Every month I like to share the books I read that month. And this month I’m also sharing other little things that delighted me. So here are my March books and delights!
“Read. Read for your souls, for your minds, and for your hearts. The people in your life you’ve been called to love will be better for it because you will be better for it. Make a conscious choice to read and read well. What we read changes our minds, souls, and hearts. I’ve experienced it first-hand, and I bet you have, too.” –Tsh Oxenreider, source
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
“We force her to think hard about what this will mean for his life, even though he never considered what his actions would do to her.”
-Chanel Miller, Know My Name
Chanel Miller is a talented writer, has been writing her whole life. Who knew this is the story she’d be sharing in her first book—her experience as a sexual assault survivor. This is a hard book to read, Miller doesn’t hold back on the details. But it’s an important read, to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who has been through sexual assault and then chooses to press charges in what becomes a high profile case. I’m in Sharon McMahon’s book club, and we have a Zoom meeting with the author tonight! If you like memoir, and you can deal with this difficult topic, this is a must read.
Amazon Description: She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford’s campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral–viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.
Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways–there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. Find it here.
Daring Greatly, How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.”
–Brene Brown, Daring Greatly
The winners in this life are not the critics, but the ones in the ring “daring greatly.” I’m paraphrasing the quote Brene Brown uses as her premise for this book, a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt. If we don’t dare to be vulnerable, we will not feel seen and known in our relationships. Vulnerability is a risk, but it’s a risk that’s worth it when you consider the reward—knowing that you are loved. I listened to this book, but if I had a hard copy, I would have been underlining on every page!
Amazon Description: Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, MSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.” Find it here.
Look to Love, A Better Way to Read the Bible by JL Gerhardt
“Looking to love is the first and greatest way to read the Bible. If we’ll look for God in the Bible, we’ll surely find him, and in finding him, we’ll fall in love.”
–JL Gerhardt, Look to Love
Just to be clear, I am a huge JL Gerhardt fan. Each of her books has planted the seeds for transformation in my life. I’m not even sure I would be a writer without her books. So, of course I loved this one. I’ve read the reviews on this book, and not everyone feels like I do about it. For me, this book explained what I had already experienced. Spending time immersed in God’s word, seeking to understand Him, asking questions, praying about it, these are things that helped me fall in love with God. The more I looked, the more I loved, and the more I wanted to obey. I’m reading this with two different groups right now, but I can never read her books slowly, so I’ve finished it ahead of our schedules.
Amazon Description: Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? It’s the first & greatest command—the most important thing. But even if we want to love God that way, most of us don’t. Are we doomed? Absolutely not. Drawing from psychology, Shakespeare, loads of Scripture, and her personal experience falling in love at 13 (and staying in love for 26 years), Gerhardt makes a story-rich case for a sure-fire way to fall in love and stay in love with God. Hint: It’s a better way to read the Bible. Find it here.
Fiction Reads
In the past several years, my nonfiction books have outweighed the fiction books. But lately, I find myself craving quick, easy reads over the meaty ones that take me longer to finish. And this month, I read three fiction books to match my three nonfiction books.
This presents a challenge for me, because I want to share with you resources that uplift and encourage you in your walk with God and others. But these fiction books are not that. I don’t want to pretend that I only read holy things, showing only half of myself to you. But also, I don’t want to share things that would cause you to pick up a book that you think is “clean” just because I recommended it.
Nevertheless, I loved each of these books because 1)they drew me in quickly, 2)the authors did not spend time describing scenery, and 3)the drama and dialogue kept me turning the pages. I finished all three of these in a matter of days. However, all three of them contain bad language, sex, and drug use.
You can see the fiction and nonfiction books I read in the March Reads image below.
March Delights
I want to live with an extremely low bar for delight. It takes almost nothing at all—a good song, a ripe piece of fruit, a perfectly packed tote.” –Shuana Niequist, I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet
Inspired by Shauna Niequist, I’ve been keeping a list of things that bring me delight. Here is my list of March delights.
- Painting my nails a too bright shade of yellow
- Listening to the chattering of birds
- Not going on the kindergarten field trip
- This sour cream butterfly on my soup
- Area-Wide worship service singing
- Creating a post of just quotes
- Getting out of bed when it’s still dark outside–ah! the quiet!
- Getting my hair cut
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando (in the morning before it becomes so crowded!)
- My new Hufflepuff mug
- The warmth of Honeyduke’s
- The French toast patty melt at The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen (yum)
- Seeing the bright blue of the blue jay’s feathers
- My kindergartner’s drawings on her Star of the Week poster
- A phone call with a friend
- Taking items out of my house to donate
- Taking dinner to someone who needs it
- Accepting a friend’s invitation
- Reading to the kindergarten class (this book)
- Watching puppet shows by kids at our church
- Submitting a blog post to a different website than my own
- Thinking about meals with Jesus
- Tulips, in all the colors
I’d love to hear what books you read recently! I hope you enjoyed the books I read in March. I look forward to sharing these every month.
(Amazon links are affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase I might earn a tiny commission!)
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