June Book List

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
An entertaining novel about a Nancy Drew-loving nanny who takes a new position in Iceland to escape her mistakes...only to make them again in slightly different ways.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham
This is meant to be a whole program in which you take skill tests and make lists and implement new things, but I just gleaned what I could from the reading. The author's opinion is that a system centered around improving people's weaknesses is inefficient. Instead, people should focus on getting even better at the things they already do well, and if possible, just avoid doing things they're bad at. I think that's a good philosophy. :)

Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
The thesis statement of this book is the St. Augustine quote, "The glory of God is man fully alive." Although I didn't agree with every word of the book, it encouraged me a lot. Apparently a lot of Reformed bloggers have torn it to pieces, and that makes me depressed. So I won't go into more detail about how it made me feel hopeful, lest I be labeled a heretic or something. :|

His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
This book was recommended to me a long time ago, and I found it at our little church library. If you can get past the cheesy "love bank" metaphor that permeates the whole book, there's a lot of good stuff here. I appreciated the honest writing. So many Christian marriage books emphasize being a perfect, selfless spouse regardless of how your spouse treats you. While that's important, it was refreshing (and convicting) to be reminded that everyone has important needs, and they ARE needs, not options.

Odyssey of Hearing Loss: Tales of Triumph by Michael A. Harvey
My sister had to read this in her master's program and she wanted me to read it too. It was really interesting, and moving. It's a series of brief case studies of people who have suffered hearing loss and how they dealt with the loss. One story about a man with tinnitus almost broke my heart (and made me so thankful that I don't have tinnitus). If you're interested in learning more about disabilities, this is a good read.

A New Dawn: Your Favorite Authors on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series, edited by Ellen Hopkins
This is a short book of critical essays about Twilight, by popular authors like Megan McCafferty and Cassandra Clare. Although it got kind of repetitive by the end, with everyone making similar points, I enjoyed it. It'll help tide me over until August 2. :) It's only available at Borders.

Desiring God by John Piper*
We (re-)read this in our small group this year, chapter by chapter. I missed the meetings about the last couple of chapters, so I finished those on my own this month. I subsequently learned that this is a book best read all at once. I think jumping back in at the end of the book just confused me, and this one is too important to get the wrong impression from it.

Books for June: 7
2008 year to date: 46

June Book List

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
An entertaining novel about a Nancy Drew-loving nanny who takes a new position in Iceland to escape her mistakes...only to make them again in slightly different ways.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham
This is meant to be a whole program in which you take skill tests and make lists and implement new things, but I just gleaned what I could from the reading. The author's opinion is that a system centered around improving people's weaknesses is inefficient. Instead, people should focus on getting even better at the things they already do well, and if possible, just avoid doing things they're bad at. I think that's a good philosophy. :)

Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
The thesis statement of this book is the St. Augustine quote, "The glory of God is man fully alive." Although I didn't agree with every word of the book, it encouraged me a lot. Apparently a lot of Reformed bloggers have torn it to pieces, and that makes me depressed. So I won't go into more detail about how it made me feel hopeful, lest I be labeled a heretic or something. :|

His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
This book was recommended to me a long time ago, and I found it at our little church library. If you can get past the cheesy "love bank" metaphor that permeates the whole book, there's a lot of good stuff here. I appreciated the honest writing. So many Christian marriage books emphasize being a perfect, selfless spouse regardless of how your spouse treats you. While that's important, it was refreshing (and convicting) to be reminded that everyone has important needs, and they ARE needs, not options.

Odyssey of Hearing Loss: Tales of Triumph by Michael A. Harvey
My sister had to read this in her master's program and she wanted me to read it too. It was really interesting, and moving. It's a series of brief case studies of people who have suffered hearing loss and how they dealt with the loss. One story about a man with tinnitus almost broke my heart (and made me so thankful that I don't have tinnitus). If you're interested in learning more about disabilities, this is a good read.

A New Dawn: Your Favorite Authors on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series, edited by Ellen Hopkins
This is a short book of critical essays about Twilight, by popular authors like Megan McCafferty and Cassandra Clare. Although it got kind of repetitive by the end, with everyone making similar points, I enjoyed it. It'll help tide me over until August 2. :) It's only available at Borders.

Desiring God by John Piper*
We (re-)read this in our small group this year, chapter by chapter. I missed the meetings about the last couple of chapters, so I finished those on my own this month. I subsequently learned that this is a book best read all at once. I think jumping back in at the end of the book just confused me, and this one is too important to get the wrong impression from it.

Books for June: 7
2008 year to date: 46