February Reads

I spent lots of time reading this past month.

 

I took a nice break from sewing for most of the month and focused my attention on reading.  

Miracle for Jen by Linda Barrick.  This is the incredible story of 15-year-old Jennifer Barrick who was hit by a drunk driver along with her family.  She was in a coma for five weeks while her mother (the author) pleaded with God to heal her of her severe brain trauma.  As Jen slept she rested in God’s presence and was forever changed when she woke up.  I don’t read a lot of books like this one but I found it incredibly encouraging.  What an awesome reminder of how mighty God is!  I highly recommend this one.  Please note that I did receive a free copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for my review.

Mommy Time by Sarah Arthur.  As a relatively new mom (my son is only 3) and someone who just found out they are expecting again (hooray) I was really excited to read this book.  It was written as a devotional for new moms to read during the first couple months of being a mother.  It wasn’t a bad book but it didn’t strike me as very devotional after reading it.  There is a Bible passage on each page but the words that Arthur wrote after that don’t have that much to do with the Bible verse.  Honestly I just felt like the book was pretty shallow.  I vividly still remember the first couple months of being a new mom.  I didn’t need someone’s opinions and stories from being a mom as my “devotion for the day.” What I needed was the Gospel-just give me Jesus!  I needed to soak my teeth into the Scriptures even if it was only for a few minutes and be refreshed.  Being a new mother is tough and this book sure didn’t cut it for me.  A big disappointment.  During my first year of being a mom I wrote a blog post entitled “Creative Ways to Spend More Time With God.”  One of the biggest changes for me personally when I became a new mom was not having all of this wonderful time to spend as much time as I wanted reading my Bible.  Please note I did receive an advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

Faithmapping by Daniel Montgomery & Mike Cosper:   I was pretty excited to read this book since the authors were both pastors at the church where my husband attended (Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY) before we got married.  Isn’t that neat?  I found myself forcing myself to only read one chapter most days so that I could really soak up what the chapter had to say to me personally.  It was so good that it was hard to put down.  I loved how the authors brought together many different aspects of Christianity together in a way that few books have done.  I found this book’s emphasis on the Gospel, the Church, and the World so helpful.  It is incredibly solid theologically and yet very practical.  I would recommend it to all Christians.  Please note I did receive a complimentary copy of this book from Crossway in exchange for my review.

Raising Baby Green by Alan Greene: As a somewhat crunchy mama (I love breastfeeding, cloth diapers, attachment parenting, & whole foods) I was incredibly disappointed by this book.  I felt like there was a huge disconnect with this book.  The author is clearly not in the real world.  I would love to only dress my children in organic clothing but that just isn’t going to happen.  We do our part for the environment by purchasing most of our clothing used, cloth diapering almost exclusively, cooking from scratch, raising a garden, breastfeeding, and many other things.  If you aren’t in the real world and have an unlimited budget this is probably a great book for you.  I however thought it was really lame.

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte: I’ve been interested in companion planting for a while and decided February was the perfect time to learn all about it.  (Companion planting means that some plants grow better when they are planted next to certain plants.)  The book itself is actually more of a dictionary where you can look up a specific plant and then read about what it grows best with.  I skimmed the book and took notes on all of the plants I plan on planting this year.  I plan on putting into practice a lot of the book’s advice in my garden this summer so we shall see.  🙂

More than Petticoats: Remarkable Kentucky Women by Mimi O’Malley: As a native Kentuckian I found this book about incredible Kentucky women fascinating.  Having taken Kentucky history as a history major in college and having lived in Kentucky my entire life I was semi-familiar with many of the women in this book.  It was wonderful to get to read a short biography of each one.  Some of them were absolutely fascinating including Mary Breckinridge who founded the first midwifery service in Kentucky.  It just so happens that it is located in my college roommate’s hometown.  🙂  Overall a pretty neat book and a gem to find at my local library.

Did you read any great books this past month? 

Advertisement