As you may know (or can figure out from this post) I love to read! Here are some of the reasons I read:
In this post, I’ve rated and reviewed 47 of the books I’ve read (or listened to) in 2019.
This post includes some REALLY GOOD BOOKS and a couple of REALLY bad ones too! However, this post includes my FAVORITE books of the year.
Click on any book to purchase your own copy. They are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you choose to purchase one or more.
Even better, download the Hoopla or Libby app, enter your library card number, and listen for FREE!
Here we go…
1. The book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha
Rating: 10/10
Review: Super easy-to-read book filled with 1000 reasons to smile! The whole book is written about things that are AWESOME. SOOO many things that I take for granted and forget to be grateful for ..like:
- Free samples,
- tripping and realizing NO ONE SAW YOU!
- Going to buy something and finding it on sale, ETC.
- If you are in a need of a reason to smile … I recommend this book or his blog 1000awesomethings.com
2. The Book of Even More Awesome by Neil Pasricha
Rating: 8/10
Review: The title sums it up. Another book filled with things to make you smile. Not as good as the first one, but a fun book to read. The author lists and describes so many things that are awesome that we sometimes take for granted!
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3. Small fry by Lisa jobs
Rating: 6/10
Review: It’s a very well-written autobiography of Steve Job’s (creator of Apple) daughter, but I don’t recommend it. It’s a sad story without a redemptive ending. For a better autobiography, I’d recommend:
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4. Capitol Gaines – by Chip Gaines
Rating: 8/10
Review: Chip shared some really fun and interesting stories throughout the book. Overall, it was an inspiring book that shows how hard work, integrity, and a good attitude (plus a smart spouse) can still lead to success. The Gaines family has turned the town of Waco, TX from a place you’d just drive through to get to Austin, to a destination city! There was no reason to visit Waco ten years ago – now people come to visit from all over the world.
5. When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi
Rating 10/10
Review: An extremely touching book and powerful story. A memoir of a brain surgeon who is diagnosed with cancer. I couldn’t put this book down, it was a great story and easy to read. However, the ending ripped my heart out!
6. The Broken Way by Ann Voscamp
Rating: 10/10
Review: Since I chose Ann Voscamp’s book, One Thousand gifts, as my favorite book of 2018, I had to pick up her second book. It did NOT disappoint! I loved it. In this book, Ann shares how our brokenness can lead to beauty.
7. The five love languages by Gary Chapman
Rating: 10/10
Review: A classic book that I highly recommend! This book teaches that each person receives loves differently. If we want to make our spouses feel loved, be sure to speak their “language.” If you don’t know what it is, take this quiz.
The 5 Languages are:
- Physical Touch,
- Acts of Service,
- Words of Encouragement,
- Receiving Gifts,
- Quality Time
8. The five love languages of children by Gary Chapman
Rating: 10/10
Review: A great book for parents!! It’s helping me understand how to communicate with my kids in a way they will feel loved.
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9. Things I wish I’d know before I got married by Gary Chapman
Rating: 9/10
Review: I went to two weddings this year and it made me curious as to what Gary Chapman would say to those who are about to get married. EXCELLENT book for newlyweds and those who are considering marriage!
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10. Seeking Allah finding Jesus by Nabeel Quresh
Rating: 10/10
Review: This book was written by a man who grew up with a strong Muslim faith. In college, his best friend was a Christian. The two of them had a mutual respect because of their strong faith in God. As they grew in their friendship, they began to challenge each other’s faith. As the author did research to defend his Muslim faith, he began to realize that he COULD NOT defend his faith. The more he studied, the more he realized that there was no truth behind his Muslim faith. This book challenged me as a mother to teach my kids the WHY behind What we believe. We have a defendable faith. It’s based on a solid foundation of historical truth. This book made me decide to read:
11. Talking with your kids about God by Natasha Crain
Rating: 9/10
Review: This book took me a while to read because their is a lot to digest. However, I love how each chapter brings up an interesting question like “Do science and faith contradict each other?” and answers each question with facts and evidence.
Read the post on how both books impacted me by clicking here.
12. War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Rating: 7/10
Review: This book has been on our shelf for years. I finally took time to read it this year. It has such high reviews that I had high expectations. However, my thoughts matched what someone said on Amazon: “Here is this book in a nutshell: what do you want to do? Have discipline and do it. I just saved you ten dollars. You’re welcome.”
13. Collapse of Parenting by Leonard Sax
Rating: 7/10
This book is a little too doom and gloom for me. However, there were some golden nuggets that I pulled out and here they are for you:
- Spend time with your kids. Even when they act like they don’t want to be with you–they really do. Find something they like to do – and do that with them!
- Have dinner together
- Go camping or find a family getaway where you aren’t connected to work and cell phones
- Play games together
- Remember YOU ARE THE PARENT, we’ve got 20+ years experience and yet we let our children decide what is best.
- Have access to all their social media accounts.
- Limit video games
- Don’t overschedule
- Give your kids chores
- Self-control is the leading indicator of overall life satisfaction and we, as parents, can help our kids learn self-control with things like: Not allowing dessert until they eat their veggies; Having them put their own toys and clothes away; Praise working hard over getting the right answer.
14. Changes that Heal by Dr. Henry cloud
Rating: 6/10
Review: I listened to this book on my Hoopla App and I wasn’t super into it. I wouldn’t recommend listening to this one – if the title intrigues you, check out the real book from the library.
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15. I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me by John Ortberg –
Rating: 10/10
Review: John is such an amazing teacher and writer. He is funny and vulnerable. I listened to this one and LOVED it! It dives into your relationship with God and others.
16. If you want to walk on water, you’ve Got to get out of the boat by John Ortberg
Rating: 9/10
Ted read this book on our honeymoon, 18 years ago (just after publication) and I finally listened to it on my Hoopla App this year. The book challenges you to put away the mentality that you need to know what God’s doing before you agree to obey and follow. John Ortberg talks about the positive difference walking in faith can do for your life!
17. You are a bada** by Jen Sincere
Rating: 4/10
Review: Skip this one. The author gives terrible advice. For instance, ‘buy a really expensive car to motivate yourself to earn more money.’ Don’t waste your time or money on this one. If you want a motivational, self help book – Choose a Zig Ziglar one instead!!
18. Zig Ziglar on Leadership
Rating: 10/10
Review: If you use the Hoopla app, open it up, type in the name “Zig Ziglar” and listen to any one of his 30 books. He is so practical, so funny, and so encouraging! His books are full of real life stories that pull you in and teach you something.
19. It’s not supposed to be this way by Lysa terkhurst
Rating: 8/10
Review: I recommend this book to anyone going through a crisis.
“Feeling the pain is the first step toward healing the pain. “
Lisa Terkeurst
20. 100 things to do in the Twin Cities before you die – Tom Weber
Rating: 8/10
Review: Before we moved to Minnesota, the only place I knew about in this state was the Mall of America. This book shares 100 interesting things to do around the Twin Cities and was really fun to read. I can’t wait to start checking them off my bucket list! If you are visiting or live in the Twin Cities, I would recommend this book to you!
21. The Gift of Failure – by Jessica Lahey
Rating: 8/10
Review: This is a very insightful parenting book. I don’t see myself as a helicopter parent, but I realized I’m doing things for my kids that they should be doing themselves. I often want to show love for my kids by picking up after them, over-helping with things that they are capable of doing alone, preventing them from learning from their own mistakes…all things that keep them from maturing and becoming capable young men. This book had lots of helpful stories and insightful research. I would definitely recommend it to parents who have children 7-17!
22. Help club for mom “The Wise Woman Grows”
Rating: 10/10
Review: This is a woman’s devotional book I read through last semester with a group of women from around the world. If you are a woman, click here to join our group on Facebook!
23. Holidays with the Help Club
Rating: 10/10
Review: An awesome resource for moms! Organizational guide, motivational and simple bible studies to help you have the best holiday season.
24. Another Man’s War by Sam Childers
Rating: 10/10
Review: This book is an amazing true story about a man who goes to the most dangerous parts of Africa to find orphaned children and provide safety for them.
25. Living on the Edge by Sam Childers
Rating: 4/10
Review: After LOVING his first book (Another Man’s War), I was excited to read the second one. However, this book was a HUGE disappointment. The author chose to tell the story in his own words and “self-published” the book so he could say everything he wanted to say. This was a huge mistake. Most of the things he chose to write about in this second book were unnecessary and inappropriate. I threw my copy away.
26. Surviving a spiritual mismatch – by Lee Strobel
Rating: 8/10
Review: I heard the author of this book speak on a podcast and was intrigued by his story – I wanted to read his book to see how they got through the season when their beliefs collided. I highly recommend this book to anyone married to, or considering marriage with someone who has different a different faith than you.
27. Unashamed by Lecrae
Rating: 8/10
Review: I listened to this autobiography on my Hoopla App, read by the author, rap artist Lecrae. I’m not a huge “rap” fan but this artist impresses me! The book is well written and easy-to-read. Recommended for ages 18 and up. Some of his life experiences would be considered ‘for mature audiences only.’
What stood out to me about his story was how he spent so much of his life struggling because he didn’t have a positive male role model in his life. This book reminded me how important dad’s are in the lives of their children. Those man-to-man conversations are something our boys crave.
28. Tailor Made by Alex Seeley
Rating: 7/10
Review: I saw that she would be speaking at a Women’s Conference I was attending, and I’d never heard of her, so I decided to read her book. This is a great book if you are struggling with insecurity. She talks about feeling stupid and not good enough throughout her life, and how she overcome that.
29. Relational Intelligence
Rating: 9/10
Review: This is my second reading of this book. I knew I could use a refresher in relational intelligence after moving to a new state and needing to make new friends. The book teaches that our relationships have a direct correlation to the quality of our lives. Most of us give less than optimal effort to our relationships. Yet…
Our day to day human interactions will determine the quality of our lives more than the tasks of work we do.
By cultivating relational intelligence, we can enhance our ability to affect the people around us more positively.
30. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Coleman
Rating: 5/10
Review: A very data-driven book and not all what I was hoping for.
31. Let your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
Rating: 8/10
Review: A book about becoming who you are created to be.
True self is the self that is planted in us by the God who made us – becoming who we were created to be.
Parker Palmer
32. Life Together by Frederich Buechner
Rating: 7/10
Review: I loved the book Bonhoeffer – a book ABOUT Bonhoeffer, but I’d never read a book written BY him. I found one of his books on my Hoopla app and listened to it. It’s a little too deep to listen to. I need to hold this book in my hands and read it slowly to truly appreciate it.
33. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Rating: 5/10
Review: This was the first fiction book I read after “Where the Crawdads Sing” and it just didn’t come close to the character development, storyline and detail of that book.
34. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Rating 9/10
Review – I read this with my boys. Great beginner chapter book for kids to read, or a fun, fiction story for parents to read WITH your kids ages 5-12!
35. Play by Stuart Brown
Rating 9/10
Stuart Brown started as a Violence researcher and switched to a PLAY researcher. The book starts with the story of an open shooting. When research was done on the history of the shooter – they found that he was never allowed to play as a child. His father was extremely controlling and regimented.
The opposite of play is NOT work. The opposite of play is depression.
The book answers the question:
What is play?
He describes it as time spent without purpose.
Most of us think time without purpose is WASTED time. We want to GET THINGS DONE!
Stuart Brown
I recommend this book to anyone with kids or anyone who has a hard time having FUN and relaxing!
36. The Road back to you by Ian Cron
Rating: 9/10
The is a new book about understanding the Enneagram. If you don’t speak “enneagram” – it’s is an ancient personality system that helps you understand how you are wired, both positively and negatively. In The Road Back to You Ian Morgan Cron gives practical ways to use the Enneagram to connect with, and understand, different “personality types.”
Box Car Children Mystery 
The book is older than ME!
37. The BoxCar Children and the Mystery Behind the Wall
Rating 6/10
I found this old book and decided to read it to my boys because I LOVED the Boxcar series as a child. The book is older than me, so some of the language is a little outdated. My kids weren’t super engaged in the story, and I didn’t love it as much as I did as a child. However, if you have a child who likes to read mysteries – the Boxcar series are simple chapter books that are fun to read.
38. The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
Rating: 8/10
Review: An interesting book that provides practical examples of how you can incorporate hospitality into your everyday life.
39. Paul Harvey’s For What It’s Worth
Rating: 8/10
Review: I used to love listening to Paul Harvey with my grandfather. This book is like turning on the radio and hearing his voice again. The book is filled with fun, funny, or inspiring stories sent in by his listeners.
40. The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren
Rating 9/10
Review: This is a great book for a person who may not be familiar with the true meaning of Christmas. A simple, encouraging, easy-to-read book about Christmas.
The entire reason for Christmas is the love of God. God loves you so much that he came to earth as a human so you could get to know him and learn to trust him and love him back.
Rick Warren
41. Creating a Story Brand by Don Miller
Rating: 9/10
Review: I listened to this audio. It’s read by the author, Don Miller. It is an EXCELLENT book for any business owner.
42. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Rating 9/10
Review: This is a fun, fantastic book to read or listen to with your children at Christmas time!
43. A Cup of Cold Water – by Lorie Newman
Rating: 10/10
Review: I LOVED this book. It’s full of simple ideas to make the world a better place. I used suggestions from this book to celebrate my birthday in a unique way! Read that post by clicking here.
4 Giveaways!
Giveaway ENDED on December 31, 2019
44. Essential 55 by Ron Clark
Rating: 9/10
Review: This book review 55 “essentials” every kid should know and use. For instance – always say please and thank you. Make eye contact when someone is speaking to you.
I own the first edition and read it as a teacher 20 years ago and decided to re-read it from a mother’s perspective. Many of the tips apply to the classroom (on a field trip, enter the building quietly) but there were good reminders for parenting too!!
45. Sacred Ground, Sticky Floors by Jami Amerine
Rating: 8/10
Review: This book started slow and I wasn’t crazy about it, but by chapter four, I fell in love. It’s an amazing book with the sub-title: “Less than Perfect Parents can raise Kind of great kids!” She is funny and vulnerable and I recommend this one to parents with kids ages 2-12!
I’m GIVING my Copy Away! Share this post to win!
46. Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
Rating: 10/10
Review: Whether you make $40,000 a year or $400,000, Dave Ramsey gives you easy, practical ways to make your money go further. He gives a very simple strategy for getting out of debt, and saving money. His information is very useful!
I recommend READING the book versus listening on audio. I felt like Dave was shouting at me in the audiobook – but the actual book is full of useful information, interesting facts and success stories. Our copy has lots of underlines and you can WIN it by sharing this Post!
“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have in order to impress people we don’t like.”
Dave Ramsey
47. My Point of View by Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Rating: 8/10
Review: If you are a fan of Elisabeth, you will really enjoy this book! She shared stories from her time on Survivor, The View, and Fox and friends. She lets us in to her failures and successes. It’s a quick and easy read. My mom bought this book, let me read it and is now allowing me to give it to one of my readers!
I’m giving away FOUR of my books:
- Essential 55 by Ron Clark
- Sacred Ground, Sticky Floor
- Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s My Point of View
- The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey!!!
TO WIN:
- Share THIS post on Facebook, text or email – 1 entry per share
- Share ANY post I’ve written on Facebook between now and the deadline for an extra entry
- Tag me or let me know where you shared the post!
Contest ends on December 31, 2019
