10 Great Reads of 2016

My reading goal for 2016 was 55 books and I was able to surpass that by 4 books to 59. It always amazes me when I get to the end of the year and see how much I've actually read!

Most on my list this year are non-fiction, with only two fiction favorites. It's always so hard to pick what I loved the most, but I really enjoyed all of these.

I've also been slowly reading through the book of Psalms this past year. Such a beautiful book. I'm hoping to do another post on some of them. Here is a link to my first post... The Psalms

I didn't blog as much this year (I took off about 6 months!) and so I didn't write about most of these books but the one's I have, I will leave a link to.

Now onto my top 10 reads of this year, in no particular order...


At Home with Jane Austen -  I really enjoyed this book! Filled with lovely photos and great information about the places Jane Austen lived. You can read my thoughts on this book... HERE

A. Lincoln - This one took me quite awhile to get through, but I really enjoyed reading about the political system in the United States and how it worked in Lincoln's time, as well as about Lincoln himself. Long read, but well worth it.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert - Rosaria's story was fascinating. And I found her book lovingly and thoughtfully written, as well as humbling to read. She was a English professor who lived with her lesbian partner, when she encountered God. She says here of her conversion:

"Conversion put me in a complicated and comprehensive chaos. I sometimes wonder, when I hear other Christians pray for the salvation of the “lost,” if they realize that this comprehensive chaos is the desired end of such prayers. Often, people asked me to describe the “lessons” that I learned from this experience. I can’t. It was too traumatic. Sometimes in crisis, we don’t really learn lessons. Sometimes the result is simpler and more profound: sometimes our character is simply transformed." 

If you are a Christian and would like to learn how to lovingly interact with the LGBTQ community, I highly recommend this book. As Rosaria's humbling words say here: "Homosexuality is a sin, but so to is homophobia." 

 
Parables - I'm just finishing this one, so I'm including it here. I love John MacArthur's books and this one is no exception. He thoroughly goes through several parables of Jesus in an easy and understandable way. I may write about this one in the new year.

The Magnolia Story - Loved this book! And love their show! You can read my thoughts.... HERE

Little Women - I can't believe it took me this long to get to this book! This beautiful novel is filled with the love of family, and the nostalgia of a time gone by. I've loved the 1949 version of the movie since I was a little girl, and now, I will treasure this book for years to come.

God's Pursuit of Man - Loved this one, as I always love Tozer's books. You can read some excerpts...HERE

Ruth - This classic novel was very moving and I really enjoyed it. You can read my thoughts... HERE

Prayer - This was an intense book! Timothy Keller does a great job defining true prayer from a wide range of Christian forefathers, such as Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards and John Owen, as well as more recent Christians such as J. I. Packer, C.S. Lewis and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

He also looks closely at the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9–13. It took some time to get through this one, but definitely a book worth reading.

Dear Abigail - I really enjoyed this biography of Abigail Adams (the wife of John Adams) and her two sisters. It takes us from their childhood until their deaths.

What a time period to live in (the American revolution and the birth of a new nation, the United States of America) and what lives they lived, especially Abigail. This book was based on the many letters the sisters wrote to each other, and it was interesting to hear of their beliefs, their every day lives and their relationships with family and friends.

                                                              HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!