginning of segregation laws.

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery: Yes, another “kid” book that delighted my heart. It was just what I needed this summer. Anne brings out all the feels and her outlook on life and chattering on and on is a pleasure to read. I just adore her.

Next Year in Havana, by Chantel Cleeton: If you want a fantastic history of the 1950’s Cuban revolution wrapped in romance, this book is for you. The author was inspired by her family’s stories of their Cuban past. This is the first one in a series of four and it is my favorite.

Are You One of Those?

January 20, 2020 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

James 1:5 The Passion Translation (TPT)
And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures, but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.

Are you one of those who likes to choose a Word of the Year (WOTY)?

I am.

Some of my past words include gratitude, surrender, light, and fight. I carry my magic word close over the course of the year. I study its theme scriptures, reflect, and write around it.

I choose my word based on desired growth – a scarcity in my soul that needs tending. Or a one-word prayer that needs answering.

As tempting as it was, I did not choose VISION for my 2020 word. Instead, my 2020 WOTY is… WISDOM. Why? Because I want to be a wise woman – one who goes first to God as she:

~makes decisions ~navigates relationships
~handles money ~reads scripture
~cares for herself and others ~manages time
~looks at what’s next ~considers what she takes in on the screen

And oh, so much more.

I long to be wise when I say good-bye to 2020, or at least wiser than I was when I said hello. And so, as James 1:5 says, I will ask God for wisdom and He will give it.

If you are not “one of those” but kinda want to be, come on, jump on the Wisdom Bus with me in 2020.

Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.
J.I. Packer

Photo by Lindz Marsh on Unsplash

My Best-Loved Books of 2019!

January 7, 2020 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

Can we talk about books – 2019 edition?

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.

So here we go:

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