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Happy New Year! We are waking up a little later this frosty morning and with no place to go it's a great day for reading. Has everyone set their new reading goals for this year?

One of my goals is to read more physical books. I have two out from the library right now:

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life

How about you all?

Hey Happy New Year! :) I'm planning to read a little closer to the challenge this year.

I just finished What Are You Going to Do?: How One Simple Question Transformed Lives Around the World: The Inspiring Story of Everett Swanson and the Founding of Compassion International and Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church for a book about current issues.

I started Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage for a book about history and This Homeward Ache: How Our Yearning for the Life to Come Spurs on Our Life Today for a book on Christian living.

I’ve had Endurance on my to-read for a while! I’ll also be interested to hear your thoughts on Counterfeit Kingdom. It was just brought to my attention this year.

I really enjoyed The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder last year, so Endurance came up as a recommend.

I’ll post my review on counterfeit kingdom this week!

I do not have much interesting on my list. Only one worth mentioning is I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible by Michael Heiser.

Not sure how my reading is going to go for the first part of the year as, for the first time in 21(!) years I'm returning to teaching - 2 days a week. So I'll be figuring out a new rhythm first.
But on my list to read this month:
Dubliners finished 24/1
The Wishing Spell finished 22/1
Cold Mountain
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family
Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity
National Geographic Dawn to Dark Photographs: The Magic of Light
The World We Found
The White Darkness finished 29/1
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World finished 24/1
The Tea Dragon Society finished 24/1

Beth, Eve in Exile really put things into perspective for me.

Sara, that sounds like an interesting read. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.

This month I'm reading

Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms for my book club,

All Things Bright and Beautiful,

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, and

The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin

Most of these are short, so I'll likely get to another book or two before the month is up.

I guess I must have deleted my post instead of editing. I'm adding books as I read them.

Tomorrow's Artificial Intelligence: A Futurist's Guide to Understanding and Harnessing AI Technology That Is Shaping Our World
Thomas Jefferson
The Secret Garden
The Spanish Empire: A Captivating Guide to Its Imperialism, Expansion into the New World, Colonial Conflicts, and Its Legacy in Modern Times
The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance � What Women Should Know
Someone Else's Bucket List
Crossroads
The Scarlet Pimpernel
A Hairy Tail
A Daring Faith in a Cowardly World: Live a Life Without Waste, Regret, or Anything Unfinished
Poke the Box
Hinds' Feet on High Places

My January TBR -
The Violin Conspiracy
Everyone's a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology
11/22/63

Finished :
To Kill a Mockingbird
Green Lights

Currently reading:

Christian Nonfiction - The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears, by Mark Batterson

Christian Nonfiction - When to Walk Away, by Gary L. Thomas

Devotional - Earth Psalms, by Francine Rivers

Classic: Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo

Lisa wrote: "My January TBR -
The Violin Conspiracy - FINISHED 1/20
Everyone's a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology
11/22/63

Finished :
To Kill a Mockingbird
Greenlights

Hi all! Last day of January. Anyone want to share their Best, worst, and surprise books of the month?

Best: The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix which is a telling of Dietrich Bonhoeffer with wonderful graphics.

Worse: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss. This was a book club choice and no one liked it. It is the Feminist version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but with out the historical accuracy, literary accuracy, and boring characters.

Surprise: Battlefield Earth by Ron L Hubbard. I thought it was going to be awful but it was gripping me with the pace of the action though some of things are dated.

Your worst really does sound bad!

My best was Escape From Reason be Francis Schaeffer. It is still very current even though it was published in the 60s dealing with 60s culture. It was a reminder that there is “nothing new under the Sun.�

My not-quite-worst was The Woman They Wanted. I understand the feelings of being burned out and jaded, but the message of self-love was a bit much.

My surprise was One Sumner I’m Savannah. I found it surprisingly engaging. Some of it was a bit incredible, but with such a powerful message of forgiveness, a lot can be forgiven!

My best:_Hinds Feet on High Places--I love this allegory about sanctification in our walk with Christ.

My worst: A Hairy Tail--it was a children's book but really wasn't engaging for me at all.

My surprise: Poke the Box--this book highlighted the importance of starting something, initiating, as being key for success, rather than waiting for all the pieces to be in place

My best:

-read this for a book recommended by a pastor. it was heart breaking to read. very well written.

Not worst, but wouldn't recommend to my readers:

-read this for a New York Times bestseller. Wouldn't recommend due to lots of swearing, a lot of sexual content.

Surprise:... I didn't really have any surprises this month :)

I am reading a lot of vintage romantic suspense books on audio these days. I finished four of them plus The Circle Maker by Pastor Mark Batterson. That's all I finished in January! As soon as I finished The Circle Maker, which was recommended by my pastor, a Christian friend on YouTube informed me that in her opinion drawing a circle was witchcraft! This left me feeling pretty confused about the book and I really still don't know what exactly it means to draw a circle around someone I'm praying for. I don't know how to classify that book at this point.

So from the romantic suspense books I read... which are not Christian literature at all...

Best - Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart - because of the location. Mary Stewart's description abilities make her books worth reading. In January I finished reading the entire list of her romantic suspense novels... I read them in the order they were published from the 1950's to the 1990's and it was really interesting to see the changes and challenges of her writing career, by reading what she wrote.

Worst - Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart, because she didn't develop this book well and then tossed in that the strange neighbor ladies were witches (mentioned in the last chapter) and that wasn't part of the plot and really didn't need to be mentioned at all.

Surprise - The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt - because I didn't guess the ending and it was really much more shocking than I had anticipated.

Best: Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin, lots of practical ideas to pay attention to your senses every day plus I'd agree with the message to not take your senses for granted. I do wish that she acknowledged the Creator of our senses, though.

Worst: Dubliners by James Joyce, everyone seemed hopeless and thus, helpless. Overall grim and depressing.

Surprise: The White Darkness by David Grann about Henry Worsley's trips to the Antarctic. More enjoyable and faster paced than I thought it would be.

Beth wrote: "Best: Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin, lots of practical ideas to pay attention to your senses every day plus I'd agree with the message to not take your senses for granted. I do wish that sh..."

Oh I'll have to check out that one by David Grann! I just slogged through Endurance by Alfred Lansing and found it too slow, but I really enjoyed Grann's The Wager. One of my favourite books as a kid was Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowatt, so maybe that's why arctic adventures intrigue me :) Thanks for sharing!