♥ my reading list last year

Most of my posts have been inspired by baby, so to avoid being a totally mommy poster...I'll talk to you about my failure to read a book a month last year, and the books that I read that changed me for the better. But, I cannot promise I won't be a total mommy poster in the future.



Here are all the books I read according to month:
January - Sula by Toni Morrison
February - A Simple Path about Mother Teresa
March - So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore
April - Bossypants by Tina Fey
May - In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen
June - One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
July - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
August through December - {cricket noises}

Once August hit, my life got so insanely busy. Steve was back from fishing. We did an East Coast tour (PENN, NY, MA, NJ) to see family and friends, then it was back to school, work and internship for Steve while I tried to juggle a part-time job and my freelance business. We were also trying to make a baby. Ha ha. So, that's why I failed to read my last five books of the year.

To start the year reading A Simple Path about Mother Teresa, it really made a difference in my worldview and heart. Her compassion for the poor and working so close with those who are downcast inspired me to do the same. My life had become complicated and much to my own chagrin. There's a saying if you could kick your worst enemy in the butt you would never be able to sit down. I completely relate! My life was missing that element of service to the down and out. Sure, my husband and I gave money to organizations that help people in need, but did we give our time? Then, I experienced a miracle of a homeless man finding his family and home again at the beginning of 2011 that I was able to be apart of, and between this event and this book, I was ready to care for what God had planted in my heart of hearts. I was ready to work with the homeless in my lovely City of Roses, and the people who happen to be homeless have been giving to me ever since I decided to finally say "yes" to them.

Another profound read was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. When you become an adult, it feels like life becomes more burdensome. You turn on the news, and someone has just been murdered. You find out about the heart aches of your friends and family even yourself. You're bogged down with bills, with suffering, with regret. You miss that sense of being as a child if you had a good childhood: the utter freedom, the joy, and the relief of just living without burden. What I'm trying to say is that it's easy to allow the problems in this life to crush you and to snuff out any flicker of hope your heart ever contained. This is why Ann's book came at the perfect time for me.

My 2011 had been a difficult. I felt bogged down like a piece of debris tangled at the bottom of a murky lake. I was overwhelmed, and Ann's reflections on life and seeing it anew brought me to the surface for a deep breath again. Her words resuscitated me, and they made me see again where I had been totally blind.

Her book is about being grateful for each moment and seeing God in the quiet, beautiful details of this one-time journey. She encourages her readers to make a list of 1,000 things they are grateful for. I'm still working on mine, but her struggle, faith and worship of subtleties is a breath of fresh air for anyone who might feel the slightest sadness about the world we live in.

These two books above grew me. So why I may not have met a goal of reading a certain number of books last year, I don't feel too bad about it.