What I Read in January

I thought it would be fun for me to share each month about the books I’ve been reading and any thoughts or big takeaways I have from each one! My friend Gretchen posted on instagram sometime in December and shared about how she had been reading books lately through Scribd and went on and on about how great and helpful it was to her reading more books! Scribd is a subscription service that has both e-books and audiobooks. I searched the site first before deciding to try it to make sure I could find some of the books I wanted to read in 2020 and I found all but one book from my 2020 Book List! I decided the subscription price ($10) would be well worth it if I was planning on purchasing a book from my list each month and now I have so many more books at my fingertips! I bought a kindle fire with some Christmas money so now I have a super easy way to read that’s not on my phone. I don’t have any other apps or social media on my tablet so it’s perfect for reading without distraction. I’ve really loved using Scribd and my kindle fire to read this year and I think I’ll read a ton more this year because of it! (If you use this link you can try it for 60 days for free!) I was able to read 5 books in January, but that’s kind of cheating because I started 2 or 3 of them in December. Ha! Here’s a peek into what I read in January!

image by the slow traveler

Body Love by Kelly LeVeque

I listened to the audiobook of this read by Kelly herself and I found it to be incredibly interesting and informative! It really is crazy to think about how the food we eat affects our bodies and I enjoyed learning some science behind how my body processes certain things and picking up some tips on how to fuel my body better. She has a “fab 4 smoothie” method that I’ve enjoyed experimenting with and I love my friend Hunter’s smoothie recipes! Overall I really enjoyed learning more about nutrition and health from this book and I know it’ll be one I want to read again later!

The Death Factory by Greg Iles

If you don’t know this about me, I love true crime and suspense. Give me a good true crime podcast or documentary on Netflix and I’m sucked in for good! Greg Iles is a Mississippi author and he has the Penn Cage series that’s based in Natchez Mississippi that’s incredibly written. You’ll find some language throughout his books, but overall I really enjoy the way he tells a story and I’ve loved every book in the series! I hadn’t read this short novella that’s based around the series so I read it in early January and it was a fun read to get me back into his writing! I definitely recommend his Penn Cage series if you like enjoying a suspenseful book!

The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted Dekker

I discovered Ted Dekker last year and I’ve flown through a handful of his books since then. His books are SO SUSPENSEFUL and the story lines hook me each time! He’s considered a Christian author but I don’t really know how I feel about that, however I really appreciate that I know I don’t have to read through any bad language when I pick up his books. He wrote this particular book with his daughter and while I really did enjoy it, it wasn’t my favorite of his that I’ve read! Here’s a synopsis from amazon,

“Ten years ago, Grace saw something that would forever change the course of history. When evil in its purest form is unleashed on the world, she and others from their religious community are already hidden deep in the hills of Tennessee, abiding by every rule that will keep them safe, pure--and alive. As long as they stay there, behind the red perimeter. Her older brother's questions and the arrival of the first outsiders she's seen in a decade set in motion events that will question everything Grace has built her life on. Enemies rise on all sides--but who is the real enemy? And what will it cost her to uncover the truth? “

Devoted: Great Men and their Godly Moms by Tim Challies

I listened to this book and the narration was terrible, but the book was so good that I pushed through! This book was really encouraging, convicting, and I loved learning about different men and their moms in history. If you’re a mama I think this book is a must read and I think it’s one I want to buy to keep and share with friends! My biggest takeaway was in the story he shared about John Newton and how important his mother was to his faith even though she was often weak and tired because of Tuberculosis. She spent precious time teaching him truth and even though she died just short of his seventh birthday, Newton considered her to be instrumental in the building of his faith. This was incredibly challenging and convicting to me to use these little years to really train up our children in the Lord. Overall, this book was fantastic and it’s well worth the read!

No Exit by Taylor Adams

This was such a fun suspense read for winter! Overall I was really glad that it wasn’t filled with bad language but the storyline had so many twists and turns and I read it in an afternoon! If you love suspense it would definitely be a good winter read on a cold Saturday night!

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