My favorite read of the month, however, wasn't on my list. The Strong Family: Growing Wise in Family Life by Chuck Swindoll was one of the most helpful parenting books I've read in awhile. He emphasized the importance of connecting with our children and setting limits while being flexible, especially as our children enter the teenage years. I was encouraged by his positive approach to adolescence; often, people make parenting through that time period sound dreadful. I particularly enjoyed the chapter Anticipating the Unusual which addressed the possibilities of how God could use your family.
I started Make Every Word Count by Gary Provost; this is my second attempt at finding a book to help improve my writing skills. Unfortunately, this book also contains some totally unnecessary profanity. Shouldn't that be a rule of good writing - no profanity allowed???
Studying the lives of other Christians is often edifying, so I read One Call Away, Brenda Warner's (wife of former NFL star Kurt Warner) memoir. I'll share a review next week.
For bedtime reading, my ten-year-old and I are working through The Adventures of Missionary Heroism by John C. Lambert. It's a bit "drier" than I expected, but the Christian heroes portrayed are inspiring. My eight-year-old and I are reading The Bible Smuggler by Louise A. Vernon. It is a captivating tale about William Tyndale. As I mentioned previously, we just finished Behind Rebel Lines by Seymour Reit for our extra homeschool/lunchtime reading and have begun Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray.
For their pleasure reading, the girls and I were pleased to find an exciting series by Dave and Neta Jackson at a different library we visited. The Trailblazer Books are historical fiction stories that describe a portion of an actual hero (or heroine's) life and ministry.
Let me know if you've read any good books lately!
Some of these links are Amazon affiliate links; others simply link to sites where I've found some excellent books.
I've been reading an excellent book that's been really exciting for me, but I'm afraid it's not much use recommending it because it's a very specialised book about Sewing Techniques that most ordinary seamstresses wouldn't get so excited about!!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the Chuck Swindoll book you wrote about - I don't think I have much about adolescents except for little bits here and there in other child-rearing books...
Clara,
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I don't guess I'll ask you for the name of the sewing book, although I'm glad you found it exciting! ;)