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What’s on your nightstand?—February

What's on Your Nightstand at _5 minutes for Books_On the 4th Tuesday of each month, straighten up your nightstand.

Then join Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books to link your list, and find more good books.

Finished from January’s list   
1. On Writing                                                             ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆  
     by Stephen King
My first (and probably last) Stephen King book. But not because it wasn’t good. But because it’s a rare non-fiction by him. And it is very good.

2. Recalling the Hope of Glory                                     ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆  
     by Allen P. Ross   
This is a great book detailing worship throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Very thorough. I’ll keep it as a reference book.

3. Redeeming Love                                                     ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
     by Francine Rivers
It was very good fiction (and loosely based on the truth of Hosea), and gave me much to think about how faithfully God loves us, and how he wants us to love each other. My only complaint? It could have been shorter and still been just as strong.  

Feb Nightstand

Continuing
4
. Getting Things Done
     by David Allen
I haven’t been getting things done very well lately, including reading this book. But I absolutely love what I’ve read so far on how to be more productive.

I’m in Chapter 3, Getting Projects Creatively Under Way on how to get projects off your mind without losing them.

5. The Happiness Project
     by Gretchen Rubin
I’m camping here all year for weekly & monthly resolutions. February is the month of Love.

Week 5: Give proofs of love
Week 6: Fight right
Week 7: Don’t expect praise or appreciation
Week 8: Kiss more, hug more, touch more.
(I like this one!)

6. Charity and Its Fruits
     by Jonathan Edwards
I’m behind on blogging about it, but I’m on Lecture VI about how love is inconsistent with envy. And thanks to Mr. Edwards, I’m a tad uncomfortable here...

Just started
7. Sacred Pathways
     by Gary Thomas
Finally. And barely. Chapter 1 is laying out the nine spiritual temperaments or “sacred pathways.”

Which one are you? I’m more naturally inclined toward # 2, 4, 7, and 8, but God is currently pressing me hard on # 6 as I care for my mom.

  1. Naturalists: Loving God out of doors
  2. Sensates: Loving God with the senses
  3. Traditionalists: Loving God through ritual and symbol
  4. Ascetics: Loving God in solitude and simplicity
  5. Activists: Loving God through confrontation
  6. Caregivers: Loving God by loving others
  7. Enthusiasts: Loving God with mystery and celebration
  8. Contemplatives: Loving God through adoration
  9. Intellectuals: Loving God with the mind

8. Reliving the Passion
     by Walter Wangerin Jr.
A great devotional for Lent. Yesterday, the Fifth Day, Monday, ended with this prayer:

Jesus:
Forgive me for making much of what’s minor in your story, diminishing the important thing. I’ve demanded miracles, healings, benefits for myself. O Lord, raise the cross as the central beam of my whole life once again!
        Amen.

9. 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God that invites you into His story
     by Larry Crabb
A short tour through each book of the Bible—as a love letter from God to you, to get you involved in His story. I’ve never read a Larry Crabb book that I didn’t love. No exceptions yet.

I’m in Love Letter Five: Deuteronomy.

I brought you out to bring you in. You were locked in the prison of self-centeredness, just as Israel was in painful bondage to Egypt, where all they could think about was themselves—how can we get a better life, not how can we love God. I brought you out of that prison to bring you into the freedom of love.

…Your love becomes trust only when you choose to believe that I brought you out of something bad to bring you into something good before you experience that something good. Then your love is sustained by confidence in My character, not by enjoyment of current blessings. Read what I said about that in Deuteronomy 6:23.

Next up
10. Forgotten God
     by Francis Chan
This book on the Holy Spirit remains in the queue, held over from last month. Soon, soon.

* * *

So, what’s on your nightstand?

16 comments:

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I have posted what is on my nightstand this month. I am looking forward to seeing what others are reading.

Unknown said...

66 Love Letters looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing your list!

Barbara H. said...

I've never read a Stephen King book, but I have heard that one is good. I read Redeeming Love ages ago and enjoyed it.

You have a lot of weighty material in the queue this month!

Carrie said...

Fascinating Nightstand post. I love how you laid it all out!

I think you are right - Redeeming Love could have been shorter and just as powerful.

Sacred Pathways sounds fascinating! Thanks for sharing about it!

Unknown said...

Great post.

The Happiness Project was really inspiring to me as well.

I've heard about Stephen King's On Writing for years and years. I'll have to get to it sometime.

bekahcubed said...

I've got Forgotten God on my nightstand too--I saw the little video "The Big Red Tractor" and rushed right out to buy the book.

I think I must be a 3,7,8, or 9 in that Sacred Pathways thing--although I have some difficulty understanding the "Enthusiast" term. I get that an enthusiast is all about celebration, but mystery? I guess I'll have to read the book to figure out what he's talking about!

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

I've never read Francine Rivers. My post is up.

Anastasia Macdonald said...

Hi Lisa, at the moment, I have on my night stand the following:

1.Faith of my Fathers (Book 4), Lynn Austin.
2 Among The God (Book 5), Lynn Austin.
(I've read books 1 & 2 and am currently on the third one, The Strength of His Hand).
3.The Sons of Encouragement Series (5 Books) by Francine Rivers.
4. I Could Do Anything: If I Only Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher.
5. Nehemiah: Memoirs of An Ordinary Man by Stephen Davey.

God bless...

Janet said...

My copy of Reliving the Passion just arrived today at the library. Looking forward to delving in!

My pathways are 1, 3, 8, & 9. But I have a little of everything else mixed in too. :-)

Robin M said...

I've read On Writing and because of it, started reading a few of his fiction books. I enjoyed Redeeming Love as well and looking to read more stories by her. Your continuing books all look very interesting. Will have to check them out.

Lisa notes... said...

Bekahcubed:
I haven’t gotten to the “Enthusiast” chapter yet. I’ll have to blog about it more later when I get into each ‘pathway’ a little more.

Anastasia:
Sounds like some great faith books you’ve got going. I pray they’ll be encouraging to you; the titles sure look good.

Janet:
Yes, it’s hard to narrow down which categories to fit in. A blend is probably good!

Just Mom said...

I need to get my hands on a copy of The Happiness Project - it sounds so interesting and really seems to excite people. Great list!

Unknown said...

Tell me more about the Stephen King book. (Or if you did a review somewhere that I missed, just send me the link.) I learned some stylistic stuff in a writing class at NASA one time that I use to this day. It wasn't anything earth-shattering, just some simple techniques that make your reading enjoyable. I'm amazed at the lack of grammatical skills at the doctorate level. I could make a name for myself, just by writing well. Anyway, just curious what kind of info he shares, if it's worth picking up, etc.

Fonda said...

Great list. I will looking for some of these very soon.

Lisa notes... said...

G,
I did a review here of "On Writing." That will give you a little more of the practical info he shared. If you're short on time for reading (I assume you always are), I'd skip the first half of the book and go straight for the toolbox section.

I like the NASA story. We never know where we're going to get helpful info. One of my more beneficial college courses was a Business Writing class at UAH years ago. At the time I thought it was silly, but it probably altered my writing more than anything else has.

Jen @ Happy Little Homemaker said...

Nice list...I used to love GTD when I was working. I found that the closer I came to living God's priorities, the less useful it was for me...I just DID less and so didn't need to have that complicated a system.

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