Reading another year
As I get into a new year, I like to look at my reading habits over the past year and perhaps tweak them. I tend to look at the previous year as one where I spent my free time more wisely if I’ve read more books, magazines, or scripture. Because if I’m reading less, then I’m probably spending too much time on social media.
This past year with a husband on the road as a truck driver, I was on the phone with him a lot, but spent more time reading later at night because I could turn off the light when I wanted. I probably read about the same as I did the year before.
The two previous years I went through the entire Bible in a year’s time. Although it was a challenge to keep up with that reading, it was very impactful to my life and my overall understanding of scripture and who God is. However, I did take a year off from reading the entire Bible this past year, and instead did some Bible studies.
My brother, who is a pastor, recommended the ‘for Everyone” series by Tom Wright, so I read “Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.” I enjoyed it. I read through those New Testament books and through the commentary Wright provided, which was very insightful. He helped me see how applicable Paul’s letters are still now and who Paul was.
I also enjoy politics and culture. I finished reading “Mama Bear Apologetics,” by Hillary Morgan Ferrer, which is great for parents and grandparents of all ages who hope to teach their children to live out their faith, protect them from evil influences, and teach them to understand God’s word and how to apply that truth to their lives. I also started reading, “How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies,” by Will Witt. It’s a conservative-leaning book. It reads the same as “Mama Bear Apologetics,” where each chapter talks about a current topic and what the conservative or Christian argument is for each one of them. Both were easy to read, but I stopped reading Witt’s book about half-way through to start some classic fiction. I plan to pick it back up soon.
The classic fiction novels I picked up were Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” and Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild.” I thoroughly loved reading that Victorian novel, “Jane Eyre.” The descriptive language was beautiful, and I fell in love with the main character who tried so hard to live a godly life even with all the terrible things she had to live through.
I read “The Call of the Wild” as requested by my husband, who loved the book when he was a child. We watched the Harrison Ford movie when it came out in 2020, and he’s wanted me to read it ever since. I enjoyed the descriptive language that made me get into a dog’s mind and see what he saw. I also enjoyed reading about a different time period, as with “Jane Eyre.”
I also went back and re-read the first book of Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy. It is an exciting allegory of the fall of humanity. I highly recommend it if you like suspense-thrillers. He’s one of my favorite fiction authors. I will read the next one in the trilogy this year.
I tend to try to read a fiction and a non-fiction book at the same time because I can get a little ADD about my reading. However, I am a reader of several columns in World magazine, and one columnist said she used to read like that and tried just reading one book at a time this past year and was able to read more books that way. So perhaps I will try that this year.
There are several books I would like to read this year, “Pride and Prejudice” and “1984” are classics I’d like to read. I’d also like to read some of the volumes of C.S. Lewis I own but have not read, including “The Great Divorce” and “The Problem of Pain.” My daughter wants me to read “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which was recently made into a movie. She bought it for me for Christmas. My brother bought me “God of the Garden,” which I also plan to read.
I would love to hear from you if you have a book recommendation. Happy reading!
Kimberly Jones is a Nolan County native, former news reporter, writer, wife, mother, and lover of small-town life. If you have an idea you would like to share with her, email her at kimberlyjgray74@gmail.com.