books I like

I am currently in the process of trying to update this list. Please check back later for my more current favorite reads.

The Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury & Gary Smalley

This is Christian fiction, which I tend to not be a complete fan of. However, I really like the real-ness of this series. It’s intended to show real problems in a normal family. They are fairly easy reads, but I still find myself getting teary over moments the characters have. I do find it slightly un-believeable that all of the things that happen in the books would happen to just one family. I mean, it’s seriously one things after another. However, I do like that the characters face their problems in a very real way. Some turn to God, some turn away from God, etc…

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

I am currently reading through the entire series as an adult. So far, so good. I will update this when I am finished.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

I know, I know, controversy alert! I was not allowed to read these books when I was younger.

This year, however, I decided it was time to give them a read. I was in my 30′s, solidly an adult, and curious. What was it about these books that flared so much controversy when they were written.

So, I have read them all. And, I liked them. A lot. I understand where the controversy comes from, and I agree with it, to a point. I will not prevent my children from ever reading these books, but I will not allow them to be read at younger ages; the first 3 seem deceptively light (although there is a good amount of evil in them), but books 4-7 get a little dark. Something that as a mature, 30-something, confident-in-my-worldview person I can enjoy as fiction, but something that a more impressionable young person might view as possibility. And that’s my take on Harry Potter.

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

I was introduced to this one through my book club. It is phenomenal!

The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges

This one I did in a Bible study, but it doesn’t have to be done that way… it’s a book, that has a companion guide if you want to do the questions. This one really changed my perspective on WHY I do the things I do…

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza

You can read further thoughts here. I liked this book a lot. The past few years I’ve gotten more into reading memoirs and historical accounts… mostly from wartime eras (Vietnam, WWII, etc…) This was different. I’ve never read much from the African national point of view, nor did I know much about the Rwandan genocide other than basics (Hutu vs. Tutsi). This book educated, and enlightened.