Winter is a good time to stay indoors, brew some coffee, find a cozy spot and read for a while. I love this indoorsy activity that exercises…my imagination. Today, I’m sharing the books that helped me welcome the new year, the books I read in January 2023.
James Clear shared this quote in his January 19th email, and it made me think about how I spend my time:
“Are the results I am expecting aligned with the habits I am following each day?” -James Clear
I am a reader, but somedays I spend more time looking at my phone than at a book. I want to be known as your friend who loves books and not as the friend who loves distracting herself with games on her phone. I want to be a reader who chooses books over Instagram and Facebook scrolling.
So on January 21st, I deleted Royal Match and Ball Sort games from my phone. I uploaded some books to my Kindle so I always have something ready to read even when I don’t have books with me. My Goodreads goal for 2023 is 40 books. January is off to a good start.*
*To be fair, some of these I started in 2022, and I just finished them this month.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The only fiction book I read this month, and I could not put it down! I love a good documentary, and apparently even when it’s a fake one. I am excited to see the show debut on Netflix in March.
Amazon Description: Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now. Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. Find it here.
Finding I AM by Lysa TerKeurst
“What if God’s plan is to change us through this before He changes our circumstances in this?”
-Lysa TerKeurst, Finding I AM
Amazon Description: What is the deep cry of your heart? The ache in your soul just waiting to be fulfilled? The prayer you keep repeating without end? Jesus not only cares about this deep, spiritual wrestling, but He also wants to step in and see you through it. Join Lysa TerKeurst on the streets of Israel to explore the I AM statements of Jesus found in the Gospel of John, ultimately trading feelings of emptiness and depletion for the fullness of knowing who Jesus is in this in-depth Bible study. Find it here.
Friendship—It’s Complicated by Andi Andrew
“I would take the pain of connection with other imperfect humans any day over the pain of isolation.”
-Andi Andrew, Friendship—It’s Complicated
Amazon Description: Too often our friendships with other women can be marked by drama, competition, betrayal, and unforgiveness. As women, we can cause one another deep pain, creating wounds in need of healing. But we were made for connection and healthy friendships with other women to cheer each other on and fulfill our God-breathed purpose–together. Through vulnerable personal stories laden with joy, heartache, mistakes, and lessons learned, Andi invites you on a journey of navigating the complications that can come in friendships with other women. With practical and biblical applications throughout, this book will empower you to do the work by first facing yourself and untangling the mess, then seeking reconciliation for genuine connection, and building authentic friendships, even when it’s been painful or complicated in the past. Find it here.
Life in Community by Dustin Willis
“Ironically we do not find significance or the cure for our loneliness in relationships with other people but in relationship with God Himself. He alone can sustain the weight of our worship.”
–Dustin Willis, Life in Community
Amazon Description: When people live in community moved by the gospel and marked by the Spirit, great things happen. They commit to one another. They grieve together, sing together, eat, pray, and play together. They love, serve, honor, encourage, and provide for each other gladly. And they live on mission together. Hearts are healed, walls come down, and outsiders come in. No competition. No pretense. No vain conceit. Just full hearts breaking bread and giving freely. It is nothing short of amazing. Most of us live in a shadow of what God intended for us. Life in Community calls us into the light. Reclaiming Scripture’s stunning vision of gospel-centered community, it inspires us to live in love unbounded. Read it, live it, and join the movement: Help unleash the power of extraordinary community. Find it here.
Start with Hello by Shannan Martin
“But no one teaches us that community has to be built with our hands and our tender hearts and our precious time. No one breaks it all the way down. No one gives us the tools. From the outside looking in, it can seem like community just happens for the lucky few. It’s easy to assume we’re the ones getting it wrong.”
-Shannan Martin, Start with Hello
Amazon Description: A simple path to a more deeply connected life. You want more. You want to belong to a community that looks out for each other. You believe in your bones we don’t have to live detached, distracted, and divided. The question is, How? Shannan Martin invites you into deeper connection through simple resets, such as Open Door > Perfect Décor. We invite others in, seeking to connect, not impress. Familiar > Fussy. We serve tacos and pizza like the feasts they are, because fancy is overrated. Tender > Tough. We greet the world with our hearts exposed and our guards down. Packed with street-level practices and real-talk storytelling, Start with Hello is your field guide for a life of security, camaraderie, and joy. There is no step too small. Find it here.
I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet by Shauna Niequist
“Hospitality is holding space for another person to be seen and heard and loved. It’s giving someone a place to be when they’d otherwise be alone. It’s, as my friend Sibyl says, when someone leaves your home feeling better about themselves, not better about you.”
-Shauna Niequist, I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet
I listened to this one, and it felt like taking big deep yoga breaths. Comforting, relaxing, and admitting that we’re still learning, no matter your age. With 50 short chapters it was so easy to listen to a chapter while driving to the store or listen to multiple chapters while folding clothes. Some repeated themes throughout the book are on grief, learning new ways to live, belonging/unbelonging, and finding delight.
Amazon Description: New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist writes about unexpected loss, change, faith, midlife, and a move to New York City with her signature depth and vulnerability. In this book, she invites us to practice curiosity and self-compassion, to become beginners again, and to rediscover resilience and courage in our own seasons of change. Find it here.
I’d love hear what books you read recently! I hope you enjoyed the books I read in January. I look forward to sharing these every month.
Leave a Reply