Best Books I've reviewed this year...

The Best Books I've read this year as a Book Review Blogger...

Most of these books have been from the programs I've been a part of this year. Last week, I realized that I've read and reviewed about 70 books this year. I realized that really has been my hobby this year. =) I wouldn't have read most of them on my own and have been so thankful that I did! I post my reviews on my blogs, but I was talking to my husband about my favorite books from the year and he encouraged me to write a list. So, here it is =)

for me:
Love in The Driest Season by Neely Tucker: Powerful memoir about his life, marriage, interracial marriage, Africa, foreign press reporting... I wish everyone would read it. It was that good and made that big an impact on my view of the world.

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges: Jerry Bridges explains how and why we trust God and what that means to live that out and truly believe God is sovereign. He doesn't use Christianese. He explains the words he uses like God's sovereignty

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges: What he said about Ungodliness really hit hard and I loved his analogy that a machine can't work without electricity: the Holy Spirit is the electricity and we are the machine.

A Praying Life by Paul Miller: In my busyness with the kids, I have struggled to sit and pray. I haven't been able to quiet myself yet, but I am realizing how much I need to do that. He addresses cynicism in a way that I never expected.

This Momentary Marriage by John Piper: Most of John Piper's books are too thick for me to digest while tackling everything at home. But this is a short one that is wonderful--the best marriage book I've read, ever.

Most Unusual Book: Notes from a Tilt a Whirl--This book was a complete surprise to me and my husband. You can pick it up and set it down after reading just a page--but have completely and thoroughly enjoyed that page. It is part philosophy, part poetry, part theology, part science, part memoir, part art... And the writing is very good. It is an extremely rare book that both my husband and I enjoy, but this was the one for this year.

Favorite Cookbooks: Pie, Soup, and Apple Pie by Ken Haedrichs (3 different cookbooks). I like the way he writes and the stories he tells--but most of all the cookbooks have been great. I happened upon his cookbooks at a book sale and tried them out and loved them!

for the kids:
Read and Share Bible: very Biblical Children's Bible Storybook. And Autumn absolutely loves it! Great for 3-7 yr olds.
The Jesus Book: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How about Jesus. We repeated the 5 W questions each night before we read it. I haven't seen another book like it for kids 4-8 yrs.

Favorite Picture Book:
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson is about Mortimer the mouse planting a seed and watching it grow--and realizing that it is God who makes the plants grow. Such a sweet book.

Favorite Board Book:
Do's and Don'ts by Todd Parr I don't know if I've ever read a funnier board book. This one has been out a while and it wasn't a part of the blog program (all the others except for Momentary Marriage have been), but we just found it this year and laughed for several weeks.

Favorite surprise for the kids:
Hooked on Phonics! I was so cynical and didn't think I'd like it. But, I received the PreK, 1st, and 2nd grade sets from reviewing and loved them! I love the videos (and I'm not a video teaching person) and Autumn looks forward to it every week. It's made her reading stronger eventhough she has a 3rd grade reading level. Sami is looking forward to the K set--I liked them so much, I'm going to purchase that one. It's been a great addition to our homeschooling and Explode the Code and 100 Easy Lessons

Best Listening:
Screwtape Letters by Focus On the Family: They published the radio drama they did. Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings was Screwtape--imagine that one. It was very, very good. It challenged me to think about a lot of things, but I had to listen to it in the light and not the dark!

Comparison of Verses

Tonight I was reading the Mom's Bible again (NCV) and compared this verse: NCV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. 24 As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything. NIV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The Message 22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewis...

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...

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