Top 10 Books of 2013
I was hoping to read 52 books this year, but I didn’t quite make it. I read 48 books, which is still better than I’ve done in the last three years! There were several books that have been on my to-read list for years that I finally read this year, and I was so glad I did. I need to read off my to-read list more consistently! Turns out there’s a reason certain books get recommended again and again.
One respondent to my survey requested more book recommendations for elementary boys, so I thought it’d be fun to have my boys put together their top 10 lists for 2013, too! It won’t be up until the end of the week, but it’s in the works.
Here are my top 10 books I read this year, in no particular order.
- Secret Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield. This book was amazing and thought-provoking.
- Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. I listened to it on audio and feel my appetite was merely whetted; I need to actually read it now.
- Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung. DeYoung’s well-written book is like Ryle’s Holiness & Owen’s Mortification of Sin for a modern audience; but without watering down the truth.
- Mortification of Sin by John Owen. I love the clarity and thoroughness of Puritan style.
- Art of Teaching by Gilbert Highet. This was a pleasure to read and think about. It was a lot easier to read than I was expecting, and it was quite enjoyable rather than being the dense treatise I imagined it would be.
- Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. I wouldn’t have picked this up again if it weren’t for Cindy’s book club, and I’m so glad I revisited it!
- An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis. I finally read this marvelous book! It’s been on my to-read list for years.
- A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres and others. Willa gifted me this book, to which she is a contributor, and I found it extremely encouraging and helpful.
- Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey and Nurture by Nature by Paul & Barbara Tieger. I went on quite a little personality obsession this fall, and these two books helped me figure out my children’s personality and how to use that to understand and parent them better.
- What’s Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton. I listened to this on audio and chuckled and chuckled my way through, even when the jokes were aimed at me.
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