Welcome to my weekly Book-ish post where I share what I’ve been reading and watching recently. If you missed it, you can see my Reading Goals for 2018 and 44 Books I Plan to Read This Year.
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I told you that I’m shooting to read three books per week through the end of the year. And I’m happy to report that I read three more books this past week! It helped that we had two 18-hour flights to South Africa and back.
Here are the 3 books I read:
1. And Still She Laughs
I honestly expected this book to be about the author’s journey losing a daughter to cancer. While she did talk some about that, mostly it was not biographical and just talking more about the lessons and faith journey she’s been on since experiencing such heart-rending loss.
I think this book would be an encouragement to someone if they have lost a loved one and need some honesty and hope while walking through grief.
2. Educated
My sister recommended this book to me. I hadn’t heard of it, but since I posted about reading it on Instagram, I’ve discovered that it’s a really well known book.
I’m not sure yet what to say about this book. As someone who was homeschooled and grew up in a sheltered environment and knew many families who sheltered their kids a LOT more than I was sheltered, this book hit pretty close to home. And I found that I could relate to much of it in a way that maybe many people wouldn’t be able to.
That said, it also made me so grateful for the education I received through homeschooling and how much my parents invested in me. I know that isn’t always the case, as evidenced in this pretty extreme story. If you’ve read this book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
3. Love Lives Here
I didn’t have expectations for this book just because I didn’t know what to expect, but I ended up really loving it. I underlined and highlighted so many parts of it. And one of the parts of it dredged up some really unexpected emotions about a painful situation in my life — and shed some clarity on it and brought some healing for me.
I did find that the book jumped around more than I would have liked and left a lot of details out where I would have loved the author to paint a clearer picture on some of the stories, but overall, I found it be a very worthwhile read and one that will sit with me for a long time to come.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes: “I knew something needed to change, so here’s what I did. I stopped listening to the loudest voices in my life and started listening to the truest ones.” (This sort of sparked this post on Instagram this morning.)
When I Find Time to Read
People are always asking me how I find time to read. Honestly, it’s because I love to read, because I’ve chosen to prioritize it, because I don’t have a lot of other hobbies, and because I can’t not read. Also, when you love something, you usually can find ways to get creative to find time to fit it in — even if it’s in the little nooks and crannies of life.
I wrote a post on 3 ways to find more time to read — even when life is busy. And here are 7 more ways to find time to read.
I am in the process of reading this and the only thing that disturbs me is her inability to walk away from the abuse. But, I homeschool and I realize how much I influence every single thing they think and believe. There is not a lot of different views or points of view that differ from ours that my kids are exposed to. This is going to make me approach how much I share my particular view or at least encourage my kids to investigate their own
I read Before We Were Yours this week. Couldn’t put it down! So good! Right now I’m reading Driving Miss Norma. Super fun!
I read “Educated” in just a few days. I was riveted by her story, and how by her grit and determination, she left her sheltered, cult-like past behind. But I was also moved by her struggles growing up with a parent with undiagnosed mental illness and how the effects of that molded her life. Her anecdotes were cringe-worthy, and I was amazed at her openness to share them (like not realizing that she should have read the words of the textbook instead of just looking at the pictures). I am still thinking about this book too.
I just finished “Still Waiting” last night a story of a woman who gives up a child at 17 during the 1930’s and then 77 years later when she is in her 90’s she meets her child. It was a true story and was so good. I got it from Tyndale Rewards a few years back, and now I am sorry that I left it on my “to read” bookshelf so long.
I read Love Lives Here and Educated: A Memoir. I was glad to have read both. I’m reading More than Happy: The Wisdom of Amish Parenting by Serena B. Miller currently. I’ll let you know how I like it. Happy reading!
Just requested Educated as it sounds pretty interesting. We are homeschooling our children, so I’d like to have a response in case I’m asked about it. 🙂
Also, I remember that The Orphan, The Widow and Me was in your stack for the year. I don’t remember seeing that you’d read it yet, and hope I haven’t missed your review of it. I personally LOVED that books so I am excited to hear your thoughts. The work Both Hands does is pretty awesome and hearing the story of the founder and his family and how they were called to start Both Hands was impactful.