Dusk Night Dawn by Anne Lamott — I love Lamott’s writing so much. Like this quote, “Taking kids outside to love God in nature is just about the most Jesusy thing we can do. Jesus was nearly always outside with His disciples or alone with the stars. To take kids to a beach, even one that is littered, is to bring them to an altar, a big one, surrounded by the blue-gray ocean billowing outward like a skirt, flecked with sunlight, like foil or diamonds.”
Elsewhere by Rosita Boland — Recently I’ve realized that one of my favorite genres is travel memoir, and this is one of the best I’ve read. It’s a shame it isn’t more popular (searching for the title on Amazon brings up about twenty hits, none of which are this book, weirdly). Boland absolutely loves words and travel… Her introduction is about Fernweh, a German word that means “the ache of not being in foreign parts, a desire to travel, an ache for distant places”. Each chapter is a different travel adventure paired with some amazing word like Eleutheromania (“an intense desire for freedom”). Besides her adventures, she also shares about her disappointment in losing her dream of motherhood, and learns to accept herself and be content with her life.
Prayer by A.W. Tozer — I always need encouragement in the area of prayer. This book is made of excerpts from Tozer’s other books or sermons on the topic of prayer, along with commentary and reflection. Each chapter is bite-sized enough to work well as a devotional. Tozer’s idea is that prayer should be a way of life, woven into the very fabric of every detail of our day. He writes “Some churches now advertise courses on how to pray. How ridiculous! That is like giving a course on how to fall in love.” It’s a book I will likely be rereading through the years.
Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski — This book is so good, and so dense that I could only read it in bite-sized chunks over a few months. I read it on Kindle and have so many highlights in all the chapters that I might as well have just highlighted the whole book. It’s like your own therapist in a book who walks you through things like how to overcome trauma and completing the stress cycle so it doesn’t get stored in your body. I didn’t love the overly-feminist attitude of the book, but it was good besides that.
Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski — Examines new scientific discoveries that show how women feel about their bodies directly influences sexual satisfaction. Biggest takeaway: You’re not broken. You’re normal. Now let’s try using what we know about women’s brains and bodies to make sex better. I found this book very helpful (though I’ll keep the specifics to myself!) I’d always felt like parts of my intimate life were broken, and someday I’d get around to figuring out how to fix them. But they’re not, and I’m not. I’m normal!
Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons — I first read this book years ago as a much younger mom and just reread it this month with a foster/adoption group I’m in. It was only in rereading it that I realized that this book helped create many of the renewing habits I use today. Things like taking a walk to clear my head, having a calm morning routine to get my mind ready for the day, practicing Sabbath, clearing extra junk out of my day and my life to make more space for my passions. Some of the suggestions are obvious, but I think it’s helpful sometimes for someone else to point out the obvious and give an extra little kick in the right direction.
Autumn's Writing 