6 Books I Recommend—December 2021
A room without books is like a body without a soul.
– Marcus Tullius
Here are 6 books I recommend from what I finished reading in December.
[See previously recommended books here]
Nonfiction
1. The Story of You
An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self
by Ian Morgan Cron
This is a brand-new book on the Enneagram by one of the leading experts. Cron walks us through each nine types in a clear and relatable way, demonstrating better ways to live our God-designed stories.
[book review here of The Story of You]
2. The Sleep Solution
Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It
by W. Chris Winter
I’ve been sleeping better since I read this book. Lots of practical information here, including putting insomnia into perspective.
3. The Dance of Connection
How to Talk to Someone When You’re Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate
by Harriet Lerner
Relationships can be tricky. Even though this was written a few years ago, Lerner role-plays multiple conversations through some of the minefields that have plagued us all in the past couple of years.
4. Stories I Only Tell My Friends
An Autobiography
by Rob Lowe
I don’t typically read celebrity memoirs, but I kept hearing this was a good one. And it is. I listened to it as an audiobook, read by Rob Lowe himself. His stories are fascinating and Lowe is very humble in the telling of them.
5. Learning to Speak God from Scratch
Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing—and How We Can Revive Them
by Jonathan Merritt
Some of us grew up speaking Christianese as our native tongue. But many more did not. Merritt points out how to have spiritual conversations with others in everyday language instead of the vocabulary popular only among Christians.
Fiction
6. Anatomy of a Miracle
by Jonathan Miles
Based on a true story, this novel is about an Afghanistan veteran who returned home paralyzed from the waist down. Until a miracle occurs at the Biz-E-Bee convenience store in Biloxi, Mississippi. What accounts for it?
Reading Now
- The Wisdom of Your Body
Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection Through Embodied Living
by Hillary L. McBride - The Divine Dance
The Trinity and Your Transformation
by Richard Rohr - Love for Imperfect Things
How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection
by Haemin Sunim - People We Meet on Vacation
by Emily Henry - Constructive Wallowing
How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them
by Tina Gilbertson - Jesus and John Wayne
How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
by Kristin Kobes du Mez - More Beautiful Than Before
How Suffering Transforms Us
by Steve Leder - How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
What good book are YOU reading this month? Please share in the comments.
MORE READING
- 10 Best Books of 2021
- What Will You Read Next? How Do You Decide?
- 7 New Books to Make You a Better Person
Interested in joining our One Word community for 2022? Sign up anytime in 2022! Get more details here.
My books on Goodreads
More books I recommend
Thanks as always for all your recommendations, Lisa!
Blessings!
I am so glad I found your blog. Your articles are a blessing to me. Thank you.
I’m currently reading Will Smith’s memoir. It’s a big one; over 400 pages. Looks like I’ll be reading it for a while. I think I will check out The Story of You and The Sleep Solution. Last year I took an Enneagram and learned I am an 8 and I’m always open to suggestions to get better quality sleep.
My oldest granddaughter is into the enneagram … I want to check out Cron’s book for her!
Meanwhile, I just want to hug you friend … let’s see what God has for us in the days ahead.
Constructive Wallowing is an excellent title! I’ve just read the last volume of Maya Angelou’s autobiography (review coming later today) and have loved the whole set of books.
The book about sacred words sounds interesting. It’s all too easy to say things that non-Christians have no idea the meaning of. It would be good to think of relatable ways to put it. A lot of blog posts and seminars about writing warn about using “Christianese.”
The sleep one sounds helpful. too. I don’t have insomnia regularly, but it seems like it happens when I most need sleep. I try not to fret over it, as that makes it worse, and trust that God will multiply the sleep I got like the loaves and fishes to make it enough.
I always enjoy reading posts about the books you are reading. Your lists make me think and expand my own reading.
An interesting collection of books with a wonderful variety of interests. Great post! Happy New Year!
Thanks for the recommendations, Lisa. I don’t know the Enneagram, so that book sounds interesting. All the best for 2022, and hope you read lots of wonderful books!
I just chose CONNECT for my One Word, so “The Dance of Connection” looks especially interesting! From my reading this month I recommend See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur, a powerful “memoir and manifesto of revolutionary love.”
I really do recommend The Dance of Connection, Lory, especially in light of your word CONNECT. I want to read more of Harriet Lerner’s books.
Lisa, your book lists are always interesting and mostly new to me. I particularly want to check out 3, 5, and 6. Happy New Year!
Your lists are always so full of treasure, Some great one coming up too. I will check some of them out! Happy New Year, Lisa!
I read The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron in December. That one gives great explanations of the nine enneagram types, but I was left wondering how to live well in my type. It sounds like The Story of You delves into that.
Thanks for the recommendations and Happy New Year!
Lisa, I think I need to look into the book about sleep … for obvious reasons! ? I also LOVE the quote you started your post with … wholeheartedly agree with that one! Many blessings in the coming year, my friend.
Thanks for the recs!
The first two books on your list from this month look like ones that would be interesting, especially if you think you’re sleeping better now from the second one! Hope you enjoy your January books!
Lisa Loves Literature
I should check out the Sleep Solution. It sounds like I might benefit from it too. I read another of Lerner’s books many years ago and it had a big influence on me. I still apply some of her concepts today. I hope you have a Happy New Year!
I am going to have to see if I can get Rob Lowe’s book on audio through our library; that would be a great one to listen to while driving!
Thank you for the recommendations this month. I am intrigued by each one, especially the insomnia one and the Christian speaking one (I’ve been struggling with this myself in the secular world).
I really loved Rob Lowe’s memoir on audio too. I have a celebrity memoir on my list this month and I loved it! It’s great on audio, but also need the physical copy for all the great photos!