I've read a lot of books in my twenty-one years of life, and I wish that I could include every single book I've ever read in this post because I've loved them all- give or take a few. I went through my Goodreads app, and picked twelve books that I would consider some of the best I've ever read. I highly recommend getting that app if you love reading just as much as I do. You can add books to your "Want to Read" list, "Reading" list, and "Have Read" list, so it makes it so easy to keep track of them all. As I read more books I will continue to make book recommendation posts on here, but I wanted to make this post to include books that I've read a while ago too. So, without further ado, here are my top twelve books (in no particular order):
one ///// 1984 by George Orwell
In some of the descriptions, this book is called one of the most terrifying novels ever written, and I honestly couldn't agree more. It's not terrifying in the way you're probably thinking. It's not a thriller or a horror novel, but it is scary in the way it seems to become more and more true and relatable to what we're seeing in this country.
Winston Smith lives in Oceania, where he and the other citizens are constantly watched and listened to by The Party. Nothing they do, think, or say goes by without Big Brother knowing about it. The Party has control over every aspect of life, from what they read, to what the history books say, to what the citizens think and do throughout the day. It introduced the watchwords for life without freedom: "Big Brother is Watching You."
Even though Orwell wrote this book in 1949, it is so applicable to some of the things we are seeing happening today. While I was reading this book early this summer, I couldn't help but relate the authoritarian ways of The Party to social media and certain politicians. There has been so much censoring and rewriting of history going on recently that at times I feel as though I am living in Oceania with Winston Smith. I get that me saying that is a bit of a stretch and a little bit exaggerated, but there is a lot of truth in it; social media platforms are censoring anything that doesn't agree with liberal opinion; people are trying to change the history of this country and teach people false things about how the nation was founded; and news stations and politicians are hiding things from people that they don't want us to know. These things obviously aren't as bad as the things that happen in the book, but I think it's important for people to read it because it could get to that point if we continue to give the people who are doing the censoring, lying, controlling, and information-hiding power in this country, and that is what's scary about the book.
two ///// The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
There are five books in this series and they are all so good. They're light and simple reads so even if you aren't a big reader I think you'll still like these. They are about the lives of four best friends- Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen- who share a "magical" pair of pants while they are apart from each other during the summer. These books paint such a beautiful picture of friendship, and remind me so much of myself and my best friends. I felt every single emotion possible while reading this series- happiness, sadness, anger, nervousness- which doesn't always happen while reading, so you know a book is good when that happens.
three ///// Everybody, Always by Bob Goff
I'm one of those people who love to highlight and mark up the books that I'm reading, and when I read this one, I basically highlighted the whole thing because everything he wrote was so good and a lot of it was so convicting. It's called "Everybody, Always" because that's who we're, as Christians, are supposed to love. Not just the people who look like us. Not just the people who live like us. Not just the people who we like or who like us. No just the people we agree with or who agree with us. We are to love everybody, and that's what Bob Goff teaches throughout this book.
four ///// The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands by Lysa TerKeurst
This was another book where I basically highlighted the whole entire thing. I absolutely love Lysa TerKeurst and all of her books. She is such a sweet woman and an amazing writer, and she does such a good job teaching about God and the Bible through her words. In this book, Lysa writes about people-pleasing, feeling disappointed, facing endless demands, and deciding between hard choices, and why Jesus is the best yes in all of those cases.
five ///// The Green Mile by Stephen King
I've talked about this book before in one of my favorites posts, but I had to include it in this one again because it's just too good. Prison guard Paul Edgecome works on Death Row, also known as The Green Mile, in the Cold Mountain Penitentiary where things are fairly routine and normal every day. That is until John Coffey, a black man charged with a horrific crime, enters the Mile. Paul has never seen anyone quite like John Coffey before in his life, and his interest in him causes him to discover some wonderful and terrible truths about John and his alleged crime.
It was so hard to put this book down because it was so intense and had me wondering what happened next after every chapter. The story line is just so different than anything else I've ever read and it had me feeling all of the emotions again. At one point I had to stop reading because I couldn't stop crying. There are so many hidden meanings that you can take away from it too which is always something that makes a good book even greater.
six ///// Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
This book is so good for people who are new to their faith or someone who is unsure as to how they feel about God and Christianity. It is also great for seasoned Christians as well. I wouldn't consider myself a seasoned Christian or being new to my faith, but I still learned so many things about God and the Gospel in this book that I have never heard before. C.S. Lewis has a great way with words that really exemplifies the beauty, love, and grace of God that not a lot of other authors can achieve. I have a few more of his books in my library, so maybe I'll do a post all about him and his books once I read more of them.
seven ///// Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity by Rebekah Merkle
I just read this book this past summer and it may be my favorite book that I read this year. It paints Biblical womanhood in a way that I've never seen and in a way that points out it's beauty so well. As Christian women, we are constantly fighting our culture that pushes feminism and argues that men and women are the same, but we need to stand firm in what we know to be true, and I think this book does a great job of doing just that. It starts off by explaining a brief history of the feminist movement and then gets into what we as Christian women are called to be, and why God's design for women is far better than what the world says women should be. I am planning on writing a post (or maybe a few posts) on Biblical womanhood and I will definitely pull some things from this book because it was all so good.
eight ///// Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose by Rebekah Lyons
You can read more about it in this post, but my word for this year was "intentional." I wanted everything I did to have an intention, instead of just going through life aimlessly with little to no purpose in the majority of things I did throughout the day. A lot of my intentional actions have come from simply slowing down and being, you guessed it, intentional. I've read a few books this year about how we can slow down in this crazy and fast-passed world we live in, and how we can find Jesus in those simple, rhythmic, and slow moments more than we can in the crazy and fast-passed ones that create most of our days. I loved this book because she went through four different rhythms- rest, restore, connect, and create,- wrote about different habits found within each, and how those habits and rhythms help us to hear God and grow closer to Him. nine ///// To Hell with the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke
This is another book I read this year about slowing down and listening for God in this culture that prioritizes "the hustle" more than it does rest. Jefferson Bethke is an outstanding author, but this book is probably my favorite of his. He writes about so many insightful things and stresses the fact that in order to hear Jesus and be near Him in our everyday lives and mundane tasks we have to slow down and be present. We won't hear Him if we are moving at the world's pace. We have to slow down and walk with Jesus, not run or rush with Him.
ten ///// Single, Dating, Engaged, Married by Ben Stuart
I think every person should read this. Whether you're old or young, male or female, single or in some sort of relationship you need to read this book. He does such a great job of explaining the importance of each season- singleness, dating, engagement, and marriage- in the life of a Christian and how each season should look in order to reflect Christ and get the most out of it.
eleven ///// Counter Culture by David Platt
If there was ever a perfect time to read this book it would be right now. We're always being thrown lies from the world and from our culture about how we should view certain things, but that is especially the case currently. In this book, David Platt, does a great job of explaining how we should view certain "controversial" issues from the lens of the Bible instead of the lens of the world or of a political party. Of course you should still read your Bible to discern for yourself how certain issues should be perceived in a godly way, but I think this is a good addition or even a good start for someone who is new to the faith.
And last, but definitely not least, To Kill a Mockingbird. This book may be my favorite book of all time. Everything about it is so good. The main character is Scout Finch, a young girl who is the daughter of the town's defense attorney. After Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of raping a young woman because of his skin color, Atticus Finch becomes his attorney, and before long the whole town seems to be against the Finch family because of Atticus' decision to fight for the innocence of a black man. This book shows all aspects of humanity- the good and the bad, innocence and experience, humor and pathos, kindness and cruelty, and love and hatred. Just like The Green Mile, it has so many small meanings within it that make it such a great book that everyone should read at least once in their life.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I'm starting to have more free time in my class schedule now that I finished an online class and my golf season, so stay on the look out for more frequent posts soon!
With Love,
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