Category: books

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What I’m Reading – December 2024

What I’m Reading Now

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg – I am almost done with this book, and it is really good!

UnClobber by Colby Martin – This book addresses the “clobber passages” from the Bible that are often used to condemn homosexuality and also tells Martin’s own story of how his views on the subject changed and how it has affected his life. It is very easy to read and I am enjoying it.

What I Recently Finished

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey – This is #16 in the Elemental Masters series and was very enjoyable, as all of them have been.

Holiday Hideaway by Mary Kay Andrews – This was a Christmas-themed short story and was a cute romance.

Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon – This is #1 in Kelvren’s Saga and who knows what book in the entire Valdemar series. It took me a little while to get into the story, but I ended up liking it by the end.

The Christmas Inn by Pamela M. Kelley – This is a heartwarming holiday romance. I couldn’t put it down – very sweet!

Nantucket Summer House by Pamela M. Kelley – This is #9 in the Nantucket Beach Plum Cove series. It wasn’t my favorite in the series but I did still enjoy it.

Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions by Rachel Held Evans – I loved this book. I will share a more detailed review in a few days.

The Cookbook Club: A Novel of Food and Friendship by Beth Harbison – This was a fun book about three women who start a book club based on cookbooks. It was charming and I really enjoyed it.

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan – I have read a lot of Colgan’s books and I still like them, although not as much as I used to like her older books.

What I Added to my TBR

  • Nobody’s Perfect by Sally Kilpatrick
  • The Answer is No by Fredrick Backman
  • Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith by April Ajoy
  • Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
  • Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison

TBR Stats

  • I currently have 111 books on my TBR
  • Of those, 17 are non-fiction and 94 are fiction
  • All but 1 of the books were added in 2024. I plan to read the last book added in 2023 this month

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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The Christmas Inn

If you are looking for a feel-good holiday story as Christmas gets closer, then The Christmas Inn by Pamela M. Kelley is the book for you.  I started reading Kelley’s books in 2021 with The Restaurant and have since read a number of her books. Most of her books are set in the Cape Cod area of the United States, which provides a charming setting no matter the time of year.

In The Christmas Inn, we meet Riley Sanders, who has just lost her job and comes home to the Cape to help her mother with her inn while she looks for another job.  During her stay, we meet several other characters, including a possible love interest, and also get to experience what it’s like to be on the Cape during the holidays.

I read this in one day so I would definitely say that it’s an easy read and also very inviting.

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My Deconstruction Journey Through Books

My Deconstruction Journey

I have come a long way in the last few years with regard to my faith and my understanding of God and the church. Many beliefs that I never felt comfortable with have been discarded, and other ideas that I had accepted as gospel have been dispelled as man-made and untrue. I have listened to a lot of podcasts and learned a lot from various forms of social media, but I have also read several books that have been very helpful. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I wanted to share the books I have learned from so far here.

An Early Foray into Deconstruction

The first book I can recall reading in the deconstruction area was in July 2020, and the book was Fierce, Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker.  At the time it made me nervous to even be reading the book because some of her views did not align with the doctrine I had been taught all my life growing up in a pentecostal church and then moving into a charismatic church later on.  I ended up skimming the book and not really looking for anything else like it.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood

Fast forward to November of 2023 and I had moved to an inclusive, justice-oriented church and was starting to embrace some new ideas and let go of some old ones.  I then read A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans, which was a very readable book detailing how she spent a year trying to live out characteristics and actions commonly thought to make a biblical woman.  She spent one month focusing on each of twelve different areas.  It was fascinating and I felt my spirit opening up to more possibilities of what it could mean to be a Christian.

Fierce, Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You

After that, in December 2023, I decided to reread Fierce, Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker.  I appreciated it a lot more the second time around.  It is a self-reflective book and very encouraging.

Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

In January 2024, I read another Rachel Held Evans book called Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again.  This book focused on exploring the Bible in a variety of ways using different types of literary expression.  Interestingly enough, one of my Bible professors in college talked a lot about the Bible as literature.  He was considered borderline heretical by some of the students, but he was still pretty conservative in what he shared with us compared to some of what I have read and heard over the last few years.

She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, and Speaking Up

The next book I read in March 2024 was She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, and Speaking Up by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky.  This is a book aimed primarily at women who have daughters and want to give them better messages about their bodies and themselves than they would get from purity culture. I really enjoyed this book; even though I don’t have a daughter, it helped me with some of the internalized messages I still had from growing up in a conservative church environment.  This book is based on strong research the authors have conducted and contains a lot of charts and graphs highlighting various results they found.

Where We Meet: A Lenten Study of Systems, Stories, and Hope

During the Lent season of 2024, I attended a virtual Bible study hosted by my pastor, and we read and discussed the book Where We Meet: A Lenten Study of Systems, Stories, and Hope by Rachel Gilmore, Candace Lewis, et al.  The book contained daily reflections with a different topic for each week: Beginning the Journey, Diversity, Postcolonial, Equity, Contextual, and Innovation.  I was introduced to a lot of new concepts that I hope to spend more time studying at some point.

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth

In May 2024, I read Beth Allison Barr’s book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.  In this book, Barr traces the history of the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers. This was a well-written, easy-to-follow account of the historical events that have shaped this teaching into what it is today in American conservative circles.  It really helped solidify my thoughts on this topic.

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez is another book tracing the history of the conservative American church.  I read this in August 2024 and found it thoroughly fascinating and readable.  Du Mez takes us through the last 75 years of white evangelicalism in America, showing us how rugged masculinity and Christian Nationalism have taken over and also how these developments have led to the championing of Donald Trump by the religious right.

The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

In September 2024, I picked up a recently released book called The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon.  This was a very well-written book that is part memoir and part informational discourse on the issues that arise for people who don’t fit or who start to question the church.  I could relate to a lot of this book and found it very encouraging to the journey I have been on myself.

DNF (Did Not Finish)

I was recently reading Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell, and the New Jerusalem by Bradley Jersak.  This was my second time attempting this book.  The writing is more dry and complicated, and I just had too hard a time getting through it.  I have always had a lot of fear of hell (and the rapture!), and what I got from what I did read is that there is really no way to know definitively what is going to happen as the Bible can be used to support several different views of the afterlife.  A related book I also DNF’d was Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple by Scot McKnight with Cody Matchett.  That book was too esoteric for me.

Moving Forward

I have noticed that all but one of the books I have read have been written by women.  I think that is interesting.  I have listened to a number of male podcasters, so I’m not anti-men by any means, but it seems like I gravitate towards books that are written from a woman’s perspective.

I have a large list of books related to deconstruction on my TBR.  Here is what I have at this point:

  • Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions by Rachel Held Evans
  • Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans
  • A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today by Bonnie Kristian
  • The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis by Karen Swallow Prior
  • How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy by Terran Williams
  • Marriage in the Bible: What Do the Texts Say? By Jennifer Grace Bird
  • The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor by Kaitlyn Schiess
  • The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here by Kaitlyn Schiess
  • Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley
  • The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
  • How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby
  • Beyond Fragility: A Skills-Based Guide to Effective Anti-Racist Allyship by Yara Mekawi, Natalie Watson-Singleton, and Danyelle Dawson (I think this is a secular book, but it seems to fit in this list.)
  • The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You’ve Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky
  • Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark: The Bible and Modern Science and the Trouble of Making It All Fit by Janet Kellogg Ray
  • God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships by Matthew Vines
  • UnClobber by Colby Martin
  • Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith by April Ajoy

I am open to suggestions of other books you have found helpful in deconstructing harmful doctrines that are taught in the American church and in finding your way to a more honest and loving faith.

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What I’m Reading – November 2024

What I’m Reading Now

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey – This is #16 in the Elemental Masters series. I added it to my TBR back in January 2022 and kept waiting for it to be added to the Libby app so I could borrow it. I recently decided to start investigating all the different ways I could access books (Hoopla, Kindle Unlimited – not a current member but could join if there were a lot of TBR books available there, and physical books from the library). I found several books from my list available as physical books, so I’m going to start from the oldest and work my way forward.

Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon – This is the 1st book in the Kelvren’s Saga series, but the 56th book in the overall Valdemar world. This is another one that has been on my list for a while, since July 2023, and I was able to get a physical copy from the library.

What I Recently Finished

Passions in Death by J. D. Robb – This is #59 from the In Death series about Eve Dallas, a police detective in futuristic New York City. Amazing, as always!

Open House by Elizabeth Berg – This novel is about a woman finding her way after divorce.  Samantha’s husband has left her and, in order to keep the house she and her son Travis live in, she takes in roommates and begins working temp jobs.  Along the way, she makes new friends and discovers the self she lost a long time ago. It seemed a bit slow at first, but as I relaxed into the pace of the story, I found myself drawn into it.  The style of this book reminds me a bit of Jamie Langston Turner, who is one of my favorite writers.

The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson – The whole time I was reading this book, I had the feeling I had read it before. So much of it seemed very familiar. I didn’t remember the ending, but it is still possible I had previously read it. I really enjoyed it.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams – I very much liked this debut novel about a teenager and a widower who bond over a reading list. The story weaves the books they are reading around the events happening in their lives in a compelling way.

Ambush at Sorato by John Flanagan – This is #7 in the Ranger’s Apprentice: The Royal Ranger series, which is a spinoff of the original Ranger’s Apprentice series. I have read all of Flanagan’s books and always look forward to a new one coming out. Even though they are written for kids, I find them very readable and fun.

Freckles by Ceclia Ahern – I wanted to like this book because I have enjoyed several others by Ahern, but I just couldn’t. Perhaps it is because I could acutely feel the main character’s confusion at the situations she gets herself into due to her lack of understanding of how the world works and of people and relationships. This is one of the more obviously autistic-coded characters I have read, and I can see so much of her in myself as well as other autistic people I know.

What I’ve Added to my TBR List

  • When We Were Widows by Annette Chavez Macias
  • Grave Talk by Nick Spalding
  • I’ll Be Seeing You: A Memoir by Elizabeth Berg
  • Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
  • Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
  • True to Form by Elizabeth Berg
  • Ordinary Life: Stories by Elizabeth Berg
  • The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg
  • Lies and Other Love Languages by Sonali Dev
  • A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber

Did Not Finish

Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell, and the New Jerusalem by Bradley Jersak – I have tried twice to read this book and have finally given up. The writing is very dry and I just can’t stay focused on it while reading. I am interested in the topic, but I think I’ll stick to listening to podcasts about it from now on.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Recent Reads from Elizabeth Berg

Elizabeth Berg is a prolific American author that I have enjoyed reading for many years.  I recently made a sweep through my Goodreads author list to see what books of theirs I hadn’t read yet, and I found several of Berg’s to add to my TBR.  In the last few months, I have read four of them.

Earth’s the Right Place for Love (2023) is the story of two young people growing up in Mason, Missouri.  One of those people is Arthur Moses, who is the main character in The Story of Arthur Truluv, published in 2017.  It focuses on love and grief and is an insightful, compelling story.

Tapestry of Fortunes (2013) is the enjoyable story of four women who live in a house together.  They decide to take a road trip together, each of them looking for a specific outcome.  It is great for anyone who enjoys feel-good books celebrating women’s friendships.

Once Upon a Time, There Was You (2011) follows Irene and John, divorced parents who are forced to come together when their daughter Sadie faces a tragedy.  There were some details that felt a bit contrived, but I still liked the book.

Open House (2000) is about a woman finding her way after divorce.  Samantha’s husband has left her and, in order to keep the house she and her son Travis live in, she takes in roommates and begins working temp jobs.  Along the way, she makes new friends and discovers the self she lost a long time ago. It seemed a bit slow at first, but as I relaxed into the pace of the story, I found myself drawn into it.  The style of this book reminds me a bit of Jamie Langston Turner, who is one of my favorite writers.

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Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop is the first novel from Korean author Hwang Bo-Reum and was translated by Shanna Tan.  I was interested in the book first because I love reading books about books and bookshops.  The story centers on Yeongju, who used to be married and have a demanding career in Seoul, but abandons her husband and her job to move to a small residential neighborhood and open a bookshop.

As Yeongju runs her new shop, she explores different ways to bring in new customers and keep the shop open.  She makes several new friends along the way, and the bookshop becomes a place for people to gather together.  Throughout the novel, we are taken on a journey of self-exploration as each of the characters grows and develops in new ways.

This novel is part of a genre called “healing fiction” that has become a trend in Korean literature.  It does not have an action-filled plot, but instead focuses on comfort, empathy, courage, and solidarity.  I found it to be both contemplative and encouraging.  I am looking forward to reading more of this genre.

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Books About Books That I Recommend

I recently posted books about books that were on my TBR, and this time I wanted to post books about books that I have read and enjoyed. I just love reading books that have something to do with books, whether it be a book club, a bookshop, a library, or even the publishing world.

  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  • The Break-Up Book Club by Wendy Wax
  • The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick
  • The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
  • The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
  • The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
  • The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick
  • The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
  • The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore
  • The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson
  • The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
  • The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson
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Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

This intriguing novel by Rebecca Serle is the story of Daphne Bell and her lovelife. Each time she meets a man, she receives a slip of paper with the man’s name and a number which represents the amount of time she will spend with him. The number varies from person to person, but it is always right. After twenty years of this, she finally meets someone and the paper she finds has only his name. She is elated at first but soon begins to question her fate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The touch of magical realism adds a unique twist to the common story of a woman looking for love. Having read so many of these stories over my life, I appreciate when a book offers something unusual to the mix. When the book opens, Daphne seems almost resigned to the way life is for her, always knowing what will happen each time she meets a new love interest. But then she meets Jake and starts hoping for a more permanent future, which sounds great until she starts to realize the reality of their relationship doesn’t match the dreams she had of what true love would look like.

I have read two other books by Serle, both of which include aspects of magical realism as well: In Five Years and One Italian Summer. I highly recommend giving this author a chance.

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What I’m Reading – October 2024

What I’m Reading Now

Passions in Death by J.D. Robb – This is book #59 of her In Death series about Eve Dallas, a homicide detective in futuristic New York City. I always love these!

Freckles by Cecelia Ahern – I have enjoyed several books by this author. This one is middling for me so far.

Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell, and the New Jerusalem by Bradley Jersak – I had put this book down a few months ago and recently picked it up again. I have read some other nonfiction in the meantime that I liked, so I’m hoping this will be easier for me to read this time.

What I Recently Finished

Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg – Berg never disappoints. I raced through this enjoyable novel about a woman who makes major changes in her life after the death of her best friend.

The Fifth Avenue Apartment by Pamela M. Kelley – This was a fun, lighthearted read about a woman who has been searching for what she wants to do with her life and how she finds a career that seems right for her. It was enjoyable. The author also released a bonus short story that set the stage for a possible second book.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum – This book was recommended by someone on Instagram, and I am so glad I took a chance on it. It was very thoughtful and warm. I appreciated both the story and the lessons shared as the characters grow.

The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon – Very well-written book that is part memoir and part informational discourse on the issues that arise for people who don’t fit or start to question the church. I really liked this book.

Natural Selection by Erin Hilderbrand – Nice short story about a woman in love who has things turned upside down on what is supposed to be a romantic trip to an exotic location.

Look on the Bright Side by Kristan Higgins – A fake relationship romance with a twist. Cute book.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio – Loved this magical realism novel about a woman whose life changes in an instant and how she copes with her new reality. I wrote a longer review of this a couple of weeks ago. Highly recommend!

What I’ve Added to my TBR List

I added a lot of books again this month. A lot of them are my standard fare, but I’m also trying to expand my horizons a bit:

  • The Anti-Heroes by Jen Lancaster
  • When We Were Friends by Jane Green (short story)
  • Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman
  • Nantucket Summer House by Pamela M. Kelley
  • Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
  • The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
  • The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
  • More of Less Maddy by Lisa Genova
  • The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick
  • The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
  • Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick
  • The Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra Patrick
  • Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
  • Summer Island by Natalie Normann
  • The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake
  • The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
  • Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman
  • Lethal Prey by John Sandford
  • Gryphon’s Valor by Mercedes Lackey
  • Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb
  • Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
  • Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman
  • Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman
  • UnClobber by Colby Martin

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Books about Books on my TBR

I recently added a post to Instagram featuring books that I have on my Goodreads Want to Read shelf that are about books or bookstores. I have come across quite a few of this type recently and am looking forward to reading them as I usually enjoy them.

Here is the list of books pictured:

  • The Library by Bella Osborne
  • The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
  • The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak
  • The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers
  • The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
  • Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
  • The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
  • The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn
  • The Cookbook Club by Beth Harbison
  • Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
  • What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama
  • Welcome to the Huyanam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum

I actually just started reading the last one on the list and am finding it very enjoyable so far.