In 2022 I set monthly reading goals. You can see the 9 books I picked to read in March here. Here are 5 books I’ve read recently…
Note: You can follow the books I finish this year and my star ratings on GoodReads. Books are also rated on a scale of 1-5 stars. I basically won’t finish a book if it’s one star (not worth my time!) and I will rarely give a book a 5 star rating unless it was just absolutely amazing or life changing.
Win the Day: 7 Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less and Achieve More
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I found it to be full of many practical ideas and useful tips. On the other hand, I feel that these kinds of productivity books are not the best thing for someone with my personality to read because it makes you feel like you have to push harder and do more.
There are people who need extra motivation to get up and get things done, but I think it’s important that we balance that desire to do with a healthy realization that doing isn’t the only thing that matters. is doing. Sometimes, sitting and being with someone or slowing down and doing less so we can invest in people… these things can be the most important thing.
So while I took some inspiration from the book, I wish there had been more balance in it between prioritizing the things that matter in eternity and that rest is very helpful too.
Verdict: 3 stars
The Woman They Couldn’t Silence
I’m also not 100% sure what I think of this book. I found parts of it maddening… I wanted to shake the woman and tell her to get up and find a way to escape!! But then I was also reminded how much our culture has changed and how blessed we are that women today have a voice and a voice.
This book is only written from one perspective and I would have loved to hear more from the other side (even if I strongly disagreed with them!) Why did they do what they did? Why was her husband so adamant that he was right? Was he a narcissist? I had so many unanswered questions.
In addition, I had the feeling that the book drug had run out in many parts and that some sort of plodding had to be done. I noticed there were some reviews online that felt like writing this book wasn’t as tight as The Radium Girls (I haven’t read that book yet; it’s on my stack!)
Have you read this book? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Verdict: 3 stars
Unacceptable: How Just One Change Can Improve All Life
This is my first 5-star read of 2022! I’m giving it that rating because I couldn’t stop recommending it, thinking about it, or talking about it. That, in my opinion, is the mark of a 5 star read.
What would it be like to choose not to be offended in a society where it feels like we are offended everywhere we look? (We do have a choice, you know?)
Some of you may be thinking, “But how do I do that? You don’t know what this person did or said (or didn’t do or didn’t say).” I don’t, but I do know this: we get to choose how we react, we can’t choose how other people treat us or react to us or what they say or do to us, but we can choose our reaction.
This doesn’t mean that we let people walk all over us or that we don’t set boundaries, but it does mean that we can choose to be either a victim or a conqueror. We can choose to be offended and hurt and upset, or we can acknowledge our feelings, mourn our loss, and choose to forgive.
I highly recommend any Christian to read this book! Jesse and I made an entire podcast episode about it because I found it so helpful!
Everyone is beautiful
I almost didn’t finish this audiobook because it felt so lighthearted. But in the end I stuck with it and there were a few thought-provoking parts (plus some laughably funny parts!)
While there was a lot of fluff and this novel is by no means written from a Christian perspective, I appreciate how it brought me home, the fact that you never know anyone’s story or what they went through and also how important it is to put your marriage above your children – even in really full seasons.
Verdict: 2 stars
I also read The Jesus Storybook Bible to Kierstyn. This is our favorite Bible story book and I highly recommend it!
This post 5 books I recently finished
was original published at “https://moneysavingmom.com/5-books-i-finished-recently/”
