I have grown fond of having a corner to track the books I’ve read throughout a year. It reminds me not just of what I read, the story and/or lesson learn, but it can also bring memories of what was going on in life at that time. I listened to my first audiobook last year, The Color of Water by James McBride and so many memories of cleaning our rental home in Alaska floods my mind.

I gravely fell short of my 2021 book reading goal, which I am entirely fine with, however as I was thinking about it all, I remember some things I had read recently that encouraged me. Once was to read one chapter a day, and the other was to read at least 5 pages a day. Now 5 pages and one chapter can be two very different lengths (depending on your chapters), however it was a reminder that a little bit every day makes a difference in the long run. So that’s what I am aiming for, a little bit every day. Let’s see what this year holds. And if you are super curious of my goal: 24 books, that’s what I’m aiming for.

So here’s to another year of reading, and also, a year of growth!

• Scripture Memory by Stephanie Boyles and the Daily Grace
• Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, read by Ron Rifkin
• Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff, read by Bob Goff
• Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewel, read by Helen Duff
• Where the Wind Leads: A Refugee Family’s Miraculous Story of Loss, Rescue, and Redemption by Vinh Chung, with Tim Downs

currently reading:

• The Way of the Heart, the Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by Henri Nouwen
• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity by Robert Chao Romero
• Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad by John Eldridge
• Shepherding A Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp w/companion workbook
• Theology Handbook by the Daily Grace
• currently listening to:

"Sometimes you just need to lay on the couch and read for a couple of years."