What I Read in January

Welcome to my monthly Book-ish post where I share what I’ve been reading and what I’ve been reading aloud to my children. If you missed it, check out my Reading Goals for 2018 and the 2018 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. You can see my full disclosure policy here.

What I Read in January:

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

Sally Clarkson continually encourages and equips me in my role as a mother. Her books have been an invaluable resource to me over the years.

For some reason, I had never read this particular book. I’ve read The Mission of Motherhood several times, and I guess I thought this book would be just like it. I was wrong.

This book walks you through how to mother your children with Christ as your example. It was incredibly convicting while being simultaneously motivating. After I shut this book, I knew it would be one that I refer back to time and time again throughout my years of motherhood.

The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris

This book is highly controversial, and I can understand why. Robert Morris introduces the concept of three baptisms. I’ll say that at the offset.

But here’s the thing, I read this book because a friend gave it to me, and because I’m on a mission this year to grow in my understanding of the Holy Spirit – more speciically other people’s views on the Holy Spirit.

One of the ways I’m seeking to grow in my understanding is to read about (and talk with others about) the different views on the Holy Spirit across denominations. I’m reading books from various authors, consulting the Bible, and talking with trusted friends, mentors, and pastors. It’s nothing formal. Just a desire to understand people’s viewpoints on the subject.

With all of that said, this book was a hard one to get through for me. There were many triggers for me to work through, but I’m glad I read it because I think it gave me a better understanding of why the Holy Spirit is so misunderstood and even where many of my friends and family are coming from.

I have a pretty diverse background when it comes to the role of the Holy Spirit in a believers life, so I really enjoyed the way he explained his beliefs and the scripture to back it up. It definitely left me thinking and eager to re-read various portions of scripture with fresh eyes.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: a Novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I loved this one. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.

It’s a post World War II novel, told through the eyes of a London author who is looking for her next book idea. After a series of letters are exchanged with a Literary Society in Guernsey, the story begins unfolding in a charming, funny, and deeply moving way.

If you need a good fiction book, read it. It’s a good one.

The Purpose of Boys: Helping our Sons find Meaning, Significance, and Direction for Their Lives  by Michael Gurian

I picked this book up from the library after listening to a Read-Aloud Revival podcast he was interviewed on (Why Fidgeting is a Good Sign). He brought some interesting thoughts to the interview, and I wanted to read a little bit more on his thoughts on boys in particular.

It’s written from a secular viewpoint and it’s heavy in research style reading. But there was some interesting thoughts I snapped up, but mostly it didn’t give me anything to latch on to past the first few chapters.

What I Read-Aloud in January:

Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

This is a delightful story to read-aloud with your kids. My boys (ages 7 and 4) were asking for one more chapter just about every time, but I refused to devour this book.

I wanted the boys to think on what they were hearing read-aloud, and we used the book as a launching pad into a unit study on owls. Reading this book aloud was a fun way to learn a few things about owls and about taking care of pets.

There were many laugh out loud moments which is always a win with my kids.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier

I’m not going to count this as a book I read-aloud, but I do want to mention it here because I did read a lot of it aloud to my oldest son.

I read this book last year to screen it for my son. I loved it so much that I had a hard time staying calm so I could convince him to give it a try. If I’m overly excited about a book, he usually doesn’t give it the time of day. I have to present a book just right to get him to take my recommendations.

Anyway, I have it on Audible so he spent much of his winter break drawing and listening to it dramatically read. At night before bed, I would read a chapter with him, and occassionally he would ask me to read it aloud instead of listening to it on Audible. He even read a chapter of it in bed one night because he wanted to know what happened next!

I wish our library had more of his books because I’m pretty sure this is a series, but we thoroughly enjoyed Peter Nimble this month. My four year old even enjoyed the story for the bits he listened in on. It was just a little too long for him.

What about you? What have you been reading this month?

Want to take the Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge? Click here to get the details!