2018 - Books 35 and 36

I challenged myself to read the Bible in 9 months this year.  I finished in 8 months! I count the Old and New Testaments each as a book because there are a lot of pages.  I use the Reader's Bible in ESV most of the time.

I am doing a Bible study in John in the Fall and so I have been focusing on some deep reading of that.  I'll start reading through the Bible again towards the end of the year.

Pages: 1800

2018 - Book 34

Back in June we went to DC for three days.  It took 4 and a half hours to get home (that isn't normal). We listened to all of Paddington (read by Jeeves).  It is a cute story and I look forward to reading it again to my boys when they are a bit older and reading more in the series.

Time: 3 hours

2018 - book 33

Pages: 191

Look, another book written just for women.  How do I keep finding myself reading these? 
(I read this book as part of a group study. )

You all know I don't like books written just for women... but this was the best book written just for women that I have read this year.  The best benefit I can see of this book is the discussions that could be have after reading this book as a group.  There are lots of ideas for weeping with those that weep and rejoicing with those that rejoice.  I would like to put some meat on the bones and discuss it with people that have been through situations that they needed someone to rejoice with them or weep with them. 

Overall I liked the book for what it is.  However, I couldn't help but think about all the books she quoted from and wishing that I was reading those instead. It is an overview of friendship books.

These are two of my favorites off the list (and they could be read by men or women):
Life Together - Bonheoffer
Relationships a Mess Worth Making - Tripp

I thought those two books were both excellent resources on friendship and working together in the body of Christ. She quotes from those two more than any other.  I highly recommend them both!

She also quotes from (I have read some of these and some I want to read or have in my to-read basket of books):
Jerry Bridges (True Community)
Phillip Graham Ryken (The Communion of Saints)
Tim Keller (The Reason For God)
Francis Schaeffer (The Mark of A Christian)
C.S. Lewis (Letters)
J.I. Paker (Knowing God)
Ed Welch (Side by Side)
Jonathan Edwards
John Calvin
Charles Spurgeon (Sermons)
Susan Hunt
The Westminster Confession
Joel Beeke (How Should We Develop Christian Friendship)

Lots of good information. It was well put together. It isn't a bad little book.  I read it in two days.  It is an easy read.

Note: The study I read it for is a Sunday School class.  Big surprise here: I don't like books for women and I also don't like Sunday School classes only for women. The men are doing their own class and a different book.  I think it would have been more beneficial if we had both read the same book on friendship (either the Bonheoffer or the Tripp book would have been my votes). That way we would be able to discuss it with one another on the way home or as we saw each other during the week.  Reading different books takes away the camaraderie. It makes us on different pages (literally). 

2018 - book 32

Pages: 358

This book! Add this to the pile of books that will be required reading for my children when they get older.

It will join these others:
King Leopold's Ghost
The Shallows - What the Internet is Doing to Your Brain
The Color of Law
Alone Together
I'm probably forgetting some...

I knew nothing about how the American Indians were treated in our nation. It was never mentioned in any of my history.  I picked up a couple books about the Trail of Tears from the library and browsed through them before settling on this one.  It was a bit dry in parts, but overall did an excellent job of covering the history of the Cherokees and the US government.

The way the US government treated the American Indians is disgraceful.  They double-crossed them and lied to them over and over and over again.  It is interesting reading history because you start to see people in a different light.  We tend to group all the early presidents in a group and think of them as "good".   But we are all sinners in need of a Saviour and without Him we are hopelessly lost.

I fell like I need to read a biography of each of our American presidents to get a better picture of their lives. There are so many things I want to read about.  A book gives such a better picture then a wikipdia page article.