I am one of those people who put their Christmas tree up right after Halloween. I mean, Thanksgiving is great and all, but this girl has food issues, so Thanksgiving really just stresses me out! I want to go straight into Christmas and the magic of it all. I love sitting in my living room with just the soft glow of the lights. Now, since I put my tree up so early, come Christmas morning, and all the presents have been opened, Santa has come and gone, and we have finally picked up all the trash, it is now time to take the tree down. Christmas is over people! Let’s get it packed up and back in the closet, Momma is DONE. After I get everything put away, I do start to feel a little sad, my soft little twinkling lights are gone, and the living room seems so bare. Then I have to think, wait a minute, this is a clean slate. There is a New Year coming, and a New Year means RESOLUTIONS!
I LOVE the idea of resolutions, for about one hot minute. I start to think oh, I want to eat clean, I want to exercise for longer than two months, I want to be more patient, I want to finish my Bible study in a timely manner (I can easily turn a 6 week Bible study into a 6 month one), I want to read more. I make ALL THESE GRAND PLANS, I play it up so big in my head, BUT the closer it gets to the first Monday in January, (because ALL life changes must begin on a Monday), I start to rethink every single resolution, however, this year, I do have one I really want to try hard to keep. I want to read 52 books this year, so I want to share with you a few books that I am reading, and a couple that are my absolute most favorites.
The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman
Forget the miniseries, I watched the first five minutes and it was so different from the book, I turned it off and deleted it off of my DVR. This is THE.BEST.BOOK I have ever read. It is based on the ancient historian Josephus recorded account of the Roman siege of the Jewish settlement of Masada, where two women and five children survive. The story’s focus is four strong and courageous women, and how their lives brought them to Masada.
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank
This was a free Kindle book, so needing something to read, I decided to download it. There are eight books currently in this series, and it is such a fun read, I finished all eight in just a couple of weeks. This is the type of book that had me laughing out loud and staying up way past my bedtime to read one more chapter.
Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future by Elizabeth Esther
This book kept popping up on people’s reading list, so I decided to give it a try. The book is an account of Elizabeth’s life growing up in a fundamentalist Christian church. This book brings with it an entire array of emotions, be ready to have your heartbreak for her, and then you will find yourself laughing, but it is a book that you will find yourself thinking about for days.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I have not read this one yet, but Goodreads keeps telling me I am going to love it. I LOVED Gone Girl, and this book promises to deliver a great suspense too.
A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master” by Rachel Held Evans
I have not read this one either. It popped up after I finished reading Girl at the End of the World, and after reading the summary, I was highly curious. Rachel Held Evans decides to take a year and live the biblical definition of womanhood.
These are just a few of my favorites, and what I am getting ready to read. What do I need to add to my list, I have forty-eight more to go before the end of the year, and I am always looking for suggestions? What are some of your resolutions, or do you even bother?
Shannon