In snatches of time between here and there, I read. Five minutes here, ten minutes there. Weeks go by and books get finished.
I don’t keep a standard to-be-read list.
Rather, I get samples of books I’m interested in sent to my Kindle from Amazon. I currently have 343 books (too many!) in my Samples folder (I create my own folders on my Kindle). These book suggestions come from other bloggers, podcasts, library shelves, friends, other books, etc.
After reading the sample, I decide if I want to read the full book. If I don’t, I remove the sample altogether.
But if the book does make the cut, I move it from my Samples folder to one of these folders:
My Borrow Thesefolder (206 books, groan!)
Or, if I really like it and can’t find it at the library or on NetGalley, to my Buy These folder (47 books, and let’s be real, I’ll only buy maybe 5 a year).
When I’m ready for a new book, I look to those two folders on my Kindle to choose from.
Occasionally someone will loan me a book or I’ll get a pre-published book to review on my blog or I’ll pick something off the “New” shelf at the library.
Sometimes they’re a dud. Sometimes they’re fascinating. And occasionally they’re life-changing.
So I’ll keep reading when I wake up too early in the morning or when I can’t sleep at night or as I’m folding towels at home or waiting in line at Walmart.
Almost every day I read. Definitely every week.
Reading books make me happy.
2020 Reading Challenges
This year I’m returning to reading challenges.
They’re fun.
They provide camaraderie among readers.
They push me to expand my reading selections.
Here are the 2020 challenges I’m participating in. With each, you choose the books you want to read in each category. And you choose your preferred level of participation.
You can also include the same book in multiple challenges (crossovers are usually encouraged). Books can overlap.
Most have a monthly or quarterly linkup if you want to add your book reviews and see what others have been reading.
You can also set your own goals and/or create your own shelf on Goodreads, or join several of these challenges on Goodreads or Facebook.
Look into one or more of these challenges for yourself if you’re interested.We can read together.
For the Love of Ebooks Reading Challenge
Details: Any number of ebooks from any source, any genre My Goal: Pro Status, 20-29 ebooks Host: As Told by Tina
The 2020 Reading Challenge
Details: 12 books total over 10 categories (such as, a book by a local author, a re-read, a classic you didn’t read in school, …) My Goal: 12 books Host:Modern Mrs. Darcy
2. Never Split the Difference Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss
Author Chris Voss is a former hostage negotiator for the FBI. He uses his experience (such fascinating stories!) to explain nine strategies to make our lives better (not just for negotiations, but for relationships). So good!
3. Off the Clock Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done by Laura Vanderkam
Related . . . 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think also by Laura Vanderkam
4. Happy Money The Science of Smarter Spending by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton
Another fascinating book, this one suggests how to use your money to be happier in the long run. In a nutshell:
Buy experiences.
Make it a treat.
Buy time.
Pay now, consume later.
Invest in others.
5. Dreyer’s English An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
Maybe an odd choice for a top 10 list, but this book about English is that good. Regardless of what you write, this book is a wonderful resource. Plus it’s entertaining.
6. Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker
A data-filled book, this one shows us through facts, charts, and graphs that, overall, the world is getting better, not worse.
7. Women Rowing North Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age by Mary Pipher
I took so many notes from this book, a sure sign of a great book. It gives me much-needed hope about getting older.
8. Everybody Lies Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
So intriguing! This book is full of interesting tidbits of information. It’s been called Freakonomics on steroids. [My 1-minute video review of Everybody Lies is here.]
9. The Myth of a Christian Nation How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church by Gregory A. Boyd
10. How the Bible Actually Works In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News by Peter Enns
Here is a different perspective on how to read our Bibles. Sometimes the Bible gets a bad reputation simply because we expect things from it that God might not have intended it to deliver.
Related . . . The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enn
Top 5 Memoirs
1. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama restores my hope; politicians and families can be moral, kind, and likable. She is really honest in this book, both about her years before Barack and about her years in the White House.
2. What Is a Girl Worth? My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about LarryNassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander
This is a tragic story about systemic sexual abuse. But thanks to the courage of Rachael Denhollander and others, standing up for justice and doing the right thing wins out.
3. The Moment of Lift How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates (Bill’s wife) is a stellar example of using money and power for good in our world.
4. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much; Bruce Springsteen is an authentic storyteller. (I listened to him read the audio version; excellent!)
5. Maid Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
I wish this weren’t a true story because it is a difficult journey for a single mom in America. Even if we aren’t in these shoes ourselves, we know someone who is. A great read.
Top 10 Fiction Books
1. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Loosely basing this story on a real detention center for young boys in Florida, Colson Whitehead writes grippingly from beginning to end about a young African-American boy’s journey through life. [My 1-minute video review of The Nickel Boys is here.]
2. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Revolving around a real-life scandal of a Memphis adoption agency, this novel tells about five siblings living in a shanty boat in Memphis in 1939, and then a present-day family with a yet-to-be discovered past.
3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Kya Clark, the “Marsh Girl,” lives basically alone on the North Carolina coast. When a local boy is found dead in 1969, fingers point to her.
4. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Prepare for a lot of hard and tender stops on this journey with Washington Black, an 11-year-old slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados. His life takes a big turn when he meets the master’s brother, Titch, an inventor and abolitionist.
5. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Two stories intertwine in this historical novel about a female spy in France during World War I and an American girl looking for her cousin after World War II. Each story masterfully unfolds just when you need it too.
6. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
When her Vietnam veteran father decides to move the family to Alaska in 1974, teenage Leni isn’t thrilled about it. But there is far more at stake under the surface.
7. I Let You Go by Clara Mackintosh
The most shocking plot twist I read all year was in this book about five-year-old Jacob who is killed in a hit-and-run accident. And the mystery that follows.
8. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Hal, a poor woman in England, receives a mysterious letter saying she has inherited money from her recently-deceased grandmother. Hal, knowing she’s the wrong recipient, shows up to get the money anyway.
9. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Madeline, Celeste, and Jane are three mothers of kindergarten students at a school in Australia. Their interactions are entertaining and light-hearted much of the time, but serious and mysterious at other times.
10. A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Centered around a wedding of an Indian couple in America, this is a sweet story of hardships and struggles in a family as they interact with each other and the broader community as Muslims in the United States.
I’ve already been at it awhile, asking to see ID cards. These moms, dads, and grandparents are waiting in line to get free Christmas gifts to give their kids. We need proof they are indeed the caregivers.
Almost everyone is gracious with our requests. They pull out Medicaid cards for their children or birth certificates or social security cards.
But occasionally someone argues with us. They say they didn’t know the requirements or they don’t have the cards with them or they can’t show us anything until next week.
We allow exceptions with permission; we give grace when we can.
The next young woman in line steps up to me. I get a bad feeling.
Are You Really Sorry?
I notice her stance before I hear her words. She is weaving back and forth, unsteady on her feet.
I ask for her children’s ID. She says she doesn’t have anything. I ask if she can come back Monday with proof. We’re giving away gifts then, too.
But she is furious with me. She says the cards are in storage. She doesn’t have the money to get them out.
I tell her I’m sorry, but we need to see some kind of paperwork.
I’m not ready for her reply.
She explodes: “Don’t tell me you’re sorry! You’re NOT sorry!”
I’m shocked. Instinctively, I say it again, “I really AM sorry….”
But I get no further because she’s screaming at me again. “I don’t want to hear that crap from you that you’re sorry! I know you don’t mean it!!!”
And I almost say it again. Because really I am sorry. I feel bad we can’t help her.
But I pull back. It won’t help to repeat it. She’s not hearing. And likely it would make things even worse.
I say nothing. I watch as she quickly staggers away from the crowd.
Feel Bad for Who?
I am stunned.
The people who had been near her in line tell me she was high. They say they feel bad for her children.
I feel bad for her children, too. Wherever they are. Somewhere safe, I pray. With someone safe.
But I also feel bad for me. I was just trying to help. I didn’t deserve that treatment.
The church lady in me rares up. I’d like to tell the woman that I don’t have to be here at all. I’m not getting paid. It’s freezing cold. I’m sacrificing my time and energy for people like her that I don’t even know.
She was ugly to me. Now I’m being ugly to her, if only in my mind.
Neither of us are right. We both are guilty.
I finally bounce back from my stupor, my anger, my offendedness. I feel less sorry for me. And more badly for her.
Because her attitude wasn’t about me.
I don’t need to take it personally.
Designed for More
Whoever I just saw, this wasn’t her true self.
In her original design, she was called forth to be loved, to have purpose, to live a life of value. Like each of us are.
But along the way, bad things must have happened. Then more bad things. And more.
And now here she is, not living out who she was made to be.
We all make wrong turns in life. Sometimes from our ignorance. Sometimes from our own willfulness. And sometimes because we’re knocked sideways so often that we lose sight of the path altogether.
I repent of my bad attitude. I pray for more compassion. I pray this young woman will find her way again. For herself. For her kids.
And I even pray for the people she randomly insults along the way. . . who, for the record, should not take it personally, even though we sometimes do.
But instead, we should take it prayerfully.
Sometimes I do, but not often enough, and not always as my first instinct.
Take This Personally
The night wears on. The line only continues to grow.
We finally have to call it, to issue rain checks for those who won’t reach the door tonight. They receive numbers to come back Saturday morning as first priorities.
As I start walking to my car, I see a smiling face look at me. It’s another woman who had previously been in line, a small woman with a child almost as tall as her.
She stops me to say thank you. She tells me she appreciates the smile on my face. She wants me to have a Merry Christmas. What a welcome contrast to the first woman.
The church lady in me again rises up. I want this to be about me, about my goodness, about my sacrifice.
But again, it’s not about me.
I can’t take this personally either.
If I didn’t earn the earlier criticism, I can’t take credit for this current praise.
Because neither is about me. Not really. It’s about life, about love, about heartaches and joys. About ups and downs and plenty and lack.
Ultimately, it’s about God.
His mission for justice.
His implanting of love.
His invitation to light up the world through the humility of his Son.
We’re all in the same human family, fathered by the same divine being.
And we all need his mercy equally. Some for addictions. Some for pride. Everybody for something.
The gift of grace. I need all God has to offer. I have no ID card to prove I qualify for it. . . Except this: God calls me his child.
I shouldn’t take everything personally. Except grace.
It’s coming soon. Midwinter. The longest hours of darkness all year. The fewest hours of sunlight.
The hours vary from place to place. New York City, for example, will have 9 hours, 15 minutes of sunlight on winter solstice, whereas its summer solstice will give them 15 hours, 5 minutes of sunlight.
The winter solstice happens when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun.
But what happens with us at midwinter?
Are winters of the soul our longest hours of darkness, too?
What happens when we turn away from the light?
Why Winter Solstice Makes Me Happy
I don’t like the long, cold darkness of winter. I prefer hot, sunny days when I can go barefooted and wear t-shirts and shorts. I’m comfortable in ease.
But winter solstice brings me joy in a unique way. Why?
Because I know the next day will bring more light. We’ll have turned a corner. And the day after that? Even more light.
There can only be one darkest day. Other days may still be dark, but they’re not as dark as the darkest.
We can celebrate winter solstice as a time of hope. It signals a time to rest. To release old things. To look ahead to new things.
To turn back to the light.
The Light of Christmas
On the darkest day, use the darkness to pray, to reflect to meditate.
Outer darkness does not imply inner darkness.
At Christmas, we celebrate the light. May the Light inside you burn brightly as we turn to brighter days ahead.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. – Albert Camus
If you’re looking for accountability for your One Word 2022 journey, !
Have you picked one word to focus on in the new year? Now is the time!
Not Another Resolution
A lot of people don’t like New Year resolutions. I get that.
Resolutions are often too hard (or we would have done them already, right?).
Resolutions are often too vague or unrealistic.
And resolutions are easy to forget about and drop altogether.
That’s why I like choosing one word instead. (Well . . . letting one word choose me—that’s often how it works.)
One word is simple.
One word is easy to remember.
And one word is flexible in the directions it can take you.
Only God knows what the year ahead holds for us. So at our invitation, he’ll guide us to a word custom-designed for our year to come.
That’s a good thing. And a faith-building thing.
For example, when I chose “Breathe” in 2010, I didn’t know it would be the year both my parents would take their last breaths. When I chose “Venture” in 2012, I had no idea I’d be leaving my old religious heritage that year to branch out into a new faith direction. When 2014 brought “Compassion,” it totally wrecked and expanded me at the same time.
And in 2019 when I chose “Hope” as my one word, I didn’t know that a dear friend would die or that I would be on the road much of the year or that God would stretch me in new ways.
Now it’s time to choose for next year.
3 Steps to Choose One Word
Using the acronym LAP, here are 3 steps that help me decide on one word. Maybe they can help you, too, as we all get ready to take another lap around the globe.
1. L—Listen
Pay attention. God is already at work in you, doing new things, preparing you for new things.
Are you hearing repetitive messages on a specific theme? Does a particular song touch you deeply? Have you been drawn to a certain book or author?
God can work through any of these avenues. Listen for his message. Stay present to his wisdom. It’s not something you sweat over, but something you notice and receive. Accept what comes without having to understand it fully. God will reveal more when the time is right.
2. A—Abbreviate
Now is time to narrow your focus. It’s better to give your full attention to one main word or concept than be distracted by a hundred little resolutions. Be most attentive to one thing at a time.This thing. At this time. With this person.
Your one word choice doesn’t have to be profound or complex. Keep it simple and relevant to this season of your life. It’s a step, not the complete journey.
When you welcome whatever comes in this one day—accepting it as your reality and being with it (even if it’s something that needs to change in the next moment)—you stay most in the presence of God. Once you own it now, he’ll guide you what to do with it next.
3. P—Plan
Think of a few concrete things you can DO to help you live out your one word. For 2019 I chose 28 ways to practice “hope” (I wrote it in a series here). You don’t have to be that specific, but do come up with a few ideas of how you can use your word.
But at the same time, also release expectations of where your one word will take you. Let go of a specific outcome you may have in mind. It’s about the process instead.
Plan for the future, but hold those plans loosely.
There’s no way you can predict how God will use your word. Just know this: God will honor your intentions to honor him through it. Trust that his grace will be enough.
Pray about receiving your word from God, then hand it right back to him.
Let him embed it into your life one relationship at a time, one day at a time, one situation at a time.
