I never feel like I read enough. So many great books. So little time. But when I sat down to compile this list, I realized just how many books I do read. As Liz Cottrill of Living Books Library says, “Here a little, there a little, every day a little, gets you through a lot of books in 365 days.”
(If you want to see a truly impressive list of books, check out Liz’s list of the books she read last year. There must be close to 80 books there—twice what I managed.)
The list below includes novels and nonfiction that I read with my kids in 2014 but does not include picture books. (If it did, it would be endless!) I share it partly in celebration (I am sort of amazed that I read so much) and partly to encourage you to keep reading, especially to and with your kids, even (especially!) as they grow older. An (*) denotes a re-read. A (#) denotes a read-aloud. A link will take you to a review or response I wrote.
Here are a few books that are particularly noteworthy:
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
I began 2014 weeping my way through this beautiful book. I read it again in July I loved it so much. It opened my eyes to the mysterious ways of God and His sometimes severe mercies toward us, which He extends because of His infinite love. And that made me see my own losses in the light of His love. (Lanier Ivester wrote a beautiful and moving post about this book that you really must read.)
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
I’ve been a Berry fan for over 15 years, and this book made me love his writing all the more. The prose is exquisite; the story of a quiet man’s quiet life is compelling; and the deep pain of this world and the deep hope that we have in Christ are palpable. An amazing book.
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
My friend Jody says this book is the clearest portrayal of the Gospel that she’s ever read. It certainly hauled open my eyelids when I read it. I saw myself in its characters–and often I didn’t like what I saw. This novel changed me, in ways I am still discovering. At the very least, it marks the beginning of my tuning in to God’s call to take joy, no matter the circumstances.
The unifying thread of my reading (and quite possibly my life) is the devotional literature to which I turn day after day, week in and week out.
Devotional Literature
The Bible,* especially the Psalms and Gospels, though I also read a fair amount of the Pentateuch and history books (Joshua-Kings) last year
The Book of Common Prayer*
MacDonald, George. Diary of an Old Soul*
Tickle, Phyllis, ed. The Divine Hours (3 vol.)*
Tileston, Mary, ed. Daily Strength for Daily Needs*
Vos, Catherine. The Child’s Story Bible#
Poetry
Guite, Malcolm. Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Church Year*
Hall, Donald, ed. The Oxford Book of American Children’s Poetry#
Peterson, Pete, ed. The Molehill, vol. 1 and 2 (not exclusively poetry, but a little of everything, including recipes!, so I put it here)
Nonfiction
Capon, Robert Farrar. The Supper of the Lamb
Clarkson, Sarah. Caught Up in a Story
DeRogatis, Amy. Saving Sex: Sexuality and Salvation in Evangelical America
DeRusha, Michelle. Spiritual Misfit
Guroian, Vigen. Tending the Heart of Virtue
Kleon, Austin. Show Your Work!
Laubach, Frank. Prayer: The Mightiest Force in the World
Laubach, Frank. Letters by a Modern Mystic
Lee, Jennifer Dukes. Love Idol
Mason, Charlotte. Formation of Character
Peterson, Eugene. The Contemplative Pastor*
Pfatteicher, Philip. Journey into the Heart of God.
Pressfield, Steven. The War of Art
Rogers, Jonathan. The World According to Narnia
Vanauken, Sheldon. A Severe Mercy
Vanauken, Sheldon. Under the Mercy
Welch, Kristen. Rhinestone Jesus
Fiction
Aldrich, Bess Streeter. Collected Stories 1920-1954
Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. A Little Princess*#
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden*#
Carlson, Natalie Savage. The Family Under the Bridge#
DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux#
Goudge, Elizabeth. Green Dolphin Street
Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas. The Ghost at the Tokaido Inn
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God
Karon, Jan. Shepherds Abiding
Konigsburg, E.L. The Second Mrs. Giaconda
Lewis, C.S. Prince Caspian*#
Lewis, C.S. The Horse and His Boy*#
Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe*#
Lewis, C.S. The Silver Chair*#
Lewis, C.S. Voyage of the Dawn Treader*#
Lownsbery, Eleanor. The Boy Knight of Reims#
Milne, A.A. Winnie-the-Pooh*#
Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Avonlea*#
Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard*
Paterson, Katherine. Parzival
Peterson, Andrew. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness#
Robinson, Barbara. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever*#
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
Sayers, Dorothy. Gaudy Night*
Seredy, Kate. A Tree for Peter*#
Seredy, Kate. The White Stag
St. John, Patricia. Twice Freed#
Willard, Barbara. Augustine Came to Kent
Willard, Barbara. Son of Charlemagne
Wilson, Douglas. Evanjellyfish
Younge, Charlotte. The Little Duke#
Three cheers for books!
Kimberlee
