November Books

It has been the most magical fall. We have had wonderful weather, leaves changing on the trees (not just all dying in the first frost), and a classic Halloween & Thanksgiving. Next month I am trying to only read Christmas books but there is one I couldn’t wait to read so you will see that in my December books too. But I am very excited to submerge myself into festive reading and end out the year with a magical Christmas! I cannot believe we are already nearing the end of the year! I am very confident that I will meet my goal as I already met it this month! HAHA! Maybe I will have to reevaluate for next year!

Apparently I had a blue theme for my November reads 😉 Here are the five books I read this month:

The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald

5 Stars: OMG! The ending! That really was a surprise! But honestly, this was such a great sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. These books are truly masterpieces. The commentary on current culture is still insanely relevant hundreds of years later. While technology and living styles have changed, human nature has not. It is hard not to see the allegory in this fairytale and be moved by it. I was convicted and encouraged and brought to tears! It wasn’t the story I expected to read after the first book, but it was a story I wanted to read and I love it so! Cannot wait to reread these stories. Some quotes I loved:

“There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection.”

“It is a great privilege to be poor, Peter. You must not mistake, however, and imagine it a virtue; it is but a privilege, and one also that may be terribly misused.”

“You say you didn’t mean any harm: did you mean any good, Curdie?”

“Where there is no truth there can be no faith.”

The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien

5 Stars: We have been reading these books as a family at night before bed. We are not flying through them, but we are enjoying them deeply. This story is truly an incredible one and digesting it slowly every night really makes the story come alive. I feel as though I am walking with Sam & Frodo or journeying with Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn. The banter, relationships, and journey come alive as you read. As good as the movies are, they simply feel rushed and less than in comparison to the books! I am so glad we are reading these because I didn’t know how much I would fall in love with this story and be captivated by the words on the pages (even though I technically know the ending) Truly incredible storytelling, worldbuilding, and creative writing!

Radical Love by Zachary Levi

5 Stars: It is always a bit hard for me to “rate” memoirs because it is simply the story of one’s life. This one gets 5 stars from me because it feels real and honest -the best memoirs are that way. I’ll be honest, I am a huge Chuck and Tangled fan so I know who Zachary Levi is! I also have been enjoying following him on twitter the last couple years and seeking him bravely speak out about some things I am also passionate about. That is why I picked up his book. While I think his theology is a little weak at times, his story is essentially about how God can transform, redeem, and give value/ purpose to our lives. There is a lot of hard in this book as well as a lot of hope. Zach shares his mental health journey and it is inspiring as well as encouraging. There are so many broken families and hurting people in this world. He specifically calls out a handful of people who made a difference for good in his life and it makes me want to be one of those people – who sees needs, meets needs, and above all, faithfully prays! I could have done with less f-bombs, but you are allowed to use those in your memoir if you want! Overall, a great read and I was encouraged to continue to pray for his faith journey and the faith journey of those who God calls my neighbor!

Meet Molly: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp

5 Stars: I picked up a couple of these books to start reading them aloud to my 6 and 4 year old! This is the first one we read and it was so fun! I love how these are essentially historical fiction books for kids. My girls both loved Molly and we had some great conversations about WWII (when the story takes place!) It is a cute story and my girls enjoyed it! We cannot wait to read more and to collect all the historical American Girl books!

Becoming Homeschoolers by Monica Swanson

3 Stars: Good information but underwhelming. Definitely written more for the mom who is considering homeschooling, not the mom who already is. There was a lot of information I just already knew and didn’t think was lifechanging. While I learned some from how she homeschooled, I don’t homeschool the same way. I think she spends a lot of money on homeschooling that may deter some families from doing so (she spends at least $1000 per kid on curriculum alone + activities and classes) and her style falls more in the idea of traditional school but just at home. It that sense it feels a bit dated because there are SO MANY great resources out there now for homeschooling that make it affordable and doable for many types of families and schedules. It may be a good book to read if you have no idea where to start, but it felt a bit obvious to me and more like 10 blog posts squished together into a book.

According to my Goodreads tracker, my current count is 78/75! All books that I have rated 4 or 5 stars are added to my Amazon lists here where you can look for even more recommendations than just this monthly list! Follow me on Goodreads to see what I am reading, what I want to read, some of my favorite books, and every review I write! Any other books I should add to my list? Leave a comment and let me know!

And while not exactly a book like the others, I completed another Bible Study and wanted to review it and share it here too:

Amos: An Invitation to the Good Life by Jennifer Rothschild

3 Stars: Honestly not my favorite Bible Study. I participated in this study with the women’s group at my church where we did the homework during the week and then once a week, watched the videos together and went over the discussion questions. I have heard great things about Jennifer Rothschild and her videos were actually pretty fantastic, however, the study itself was lacking. In a book study of a book that is this short, I would imagine we would read the whole book. But we don’t – we jump all over the book with random verses and then throw a bunch of other references to look up. Each week is a different identity/ theme that we learn about and it feels more like an agenda that Amos was manipulated into fitting than things we learn from Amos itself. There is a lot of good things in the study and the homework – I liked the Justice week and Intersession week best – but overall, it ironically feels pretty disconnected from the book of Amos at times. I also found that a lot of her paragraphs in the homework felt like an attempt to speak in her voice but came across more like unprofessional tangents that should have been edited out by an editor. I also COULD NOT STAND all the times I was told as a reader to post something on social media or take a photo and tag the book or do anything social media related to market the book. I get that that helps with sales and also brings in more readers but it just felt so gross in a Bible Study. Especially when social media is so performance based and not necessarily something we should be encouraging women to keep in the front of their minds and pursue during their quiet time with the Lord.