April has brought with it lots of time to soak up the great weather outside and a nice little stack of books. As a family we have committed to be intentional about limiting the amount of time we spend on the internet, telephone, and watching movies or documentaries. The result has been has been such a blessing. Both Brandon and I were able to complete quite a few books even during a very busy month. It is also so delightful to spend time as a family pouring over good books and drinking herbal tea. 🙂 Even little Eli has become quite the reader and can often be found laying in bed looking at a book.
April Reads:
Johnathan Edwards on The Good Life by Owen Strachan and Douglas Allen Sweeney. Up until this point Jonathan Edwards has been the most influential theologian in my life. (I was actually introduced to his works and life while in college when I spent the greater part of a semester writing a major research paper on him my senior year of college. There have been times when I have literally wanted to throw Edwards’ books across the room and at other times when his works have been a healing balm to the wounds of my heart.) Since Jonathan Edwards is in fact a Puritan his writing style can be a bit of a challenge. In this book Strachan and Sweeney have done an excellent job of making Edwards writing more available to a wide variety of people. This book deals with the question of what is the good life? Always an important question for any Christian to ponder. Notably Edwards believes that God ultimately desires for his creation to be happy but happiness is only found in God (not the things of this world.)
The Law of Kindness by Mary Beeke. In the past couple of weeks I have noticed myself growing increasingly UNKIND. I’m not exactly sure but I am sure it is just the sin of selfishness manifesting itself in my life. When I saw this book for sale I didn’t really want to purchase it but knew that I should. Prior to reading this book I can’t think of a single book I have read (or even know about) that deals with the subject of kindness. As I read the book I also did some reflecting in my journal which I found to be very beneficial. The book has really helped me to be more kind to Eli in the last few days. I hope that I continue to reap the benefits of this book for months to come.
Beating the High Cost of Eating by Barbara Salsbury. With the cost of groceries continually on the rise I find myself always looking for new ideas on saving money on our groceries. Although I was fairly familiar with most of the strategies in this book I did learn A LOT about grocery ads, advertisements, store image, and sale cycles. From reading this book I feel encouraged to clean out and organize our pantry in order to build an even better pantry of supplies. Salsbury has a very negative attitude towards couponing which I cannot agree with. Self controlled couponing (only using coupons for items that your family actually needs) has saved our family lots of money over the past two years. Overall a nice library book but not one I will be purchasing.
Borrowed Children by George Ella Lyon. I’m not sure exactly why I picked up this book from the KY Author’s section of our library but it was such a good book. It’s actually a novel about a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. The book chronicles some of the challenges that her family faces and some of her adventures. The book reminded me a lot of stories I had heard from relatives who grew up in the mountains.
The Messenger by Siri Mitchell. I’m not sure why I was on such a fiction kick this past month maybe the weather. I read TWO fiction books this month! 🙂 Overall this book was wonderful and a perfect book to read while sitting outside on a beautiful sunny day. It was one of the best fiction books I have read in a long time. Although the cover of the book makes it look like a Christian Romance novel it didn’t strike me that way at all. Instead it is a historical fiction book set during the time of the Revolutionary War and details two Patriot spies Hannah and Jeremiah Jones. Growing up Ann Rinaldi’s historical fiction books were some of my favorites. The Messenger was kind of like a grown up version of one of her books. Although the book falls under the category of Christian Fiction I wouldn’t really call it that. (In my mind a book doesn’t count as Christian unless the Gospel is presented.) It was of course wholesome but more of a book of suspense than Christian romance. I found it very hard to put this book down! Note: I did receive a free review copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers.
Pretty Little Purses and Pouches by Lark Books. I was really excited to dig into this little sewing book from the library but found myself very disappointed. In the entire book there is only one project I would consider making (the beach baby bag). The patterns for this book are located in the book and have to be enlarged (major pet peeve here). After trying unsuccessfully to enlarge the pattern I gave up and decided this book just isn’t for me.
Sewing Bits & Pieces by Sandi Henderson. This sewing idea book was much better than the previous one. Mostly it inspired me to save my fabric scraps to make something in the future. 🙂 After recently moving they were one thing that did not get moved. A lot of the projects in the book just weren’t my style but I did really enjoy the Upscaled Cardigan, Tattered Rose Headband, and Library Bag.
Emerson Family 