March April 2012 Reading

During March and April, I finished 15 books. This time around I’ve grouped them into 5 main categories. I posted reviews for 12 of the 15 books, and the link for each book title will direct you to the original review posts which have been posted over the last 2 months. For those I haven’t reviewed on here, I’ve marked with a **double asterisk, and the link will take you to an Amazon link for the book.

Christian Living

• Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road (Timothy J. Keller)
• Business For The Glory Of God: The Bible’s Teaching On The Moral Goodness Of Business (Wayne Grudem)
• **Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough (Kay Warren) (Although I did not write a review of this book, my husband very briefly did here.)

Family Life, Marriage, & Parenting 

• Your Four Year Old: Wild And Wonderful (Louise Bates Ames)
• The Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ’s Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children (Sally Clarkson)
• Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids (Kim John Payne and Lisa M. Ross)
• The Meaning of Marriage: Finding Happiness in Your Most Profound Relationship (Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller)
• Spirit-Led Parenting: From Fear to Freedom in Baby’s First Year (Megan Tietz and Laura Oyer)

Biography and History

• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin (Erik Larson)
• Decision Points (George W. Bush)

Sociology

• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Charles Duhigg)
• Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting (Pamela Druckerman)
• Imagine: How Creativity Works (Jonah Lehrer)

Classics

• **Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) (free via Kindle)
• **A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) (free via Kindle)

Observations from March and April’s Reading

• I finished reading 10 books in March and 5 in April.
• Right now, I’m at 39 books for the year, which puts me at 52% toward my goal of reading 75 books this year. I’d still like to aim for over 100, and think it’s definitely possible. At the same time, I’m not sure what May and beyond will hold other than, God-willing, a baby in my arms. 🙂
• I have now read 10 out of 10 of the first 1o books I listed that I’d like to read this year, and am enjoying again seeing all the connections and how so many “unrelated” books give me better perspective through which to read the other books. At the same time, I see several areas/genres in which I’d like to branch out in my reading during the latter half of this year. You know…I seem to be lacking in the horror and chick flick departments… 😉
• I’m even more sold to using Goodreads to track my reading, as well as gain suggestions from others–friends with a variety and diversity of reading interests. One drawback to using Goodreads could be if I wanted to keep track of reading books that I’d want to keep private (though, it can be set to private; or you could have no friends :)). Of course, that would also apply to posting my reading on my blog.

RELATED:

• January February 2012 Reading Summary
• You can download 1 FREE audiobook from Audible.com here. (It’s a free trial, and the first book costs nothing; you can cancel at any time. However, the membership has been worth it for us. Actually, we have 2. :))

What about you? Any amazing reads? Any book suggestions?

(Thanks to several readers/blogs I read, I have started a few of some readers/writers suggestions. :))