January February 2012 Reading

Over January and February, I finished reading 24 books, and wrote reviews/summaries for 21 of those. I’ve divided this reading into 8 categories, though certainly many of the books could easily fit under multiple category headings. (And as I alluded to in one book review, there is usually application to a broad range of life even in a book that may seem like a narrow subject.)

The linked titles will take you to my original reviews/summaries that were posted over the last 2 months. The exception to this are the 3 books with a **double asterisk, titles for which I’ve not yet written a review. The asterisked links will take you to an Amazon listing of the book. (Once/if I write more extendedly on those books, I’ll edit this post to add a link.)

Family/Marriage/Parenting 

• Families Where Grace Is in Place (VanVonderen, Jeff)
• Parenting Is Your Highest Calling: And Eight Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt (Fields, Leslie Leyland)

Modern Fiction

• Mockingjay  (Collins, Suzanne)
• Catching Fire (Collins, Suzanne)
• The Hunger Games (Collins, Suzanne)
• The Orphan Master’s Son (Johnson, Adam)

Literary Classics

• A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle, Madeleine)
• **The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, Arthur Conan)

Business/Personal Productivity

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey, Stephen R.)
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (Hsieh, Tony)
• The Happiness Project (Rubin, Gretchen)

Theology/Christian Living

• The Cross of Christ (Stott, John R.W.)
• **The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (McKnight, Scot) (My husband has a review of this book here.)
• Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible & Why (Ehrman, Bart D.)
• The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (Keller, Timothy)
• Evil and the Justice of God (Wright, N.T.)
• **Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor (Lupton, Robert D.)

Human Rights/Global Interest

• The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag (Chol-Hwan, Kang)
• Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (Loewen, James W.)
• When the Rivers Run Dry: Water–The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century (Pearce, Fred)

World Religions

• The Voice of the Buddha: The Dhammapada and other key Buddhist teachings (Barrett, Sean)
• The Middle Way: The Story of Buddhism (Jinananda)

Biography

• Steve Jobs (Isaacson, Walter)

 Observations from January and February’s Reading

• I read 16 books in January and 8 in February. I experienced some minor pregnancy complications in February, which in some ways and some days allowed me to read more, but far less in other ways/on other days.
• Right now, I’m at 24 books for the year, which puts me at 32% toward my goal of reading 75 books this year. I’m still thinking I may be able to hit 100 or beyond, but we’ll see.
• I have read 9 out of 10 of the 1o books I listed that I’d like to read this year. I have started the remaining book, and hope to finish it this coming month.
• I tend to get burnt out on reading if I read too many books on the same subject at the same time or in a row. This is where reading in multiple genres and topics comes in handy. Recreational reading or short fiction tends to break up the monotony for me. (I think my sister was smarter than I realized when she read great works of fiction during some of her ultra-busy days of college. ;))
• I’m really enjoying Goodreads and seeing what friends and online connections are reading there, as well as using it as a source for book recommendations. It’s also a very helpful way to keep track of what I’m reading.
• I continue to be amazed at how the themes of totally unrelated books intersect and how much reading has allowed me to connect with others.

Have you read any good books this year? I’d love to hear suggestions.