7 Books I Recommend—June 2021
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
– Stephen King
Below are 7 books I recommend from what I finished reading in June.
[See previously recommended books here]
Nonfiction
1. The Making of Biblical Womanhood
How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth
by Beth Allison Barr
Our pride often tells us *we* understand what the Bible means, not only for today’s audience, but also for its original audience. Including understanding women’s roles. But Beth Allison Barr takes us back through history to show us the path that led us here. Maybe our idea of “biblical womanhood” isn’t so biblical after all? I highly recommend this book. I give it 5 stars.
[My book review here of The Making of Biblical Womanhood]
2. Storyworthy
Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling
by Matthew Dicks
This is another 5 star book. Author Matthew Dicks is an award-winning oral storyteller (and an elementary school teacher, a novelist, a wedding DJ, etc.). This book is a fascinating compilation of how Matthew tells true stories from his life to win storytelling competitions. I have zero plans for that. But I I do want to better write and remember my own stories for myself. I picked up lots of great tips here. (I also love the podcast he hosts with his wife Elysha, Speak Up Storytelling, as well as his daily blog.)
How do you remember the stories of your life? Watch Matthew Dicks TED talk here on Homework for Life. He explains how and why he keeps up with his stories. He also explains it in chapter 3 of Storyworthy. I’ve started doing it myself (but not daily).
3. How to Tell Stories to Children
And Everyone Else Too
by Silk Rose West and Joseph Sarosy
Not intentionally, this is a second book I read this month on storytelling. But the focus here is totally different from Matthew Dicks’ Storyworthy. How to Tell Stories to Children is about spontaneously telling fiction stories to entertain and engage children in your life. This doesn’t come naturally to me, so I appreciate the encouragement and advice in this book on ways to improve.
[More notes here on How to Tell Stories to Children]
4. Untamed
by Glennon Doyle
If you like honest and vulnerable memoirs, Glennon Doyle’s books should be on your list. In this one, as in her other books, she explains how she’s choosing to live her life with bravery and authenticity, as a mother, a wife, an activist, a believer, and as just a fellow human being in this world.
5. The Influential Mind
What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others
by Tali Sharot
Do you wish you could change someone’s mind about an issue you disagree on? Likely we all do. This book authored by a neuroscientist explains why some of our first instinct tactics often fail (such as, just show them the data!) because that’s not how our minds works. Fascinating information here.
6. Divine Echoes
Reconciling Prayer With the Uncontrolling Love of God
by Mark Gregory Karris
How does God actually work in our world? What is the best way to pray to him? What should we ask him for (and not ask for)? Nobody can answer these questions with complete certainty. The author Mark Karris suggests we may be putting too much responsibility on God in our prayers and not enough on ourselves. This book offers interesting insights I hadn’t considered.
7. The Biggest Bluff
How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
by Maria Konnikova
Because my One Word this year is Uncertainty, I was drawn to this book. It’s written by a journalist who took a year to become a professional poker player. She wanted to learn how uncertainty, chance, skill, etc., intersect not only in poker, but also in life. Her journey is interesting, even if you’re like me and know absolutely nothing about poker.
Reading Now
- Think Again
The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know
by Adam M. Grant - Kent State
by Deborah Wiles - White Awake
An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White
by Daniel Hill - We Need to Talk
How to Have Conversations that Matter
by Celeste Headlee - Noise
A Flaw in Human Judgment
by Daniel Kahneman - Black Buck
by Mateo Askaripour - The Book of Longings
by Sue Monk Kidd
What good book are YOU reading this month? Please share in the comments.
My books on Goodreads
More books I recommend
sharing with Modern Mrs. Darcy
Thanks for all the recommendations, Lisa!
Blessings!
It’s always fun to share about books!
I pick up Biblical Womanhood from the library today …
Oh good! I’d love to know what you think about it, Linda. I found it quite liberating.
Seeing as I am currently rereading “Tell It Slant” by Eugene Peterson, I am going to check out your recommendations on storytelling.
I’ve not read that one by Eugene Peterson. I’ll have to look into it! Thanks for sharing it here, Joanne.
You gals are reading machines.
Ha. Reading is one of the loves of my life. Always has been. 🙂
You had some good reads this month, Lisa! Storyworthy looks particularly interesting.
My two favorites of the month were Trial and Error by Robert Whitlow and A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver.
Have a great July!
Thanks for sharing your favorites this month, Gretchen! I’ve not heard of either. It’s always fun to learn of new books that others have enjoyed.
After doing classroom and library presentations with my children’s books, I’m intrigued about the book “How to Tell Stories to Children” – because so many parents do not know how to read a book to their child and make it come alive – so many don’t understand interactive reading where the kiddos act out the stories as you read. It would be great to have a book to recommend. Hope you get that photo you want with your family this weekend!
I’d love to watch your presentations, Maryleigh. I’m sure you are superb at it!
I’m hoping all the grands will be able to make it this weekend. We’re waiting on one of the little one’s cough to go away before we hear the final decision whether or not they’ll be coming up.
Sounds like you read some really interesting books!
Some reading months are better than others; June was definitely a great one. 🙂
I love a good memoir. Untamed sounds interesting! Thanks for the recommendations.
Blessings,
Tammy
Untamed was full of great insights. She made laugh out loud quite a few times as well. 🙂
Every time I see the list of books that you are currently reading, I smile! I’m glad that I’m not the only person who reads more than one book at a time.
It’s just more fun to read more than one book at a time, yes? 🙂
Very Charlotte Mason-esque
I will be very interested to get your thoughts on The Book of Longings. I have seen some disappointing preview material, but I love SMK’s writing.
And I have yet to sample Glennon Doyle’s work. Sounds wonderful!
I’m getting close to the end of The Book of Longings. I’ve really been enjoying it. I also love SMK’s books. I think a key thing for readers to remember is that it is only written as fiction, not truth. 🙂
I recently added Biblical Womanhood to my Favorites list on Hoopla so I can listen to it. I’m really excited to hear that you loved it because I have high expectations!
I hope Biblical Womanhood lives up to your expectations, Nicole. I hadn’t heard much about it when I first got it. But now I hear about it often. I’ll likely re-read it again in the future.
I’m actually listening to it right now, and I’m finding it very enlightening. I’ve had my eye on it for quite awhile. (I actually requested the ARC a long time ago but was turned down—not surprising since it’s not the type of book I typically review.) This was the first mention I’d seen of it since, so I was happy to see someone’s thoughts on it.
Sure love your lists of books. The one on Story fascinates me – I would love to be a better story teller. I will check that one out for sure. Happy weekend, Lisa!
I’m sure you would enjoy Storyworthy as much as I did, Jean. The author Matthew Dicks shares lots of his own stories in the book, as well as prompts to go watch/listen to his stories on YouTube.
These books look intresting.
Thanks for the recommendations. I love non0fiction, but most blogs I have seen only review fiction.
I agree, Ellen. I see mostly fiction on the blogs I read too. But I’m a huge fan of nonfiction myself. 🙂
Lisa, you have a way of introducing me to the most fascinating books! These all sound interesting, particularly Storyworthy and The Influential Mind. I’m adding these to my TBR lists. 😉
I don’t think you can go wrong with those two books, Jeanne. Hope you enjoy!
I’m going to check out Divine Echoes. I don’t have enough people in my circle to discuss prayer and learning more about my faith journey, so reading books like this one help me think about life from different points of view. Thank you for the recommendation.
Divine Echoes was very helpful to me, so I hope it will be to you, too, Danielle. He presented some unique ideas that I hadn’t heard before, so it’s making me think through some of my previous thoughts on prayer as well.