I am in absolute awe at how fast this year has gone. I sit here by my fire that is now decorated with garland and lights and stockings. And I stare at my twinkling tree and wonder how can it already be December? How can it already be the beginning of the end of another year? I just want time to slow down a little bit. I don't want each day to go by faster than the day before. But yet, I don't have that super-power. So I guess I will just work even harder to enjoy every single minute by the fire with a book or at home on the couch with family or on a car ride with My Love.
The last month has been full of travels, reading and illness. My Love was sick for a couple of weeks and then I got sick after him. Then we traveled to the far side of Missouri for a missions conference and then to Indiana for Thanksgiving. And in the middle of all of that we worked and I read a ton, as always.
The majority of what I read this last month was on adoption, foster care, and ministry to at-risk children and youth. They were all picked in honor of it being National Adoption Month. While I didn't write as much as I wanted to (I never do... I seem to have lost some of my love for writing over the last year), I really enjoyed all of the books, blogs and articles that I read. They all challenged me and encouraged me to think more clearly about what my role is and will be in the world of orphan care and children/youth ministry. A lot of it was good refreshing of what I learned in some of my college classes and put in a new light now that I work in a church setting with My Love.
After reading 8+ books in a row on adoption and children's ministry, I tackled JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion over Thanksgiving vacation. I just finished it a few hours ago. It definitely wasn't the most logical follow-up book, but I was in a Tolkien mood and wanted to knock a book off of my TBR and Classics Club lists. So The Silmarillion it was. I'm going to try and write my thoughts on it in a separate post since there is so much to think about and digest with that book. We shall see if I succeed or not.
As the year draws to an end, I am amazed every time I look at my stats with just how much I have read. This is my second year of tracking my reading and I wish I had started years ago. It's fun for me to see how much I read and how fast. Not to mention the wide spectrum of books I seem to bounce around to and from. I have blown away my stats from last year. I have read 49 more books and 12,000+ more pages than I did in 2012. That is unbelievable to me! And I still have one more month of reading for 2013! And with that said... here are my stats and I'm off to start another book!
Happy reading and happy Thanksgiving a few days late!!!!
Books read this month:
Least favorite book read this month:
The last month has been full of travels, reading and illness. My Love was sick for a couple of weeks and then I got sick after him. Then we traveled to the far side of Missouri for a missions conference and then to Indiana for Thanksgiving. And in the middle of all of that we worked and I read a ton, as always.
The majority of what I read this last month was on adoption, foster care, and ministry to at-risk children and youth. They were all picked in honor of it being National Adoption Month. While I didn't write as much as I wanted to (I never do... I seem to have lost some of my love for writing over the last year), I really enjoyed all of the books, blogs and articles that I read. They all challenged me and encouraged me to think more clearly about what my role is and will be in the world of orphan care and children/youth ministry. A lot of it was good refreshing of what I learned in some of my college classes and put in a new light now that I work in a church setting with My Love.
After reading 8+ books in a row on adoption and children's ministry, I tackled JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion over Thanksgiving vacation. I just finished it a few hours ago. It definitely wasn't the most logical follow-up book, but I was in a Tolkien mood and wanted to knock a book off of my TBR and Classics Club lists. So The Silmarillion it was. I'm going to try and write my thoughts on it in a separate post since there is so much to think about and digest with that book. We shall see if I succeed or not.
As the year draws to an end, I am amazed every time I look at my stats with just how much I have read. This is my second year of tracking my reading and I wish I had started years ago. It's fun for me to see how much I read and how fast. Not to mention the wide spectrum of books I seem to bounce around to and from. I have blown away my stats from last year. I have read 49 more books and 12,000+ more pages than I did in 2012. That is unbelievable to me! And I still have one more month of reading for 2013! And with that said... here are my stats and I'm off to start another book!
Happy reading and happy Thanksgiving a few days late!!!!
Books read this month:
Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story by John Sowers
Too Small To Ignore by Dr. Wess Stafford
Whose Child is This? by Bill Wilson
Reclaiming Our Prodigal Sons and Daughters: A Practical Approach for Connecting with Youth in Conflict by Scott Larson & Larry Brendtro
Children of Hope by Vernon Brewer with Noel Brewer Yeatts
Children in Crisis: A New Commitment edited by Phyllis Kilbourn
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz
Fighting the System by Lilly Star
Favorite book read this month:
Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford...
This book is an amazing book for anyone who is interested in children's ministry.
Wess writes from years of experience as a missionary kid and president
of Compassion International. And he does so with great passion, humility and honesty.
SO GOOD. SO WORTH IT!!
SO GOOD. SO WORTH IT!!
Least favorite book read this month:
Fighting the System by Lilly Star...
I picked this one up for a couple bucks at the Half Price book store in my hometown.
I thought it look interesting because it was a fictional telling of how life looks like in
the foster care system from the viewpoint of foster parents. However, it was poorly
written, incredibly chaotic and had no rhyme or reason or fluidity. It took a lot for
me to finish it because of those things. I can't say I would recommend it. It was just awful.
Number of pages read this month:
1,966 pages
Number of pages read this year:
29,979 pages
Number of books read this year:
104 books
Number of Classics read so far:
18 of 76
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