“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored.”
Anne Lamott
What I’m Currently Reading
Updated March 2021.
I generally have a pile of books I am reading through very slowly (as in, over the course of years), an audio book or two, and a shorter stack of books I’m reading at a “normal” pace.
I participate in an annual reading challenge that I helped design: The Scholé Sisters 5×5 Challenge. This challenge encourages us to dig in deeply to significant topics while also reading broad and eclectic in our reading.
Books Finished in 2021
Books Finished in 2020
These are grouped by my 5×5 Challenge categories. Visit Scholé Sisters to learn more about the 5×5 Reading Challenge, get the printable reading guide, and find accountability for broad reading.
Star ratings are on a 5-star scale and awarded based on how well I thought the book achieved its intentions and lived up to its potential.
“History, too, can be misunderstood – even misrepresented – and disaster can follow from that. Bad history is a dangerous master. But we have never needed sound history more.”
p. 513
A Short History of the World, by J.M. Roberts
published in 1993
History. 5×5 pick.
started in January 2020; finished May 2020.
A comprehensive, liberal summary of world history from evolutionary fictions to the end of the Cold War.
It was good to read a secular, liberal history of the world. His dogma wasn’t too overpowering, but it was very evident in his presentation of imagination as prehistory, skepticism of biblical accounts, and fear of overpopulation.
The first 40 pages are pure speculation and hard to stomach while not being bored. You wouldn’t miss much to skip them and start when history actually starts with written documentation.
His overview is a good set of selections that gives the broad sweep of the main movements without getting bogged down in details.
His writing style is clear and lucid, though he very rarely shows deep insight or startling expression. It’s not a book for the commonplace, but it will be handy for referring to again in the future for a sketch of historical context.
There’s great reference material at the beginning and end that will keep this edition a handy source in the future.
“”
p. x
Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties, by Paul Johnson
read by Nadia May
published in 2006
History. 5×5 Pick.
started in March 2020 . Finished in October 2020.
A Little History of Philosophy, by Nigel Warburton
Published in 2012
Philosophy. 5×5 pick.
Started in April 2020, finished in June 2020.
An engaging romp through the history of philosophical thought, with even-handed though secular treatment of 40 major contributors to philosophy, from Plato to Singer.
Each summary includes a narrative look at the philosopher as a man as well as what he thought and how others responded to him. The summaries were better written than those in Sophie’s World, and I would recommend this as a philosophical overview for students or adults over that novel any day of the week.
This difficult man [Socrates], who kept asking questions and would rather die than stop thinking about how things really are, has been an inspiration for philosophers ever since.” (p. 8)
“God may be incomprehensible, but he is not unknowable. Any doubt is removed the moment God opens his mouth.” (p. 25)
None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God, by Matthew Barrett
published 2019
Theology. 5×5 pick. Recommended by Brandy Vencel.
started in April 2020; finished July 2020
The more we know and understand God, the more informed and sincere will be our praise.
Barrett does an excellent job explaining the attributes of God in the classical sense and terminology for a modern lay reader. Better still, he does so without straying into abstraction and theory, but grounds it all in doxology.
Many of his personal anecdotes seemed to be an interruption to the flow of thought, and the predictability with which they came and the sometimes tenuous connection made me lament once more modern nonfiction style, but the clarity of the meat of his writing made the dashes of personal sauce tolerable.
This would make a good read with a high schooler for theology, especially when paired with Packer’s Knowing God.
Mere Discipleship: Growing in Wisdom & Hope, by Alistair McGrath
published 2019
Whim. Christian Living & Thinking.
started in February 2020, finished August 2020
Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger
published 2002
Fiction. 5×5 pick.
started in March 2020; finished in March 2020
One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
translated by Max Hayward
published in 1962
Fiction. 5×5 pick.
started in February 2020; finished in February 2020
Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott
written in 1821
Fiction. 5×5 pick.
started in January 2020; finished in February 2020
The Golf Omnibus, by PG Wodehouse
published in 1973
Fiction. Date-night read-aloud.
started in March 2020; finished in August 2020.
Olive, by Barbara Braendlein
Published in 2020
Fiction. Started in June 2020; finished June 2020
Read this. Give it to your kids to read. It’s a delightful story of a special needs girl who doesn’t want your pity, but to show you how to love life, fight for it, and be happy. Mothers will find it a convicting reminder of how we are the atmosphere of our homes and children will be shown the world from a different set of eyes.
I can’t quite place my finger on why, but it reminded me of Little House in the Big Woods. Perhaps it was how the family came together and provided a loving, healthy, warm environment despite hard things. Perhaps it was how the childlike joy of life was pervasive, even though we might assume life was hard and therefore always sad.