I don’t hoard many things. My friend Krissy jokes when my kids get presents, I immediately throw them in the trash, because I don’t want more things in our home.
That’s a slight exaggeration, but I do sometimes worry my kids will be in therapy later about the ruthless way their mother got rid of all their stuff. But in all honesty, they’re already in therapy, and I throw away everyone’s stuff, not just theirs, on a regular basis.
My point is, I hate stuff. I’m against clutter. I don’t think more is better.
Except for books.
Give me all the books.
I predict one day I will die as a result of a very tall pile of books falling on me while I’m trying to add just one more to the top. I have no restraint when it comes to books.
With that confession out in the open, I have decided I need to stop buying all the books for a minute and focus more on reading them. Not that I haven’t been reading. I read all the time. But I buy them faster than I can read them and things are getting a little out of balance.
This year, I want to be intentional about tackling some of the books I’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t because I get distracted when I randomly grab a new book at the library or order another new book from Amazon. It’s embarrassing how many great books I have waiting to be read. So here’s what I’m reading in 2018:
Parenting books
Battlefield of the Mind For Kids by Joyce Meyer
Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid’s Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World by Marybeth Hicks
13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do: Raising Self-Assured Children and Training Their Brains for a Life of Happiness, Meaning, and Success by Amy Morin
Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement For Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women by Dr. James Dobson
Enneagram books
The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth by Christopher L. Heuertz
The Road Back to You Study Guide by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile (I read the book last fall, but my friends and I are going through it together and we’re using this guide.)
The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert
Quiet time books or studies
(I’m finishing The Daily Bible by the end of January. Yes, I am taking thirteen months to read the Bible in a year. *high five* When I’m done, I’ll be using these for my morning Bible study time.)
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
30 Days to Peace: A One-Month Creative Journal
30 Days to Joy: A One-Month Creative Journal
The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric J. Bargerhuff
Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible by Richard Schultz
The Most Misused Stories in the Bible: Surprising Ways Popular Bible Stories are Misunderstood by Eric J. Bargerhuff
Write the Word: Cultivate Renewal by Lara Casey
She Reads Truth: Romans
Fiction/Memoir/Poetry books
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Church of the Small Things by Melanie Shankle
Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
Shrill by Lindy West
Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture by Adam S. McHugh
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman
Writing + creative books
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart
Blog Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho
On Writing by Stephen King (I’ve read this before and want to re-read it.)
On Writing Well by William Zinsser (I read this in college but want to re-read it as well.)
Self-Help + healing books
Safe People: How to Find Relationships That are Good for You by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Boundaries by Dr. Henry Coud & Dr. John Townsend (I read this last year and want to visit it again.)
Not Quite Healed by Cecil Murphey & Gary Roe
Getting the Love You Want Workbook by Harville Hendrix (Chris and I will do this together; we haven’t read the book it goes with so we might have to add that to the list at some point.)
Confession #2: As I was making this list, I kept grabbing more books off my shelves to add, because I’m starting to get anxious about saying I’m going to read these specific books. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER GOOD BOOKS THAT NEED ME TO READ THEM?
I’m an Enneagram type 8 so the minute anyone tries to control what I do (even myself!), I react by doing the opposite. I hate being bossed around so this will go well, I can tell. *sighhhhh*
This is normally the part where I ask for your recommendations or book suggestions, but I’m too weak right now. I can’t even hear what someone else is reading, because I will get distracted by it. So instead, have you read any of these? I’m all over the place with books. I can tell you without even reading these that some of them will contradict each other (I mean, come on, Lindy West and Dr. Dobson on the same list? We’re in for some exciting times, guys!).