I have loved reading since I was young. For the last several years, I have kept a log of the books I read. I have seen a few posts from others on what they have been reading for the last month or quarter and thought I might try it. Whether or not I will continue this in future months is yet to be seen.

A Song of Home by Susie Finkbeiner

This is the third book in the Pearl Spence series, written by one of my college friends, Susie Finkbeiner. (Fun fact: Her now husband was a groomsman in my wedding, but she came from Michigan to Illinois for the wedding with her then boyfriend*, who was the piano player.) If you are a fan of historical fiction, you’ll enjoy this one. Susie balances historically accurate settings with relatable real life issues and some tough topics.

Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul by Hannah Anderson

I picked this up (by “picked this up”, I mean “downloaded on Kindle”) several months ago on the recommendation of a blogger I follow and figured the beginning of the year was a good time to read something that mentioned grounding in the title. This book challenged me in a lot of ways. Humility is an oft-overlooked virtue, but it is so much more than just a virtue. As a wannabe gardener, I enjoyed the plant analogies. As a Christ-follower, I appreciated the call to find both a purpose and rest in Christ. I’m still digesting this one and will revisit it in the future.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

I reread all 7 of the original Harry Potter series at the beginning of December while I was recuperating from surgery, so it only seemed right to read this again. I came late to the Harry Potter party, as I read them the first time in 2016, but I’m a fan for life. I know a lot of people didn’t like some of the things that happened in the Cursed Child, but I loved it.

Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business by Henry Hutcheson

My grandparents started a company when their kids were young. My husband, one of my brothers, and I have worked there now with my parents for almost 10 years. Working with family is, well, work. A lot of it. This book has some interesting information, but it jumps from topic to topic and repeats itself a lot. I was a little disappointed because I’ve talked personally with the author and expected the book to be more than it is. I kept having to remind myself that he is a consultant who wrote a book, not a writer. Meet him in person or listen to him speak somewhere and skip the book. 🙂

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone   by Brené Brown

I’m a huge fan of Brené Brown. (When we were picking our next read for book club, I may or may not have been called a fangirl.) I’m about halfway through this book, and I’ve highlighted countless passages. This book really resonates with me, and I’m sure I’ll be mentioning it to a lot of people (and requesting it as a book club read, even if they accuse me of being a fangirl.)

Blog Note: When I preview this post, some of the book graphics are enormous. I don’t know how to fix that yet. If you are one of the 5 people who read this blog, you love me enough to overlook it.

*Another Blog Note: I wrote “then husband” when I really meant “then boyfriend”. My husband, who knows all of these lovely people, informed me of the error. I didn’t mean to marry people who only dated.