Summer Reading

I have a plan! 

I use to be an avid reader, however somewhere in the last year or two, I have lost the determination I once had. Don't get me wrong, I still have the desire to read. I just seem to lack the time. Thus, I have stacks of books that I have collected that are just a waitin' to be read. I have no foolish idea that I could read them all during one summer and still have a job and kids that like me, but I'm hoping to put at least a dent in my stacks of unread books.

 Many of these I have ordered or purchased from various stores, but an equal number of them I have won off of blogs, websites or been given by various people. So I have made a priority listing of the order in which I hope to read them. I have set aside a two hour block of time to read each day, though I have no expectations of it being uninterrupted. I'm hoping that with that time, I can a book a week (although I will reassess my goals if that turns out to be unrealistic).

So without further ado, here's my summer reading list:

1. Mirror Mirror... Am I Beautiful? by Shelley Hitz (I've actually read this one before, but I'm reading it again.) 
2. Bringing Up Girls by Dr. Dobson
3. The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
4. 1000 Days by Jonathan Falwell
5. Uprooting Anger by Robert D. Jones
6. Lazarus Awakening by Joanna Weaver
7. Hiking Home by Lezlie Allison 
8. The Fear of God by Arnold L. Frank
9. The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges
10. The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer

(By the way, I realize there are 12 books in my stack, I really want to read the last two, so I had to include them even though I doubt I will get to them.)

I can think of no better way to end a post about books then to include a review of the one that I just finished. The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney is a short yet powerful book about keeping the Gospel the main thing in your life. I've been reading it for weeks on and off and finally managed to finish the last page today. :) Did I mention that I hadn't been making reading a priority?

This book starts out with an inspiring portrayal of Timothy reading the letter that Paul wrote to him from prison. This letter didn't hold a new profound truth to get Timothy through the tough days ahead, but a reminder of what had already been done. The point being that we don't need a new revelation to get us through, we simply need to remember what Christ has already done for us - because it is enough. We need to remember it daily and center our lives upon in, and that's exactly what this small book will help you do. It's short enough that you might possibly be able to finish it in an hour or two of uninterrupted reading time, however I moved through it much slower to soak in all of its goodness. Either way, I highly recommend "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney and will probably be quoting it for many years to come.

I've also registered for my local library's summer reading program. I'm blessed by a library that has a reading program for every age group (babies to adults). Last year I even won one of their raffle prizes at the end of the summer (not that I ever read any of the books in it... but I do use the cool bag, bookmark and notebook - and the chocolate lasted less than an hour before I devoured it all). So I'll be posting book reviews, and logging my reading there as well.

Happy Reading!

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