What’s On My Bookshelf: 6 Reads I Absolutely Love

Hi lovelies!

I’m baaaaack!! I’ve missed you guys…and I am seriously SO pumped about being back in one another’s lives ❤ I may write up a post here pretty soon just to catch you all up on what I’ve been up to this past month away from social media (well…away from the blog and Instagram and Snapchat; Facebook got me you guys! Haha but other than that, I’ve been social media free for the last month!)

Before we get to a proper catch-up though, today we’re going to have a nice sit-down chat from one 20-something grandma (me) to another (hopefully you–if this isn’t you, I can’t imagine you’re going to enjoy this post much); all about BOOKS!

I’ve seen a few of these little posts going around and I’ve LOVED seeing what all my favorite bloggers/humans are reading, so I thought I’d add my two cents to the discussion, in case any of you sweet people that read this blog are interested in what literature I tend to gravitate toward. Just one more random way you can learn new things about me…which is always fun, right? 😉

Here are 6 of my all-time favorite reads (in no particular order…they’re all great!):

1. Scary Close by Donald Miller. I picked this book up a couple years ago after being BOMBARDED with friends/mentors recommending it to me. Y’all, I’m so happy I picked it up. I have never enjoyed a book and gained so much wisdom about the way that humans function from one piece of literature in quite some time. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
2. The Road Back To You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. I am only about 1/4 of the way through this book at the moment but I am EATING IT UP. Truly, a book that chats about the Enneagram aka the intersection of spirituality and psychology in humanity? Nothing is better suited for me, literally, nothing.
3. The Shack by W. Paul Young (also The Shack Revisited by Baxter Kruger). Start with The Shack. Read it, digest it, let the sweetness of Paul’s understanding of relating to God infiltrate into the way that you see God…and then read Baxter’s book to help explore scripturally maybe why we shouldn’t argue so much with Paul’s radical ideas. These books were incredibly healing for me. I know there’s been a lot of uproar regarding the validity of these books but this is merely one (well, if you read them both…two) men’s understandings of how God operates, it’s nothing more or less than that. I think we can all gain something from these books, if we’re willing to be a little open-minded.
4. A Prayer Journal by Flannery O’Connor. I need to be honest with you all, I read this book, and a few other’s by Flannery back in college and I really didn’t like her to begin with haha…then I read this book. It is such an honest and raw telling about the struggles of this life and how we can find hope only in God and His promises. This book is one of the most beautifully written works I have ever encountered.
5. You’re Already Amazing by Holley Gerth. My sister actually got me this book for Christmas this year and I’m not too far into it yet but from what I have read thus far, I love it! This book is a must-read for women of all ages who just need a little reminder that being perfect and being more for people the around them is not our end-goal, it is not our calling in this life. We get distracted by it because everyone tells us that that is what we need to be happy and to be loved, but Holley reminds us that our worth and our lives are made perfect already in Christ; there is no sense in looking elsewhere!
6. Love Does by Bob Goff. This is just the happiest book written by the happiest man I think that has ever lived. We all can learn a little bit from the way that Bob approaches life and as a result function a little lighter the rest of our days. There is seriously no one out there I wouldn’t recommend this book to. 

//

I also wanted to add a few books that have been suggested to me/I have been gifted but I have yet to read…so if you’ve read any of the following, let me know your thoughts and if they’re worth picking up!

Cordially Invited by Zoe Sugg (more commonly known to some of you as Zoella!)

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

God Loves Ugly by Christa Black

Not Yet Married by Marshall Segal

Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst

Everybody, Always–(the lovely sequel to Love Does!) by Bob Goff

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist

Have you read any of these books? If not, do you have any book suggestions you think I’d love? Let me know in the comments below what you recommend and why you love it!

XOXO

-Bri