Books Read in 2015 with Reviews

After going through a season of feeling overwhelmed with life and not taking time to read even one book in 2014, this former book lover made a goal in 2015 to read 1 book each month. I believed that making time to read both nonfiction and fiction, even in busy seasons, would be important to help me feel like I had time to enjoy life, build into my life with new concepts, and expand my thinking beyond my little world.

The result? 31 books read!! "I'm high-fiving a million angels!" (bonus points if you know what tv show that's from!) And I did find that, yes, reading is important to my growth and enjoyment of life. I also learned that when you really prioritize something, you CAN reach even beyond modest goals. To help reach my goal I read a couple articles on how I could incorporate reading into a busy life and applied some of these concepts:

• always having a book ready to read
• reading more than one book at once (for me a fiction and non-fiction)
• making time at night to read
• embracing all reading forms: ebooks, print books, and audio books.

So the 31 books covered all areas- shorter ebooks, audio books (after discovering this library app last summer that made it cost-effective), fun novels and non fiction books to grow me professionally and spiritually. I fully admit to the list being eclectic, but they represent my tastes and life - and you won't find dark, disturbing, or morally corrupt books. There's enough of that in real life (and hard to avoid it to some level in tv and movies...) and I don't feel a need to fill my head with any more.

I wrote my thoughts about most of the books I read in our weekly Three Things posts, and I thought it would be fun to put them all together for you in one place, along with my thoughts. Warning: this is long (because it's, like 31 books, yeah!), but full of good stuff, I promise. (In fact, it ended up being too long for my top 5 picks I had planned to include here, too, so look for that coming up next).

There are some good books here I hope you will add to your reading lists - and a few you can pass on! (Note: my affiliate links are used below - if you use them, thanks for helping to support AOC for another year!)

2015 Books Read & Reviewed

1. The Lazy Girls Guide to Furniture Painting- Allison Griffith 1/24

Where has this been all my painting life? Of course you can’t help but find shortcuts and easy ways to do things when you paint a lot, and I have, too (no-tape painting tip here, my discovery of the easiest way to paint turned legs on furniture here), but I’m always looking for new tips and tricks. And this book delivers! My favorite tip? Use a big, old mug from the thrift store to hold your paint – there’s a handle to hold instead of trying to grip my go-to plastic yogurt container. *slaps forehead* Why have I never thought of that? Sometimes it really is the little things.

2. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality 1/31

There were some good take-aways from this book about realizing ALL of our emotions are from God – yep, anger, worry and frustration (think Job and the Psalmists!) in addition to peace, love & joy. And this:

1. “Jesus was not self-less. He did not live as if only other people counted. He knew his value and worth. He had friends. He asked people to help him. At the same time Jesus was not self-ish. He did not live as if nobody else counted. He gave his life out of love for others.” (emphasis mine) This is the mature, healthy true self we should all aim for, right?
2. “The journey with Jesus calls us to a life of undivided devotion to him. This requires that we simplify our lives, removing distractions. Part of that will mean learning to grieve our losses and embrace the gift of our limits.”

3. Giving God The Worst of Me - Dana White 2/13

What a sweet, fun, and inspiring read this is! Giving God The Worst of Me, from my friend Dana, tells the story of her adult life (well, a shortened version) and what led her to start her popular blog, A Slob Comes Clean and write helpful ebooks like Drowning in Clutter? and 28 Days to Hope For Your Home. I’ve always appreciated her sense of humor and it’s in full force in this ebook, as well as deeply moving truth of how it sometimes is scary to be truly authentic – but that’s usually where we can be used the most and find the most fulfillment. The best part? She’s actually giving this ebook from her heart away for FREE. Go here to download yours.

4. Me Before You, Jojo Moyes 2/20

I had read about this on a number of ‘best of 2014″ lists and when the Kindle version went on sale I grabbed it. It is a pretty quick, fictional read with interesting characters…but I didn’t get the “best of” part that I’d read on all those lists. I didn’t care for it at all – the selfishness of the character we are supposed to sympathize with left me with a bad feeling for days (seriously.). I could go on, really, but I won’t since I seem to be in the minority. I can't recommend it, but I’ll leave it up to you, if you choose to read it (note: see more on this in the Art of Work review below).

5. Art of Work- Jeff Goins 3/12

This is a lovely book full of inspiring stories of people who took risks to do what they were meant to do and how we all can find our true vocation. The main takeaway for me from this book is Jeff’s emphasis that “a calling is more than a career; it is a life well-lived.” Here’s a few other choice quotes from this wonderful, inspiring read:

"I used to think that your calling was about doing something good in this world. Now I understand it’s about becoming someone good – and letting that goodness impact the world around you."

"Life is not an inconvenience to the work we dream of; it’s the reason we do it in the first place. A calling does not compete with or even complement your life. Your life, when lived well, becomes your calling…{and} we won’t appreciate this until the end."

Such good stuff!

Extra: Thoughts on The Art of Work vs. Me Before You:

I read The Art of Work after reading Me Before You, and with my disappointment in it - and that others seemed to like it so much - this quote from Jeff in the introduction of his book expressed why Me Before You bothered me so much:

What happens when the life you end up living doesn’t look like the one you planned? Each of us has setbacks in life, disappointments that have disrupted what we thought was the way…We can’t control what life throws our way, but we can control how we react to it…To do this, though, we have to let go of what we think we deserve and embrace what is, which just might lead to something better than we ever could have imagined. – The Art of Work, Jeff Goins

This is what life well lived should look like. In interviewing a father who’s son was paralyzed at age 5 when a tumor was removed from his brain, the father states he and his son have learned:

More people are watching your life and…are gaining strength in their own lives and in their own challenges because of what you’re going through. I promise you: your life matters, your life is significant, and things are happening that you don’t even fully understand yourself.

No matter what happens in our lives, we cannot know all the ramifications of that – and what better, amazing things could come out of something we didn’t plan – if we just give up because all we can see is ourselves. Let’s celebrate these lives and look to them for our examples – the beauty of a life well-lived.

6. Peace Like a River- Leif Enger 3/28

I added this to my list from a recommendation I saw on Modern Mrs. Darcy. Apparently it is some people’s favorite book ever written. I appreciated the well-written story and it’s view from the narrator’s perspective years later (it’s like he’s telling you a story from his memory as a boy), but I didn’t find it very emotional, especially given it’s emotional storyline. I just never connected with the characters and found myself just trying to get through it to see how it ended.

7. Crazy Love - Francis Chan 4/16

This book has been around awhile and I’ve always wanted to read it ever since my teen daughter called it ‘life-changing’ (that's a ringing endorsement for any book, if it impacts teens...). It is completely worth reading and I agree that it is very challenging- in the best way. One of my favorite quotes summing up the book towards the end, is:

"God has called us each to live faithful and devoted lives before Him, by the power of His Spirit. You do not need to preach to your pastor or congregation; you simply need to live out in your daily life the love and obedience that God has asked of you." Oh, that I would remember this each day!

8. Gilead- Marilynne Robinson 5/16

Gilead is another book I bought based on a couple of blogger’s recommendations ("best book ever," "so well written," etc…) that has literally been painful for me to wade through. I just haven’t been able to get into the story with the way it’s written (no chapters, hello?) all in diary form - except when the writer has pages of quoted conversations- who ever would remember all that to write in a diary? Sheesh. I guess I’m supposed to figure things out. Not really happening. The bummer is this was the beginning of a trilogy that I was looking forward to. Well there are plenty of other books I’ve got on my list.

9. Boundaries - Henry Cloud & John Townsend 5/25

Brian and I read this as part of a Boundaries class at our church. We'd been conflicted this year about our responsibilities to our families- what is loving vs. enabling, etc., and this is helping Brian and I to determine, biblically, what our job is and how to love our family in the right way.

If there is one book on this list that I think everyone would benefit from, it's this one. I highly recommend it and the class if you have one available. It answers a lot of questions, especially around the issues of parenting, dealing with adult kids, aging parents, and friendships.

10. Dear Mr Knightly, Kathrine Reay 6/20

Dear Mr. Knightly is a fun little book I completely enjoyed (finally a blogger recommendation I could get behind!). Nothing too heavy and written in a letter format, which I like since it’s great for being able to read a bit here and there. I thought it was going to be more Jane Austen-ish, but it’s not. The main character just likes Austen and English lit.

It's really sweet and clean, full of wonderful insights and emotions, with just the lightest touch of romance. I’ve since read Katherine Reay's other books, so you'll find another on this list (I didn't finish her third until January 2016, though).

11. Hope: Thriving while unemployed Angi & Carl Schneider 6/22

My friend Angi’s book was perfect during our a time of underemployment during 2014-15! I appreciated that it’s not a long, overwhelming book and it’s full of practical things we can do right now. It’s also full of wisdom and encouragement that this is a season that we will get through.

12. One Bite At a Time, Tsh Oxenreider 7/1

This was a free ebook from a bundle purchase, and since I had a chance to hear Tsh at a conference a few years ago, was looking forward to this book on simple steps to simplifying. To be honest, it wasn't any new information for me, but I appreciated the format and the emphasis on practical things anyone can do. I think someone just starting down a road to simplification, or with young kids (there's quite a few of the 'bites' surrounding them) would appreciate this book a lot.

13. Shave 10 Hours off Your Workweek, Michael Hyatt 7/5

This is a free ebook (with an email sign-up) that is quick to read and gives some ways to help with time management. Michael Hyatt is an industry leader who I've followed for years, so it was great to get a peek into his tips and tricks. I'm always looking for new ways to streamline my schedule, aren't you?

14. Tasty Food Photography, Lindsay olstrum 7/15

I had been wanting to read Lindsay's book on food photography for a long time, so it was one of the reasons I purchased the Ultimate Photography Bundle that was available in June. I love that she's not a professional and her early food photos looked a lot like mine back in the day, haha. So I can relate, plus she gives very practical to-dos and I learned some good tips and more about using manual.

15. The Martian, Andy Weir 8/3

I did not think I'd like this book as much as I did! I really only decided to read it for two reasons: the movie and that a number of bloggers were surprised, too, that they liked it as much. It's pretty scientific, so I did find myself skimming those technical portions, but the overall book is fun and exciting. I've loaned it to many people to read and everyone has loved it - men, women, and teens. (One caution: there are a few f-bombs, unfortunately.)

16. Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (audio) 8/8

So very weird. I bet you’ve heard a lot about this book already and I’m thinking the reviews didn’t start this way, right? Don’t get me wrong, there are great ideas here – I truly believe getting rid of piles of unused stuff does make you feel different and affects your mental well-being – and I plan to implement her method (the “KonMari” method) to clean by category. But goodness, was I ever laughing (out loud – while listening with earbuds…) at some of her ideas and thoughts!! While I had read that she advocated thanking your clothes for their service before tossing them (whatever…), she goes much further:

• Socks are on a "vacation" in our drawers and aren’t allowed to rest if they’re bundled up in little balls (i.e., hooked together so you can find them…).
• Empty the entire contents of your purse/bag every night – how would you feel if you had to sleep with all that weight?
• Greet your house every time you return and thank it for keeping everything while you’ve been gone.

And then this, which didn’t make me laugh, but just feel sorry for her: she says she was a lonely child and felt her first unconditional love from her personal objects. Oh gosh, that’s just sad, right? So the takeaway is: take the good stuff and leave the rest. And remember – she’s not married or a mom, and her job is tidying. Whenever she’d say, “that may seem like a lot of time (for this little thing)” I’d remind myself of this!

17. The Gluten Lie, Alan Levinovitz (audio) 8/10

This is the book where I learned another drawback of audio books: the reader of this audiobook was terrible! He reminded me of those 20/20-48 Hours show hosts who say things in such a way as to sensationalize it for ratings or something. Ugh. This book though, is meant for controversy, I think. You can see it in the Amazon ratings – people either love it or hate it. And the author is NOT saying that there is no celiac disease or true gluten sensitivity (the history of celiac disease was super interesting – the best part of the book, I thought), just that anti-gluten has gotten out of hand (which I do agree with – sheesh, the bottle of lemonade I bought the other day had “gluten free” written in big letters on it, wha-ha?). He talks about the history of a lot of food fads, which I also found really interesting.

You all know I’m a firm believer in moderation in all types of food – that’s how I’ve reached my healthiest weight ever and I’m rarely sick. So that’s another thing I agree with the author about. BUT, I do think our American diet is heavy on sugar and grain-based carbs, and he seems to think none of it matters – just eat anything you want.

I believe that changing what we eat can make a big difference to our lives. That’s why just going to a real, whole-foods diet can make huge changes for people. Sometimes, though, that change to a whole-foods diet was brought on by an issue and gluten (sugar, fat, etc.) was the thing that became the focus. Better health and wellness resulted – but was that due to the lack of a specific food or the fact that the diet was overall healthier than previously? Is it short term? Sustainable? Able to translate to others? This is why nutrition science is so difficult.

And this is one of the things I got from the book: nutrition science is one of the hardest sciences since it is almost impossible to not have a lot of things happening at once. And it’s anecdotal. And based on our recollection. And memories. And highly influenced by the placebo affect (which I think is real and a good thing, not bad, if it helps wellness – I see it as a way of our mind helping our bodies!). And I think it’s wise to always, always be leery of people who stand to make a lot of money from their point of view – especially when it’s not backed up anywhere else.

Am I endorsing this book? No – I especially didn’t appreciate his take on myths and religion – but you may want to check it out from the library and skim through the history parts, they really are very educational and eye-opening.

18. If Walls Could Talk- An Intimate History of the Home, Lucy Worsley 8/14 ( audio)

I found this book while browsing through the my library app and since I am a history fan (it was one of my majors in college, actually), I decided to listen while I did some canning. It’s a British book, so it’s focus was on English history, but that’s basically Western Civ, so it covered a lot. It goes into details about things that aren’t usually mentioned in history books: what people ate in different eras, what they wore, what they slept in, what their housing looked like, etc. Sometimes it got a little too personal, if you get my meaning, a-hem. Fast-forward button proved useful there. 🙂 All in all, though, I enjoyed it and it made me very grateful for the ease we experience in these areas today!

19. Brooklyn, Colm Toibin 8/20 (audio)

The trailer for the movie based on this book, about an Irish immigrant in 1950s Brooklyn, made it seem like a fun, feel-good kind of read, but it was just okay in my view. This is one book that I might enjoy better as a movie since the trailer seemed to have more life and fun to it than the book did.

Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t terrible, just sort of blah. And I really didn’t like the non-ending. (This is one drawback I learned about audio books: the end can come as a surprise when you’re listening, since you can’t see that it’s going to end and then you’re like, what – that’s it? I rewound multiple times thinking I may have missed something, but no, it was just abrupt.)

20. The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris 8/24 (audio)

I’ve read a TON about this book over the years and have wanted to read for a long time. This was another library app find and I’m so glad I listened! Wow, is this book packed with ideas and inspiration.

While I wouldn’t follow everything exactly (and some of it sounds pretty selfish, leaving others pick up the pieces of your irresponsibility…), I LOVED how he challenged a lot of our long-held assumptions of traditional workdays and all the ‘busy work’ we do that makes us feel like we’ve “done something.” (I am SO guilty of this…) AND how that takes away from things we could be doing that are truly important and worthwhile. Here’s just one gem:

Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.

In fact, I bought the Kindle version and had Brian listen, so that's a good endorsement, right?

21. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (audio) 8/30

I have heard so much about The Five Love Languages that I wasn’t sure there was anything left to know, but I’m glad I listened to the book. It’s not long and it’s inspiring to see how learning what our love language is – and our loved ones – has helped people so much.

It immediately sparked a conversation in our house about what we thought each of our love language was, which was great, I think! Wondering what mine is? It’s super easy, no one had a doubt: acts of service. My kids especially, since they grew up hearing stuff like, “all I want is help with ________” for every Mother’s Day or birthday (or whenever, ha!).

22. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins 9/4, 23. Catching Fire, S Collins 9/11, 24. Mockingjay, 9/23 (audio)

When I saw The Hunger Games trilogy available in the library audio app, it seemed like a fun way to pass the height of the canning season. My daughter had read it in middle school and tried to get everyone she knew to read it, she liked it so much. It’s definitely not something I would sit down to read, but listening? It’s like a TV show or movie, but longer and really made the time pass more quickly.

This is popular for a reason - it's a well-written good read, though the dystopian future with sadistic games is a sad thought. Like any of these types of books, though, it’s about the characters and these are drawn really well. It’s a compelling story that hooks you in with good storytelling. I’ve heard from my kids (who read it years ago with most of their friends) that not many people are satisfied with the last book, and thinking about it, I’d say it’s because there’s not much of a moral conclusion, just kind of an empty “this is life and we don’t have the games anymore” ending. I’m curious to see if the final movie of the trilogy that’s coming out soon changes the ending at all, or at least makes it a bit more satisfying (note after seeing the movies: they actually do make the ending seem nicer and my daughter thought it was better than the book, which is unusual in a lot of book-to-movies!).

25. Simply Tuesday, Emily P. Freeman 10/9

I really enjoyed this sweet book! Emily's thoughts on being content with smallness (and slowness) speaks right to my simple and imperfect loving heart. Here are a couple quotes I just had to write down:

“I’m thankful we have a God who sometimes chooses to tell His big story in small, delightful, quiet ways.”

“When it comes to our work…may we simply plant, act, build, and offer, releasing the outcomes into (God’s) hands because they are not our business.”

26. Far Away Home, 10/24

After reading a couple of nonfiction books I was ready for an easy historical novel and at .99 on Amazon, this sounded perfect (yes, sometimes I'm lured in by the .99 deal...). This was actually better than I thought it would be, with nice attention to historical details, interesting characters, and a sweet romance that didn’t go into too much detail, if you know what I mean.

The only bummer was that there is no closure at the ending – we have no idea what happened to the heroine. And this was written a few years ago and doesn’t have a sequel. I did read on Amazon though, that the author is writing a sequel now and said she didn’t know people would want to know what happened (duh…you can’t have your lead character leaving on a train after an argument with her finance and think people aren’t going to want to know, right?).

27. Daring Greatly, Brene Brown 10/27

So, so many bloggers and business women have recommended Brene Brown's books. This book was available as an audio book, so I listened while doing a DIY project. I'm kinda embarrassed to say I don't get it - in fact, I didn't even finish the book completely, but just fast-forwarded through the last chapters, stopping here and there. I can't really pinpoint why, but I was just underwhelmed (vulnerability is painful? Um, got that...), I didn't really think there was anything that great here, and it just came off to me as "me, me, me" since the author repeated very frequently about her expertise, research, etc.

28. The Best Yes, Lisa Terkyst 11/10

I LOVED this book and recommend it wholeheartedly. Since it's all about saying NO to some things in order to say YES to the best, it could easily have come off as selfish. But it's the opposite - maybe because Lisa provides clear pictures about what can happen when we say NO to something hard - something that may make us look selfish, but in our saying no and NOT taking it on, something more wonderful was allowed to happen. (By the way, this is basically what Boundaries is all about, too!). I'm sure it's also because it's faith-based and we're looking to God for our best Yes and not just what we want for ourselves only.

29. Money Making Mom, Crystal Paine 11/7

My overall impression was INSPIRING. This is not a blogging book by any means, it is a book for any woman who is working in any field and has a ton of examples from women who are doing all kinds of businesses. But it’s Crystal’s honesty and real-life examples that bring this book to life.

I have always found her to be so relatable and with this book’s balance of inspiration and practical steps, there were many things I could relate to. I also really loved the book’s emphasis on living and working with a purpose – and that’s not just to have the biggest business or best car, etc. To be grateful for what we do have and realize that if we’re succeeding with the goals for our family and able to give to others (time or money), then that’s enough and worth celebrating.

30. Whistling Past the Graveyard, Susan Crandall 12/07

This is one of those books I would’ve NEVER have picked because the title sounds a bit creepy to me, but I kept seeing it recommended and I’m so glad I went for it.

The title just refers to a saying that means to let things you’re worried about not bother you, "whistle past them" (maybe it’s an old southern saying?). The writing is SO GOOD and the author does such a wonderful job of telling the story from the prospective of a 9 year old girl – it’s really amazing. There are heartwarming parts, scary parts, and an exploration of race all set in the south in the early 1960s. I hope you make time for this one.

31. The Bronte Plot, Katherine Reay 12/23

I was able to listen to this while baking Christmas cookies, allowing me to squeeze one last book in before the end of the year, even though it was a busy time. This books was just as sweet as Dear Mr. Knightly, but that book remains my favorite. This one was good, I just didn't connect with the characters as much. I still recommend all this author's books, as it's so refreshing to find someone who's writing contemporary fiction that is light but still carries deeper meanings - and isn't full of dark, twisted things. If you're anything like me, I think you'll enjoy anything she puts out!

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