What do you listen to while you work?
Now, when you clicked on this blog post to read it, you probably did not expect it to contain a list of books, did you? Surprise! That’s what it is! I mainly listen to audiobooks, so that’s usually what’s playing on my headphones (if I’m wearing them). 🙂
I’ve been on a mission to see how many books I can read this year. I read somewhere that those who read seven or more books a year are 120% more likely to become millionaires than those who rarely read. Becoming a millionaire is not my immediate goal with reading books, but let’s be real that WOULD be a fantastic side effect!
Another reason I read so much is that I write. I seek out books in my chosen genre and style of writing for my own book. A more experienced author gave me that advice, “Read what you want to write.” And so I have. It’s helped me become more confident in releasing my own book [in just over a week!🫨].
So far this year, I have completed 69 books and am well on my way to finishing my 70th. Before anyone says anything, I will admit that most of these books have been audiobooks via the Audible, Scribd, or Libby apps. It’s just what works best for my current life circumstances. I listen while I wash dishes and fold laundry and mow the lawn and color with the children. I thought I’d share some of my favorite books I’ve read this year so far. [Presented in no particular order]
The Go-Giver: a Little Story about a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann. This is a little book with some valuable business principles in it that are presented in a story format, a modern-day parable if you will. The Go-Giver challenges you to look for ways to contribute to the well-being of others, such as your clients. If our focus in business is more on how we can contribute to others, then we will get the business that we desire. As a customer, if we can tell that a business truly wants to serve us and isn’t just about making a quick profit, we are more likely to return to them in the future. Since I don’t have a business at the moment, the principles still apply in everyday life with my children and other members of the public that I might come across.
Murder, Motherhood, and Miraculous Grace by Debra Moerke. It’s the incredible true story of a foster parent who tries to advocate for one of their foster children, and it ends up going badly. Their foster child is returned to their biological family and is then murdered by her biological mother! Once the mother is arrested, she reaches out to Debra and asks if she will adopt the baby she is currently pregnant with. I loved reading this story, even if parts of it made me hold my breath as it detailed the crazy emotions that it must have been to walk this journey. But that’s how all the best stories are.
On the Way: an Australian Doctor in Yemen & Pakistan by Michael Babbage. I love missionary stories and always have. It was probably because of Dad reading us dozens of stories while we were growing up. I’m always on the hunt for more. This one was a good one. It combined three things I love, medicine, missions, and the Middle East. The more I read about the Middle East, the more I want to go there. To read about someone who dedicated their life to the Middle East is inspiring to me. Dr. Babbage and his wife were married there without their parents present and had their first child before returning home to Australia. They lived like the locals in the same style of houses and learned to speak the local language. They were betrayed and stabbed in the back (figuratively) by fellow mission workers and were present when three US doctors were killed in Yemen by a Muslim extremist. [See an actual news article here] It was so good to read a story I had never heard of set in my favorite region of earth, and the way Dr. Babbage read it made it seem like he was just an old friend sitting down and telling you stories.
The Happiest People on Earth by Demos Shakarian with John and Elizabeth Sherill. The Holy Spirit oozed from this book. It’s about the beginnings of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI). I had never heard of this organization before, but reading about how it was started and the vision it started with made me want to look it up and join. The simplicity of Demos’s faith and obedience to God was inspiring and made me think twice about how I am walking with God.
Love Centered Parenting: the No-Fail Guide to Launching Your Kids by Crystal Paine. I know I know that title promises to be the “no-fail guide” to parenting?? But really, it’s such a freeing prospect! We as parents should do our best to parent our children out of a place of complete love and rest in our own identities in Christ. When we do that, we launch our children into the world, but it’s ultimately up to our adult children and the decisions they make, good or bad, that determine their lives’ failure or thriving. We can empower our children to make good decisions and we should be a safe place for them while they figure it out, but then we can release them into the world to spread their own wings and fly. It was encouraging to me as a mama of three little ones.
I’ve read so many amazing books. I could go on and on and listen a review of every one of the books I’ve read this year, but that would make way to lengthy of a blog post, so I’ll add just one more quick one.
We Died Before We Came Here by Emily Foreman. An incredible modern-day “Jim Elliott” story that takes place in an unnamed North African country in an unspecified city under an unknown NGO (non-governmental organization) written under a pen name. This family left the United States for the Middle East and the Muslim people soon after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. After spending years of their lives working in prisons and building sewing centers for the women to earn an income, the husband was shot down by a Muslim extremist outside of one of their business schools. His wife details her journey in all of this as both a wife and a mom. It was so impactful to me to read how she approached life as I imagined myself in similar shoes. I was also super happy to find a missionary story from the very recent past instead of the usual 1950-1980s.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Are there any books I should add to my ever growing too be read list? What is one of your most favorite books? Let me know in the comments!
Adventurer with God 