Here we are, a new year!! Though all that is happening in life doesn’t really change, it gives us a sense of being able to pause, evaluate and start fresh. Sometimes a reset is needed, sometimes reevaluating priorities is needed, sometimes a goal to aim for is needed. And sometimes it’s just a continuation from the year before, which is how I particularly feel this new year.

I don’t really set New Year’s Resolutions anymore but one thing I do do is set a goal for how many books I want to read in the new year. Some years I pick out all the books from my bookshelf ahead of time as the books to read for that year, other years I set a goal and just read what I fancy. I am taking my ‘Books of 2021’ page (where I keep track throughout the year of what I’m reading) and putting it into a post form as it’s a new year with new potential books to read….and perhaps finishing a few (okay 5) that I’m still reading! (If you are interested, you can check out Books from 2020 here.)

So here we are, the beginning of a new year, where did those book goals end up?! I had upped the ante for 2021, I was feeling particularly zealous at the beginning of last year apparently, and I didn’t even come close, ha! You know what though, I’m completely okay with that. I actually read less this past year, however learning to accept grace for ourselves is vital, and well, this has been a doozy of a year for my family personally. Apparently reading was not prioritized. Regardless, what I did read, I enjoyed. Listed below are the books I did get to finish.

Recently I was reading someone’s personal tips for how they read so much in a year. One of the tips said to read one chapter a day. Somewhere else I read to just commit to reading five pages a day. I can do that; reading somewhere between five pages and one chapter a day is completely doable. Because honestly, reading is not something I ever want to stop doing. More and more I am challenging myself to read different genres, authors, opinions, etc; I don’t love them all but I’m committed to learning and growing all the days of my life and reading is the cheapest form of that!

So here’s to another year of reading, learning and growing:

• Growing: Work that God Sees, prayerful motherhood in the midst of the overwhelm by Shannon Guerra
• Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
• Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice by Derald Wing Sue (grad school book)
• The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride, performed (read) by Andre Braugher & Lainie Kazan
• Rest in the Running: Abide, A Year of Growing Deep and Wide, Volume #1 by Shannon Guerra
• Trauma Recovery and Empowerment: A Clinician’s Guide for Working with Women in Groups by Maxine Harrise (grad school book)
• Hope in the Waiting: Abide, A Year of Growing Deep and Wide, Volume #2 by Shannon Guerra
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum (stolen over the summer and need to replace to finish)

"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."

J.K. Rowling