Well, here we are at the end of quarter one and well into quarter two! In 2021 I did an end of the year reading wrap up of all the books that I read that year and it took forever to write up! It also ended up being forever long. That’s why in 2022, I’m going to do quarterly reviews instead, although I’m already behind seeing as we’re two-thirds of the way through quarter two. Regardless, here are the books I read in Q1 of 2022, who wrote them, my rating of them, and some quick thoughts.
The Flirtation Experiment
Author: Phylicia Masonheimer & Lisa Jacobson
Rating: 3 out of 5
This book was given to me by the authors as a part of being on the launch team, which was such a fun experience. The chapters alternate back and forth between Phy and Lisa as they walk through different ways to be intentional in pursuing your spouse. The “experiments” are sometimes silly and at other times deeply emotional and the whole point is to encourage you as a wife to be intentional in bringing the “spark” to your marriage in meaningful ways. It was a fun read and it was also fun to adapt their principles to use in my own marriage.
Until Unity
Author: Francis Chan
Rating: 3 out of 5
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Unity is such an important topic in Christianity right now as we’re so deeply divided and often over the most ridiculous things. However, it fell flat for me. It’s obvious that this topic is a passion for Chan, but because of that, I think his emotions were more well developed than his arguments. He also mentions that while unity is essential there are also times that division is necessary, but then doesn’t attempt to layout when those times are which of course leaves that up to personal interpretation aka the thing we’re all dividing over in the first place. As always, Chan defers to scripture often which I love, but this book left me not feeling confident in how to move forward in unity but just with a feeling of dissonance, like when a chord isn’t resolved.
The Midnight Library
Author: Matt Haig
Rating: 4 out of 5
This book was the first fiction book that I had read in over 2 years, and I think it was a great one to come back with! This book is a wonderfully written story about the beauty of existence. I will say that it is a little slow going at the beginning, however, looking back I think that is a feature not a bug. The entire premise of the story relies on a woman wanting to end her life and then realizing that living is all she ever wanted in the first place, so the author brings you as the reader to a point of “I want this to be over” just at the same time as the main character. It’s brilliant honestly. I’m typically not a fan of books where I can see the conclusion from a mile away, but this one managed to keep me interested. As a side note, if you’re an audiobook lover, the reader of this book is excellent! We all know how a narrator can make or break an audiobook.
Garden City
Author: John Mark Comer
Rating: 4 out of 5
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For one thing, I’m a sucker for a good word study and this book is chock full of them, but it was also just a very timely topic, especially for young adults. JMC brings a fresh perspective to what work and rest should (or maybe could) look like for the Christian. He does an excellent job of not only explaining the curse that has been placed on work after the fall but also in shedding light on the beauty of work as we co-labor with God. I loved his discussion of being “image bearers” and what it looks like practically to image God in our daily lives in work and rest.
How Not to Read the Bible
Author: Dan Kimball
Rating: 5 out of 5
This book is incredibly helpful for any Christian (or non-Christian) who has ever had questions about the difficult topics in the bible. Does the Bible contradict science? Does the Bible condone slavery? Is the Bible misogynistic? So on and so forth. So often books like this only offer one possible answer and is the authors attempt to convince you of their view, but Kimball does an excellent job of presenting multiple BIBLICAL views of these issues. He’s obviously more concerned with the reader owning their faith than pushing his own agenda. Even if you’re not someone who has ever struggled with any of these questions, I still highly suggest you read it because chances are at some point you’ll meet someone who does and it’ll help you have better more beneficial conversations with them.
The Binti Trilogy
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
Rating: 4 out of 5
This trilogy is a pretty quick and easy read but it’s captivating! If you don’t love Binti by the end of the story I’m going to have to assume you have no heart. If you are someone who does not like world-building then this trilogy is not for you. If you think sci-fi and the fantastical are stupid, then this is not the trilogy for you. BUT if you love coming-of-age stories with compelling characters with true-to-life problems seeking to make sense of the world she knows and the world she longs for then you’re in luck. The first two books are largely building blocks but the last book brings it all home and makes it worth it!
Kindred
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 5 out of 5
There are not a ton of fiction books that I care to read more than once. They have to have left a mark on me in some way for me to consider them good enough to read again and this is one of them. I read this book for the first time in college for a class and intend to read it over and over for a long time. This book is both historical fiction and a dash of sci-fi. While it is a fascinating page-turner it’s also painful to read in many ways due to its graphic and honest depiction of slavery. It reminds us of the horrors of our past while bringing to light how far we have still yet to come. At one point Butler writes, “The ease. Us, the children… I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery,” and perhaps that’s why our nation has so easily held onto it in various forms throughout the years. It’s an eye-opening read that I highly suggest.
Carved in Ebony
Author: Jasmine Holmes
Rating: 3 out of 5
This book was a very interesting read and in a format that I don’t read much of. Each chapter covered a different woman of color who was a hero of the faith. The women in this book were incredible and the amount of time and effort that Jasmine Holmes put into learning and gathering information about them is impressive on its own. The goal of this book appeared to be twofold in my opinion. One: to present the stories of these lesser-known women of faith and preserve their legacy and Two: to serve as a reminder that daily faithfulness irrespective of platform or fame results in a legacy and we should all strive to be as faithful as these women.
10 books read in total this quarter (Binti is a trilogy remember). That’s already more than half the way to the number I read in a full year in 2021. I hope my little short reviews give you some insight into these books and maybe pique your interest in a few of them. If you end up reading one, I would love to hear from you and hear what you thought! You can always contact me here on the website or head on over to my Instagram. I’m always happy to talk theology, marriage, life, and books anytime!