Reading: a Hidden Gem-of-a-Plan amidst Quarantine

I love to read. As far back as I can remember, I've always loved to read. I remember learning to read rather well and quite quickly. As it is with most things we excel in, we attach enjoyment to those things and want to do them over and over and over again. The same is how it goes with me and reading. (Although, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I participated hard in the PizzaHut BookIt! Club/Program back in the 90's... You know, in looking back, I can't quite decipher if my love for reading was for reading alone, or if it was just a mask for the massive love of the pepperoni pizza I had and all the pizzas got to eat when I finished reading -yet another- book.) Any way you look at it, since that time, I continued reading, eventually began a teaching career and started helping other kids read, and finished my graduate work in Reading Specialization. I now have the walls of my house lined with shelves and shelves of books {I blame this on the fact that a reading teacher (me) and an introvert (my husband) decided to get married and let all our books live together}. I hope to pass on the passion of reading to my girls one day. (If anyone has access to an extra rolling library ladder like Belle had in Beauty & the Beast, I'd be happy to take that off your hands. I think that would seal the whole reading-is-cool deal for my girls.) Although the pepperoni pizzas no longer follow every book I read these days, my love for reading has stayed its steady course.

Because of that, I thought I would take some time to present to you a list of books I've read since the beginning of the year. I might work on the idea of doing book reviews for these in the days to come. I'm still undecided about that. As for now, just know that the books we read and the people we're around affect a lot of our thinking and decision-making. Here's a sneak peek into my world of reading. Let me know if you have any questions or would like more information on any of them. I hope you'll consider picking up some of these while you're still in semi-quarantine mode.

Afraid of All the Things by Scarlet Hiltibidal
When the Darkness will not Lift: Doing what we can while we wait for God and Joy by John Piper
10 Things a Husband needs from his Wife: Everyday ways to show him love Erin Smalley
(A)typical woman: Free, whole, and called in Christ by Abigail Dodds
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both our Hearts and our Minds by Jen Wilkin
Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman
Rhythyms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose by Rebekah Lyons
Untangling Emotions by J. Alastair Groves & Winston T. Smith
Desperate: Hope for the Mom who needs to breathe by Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson (participated in a book club with this one)
Created to Care: God's Truth for Anxious Moms by Sarah Wallace
The Gospel-Centered Mom Bible Study by Sarah Wallace
Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler (upcoming book club on this one)