September 9th, 2021

Hey friends!

Last year at this time I was well on my way to reading a total of 42 books in 2020. This year…well, haha let’s just say I haven’t been reading nearly as much and have only completed 14 books so far in 2021. I thought I would share my top 5 favorites (in no particular order) of those 14.

1.) My Life in France by Julia Child

2.) Everything Will Be Okay by Dana Perino

3.) The Leading Lady: Dinah’s Story by Betty White & Tom Sullivan

4.) The Cross & the Switchblade by David Wilkerson

5.) Lessons from Elijah by Andrew Wommack

Quick review of each:

“My Life in France” is an absolutely delightful read if you enjoy culinary arts, travel and learning about quality ingredients. Julia Child has become a woman I look up to due to her zest for life, determination, perseverance, pursuit of new hobbies “later in life” and the way she changed the culinary landscape here in America. She’s also hilarious and I find it very commendable the way her and her husband valued their family and friends.

“Everthing will be Okay” felt like a big sister chat over coffee where Dana shared a plethora of wisdom about life, love and career. Her love story is ADORABLE!! How many women can say they married the cute guy they met on a plane?! Lol! I admire Dana’s work ethic, her relatability and think this is an excellent reference book for every young woman.

“The Leading Lady” was brought to my attention after reading a book about Betty White last year. She mentioned her and her husband’s close friendship with Tom Sullivan who had been given incredible freedom through a guide dog (seeing eye dog) named Dinah. When Dinah retired after many years of being incredibly devoted to Tom, she fell into deep depression not feeling like she had a purpose and became heartbroken watching a younger dog take her place. She was given a beautiful new lease on life when Betty adopted her and was able to enjoy her “retirement years” as Betty’s companion. I learned so much from this book! I had no idea that you could hear so many different kinds of waves on the beach or what all went into training a service dog. It was most definitely an enjoyable and educational book.

“The Cross & The Switchblade” – Boy, where do I start on this one?! It was a life-changing book for me 10+ years ago and reading it with my husband recently it was, again, no less life-changing. I have appreciated Times Square Church for many years and re-reading the story behind how that church came to be was encouraging and challenging to my faith.

“Lessons from Elijah” was my most recent book completion and I have to say that although I’ve read the story of Elijah many times over in my Bible reading I had never seen many of the things that Andrew pointed out in this book. I would definitely encourage any Christian to read this book and ponder what was shared and how it can apply to your life. I personally was challenged by the power of a word from God in a Christian’s life and the danger in letting distractions dilute our fervency in standing on that word.

Well, that’s all for today, friends! What have been your favorite book reads from 2021 so far? I’d love to hear about them in the comments! 🙂

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