A Little Something For Everyone

A Little Something for Everyone

In this article, Steph Nickel suggests something for a everyone – a selection of books suitable for reading during this unprecedented era of social distancing.

What have you read and recommend? We would love to hear from you. Share your comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.

Eclectically Interested and Something for Everyone

As you know, I’m eclectically interested, and that includes the books I read. During these days of “social distancing,” I wanted to suggest books from several genres that may be of interest if you’re looking for your next reading adventure.

hopestreamradio · Something For Everyone

Are you looking for encouragement during these challenging days?

Of course, the best place to find encouragement is in the pages of God’s Word. While I’ve been using Asheritah Ciuciu’s Uncovering the Love of Jesus and Margaret Feinberg’s Beautiful Life: 40 Days in the Book of James as part of my devotional time during Lent, I’m considering devoting the week before Easter exclusively to reading one of the gospels—perhaps, John, which is my favourite.

Books That are Timely and Encouraging

I am so thankful for the author’s books whose books are timely and encouraging.

Kathi Lipp’s new book, Ready for Anything: Preparing Your Heart and Home for Any Crisis Big or Small, is definitely one such book and is now available for pre-order. The pre-order bonuses include the first seven chapters of the book and a curriculum you can use with your children, access to Kathi’s online course, and other resources as well. Even in the midst of our currently situation, Kathi equips readers to be “prepared, not scared.”

I am also re-reading Kathi’s signature book, Clutter Free. The Clutter Free Bible study was one of my projects for Lent. I’m not sure I will complete it before Easter, but we’ll see.

Another of my projects for Lent was the Exhale: Lose Who You’re Not, Love Who You Are, Live Your One Life Well online study. Amy Carroll and Cheri Gregory wrote the book and are leading the study. I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to catch up on the reading before the study is over, but I’m enjoying the teaching and interacting with other members of the group on Facebook. (Just a note: if the subtitle concerns you, please know that the authors encourage readers to love who God created them to be, not to love their sinful, self-centred selves.)

Both Clutter Free and Exhale are encouraging—and transformative—reads at anytime.

Relentless

I also considered joining the study of Michele Cushatt’s book Relentless: The Unshakeable Presence of a God Who Never Leaves. While I wisely decided that was significantly more than I could accomplish during the 40 days of Lent, I do intend to read Relentless and listen to the author’s related podcast in the next little while. Like so many other authors, Michele has learned about the subject matter in her book firsthand. I love her authenticity. It’s one of the characteristics I treasure most—not just in authors and speakers, but in everyone.

As you may know, I am a birth doula. Therefore, books on pregnancy and childbirth are of particular interest to me.

Whether or not you are expecting, you might enjoy Rebecca Dekker’s book, Babies are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered. The author is the founder of Evidence Based Birth and holds her PhD. She is a research scientist. Plus, she is a mom who began exploring the evidence surrounding 21^st century childbirth practices after she gave birth to her first child. She knows her stuff—and makes the information compelling and understandable for anyone who is interested in the subject.

I’ve signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo to keep me motivated to prep my book Nurture and Inspire Love for release this year. Because I’m using devotionals I wrote for HopeStreamRadio, I’m thinking of using the workbook From Blog to Book by Lynne Collier and Kirstie Shanks. They have several workbooks, courses, and other resources available on the White Rose Writers Etsy shop … so many so that I shouldn’t have taken a look today.

And if you’re looking for a fiction read or two, I have numerous suggestions.

As the Light Fades

Catherine West writes women’s fiction about three-dimensional characters in believable situations. Cathy doesn’t shy away from difficult topics, and I’m enjoying her newest release, As the Light Fades. Abuse. Alzheimer’s. A troubled teen with a complex backstory. These are just three of the realities the author covers in this book. Although not overtly Christian, this book would qualify as “a clean read.”

If you’re looking for something a little lighter, if murder mysteries can actually be referred to as light, I highly recommend Emily James’s “Maple Syrup Mysteries.” They are considered cozy mysteries and include a lot of humour. I recommend starting with the first book, A Sticky Inheritance, or even the prequel, Sapped.

Wheel of Time

And if you’re looking for a commitment of several months, unless you’re a much faster reader than I am, you may want to check out fantasy author Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series. My kids have each read through it at least once, and my hubby is just finishing his third readthrough of the series. I knew I would never invest that much time to what is really a single story in several l-o-n-g volumes, I have been using my Audible credits to snatch up the audio version of the books. I’m going to have to go back and start at the beginning.

Speaking of Audible

And speaking of Audible, I recently came across author Ginny Yttrup. (That’s what happens when you know people who know people—and I’m getting to know a lot of authors thanks to social media.) I downloaded her book Invisible using my April credit. I’m excited—and a wee bit apprehensive—to listen to what sounds like an incredible story. What if I discover a new favourite author? Oh, well, such is the life of an extroverted reader. Believe me, I’m not really complaining.

I’d love to hear about the books you’re reading. You can contact me through my contributor’s page on HopeStreamRadio.

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