Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. Non-fiction ensures that I’m always learning something new. Devotionals ensure that I’m keying into my faith. And fiction books are just so enjoyable to read! This is What I Read in November 2015.

Books Finished:

The Bush Always Burns: Jesus in the Unannounced Moments of Life of Life by Heath Adamson

Heath’s testimony is incredibly powerful. If for no other reason, this book is worth a read to hear his story. But there are other reasons to read it as well, as it provides a reminder to look for Jesus as we move through our lives, and to see God working all around us. We need to be mindful not to miss opportunities to share the gospel and not put it off to tomorrow, as we never know if tomorrow will indeed come. An excellent book, although the wording was a bit repetitive at times.

Jonah’s Woman by Kate Wingo 

This is a romance novel, plain and simple. It’s set in the 1800s west, and is entertaining, but certainly no work of great literature. It strikes me often when I’m reading books like this that the entire plot is often built upon a lack of communication. Art often imitates life, doesn’t it?

Pushing the Limits: A Student/Teacher Romance by Brooke Cumberland

This is a shameless romance novel. Am I on a romance kick lately, or what?! Aspen is an art student who has built up her walls to keep everyone out and avoid the pain that her sister’s death caused her. Morgan is Aspen’s art professor, a man with deep emotional scars of his own. The book is not a great literary masterpiece, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. How can you go wrong with a love story, really? 

Selfless in a Selfie World: Before Honor is Humility by Codi Gandee

My bible study group has been working on this book, and finished it this month. This is not the book if you’re planning on reading it alone, as it sparks some great conversation at times. A lot of the questions posed are a bit hokey, but the gist of the book, that we need to be more humble, is a valid point in our modern era that glorifies self promotion above all else.

The Last Encore by Julia Butler 

I picked this book because of the piano on the cover and the promise of art and music being interwoven into the story. That promise delivered. The story is not chronological, but jumps back and forth a bit. Ultimately it comes together for a happy ending, but only after some truly horrible and disgusting things happen to the characters, but those events eventually are what drives the plot along.

Wheelbarrow Profits by Jake Stenziano and Gino Barbaro  

This book is about using real estate, particularly residential rentals to build wealth by earning passive income. Part of what I’ve been working on over the last few months is the purchase and renovation of a building. Part of the building now houses my law practice, but one floor of the building will be turned into a loft apartment. I thought this book was a clear guide to starting in a venture such as this. I wished that I had read it before the purchase of the building.

Cutting Back And Loving It by Kathy Stanton

I picked this book out, because I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed lately. Overwhelmed with work, finances, stuff, shopping, and life in general. This book focuses on decluttering our homes, so that we can decluttering our lives. It had simple, easy to implement tips.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
by Mark Adams

I read this book to participate in Nomadic Matt’s online book club. I’d never participated in something like this before, but since it’s books and travel minded people, it seemed like a combination worth trying out. Unfortunately, my audio line seemed to be muted, even after I switched to participating by telephone, so I left it after about five minutes, since listening to other people have a book club didn’t seem like very much fun.

The book follows two story lines, that of Mark Adams, the author has he retraces the steps of Hiram Bingham who rediscovered and popularized Machu Picchu, and of Hiram Bingham himself.  The book is extremely well researched and written. I felt like I was right there with Adams on his trek. And some of these sites in Peru are now on my travel bucket list.

Outside by Shalini Boland

Riley’s little sister is murdered; and she and her friend Luc go outside their perimeter to search for the killer in this dystopian future novel. The pacing was a bit off, in that all of the action seemed to be concentrated in one portion of the story. It was alright, but probably not my favorite in the genre. The cause of the civilization’s downfall, a series of terrorist attacks all over the world, was a bit spooky considering the attacks that have been taking place lately.

God’s Promise of Happiness by Randy Alcorn 

This short devotional details that God wants us to be happy, and provides the proof from different passages of the Bible. Alcorn discusses the modern and mistaken view that Christians are meant to be blessed, but serious and sometimes miserable. God wants us to be happy, which is why even non-believers seek happiness, all while finding it impossible to find true happiness which can only be found through God.

Children To A Degree: Growing Up Under The Third Reich by Horst Christian

This short novel is apparently based on true events, although names have been changed. It was written after, but is a prequel to the other books in the series; and Christian wrote it after being asked repeatedly what it was like for children to grow up in Nazi Germany. It’s fascinating, and I likely will read the other books in the series.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

I picked this book out of my nightstand pile of books after starting and the quitting a couple of other books. Lately I’ve tried to be a little more intentional about what I’m reading, and to not finish a book that I’m not loving out of some misplaced sense of loyalty. There are just too many books in the world to waste time on ones that I don’t enjoy.  Anyway, this book broke me out of my slump. I appreciated how the different characters’ lives intertwined with one another, and that there were many possible alternate realities but this one was came about because of the decisions that the characters made.

Books Abandoned:

None.