Reading is a constant in my life. I go from the end of one to the beginning of another. This book to book love I have is also a reason why I can not read fiction books. Reading fiction required a break between books to mourn the characters that you begin to love. When the book comes to an end so does your relationship with them. So I stick to nonfiction growth books – where God and daily life are the main characters. There isn’t an end to that relationship.
As I went through my goodreads account I discovered I read around 21 books this year. Some audio books and some physical and as I look back at my journal entries; it was clear that each book lead me to a deeper understanding of God and of myself. I’ve changed a lot this year through the work God did in my through these books.
Here are the top books I Recommend from my 2018 Reading Journey
- Uninvited: Living Loved When you Feel Less Than by Lysa Terkeurst – I loved this book! Struggling with self-doubt, rejection, and loneliness this book reminded me of the courage I have in Christ. I learned how to let go more often and stop trying to control everything and to life SET APART.
- Let. It. Go: How to Stop Running the Show and Start Walking in Faith – by Karen Ehman – I needed this book so badly. Control is one of my top issues, I want to control everything all the time and when it falls apart I feel like I fall apart and fail. In this book, Karen reminds us that our Heavenly Father has all things worked out for us and that we need to walk in faith! If you like to control a little too much – this is a must-read for the practical tips and light shone on our insecurities.
- Made To Crave by Lysa Terkeurst – Food is a pain area for me. I turn to food for comfort, for stress, for anything… Well at least I use to until this book opened my eyes to the fact that I am created to Crave – I just wasn’t craving the right things. If food or body image is an internal battle for you – you have to read this!
- The Wellness Revelation- Lose What Weighs you Down by Alisa Keeton – I love this woman’s podcast – Revelation Wellness. Speaking life into my workouts and body with scripture and truth is life-giving. If we want to really beat comparison, body image issues, food reliance…. we need God to be the center of our weight journey – Read it, be refreshed and get a new look on weight, fitness and how we nourish your body with real food.
- Girl, Wash your Face by Rachel Hollis – This is a fun and quick read that inspired me to be proud of who I am and stop letting the lies I tell myself to control my emotions.
- Unglued: making Wise choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa Terkeurst- I did this without the video sessions and got so much out of this! With the nonstop chaos of life keeping my emotions in check seems impossible! This book helped me find ways to replace stress with truth and overcome my emotions so that they do not overcome me.
- The two most beneficial bible studies I did this year were Breaking Free and Children of the Day both by Beth Moore! Breaking Free the videos are on youtube but I bought the audio only sessions for children of the day. These studies are always better when you have the video/audio sessions to engage with.
These are only a few of the great books I read this year. If you go to my Goodreads page you can get a look at the other books that have made 2018 a year of the best growing season of my life. I am never going to stop this time with God – where he works in me and through me to renew, build, and encourage me to live life to the full beauty He promises. (p.s. each title is a link so that you can go buy it 😉 )
