Books of 2020: Part 1
The year of 2020 has been one for the books, for lots of reasons including…the books. My goal was to read 30 this year (almost there, fingers crossed!), so here are the first 10 I read along with some of my thoughts. Spoiler alert: I loved every single one!
1. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Man, what a way to way to kick off 2020! P&P has been on my "to read list" for years, more out of obligation than desire, to be perfectly honest. I mean are you even a serious reader/writer if you haven’t read it???
In summer 2017, my mom and sister packed up my red Ford Explorer (miss you, Big Red) as we drove up to Pennsylvania for my summer internship with Runner's World. En route, we stopped in a local bookstore (in Virginia, I think?) and played "Blind Date with a Book," which maybe is something your local bookstore does too. As soon as I read the vague description on the brown paper wrapping, I knew it was P&P. That was the copy I used this year, which feels special. And let me just say, I loved this book.
I knew the story (I've only seen the Kiera Knightley movie version, I'm sorry to all the Colin Firth fans! One day I'll watch it, I promise), but the book is so much more complex and, honestly, interesting than I thought. I now understand why so many people admire Elizabeth Bennett. For lack of a better word, she is a badass—in a kind, courageous, humble, repentant, stubborn, awesome kind of way. Jane is more gentle and lovely. Mr. Darcy is snarkier but also more endearing. Mrs. Bennett and Lydia are the worst. I could go on, but I won't. I loved it. When Elizabeth explains her feelings to Mr. Darcy, that conversation (and those that followed) made me tear up. As much as I love the "your hands are cold" scene from the 2005 movie, it pales in comparison to what Austen originally wrote. And speaking of Austen—that woman is a force. I wish people still wrote this way.
A favorite quote (this is who I want to be): "There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me."
2. Luke: The Good News by She Reads Truth
I debated even counting this as a book, but ya know what, there are no rules. I'm doing it. This might be my favorite She Reads Truth study I've done. Obviously 99% percent of that is because the book of Luke was inspired and the breathed word of God. But I loved the cross references the She Reads Truth team put together for each chapter and the themes they told you to look out for. I assigned a color to each one (the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God, the importance of faith, teaching on prayer, and the joy of salvation) and colored over the texts that corresponded. It helped me read Luke with fresh eyes (and coloring during devotional time is always fun, right)? Overall, I was reminded that Jesus is a kind Savior, and I was convicted over His heart for the poor, marginalized, and heartbroken.
A favorite passage: “[Jesus] also said to the one who had invited him, 'When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” -Luke 14:12-14
3. The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen González
This book absolutely wrecked me. Once I really dove in, it was hard to put it down. This book convicted me with such intensity, I’d think about its teachings a lot throughout the day. No matter how you feel about this book (and there were a few points she made I really wrestled or disagreed with), there’s no denying that she is a brave woman with so much wisdom and experience. Maybe there were people that spoke out against her for writing this, but I so admire her faith in God and her fight for justice in the world. I know I am walking away from this book changed. Immigration is a difficult subject—it always has been. But Karen's story, research, and experience have led me to rethink and challenge everything I've believed about immigration—both as a humanitarian and a political issue. Especially having been to El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Puerto Rico (I know PR is a U.S. territory but I'm including it here), my heart ached for Karen's background in Guatemala, and thought of all my friends in those regions of Central America.
I don't have all the answers to how to fix our immigration problem in the U.S. In some ways, I'm even more uncertain and confused than before. But what I do know is that Jesus so loved the world—not just people who look like me or people who grew up here. I can’t keep living on as if we don't have a huge problem on our hands. Immigrants are close to God's heart, and I want to push myself to love them better. Again, I don't know a lot of things, but I know ignorance is not bliss. So my aim is to learn more, keep asking questions, live in an active rather than passive way, and do what I can to help our immigrant brothers and sisters.
A favorite quote (I could probably share about 20): "But over time, I began to realize that my identity is not found in the color of my passport or the place I reside. The Bible says that our identities are in Christ: the refugee God whose love knew no limits and lived a life committed to justice and peace. The book of Acts reminds us, 'In God we live, move, and exist' (Acts 17:28). In other words, our true 'place' is in Jesus, not on a map with borders. We live inside God, not within a particular nation."
4. Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
For months, this book had major buzz around our office. After finishing it, I can see why. Literally everyone in business should read this book. As a copywriter who is tasked with making our company's messaging clear, this book really opened my eyes to the importance of the words I write.
A favorite quote (I could give you 465876 great, practical quotes, but you just need to read the book to get those): "It's true: if you confuse, you'll lose. But if you clarify your message, customers will listen. Here's to helping the good guys win. Because in a good story, they always do."
5. Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making by Andrew Peterson
God knew that this was the book I needed to kick off 2020. Backstory: I was home in Georgia for about 12 days during Christmas and New Year's. It was amazing, and just the sort of the unplugged, community-filled rest that I needed. I went into the break feeling weary from my heavy workload, so I was convinced that after I returned to Waco, I'd feel like a new woman. I'd enter the office with renewed vigor and inspiration, and words made of pure gold would come flowing out of my fingertips and onto the keys.
Well...that's not what happened.
In fact, the opposite happened. My first week back in the office was a nightmare, and to spare you the details, I realized that 1. I had an overbearing workload and I needed to stop pretending that I could do it all and thinking everything was my fault. 2. My work was suffering. 3. I was experiencing burnout. I wasn't proud of my work. Despite my strongest efforts to stay on track, I was missing deadlines. I reached a breaking point and scream-sobbed one night in way I haven't done in a very long time.
I'm writing this in February, and let me tell you—God hears. He sees our tears. Our mental and emotional health surrounding our work is very important to Him. And praise God, He is faithful. He has been healing me the past couple of months, has been granting me creative revival, and Adorning the Dark has been a part of that journey. I am so, so grateful. While Andrew hones on writing here (both through books and music), really, any artist can read this and be blessed by it. Trust me.
God gave me Andrew's words to teach and remind me of a few things: 1. Our creative work reveals something to the world about the character of God, so it's extremely important and valuable. 2. I hate hearing this sometimes, but I know it's the truth: Stop thinking about writing and just WRITE. Stop thinking about creating and just CREATE. 3. The fear of NOT creating is the work of the enemy. He doesn't want you to do it, because your work is the work of light and he wants to overshadow it with darkness (read the quote for more on that). Honestly, I could write pages on this book—another book about this book, really. I'll spare you from that, but let me just shout this loud and clear: If you have a creative bone in your body (and everyone on this earth does), you need to read this.
A favorite quote (HOW DO I CHOOSE): “This is why the Enemy wants you to think you have no song to write, no story to tell, no painting to paint. He wants to quiet you. So sing. Let the Word by which the Creator made you fill your imagination, guide your pen, lead you from note to note until a melody is strung together like a glimmering constellation in the clear sky. Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor, too, by making worlds and works of beauty that blanket the earth like flowers. Let your homesickness keep you always from spiritual slumber. Remember that it is in the fellowship of saints, of friends and family, that your gift will grow best, and will find its best expression. And until the Kingdom comes in its fullness, bend your will to the joyful, tearful telling of its coming. Write about that. Write about that, and never stop.”
Only 7 out of the 10…sorry!
6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Oh. Oh my word. By page two I was hooked by this book. My friend Hannah mailed this book to me as a Christmas present (Hey, Fain) and I 100% trust her taste in books, and this book delivered on that expectation. The cast of characters in this story is unmatched to other books I've read recently, and I love how the Appalachian mountains are almost a character all their own. Basically Jojo tells a fictionalized tale about the real-life Pack Horse Librarians, who were a group of women who delivered books to rural communities during the 30s and 40s. Friendship, romance, tension, the importance of reading and education, women being awesome—I mean truly a recipe for greatness, and this book has it all. I couldn't put it down and it made me teary-eyed more than once.
A favorite quote: "Maybe that's the thing we need to understand, Alice. That some things are a gift, even if you don't get to keep them."
7. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
I've been recommended this book more times than I can count over the last decade, and have read bits and pieces of it over the years. My small group walked through it together for a few months, and I finally understand what all the fuss is about. Tozer is brilliant. But more than that, he reveals truths about God in such a beautiful way, where you think, yes, I knew this about God, but how have I never really thought about it in that way before? This is definitely a book I'll be returning to again and again.
A favorite quote: "It is important that we get still to wait on God. and it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible outspread before us. Then if we will we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts. I think for the average person the progression will be something like this: First a sound as of a Presence walking in the garden. Then a voice, more intelligible, but still far from clear. Then the happy moment when the Spirit begins to illuminate the Scriptures, and that which had been only a sound, or at best a voice, now becomes an intelligible word, warm and intimate and clear as the word of a dear friend. Then will come life and light, and best of all, ability to see and rest in and embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and All."
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Enter my first book of COVID-19, and boy was it a doozy (in the best way). I'll admit, I struggled for awhile on this one. But once it picked up speed, I flew through all 530 pages of this thing (at least by my standards). Anthony's prose is unbelievable—really unlike anything I've ever read in a novel. A character could be thinking about radio frequencies or listening to the hum of an airplane or touching snails, and I was absolutely captivated—it was like I was learning about those things for the very first time. The characters were beautiful and flawed and honest, and I really just wanted to give them all a hug.
Also I've got to say, reading this during the onslaught of COVID-19 felt very timely. I hesitate to even say this, because I know the horrors of WWII were unlike anything I could possibly imagine. But I couldn't help but notice a few parallels between their time and ours: the isolation, the fear, the suspense of never knowing when something bad was coming (whether it be a Nazi German or an elusive virus)... But also, the unity, the desire to help each other, the desire to do good. Absolutely beautiful. I recommend this to anyone, but especially if you're a writer, reading this is like nectar for your mind.
A favorite quote (again, really hard to pick, but I think this one captures the heart of the book): "Don't you want to be alive before you die?"
9. To Shake the Sleeping Self by Jedidiah Jenkins
Oh man, how I wish I could have been a fly perched on Jedidiah's shoulder as he biked from Oregon to Patagonia. (Or maybe just another human riding next to him...that would probably be more normal.) I love this guy's heart. He wrestles with questions about his faith and sexuality along the way, but also gives an honest and hilarious play-by-play of his adventures and mishaps on the road. I'll admit, some of his thoughts and questions were hard to read, but when I turned the last page, I only had love for Jed. I felt so much sympathy for him, and my heart ached for the pain and doubt he wrestled with and reminisced on along the way. He also asks good, hard questions, and no matter how uncomfortable those can make me feel sometimes, I can always appreciate that quality in a person. I don't really know what he's up to now, but I hope he found some clarity and healing with God while still keeping his curious, inquisitive spirit. Oh, and major props to him for not making his daily travel log just a sequential, boring list. This book was riveting, and any wanderlust person should read it.
A favorite quote (context: Jed's spending Thanksgiving in Chile and journaling all the people he's thankful for and why): "When I had finished, I closed my journal and went for a walk. I felt fully loved by the people I'd listed. I felt that I had seen them by writing their names, that I'd called them forth. But then, a rush of feeling alone. I knew no one in the nation of Chile. And yet names and faces swirled around me like fireflies. I held my life, so graced with kindness and friendship, in my mind's eye as I walked around the tiny town on the edge of a lake in Patagonia. A stray dog came up and trotted next to me, as if drawn by my thinking. As if responding to some deep calling in every dog to comfort a lost boy."
10. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
It's the end of April, I just finished this book today, and, oh. I am undone. My roommate Kate witnessed me finishing this book and I was basically rolling around in the grass going "Oh, OH, oh my" at all of the wonderful and heartbreaking twists Kristin threw in at the end. When I finally closed it and said I was done, apparently I didn't form actual sentences. I just said, "It was just...wow. I mean, ugh. Wow. Wow." I clearly was on a WWII kick this spring, because this is the second 500-something-page book I've read in the past two months about it. This book is absolutely gut-wrenching, so just prepare yourself. I definitely stayed up way too late reading it, with tears in my eyes multiple times.
The women in this book—holy cow. If I ever grow up to have a quarter of the bravery and self-awareness of these heroines, I'll count that as a win. They reminded me of the women in The Giver of Stars, who against every obstacle thrown their way, faced it head on with both fear and boldness, which I think is so important. These women weren't perfect—they made plenty of mistakes in high-stake circumstances—but those flaws shaped them into the warriors they became. What's even crazier to me (and something I had to continually remind myself while reading) is that while these characters are fictional, there were millions of people who actually endured this horrendous period of history with that kind of courage. Part of me wants to dive in more—into the real stuff—and read and research until I'm blue in the face. But first, I think I need a little break.
A favorite quote: "Love. It was the beginning and end of everything, the foundation and the ceiling and the air in between. it didn't matter that she was broken and ugly and sick. he loved her and she loved him. all her life she had waited—longed for—people to love her, but now she saw what really mattered. she had known love, been blessed by it."
Stay tuned for part 2, kids!
