February is the shortest month of the year, but I got a lot of reading done! We had a lot of cold and snowy days, so I had time to listen to audiobook and read while we stayed warm inside. This year for Lent, I am choosing to focus my reading on religious books, so I also had to catch up on my library pile before Feb. 17. Here is what I read in February:
At the age of 8, Beth Harmon finds the janitor playing chess in the basement of the orphanage when she goes down to clean erasers. Fascinated by what he is doing, she keeps coming back and watching the game until she convinces him to teach her how to play. In a very short period of time, she not only learns, but masters the game, beating him just about every time. However, just as she gets to the point where she is being taken to play chess outside the orphanage, she breaks into the pharmacy room to get some of the tranquilizers that they stopped giving the children. As a result, chess is taken away from her … until she is adopted in The Queen’s Gambit.
In The Traveler’s Gift, David Ponder doesn’t know what else could go wrong in his life – so much already has. He was let go from his lifelong career and has just recently been fired from the job at the hardware store. His daughter is sick and there is no money for the surgery she needs. He has no hope and doesn’t know which way to turn. So, he goes for a drive and drives faster and faster until the car loses control on a bridge and careens toward a tree. When David wakes up, he is no longer in his car, but has traveled to a different time altogether. The man he meets assures him that he is not dead, but has been chosen to travel through time to learn some important lessons to pass on to all mankind.
At the heart of 28 Summers is a romance that lets a couple see each other only one weekend a year. It becomes an affair as the man marries someone else and they both grow in their own separate lives and have children. However, the draw they feel to each other means neither will let anything come in their way of having that one weekend together. Is the lesson to seize love wherever you can find it or to learn to live with the choices you make in life?
Frontier Follies is full of short chapters discussing just about every aspect of Ree’s life on the ranch. I learned how many cattle they actually have, that Ree does the dishes when she and Ladd argue and that they have a foster son. The book is divided into sections covering marriage, motherhood, family, country life and life during the pandemic. Written in Ree’s easy style, it feels like she’s sitting at your dining room table telling you her stories.
Married off at 15, Lakshmi only endures her husband’s beating for a few years before running off to make a new life for herself in The Henna Artist. She uses the herbal training her mother-in-law taught her to create a business taking care of women. As she moves up to become a henna artist, a surprise arrives at her doorstep – a sister born just a year after she ran away. The sister complicates Lakshmi’s life in ways she couldn’t even imagine, but eventually takes both of them on a path where they can both be themselves.
The Castleton are a musical family and out of the blue, a man named Michael introduces himself to the adult siblings as a long-lost brother. Some are excited and some are skeptical, but the one who was taken in as a foster kid starts to fall for him. The relationship is complicated as Michael wants to know what he was missing not growing up in the family and Ashlyn wants him to get to know her for who she is as a person. Heart of the Violist a short, sweet clean romance story.
Signs of Life gives an overview of 40 Catholic practices and why they are rooted in the Bible, along with their history. I started off my season of only reading religious books during Lent with Signs of Life. I met Scott Hahn after a talk a few years ago and he signed this book for me, tagging it with Romans 8:28, which is my favorite Bible verse. I found the book interesting, although not much was new to me.
Parenting is not easy. There are so many parenting books out there that give advice on what to do and say (or not do and say), but not many address the heart and attitude of a parent. Love-Centered Parenting does focus on having parents take a hard look at their own motivations and encourages them to both evaluate they lies they believe about themselves and then replace them with the truth of being loved by God. Then parents can find a way to lean in and love their children well. This is a great resource for all parents! (I’m on the launch team for this book. It is available March 16, 2021, but the author has some freebies if you pre-order.)
Lazarus is one of the few recorded miracles of Jesus where he brought someone back from the dead. When Jesus Wept is the story of Lazarus. The book is historical fiction and fills in gaps that aren’t told in the Bible, but surmises how Lazarus might have met and become Jesus’ friend. It describes what Lazarus may have gone through while he was laying in the tomb. The book was fascinating and reminded me that the people in the Bible have full lives and there is more to their lives than what we know.
Tragedy struck the Chapmans one day in May when they lost a child to an accident. Choosing to See is Mary Beth’s story about how she found peace through her faith. She also gives an overview of her life story and marriage with Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman. I am also reading Steven’s book, Between Heaven and the Real World.
The Rhythm of Life is all about finding out how to life your best life. Matthew Kelly gives an overview of looking at your life by doing what you really dream doing but making sure you take care of the physical, spiritual and emotional parts of your life as well. Each chapter is short and covers a specific topic and gives tangible advice on that topic. The book is a good reminder of making sure we try to seize each day.
What books did you read in February? I would love to know what you’ve read that you loved so I can add it to my to-read list!
