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Each year I set out to read 52 books. I like keeping track of them on a page of my blog for easy reference and to make sure I am keeping up with my challenge.
Warning this is not the book to finish sitting poolside at the public pool while waiting on your daughter to finish swimming lessons. It has the potential to make any mom cry and doing that in public is awkward. Fellow bookworms totally get it -non-bookworms not so much. Just 18 Summers was a great first read of 2015 reaffirming a message that is dear to my heart, children don’t stay young forever take time to make memories and savor the moments.
Okay so I seem to be on a trend of picking fiction books that require tissues to be close at hand when you read them. That is okay though because Crossing Oceans was worth every tear shed and more. WOW!
3. Dry As Rain
Once I was finished Crossing Oceans I jumped right in to another Gina Holmes book –Dry as Rain. However it wasn’t as good as Crossing Oceans. The story line was a bit unbelievable. The characters not as developed. It was still okay but not WOW.
4. Clutter Free Revolution: Simplify Your Stuff, Organize Your Life & Save The World
I had high hopes for this book based solely on the title. Those hopes were not fulfilled. I really didn’t learn anything new about decluttering from Clutter Free Revolution , nor did it inspire me to toss more stuff.
5. The Fringe Hours: Making Time For You
I LOVED The Fringe Hours. If you are a mom feeling frazzled – you need to read this book. If you have set your passions on the back burner because you figure your don’t have time for them in this busy season on life-you need to read this book.
I liked The Fringe Hours so much that I wrote about it on the blog.
6. Uncommon Beauty: 7 Qualities Of A Beautiful Woman
This is a short book packed with amazing quotes and words of wisdom of what truly makes one beautiful. Uncommon Beauty could be either read and enjoyed alone or it could be used as a bible study for either personal study or group study-either way it is well worth the read.
7. Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, And Never Get Stuck
I don’t know what made me choose this book other than I like Jon Acuff’s writing style. You see besides summer jobs during college and a part time job during high school I have never worked out there in the so called “real” world. However, I am so glad I listened to Do Over it made me realize that I do work well on my own in both homemaking and in blogging.
8. The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams & Greatest Fears
The Circle Maker has forever changed the way I view prayer. I know some see it as a name it and claim it book but that isn’t how I saw it. Mark Batterson makes it very clear in the first chapter that we cannot use God like some genie in a bottle. However that doesn’t mean we should just ask once for what is on our hearts and leave it there either. Consistent prayer matters.
9. Desperate: Hope For The Mom Who Needs To Breathe
I probably should have read Desperate during the time when my children were little. I think I would have related more to the words within its pages then. If you are a mom of children 3 and under then this book is written for you. For the mom who can’t seem to get above the piles of laundry, nor get a shower by herself.
10. Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship With Money
The first 1/3 of Your New Money Mindset was cram packed with stuff that got me thinking and then it just sort of dwindled.
11. The School Of Greatness: A Real-World Guide To Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, And Leaving A Legacy
This book just didn’t live up to the hype. I had high hopes for it and well those hopes were dashed. There were some great stories in it but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
Chance of Loving You is made up of 3 short romance stories. I was having a really rough emotional week when I read this book and short and sweet was just what I needed.
Oh how I love the Christiansen Family! Romance and adventure rolled into one. The Wonder of You did not disappoint and I am sad to see there is just one more book left in this series. I don’t want to say goodbye to this family just yet.
14. 31 Days To Radically Reduce Your Expenses. Less Stress. More Savings
I received a free copy of 31 Days To Radically Reduce Your Expenses for my involvement in the book launch. If your finances need an overhaul this would be a good book to grab and read ( I read it in one afternoon/evening) . It will help you see where money holes are in your budget and give you ideas on how to patch them up.
15. Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose In A World of Busy
If you struggle with the word no, Breaking Busy is the book for you. If you struggle with trying to be in control of everything, this book is for you.
16. Small Is The New Big: and 193 other riff, rants, and remarkable business ideas
As with any Seth Godin book Small Is The New Big was full of nuggets of business wisdom.
17. Rising Strong
There is a bit of swearing in this book but it is very good. If you want to get to the bottom of why you respond the way you respond, Rising Strong can help.
I laughed, I cried and I can’t wait to visit the characters in Wildflowers From Winter again. In my books that makes this a great fiction book.
19.How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships
Some of the language in this book means something entirely different now than it did when the book was written. However the advice in How To Talk To Anyone is very helpful. I have already started implementing some of her conversation starter ideas and have had some great conversations because of them.
20. Easy. Homemade. Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family
More of a short recipe book than an actual book but I read Easy. Homemade. from cover to cover so I am counting it! It has some great simple recipes within its pages. (UHMB)
21.Mindset for Moms: From Mundane to Marvelous Thinking in Just 30 Days
I found Mindset for Moms to be both encouraging and challenging. (UHMB)
22.Your Retreat: A Guide to Giving Yourself a Personal Planning Day
Your Retreat would be an excellent eBook to grab at the end of the year. It has all that you would need to start the next year off on the right foot. (UHMB)
23. Smart Organizing: Simple Strategies For Bringing Order To Your Home
So this book took me over a year to finish. Not that it wasn’t good but because I had downloaded on the Kindle app on my iPhone and would read it when I found myself stuck somewhere without a book. Even though it took me a year of little moments to read it I did take away something and that is sometimes we over complicate organization and that causes disorganization. Keep things simple and you will stay organized.
24. Be AMAZING: You Know You Want To
I wouldn’t really call this a book, more like a grouping of essays. It took no time at all to read but I did find the words within it very encouraging.
The Aubundant Mama’s Guide to Savoring Slow will help you to cherish the little moments of quiet in your day that you often rush through.
26.Girl Meets Change: Truths to Carry You through Life’s Transitions
Are you facing a move? An empty nest? Or another major life transition if so you will find the words inside Girl Meets Change encouraging.
27. Rest Assured: A Recovery Plan for Weary Souls
For those of you that need to slow down–but your not sure how.
28. Thinking Outside The Gift Box
I LOVED this book. So many heartfelt gift ideas and most can be finished in a very thrifty way! It is available as an eBook on Amazon but I think you are much better off buying it directly from the author’s website since she offers some incredible bonuses to go along with it. (UHMB)
29.Plan It, Don’t Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan
I decided to read Plan It, Don’t Panic in hopes of getting some help in taking my meal planning up a notch–I wasn’t disappointed. I am planning to take what I learned from this book and create a rotating meal plan for our 6 month RV trip. (UHMB)
30. A Work At Home Mom’s Ultimate Guide To Building A Business Blog & Brand
This book was a little too basic for my liking. If you know absolutely nothing about blogging it would be a good start, but it certainly is not for those with a few years of experience already under their belts. (UHMB)
31. Simplifying Home
This was an eBook I received as part of the 2016 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. It had some great advice in it and was motivating. (UHMB)
32. 175 Best Date Ideas: The Ultimate Bucket List of Dates for Couples
If you are wanting some creative in home and away from home date ideas for you and your husband 175 Best Date Ideas has some good ones. (UHMB)
33. Miracle Dough
This book was also part of the 2016 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle (UHMB) . It is one bread recipe that you can make up in dozens of ways. I want to try it before we leave on our RV trip as my family loves homemade bread but I don’t want to drag along the bread maker.
34. Building A Frame Work: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook
New bloggers and more experienced bloggers like myself will benefit from this eBook. It was part of the (UHMB) it is cram packed with very helpful information on how to either set your blog up for success from day one or make your existing blog more successful.
35. The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective
A short read but an impact full one. The Noticer will get you thinking–what would happen if you started viewing your problems from a different perspective.
36. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
7 made me think H.A.R.D. about all the things I have in my life that I take for granted. All the things I could give or give up to help others.
37. The Alliance
I don’t usually read novels in the genre but something about The Alliance just drew me in. Once I started the book I could barely put it down and ended up reading it in 3 sittings over a weekend.
This book was the last of the Tending Roses series. It left me with so many questions about what happens to the characters next! Don’t ya just hate that!
39. Addicted to Busy: Recovery for the Rushed Soul
Do you know what rest truly is? That is how Addicted to Busy challenged me. I always thought I was good at relaxing until I read this book. Now I see I need to learn how to truly be at rest.
Warning this book does contain some swearing. Here is a secret you might not know about me I love Sophia Kinsella books. I wish she didn’t make her characters swear but those characters are oh so funny that I can forgive them.
41. Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest
This book covered a topic I wasn’t expecting it to cover based on its title. If you have been keeping busy in order to avoid dealing with a painful past Spiritual Whitespace is for you.
This is the first Chris Fabry book I have ever read and it will not be my last! OH MY! Every Waking Moment sucked me in and kept me glued to its pages.
43.Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
I listened to this on the Hoopla app and learned a lot between the difference between shame and guilt.
44. Satisfied: Discovering Contentment in a World of Consumption
This book really had me thinking deeply about what contentment truly is.
45. The Promise Of Jesse Woods
Warning this book have some mentions of various child abuse (nothing graphic). The story was one of strength beyond human understanding and greatly moved me.
46. Crush It
This book was written in 2009 so some of its social media promotion suggestions are out of date, but other parts of it are still extremely helpful to business people looking to better promote their business.
I am on sort of a Christ Fabry kick currently–this being the 3rd novel I have read by him in the last month or so. Not In The Heart gave me a book hangover. I could not get my mind to stop thinking about all that happened in the end of the book and of course I started wondering what are the characters up now–because you know they are totally alive LOL.
This book was written in 1999 over 16 years ago and yet a lot of what Seth Godin had to say within the pages of Permission Marketing still applies today. You get farther with relationship than you do with interruption.
I thought I was pretty good about not letting my work or other obligations take me away from what matters most to me–my relationship with Jesus and my family. Hands Free Mama showed me I have much room for improvement and I am already letting her suggestions change the way I live.
50. They Danced On
I have LOVED the Darling Family series by Carre Armstrong Gardener and am sorry to see it come to and end. Still this last novel in the 3 part series did not disappoint. I am still wondering what some of the characters are up to.
51. Lead Me Home
Amy K. Sorrells is a new author for me. I liked Lead Me Home so much that I would gladly read another book by Amy again. Although the ending was a bit too predictable in my opinion the message of the book left me with feelings of hope.
A good light read. Perfect traveling companion.
53. The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
This book had me filling my monthly donation box in one week instead of four. The More of Less has wheels a turning in my mind of ways to get rid of even more of what we own so that we can spend more time living and less time maintaining.
54: The Touch
I did not see the ending coming! The Touch took a twist that surprised me but captured me.
55. Hands Free Life: 9 Habits For Overcoming Distraction, Living Better, And Loving More
This book convinced me to take several apps of my smartphone including email. It convinced me to splurge a little more often on outings and small treats that my children love (gifts is their love language). It convinced me to hug more and type less.
56.The Truest Thing about You: Identity, Desire, and Why It All Matters
This book was okay. I was expecting it to be more though. Not sure how more –just more.
57.Audacious
Because sometimes you just need some Beth Moore. Audacious swept over my heart like a much needed hug and got my mind thinking — am I loving Jesus with my all?
58. Open: Get Ready for the Adventure of a Lifetime
This book reminded me of the Adventure in Odyssey episodes where they go back to the bible days with their time machine–only for adults.
59. Don’t Blink: What the Little Boy Nobody Expected to Live is Teaching the World about Life
An amazing true life story that values life.
60. For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards
This book was F.U.N.N.Y. .
61. Growing Up Amish
The author of this book Ira Wagler has an incredible way of weaving a story. This book although non fiction reads like fiction. It draws you in and keeps you wanting more.
Wow! What a love story. I had know idea the amount of trials Jep and Jessica Robertson have been through in their lives and marriage.
63. 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit
This book was humbling, I keep recognizing myself in the sections about women who do quit. 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit showed me I have a bit of work to do when it comes to remaining committed to my goals.
64.Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind and Soul
This is a book that I wish I bought in paperback version and not kindle format. There were “how to” sections in the middle of chapters that made it hard to navigate the book. That said, I really did like Unstuffed. It is full of tips and encouragement to junk the stuff and start living your best life.
65.Life Creative: Inspiration for Today’s Renaissance Mom
One of the most inspiring reads for 2016! Life Creative helped me shape my goals for the new year and breathed life into my creative mom soul.
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