Wrapping up a year of reading

This year, I think reading was my lifeline.  It helped me to escape.  It helped me to learn.  It helped me to relax.  It helped me when I was people-d out.  In so many ways, reading (and writing) helped me this year.  Reading has become a part of who I am; I am a lover of Jesus, a lover of people (but an introvert, so don't get too crazy), a friend, a learner, and a reader.

I started out wanting to read 50 books this year; about one a week.  As I neared that goal early in the summer (the amazing summer without a job and full of relaxation), I realized I might be able to do 100 books in a year.  With two days left in 2014, I'm calling it.  The final count for the year is 117.  I would never have guessed that I would have been able to read so many books, or that I would have enjoyed it so much.  I would have never guessed it would have become a lifeline in a stressful and hectic season of life; a way to survive when life outside felt out of control and unbelievably stressful.  But it has been so good.

Without further ado, here are the books I've read since I last updated my list (and the list before).  Once again, my favorites are bolded.

1. Unstoppable: Running the Race you were Born to Win by Christine Caine
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. Finding Blue by Lois Lowry
4. Messenger by Lois Lowry
5. Son by Lois Lowry
6. I Like Giving by Brad Formosma
7. The Story of Marriage by John and Lisa Bevere
8. Fire and Fragrance: From the Great Commandment to the Great Commission by Sean Feucht and Andy Byrd
9. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
10. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
11. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
12. How I Changed my Mind about Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals edited by Alan F. Johnson
13. Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley
14. God’s Whisper Manifesto by Andi Cumbo
15. From this Day Forward: Five Commitments to Fail-Proof Your Marriage by Craig and Amy Groeschel
16. Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet: Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things by Sara Hagerty
17. Speak by Nish Weiseth
18. The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge
19. Let’s All Be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have by Annie Downs
20. God Knows my Name: Never Forgotten, Forever Loved by Beth Redman
21. Lady in Waiting: Becoming God's Best While Waiting for Mr. Right by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones
22. A Life of Miracles by Don Schulze
23. You’ll Get Through This by Max Lucado
24. God is Able by Priscilla Shirer
25. A Story Unfinished: 99 Days with Eliot by Matt Mooney
26. Heidi by Joanna Spyri
27. The Hardest Peace by Kara Tippetts
28. Connected by Erin Davis
29. Tables in the Wilderness by Preston Yancey
30. Living Courageously: You Can Face Anything, Just Do It Afraid by Joyce Meyer
31. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
32. Mended by Angie Smith
33. The Beauty of Broken by Elisa Morgan
34. The Millennials by Thom S. Rainer and Jess W. Rainer
35. Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
36. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
37. The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
38. Title Pending: Things I Think About when I Make Stuff by Justin McRoberts
39. Eight Twenty Eight: When Love Didn’t Give Up by Larissa and Ian Murphy