Books I Read in 2016

Since I was young reading has been important to me – it was a companion through lonely middle school and junior high years. It has been with me through many moves. It helped give me direction as I learned my trade, especially in my post-college years. And books have guided me through motherhood – both as an escape from the mundane moments and also as a reference for the times when I have been unsure of myself.

Parenting brings with it a degree of tiredness that I didn't know could exist, and in recent years I have succumbed to binge watching Netflix in lieu of diving into the pages of a book. And in some ways I feel like I have lost something – I don't feel as sharp and it is harder to concentrate these days. I blame it on Netflix, or more likely my *smart*phone and the snippets of information I glean from the internet in bite-size pieces. In this coming year I hope to make a more valiant effort to read. I've already finished two books, so I'm already on the right track.

Here's a quick look back to the books I read in 2016 and a personal resolution to try to read 25 books in the coming year (maybe someday I'll get back to 52 like I used to!).

January
1) How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiousity and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough
2) Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende
3) Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

February/March 
4) The Fringe Hours, Making Time for You by Jessica N. Turner

April 
5) Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty 

May 
6) The Power of the Other by Dr. Henry Cloud

June
Kerning Family trilogy by Michael McGarrity
7) Hard Country
8) Backlands
9) The Last Ranch

August
10) When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
11) Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

December
12) A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles by Mary Elizabeth Williams
13)  We Were Brothers by Barry Moser

Ten of the 13 books were non-fiction. Most were worthy reads, though I could have skipped a few of them.
 



Books I've read over the years: 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015