Catching Up on Reading

Since we were out of town at the beginning of October, I never posted my reading progress for September.  In this post, I'll combine the books I read in September and October.

I realize that people sometimes have strong opinions about the On Becoming Babywise book by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, M.D.  My own experience of using many of the methods recommended in that book worked well when it came to getting our babies into a routine for sleeping and eating.  I had read other books in the series, but just recently bought On Becoming Preteenwise:  Parenting Your Child from Eight to Twelve Years and On Becoming Teenwise:  Building a Relationship That Lasts a Lifetime.  I didn't find Preteenwise to have much different advice than what was given in Childwise, but I did glean a few helpful ideas from the Teenwise book.

Mindless Eating:  Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, PH.D., from my book list for the year, was an easy and interesting read.  The author shared results from surveys and studies about our eating habits and included tips for helping us to mindlessly eat less.

A friend at church gave me the book Sweet Journey by Teri Maxwell.  It is a Bible study that I have found to be encouraging and convicting.  It covers the basics of our walk with God, including Bible reading, prayer, and Bible memory, yet reminds us of how important these aspects are to growth in our Christian lives.  I haven't quite finished it yet, but I'm loving the practical applications she provides.

In the realm of fiction, I had to catch up on Karen Kingsbury's latest two books, Leaving and Learning.  I can't say this is my favorite series of hers, but I'm looking forward to continuing the story when the next book releases later this month.

I finished reading Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton to the girls.  It was our lunchtime read-aloud for October.  At bedtime, I'm reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare to my ten-year-old and The Bronze Bow (by the same author and on our reading list for the year) to our eight-year-old.  Elizabeth George Speare was a favorite author of mine when I was a child, but I somehow missed reading The Bronze Bow.

As for our bedtime Bible-related reading, we are continuing to make our way through The Adventure of Missionary Heroism by John Lambert and Joshua Wean.  The words used in this book strain even my vocabulary at times which makes the actual stories a bit difficult for my ten-year-old to follow.  We have skipped certain portions of this book and are just going to finish up the stories that look the most interesting.  On the other hand, The Bible Smuggler, a biography of William Tyndale by Louise A. Vernon, is very age-appropriate and we are all three enjoying it.

I have just two months now to finish up the rest of the books on my 2011 reading list.  We'll see if I can make it!

What have you been reading lately?