Tag Archives: Reading 2014

Reading in April

01 Thursday May 2014

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Starting out with a hefty stack of books, I had high hopes.  Even though I barely made a dent in the stack. my hope still runs high.  It isn’t the quantity of information that you consume that means growth and learning.  That is what I thought about when I looked at the picture below, and remembered what I did finish this month.  Here are the 3 books that I completed during April.

When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman, you can read some of my thoughts here, but I am still processing and pondering the message in this book.

April Reading List

On my nightstand this month

Surprised by Motherhood by Lisa Jo Baker.  This book was sent to me as a gift, and let me tell you, a gift it was!  While my kiddos are older (my youngest asked me why I was reading a parenting book by a title like that, as I’ve been a mom for a loooonnnng time), fresh breezes of joy for the journey blew over me.  I seeking to cultivate time to remember how very much in LIKE I am with my daughters.

$100 Startup by Christ Guillebeau, This book took me nearly the whole month to read as I needed to think and act on what it said.  If you are wanting to start your own business or need a little boost, I encourage you to pick up this book at the library.  I’ll be having my 14 year old daughter read it this summer, as she has the beginnings of a beautiful business!

Linking with Life as Mom, Booking it in April

Reading in March

31 Monday Mar 2014

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The weather has leaped into spring and I’ve enjoyed more time outside.  It is good that I set an earlier bedtime a while back, so that I can get in a chapter or two before sleepiness takes over!  It was more challenging to make it through my reading list this month, but that is okay.  Sunshine is an equally good thing!

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EAT MOVE SLEEP by Tom Rath ~ thoughts from this book are here.

Love Does by Bob Goff – we read this book as our dinner time read aloud over the past 2 months.  My kids got a kick over my tears in many chapters, but I loved that this book opened up conversations on deeper topics.  My kids seemed to love Mr Goff’s humor and mishaps.

Simplify and Beautify Your Life with Natural Coconut Oil, by Carrie Soneji, read on my kindle app ~ Have you ever seen the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”?  Well, coconut oil is my windex!

5 Conversations you must have with your daughter by Vicki Courtney ~ This book is full of important information, but I found myself very bogged down by all the statistics and heaviness.  After making it slowly though chapter 12, I simply skimmed over the rest of the book.

Where There Was No Church, by EJ Martin.  This was a very interesting book, if you are interested in missions, I recommend it!

How about you, what did you read in March?

March Booking It: French Women Don't Get Facelifts, The Monuments Men, & My Berlin KitchenLinking with Jessica at Life As Mom

 

Reading, EAT MOVE SLEEP

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

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Recently I heard about the book EAT MOVE SLEEP by Tom Rath and placed a request for it to be held at our nearby library.  Even though I have just been through 2 particularly busy weeks, the simple format and short chapters made it an easy book to read.  Each night before bed I have been able to read a chapter or two.

The book got me thinking more about the sedentary lifestyle I have fallen back into.  I have fresh motivation to make the trips to the YMCA, but also to think more about how I can move during the day.  That lead me to thinking about all the driving and waiting I do for the kids over the course of the week.  Between EAT MOVE SLEEP and The Power of a Half Hour there was plenty of encouragement to look for those “half hours” and MOVE.  I’ve added in 2 more walks as a result and am looking forward further examining the weekly schedule to find more time to get moving.

While there are also a few new ideas for me to consider in EAT MOVE SLEEP, there were a couple of things that just didn’t ring true to me.  There was also an evolutionary tone to the book that surprised me.  In any case, EAT MOVE SLEEP was an encouragement to press on with the healthier choices I have made and I am thankful for that encouragement.

Good Reads, The Power of a Half Hour

08 Saturday Mar 2014

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“Turn your fleeting minutes into defining moments.

What can you do in 30 minutes? Have lunch? Watch television? Check Facebook?

 How about change your life?

 Why do some people achieve far more than others? We all get the same 24 hours in a day, yet a special few seem to have superhuman abilities when it comes to accomplishing great things in life.” (amazon book description)


This book, The Power Of A Half Hour, Take Back Your Life Thirty Minutes at a Time, by Tommy Barnett,  is chock full of wise and helpful advice, information and encouragement.  Interwoven in all those wonderful words is the admonition to learn to use all of life, right down to every half hour, in service and devotion to the Lord.  It is interesting to me how the idea of “thirty minutes at a time” was already present in my life.  As I have read this book, I found myself looking for those half hours, sometimes just a quarter of an hour to be more intentional to use them purposefully.

If this book had been more focused on the half hour principle I would have quickly lost interest, but the abundance of wise encouragement throughout kept me reading.

The one issue I had with this title is that I have it in kindle format.  There is just too much in the book that I want to mark, reread and quote.  The kindle format has been frustrating to me.  Probably what I have discovered is that I am a book in hand gal.  So if you are like me in that respect, make sure you get the book, not the kindle version!

This book was supplied to me by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers via their Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Good Books ~ One Realm Beyond

07 Friday Mar 2014

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Book Description

Cantor D’Ahma waited his whole life for this day. Born with a gift to jump between worlds, the young realm walker is finally ready to leave his elderly mentor and accept his role as protector and defender of the realms.
But mere hours after he steps through his first portal, Cantor discovers that his job will be more dangerous and difficult than he ever imagined. The realms are plagued with crime and cruelty, and even members of the once-noble Realm Walkers Guild can no longer be trusted. To make matters worse, his first assignment – finding a dragon to assist him on his quest—has led him to Bridger, who is clearly inept and won’t leave him alone.
With the help of his new friends Bixby and Dukmee, Cantor must uncover the secrets of the corrupt guild before they become too powerful to be stopped. But his skills aren’t progressing as fast as he would like, and as he finds himself deeper and deeper in the guild’s layers of deceit, Cantor struggles to determine where his true allegiance lies.

One of my kiddos was super excited to see this book on my desk, so much so that I did things a little differently this time around.  I handed it to her and told her to enjoy it, and afterward to please grant me an interview.

Sweet girl has talked though the book, and I know she enjoyed it a great deal.  Here are the basic things she had to say in the formal interview, which were not as in depth as those before bed conversations:


“This book is a little different from past books I have read by Donita K Paul, in that it introduces the heavier side of the evil characters more quickly.  I noticed a lot of parallels between this book and the Dragon Keeper books, like mind speaking.  There were wizards and realm walkers, with realm walkers being more similar to the wizards of the Dragon Keeper books.
One Realm BEYOND is a well written book that I enjoyed.  The beginning of the book, as is common with other Donita K Paul books, is slow but it is rewarding when you press though.  The slow beginning is full of necessary information to the story.”
If you enjoy other books by Donita K Paul, I highly recommend this one to you!  This book was provided to me by BookLookBloggers in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you are interested in reading books for review you can check BookLookBloggers out here.


Reading in February

28 Friday Feb 2014

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The books and stories that kept company with me during the cold days of February.

 

Hidden Falls, Episode 1 , read with the kindle app on my phone

 

Alone Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger Craven – this book was borrowed from the library in that   “reading before the movies are released this summer” stack.  The story is a good one but I did feel that the last 2 chapters were a little abrupt.  I did realize during the reading that the upcoming movie has a major change from the story.  Enough so that I am not sure about seeing it in the theaters.  We might wait til later.

 

Undaunted by Christine Caine ~ A very inspiring read that has encouraged me.  I am looking forward to hearing Christine speak when she is in our town soon.

 

Say GoodBye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

 

Rich in Years, a very encouraging read.  You can read a little of my response to this book here.

Rich in Life, Book Club and Review

20 Thursday Feb 2014

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Rich in Years, Finding Peace and Purpose in a Long Lifeby Johann Christoph Arnold

I read this book in paperback

 
My personal thoughts on this book: Often life happens and I stand frozen in place with an ache to give, to bring relief but I just do not know how.Most recently this has been the case in regard to my mother and step father.  My mother has early onset Alzheimer’s and is in a care facility because, due to her wandering, we did not know how to keep her safe.

After receiving the offer read this book in exchange for a review, I felt a tiny ray of hope.  And that hope as grown as I have read it!

The life stories, wisdom and encouragement really apply to all adulthood, but I find it all especially rich and helpful in this season of life with children still at home, a granddaughter to care for and ailing aging parents.

Most of the books and articles I was encouraged to read lacked the hope and light humor found in this book.  If you are finding yourself in the place of caring for aging parents, or facing the fact that you are an aging parent, I highly recommend Rich in Years.  I believe you will find encouragement, help and hope in it’s pages.

Here is a link where you can find/purchase this book: Rich in Years

A favorite quote from the book: “The best way to deal with the mess we may have made of our lives, or the difficult burdens we may carry, is to accept God’s grace as we face the future.”

Rich in Years was provided to me by Handlebar Central in exchange for my honest review.
Linking with The Simple Woman’s Book Club