2019 in Books

MY 2019 BOOKS

really liked it

Reflecting on the books I read in 2019 --- I see many many middle grade novels, which happen to be my favorites to read as far as fiction goes. 

There are a few "in progress" books that are not showing here, as they weren't in my "finished" shelf on Goodreads. I see it was a rather dry year when it comes to Christian-Growth type books, quantity-wise, NOT quality-wise though. 

I really enjoyed The Introverted Mom, even recommended it to a couple of people. And Own Your Own Life was a re-read this past year. I think I probably go back to that one every year. In fact, it might be the right time to start it again. :)  Speaking the Truth in Love probably needs to be revisited, as it was a rich read with lots of great thoughts. Out of all of those types of books, however, looking at 2019 in hindsight, I think the Lord led me to read Overcoming Fear Worry and Anxiety as our furlough lent itself to some very tumultuous and uncertain moments. While we were faced with our daughter's back condition, surgery, unknown timing of everything, adding to that--not being settled in our home for 6 months. It was very tempting for me to feel completely out of control in a bad way. I mean, there's casting our cares upon Him... as we're told to do, and in a sense, that's recognizing not being in control and being okay with it. But then there's feeling out-of-control and also not trusting in the Lord. I can honestly say that I vacillated between fretting about the future and details and how it would all affect us, and then calmly trusting in God's timing and ultimately His healing hand. I think reading this book by Elyse Fitzgerald really helped anchor my perspective and rein in those emotions when things felt as though they were going crazy.  

Going forward into 2020, I'm probably going to continue reading middle grade fiction novels. And throw in a few Christian-Growth books as the Lord leads. Many unread books remain on my shelf that I really want to make time for this coming year!

Here's to another fantastic year of reading!