I’ve been an avid bookworm all my life. I love, love, love the written word and losing myself in a really great read. However, the past few years, my reading has gone down dramatically and it’s been killing me. This year I am determined to pull myself out of the biggest, longest, most detrimental reading slump I’ve ever been in. I started more books than I finished and have truly missed the effect good, consistent reading has always had on my life. After stumbling across 3 beautiful blog posts the other day(Valerie @ Val Marie Paper, Corie @ The Reset Girl & Gretchen Saffler @ Well Watered Women), I decided I need to construct my reading list for 2018 and be intentional about reading more than I have in a long time.
My goal is to read at least 50 books this year. There are definitely more than 50 on this list but I didn’t have the heart to do any cutting. I don’t expect to knock out all these titles by any means but I plan on getting through a good portion of them. Reading is so much a personal and emotional thing. I don’t want to ever feel like just because it’s on my list I HAVE to read it this year. I want to give myself options and no pressure. I will probably also read some books that aren’t even on this list. The great thing about book-loving is that there are always new titles to discover! The only goal is to finish at least 50.
A good number of the books on my list are ones that I own, have started and never finished, some I’ve owned for a long time and never cracked open and still others are books that I don’t own and am itching to buy. Also, I don’t plan on reading all of them in physical hard copies. I’ll read some on my Kindle and listen to some on audio (which is how I do a good chunk of my reading).
Alrighty, enough prelude! Let’s get to that list!
(this post contains affiliate links. this doesn’t effect you but I will receive credit for your purchase)
Christian Living/Spiritual Growth
Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life – Lara Casey
The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging & Belonging – Sally & Sarah Clarkson
Discipline: The Glad Surrender – Elisabeth Elliot
Keep a Quiet Heart – Elisabeth Elliot
Let Me Be a Woman – Elisabeth Elliot
Woman of Influence: Ten Traits of Those Who Want to Make a Difference – Pam Farrel
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World – Emily P. Freeman
Word-Filled Women’s Ministry: Loving and Serving the Church – Gloria Furman
Sing!: How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church – Keith and Kristyn Getty
Pulling Back the Shades: Erotica, Intimacy, and the Longings of a Woman’s Heart – Dannah Gresh & Dr. Juli Slattery
The Feminist Mistake: The Radical Impact of Feminism on the Church and Culture – Mary Kassian
The Battle Plan for Prayer: From Basic Training to Targeted Practice – Stephen and Alex Kendrick
The Set-Apart Woman: God’s Invitation to Sacred Living – Leslie Ludy
Awaken: 90 Days with the God Who Speaks – Priscilla Shirer – Devotional
Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God Speaks – Priscilla Shirer – Bible Study Book
Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer – Priscilla Shirer
Gideon: Your Weakness. God’s Strength – Priscilla Shirer – Bible Study Book
The Armor of God – Priscilla Shirer – Bible Study Book
Finding the I AM: How Jesus Fully Satisfies the Cry of Your Heart – Lysa Terkerst – Bibe Study Book
Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions – Lysa Terkerst
Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Left Out, Less Than, and Lonely – Lysa Terkerst
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World – Joanna Weaver
The Acts of the Apostles – Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages – Ellen G. White
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both our Hearts and Our Minds – Jen Wilkin
The Finishing School – Valerie Woerner
Adorned: Living the Beauty of the Gospel Together – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Becoming a Woman of Discretion: Cultivating a Pure Heart in a Sensual World – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Biblical Portrait of Womanhood: Discovering and Living Out God’s Plan for Our Lives – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Marriage/Relationships
Love That Lasts: How We Discovered God’s Better Way for Love, Dating, Marriage, and Sex – Jefferson & Alyssa Bethke
The 5 Love Languages – Gary Chapman
Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs – Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
The Love Dare – Stephen & Alex Kendrick
Keep Your Love On: Connection, Communication, & Boundaries – Danny Silk
Business/Finance
Love Your Life Not Theirs: 7 Money Habits for Living the Life You Want – Rachel Cruze
Maximize Your Potential: Grow Your Expertise, Take Bold Risks & Build an Incredible Career – Jocelyn K. Glei
Make Your Mark: The Creative’s Guide to Building a Business with Impact – Jocelyn K. Glei
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers – Seth Godin
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us – Seth Godin
What to Do When It’s Your Turn (And It’s Always Your Turn) – Seth Godin
Retire Inspired: It’s Not an Age, It’s a Financial Number – Chris Hogan
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results – Gary Keller
The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness – Dave Ramsey
Business Boutique: A Woman’s Guide for Making Money Doing What She Loves – Christy Wright
Personal Development/Inspirational
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity – David Allen
Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything – Anne Bogel
Daring Greatly – Brené Brown
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone – Brené Brown
7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance – Angela Duckworth
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business – Charles Duhigg
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World – Adam Grant
Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits–to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life – Gretchin Rubin
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too) – Gretchen Rubin
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life – Annie Spence
Literature/Fiction
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
All the Lights We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Turtles All the Way Down – John Green
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
War & Peace – Leo Tolstoy
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Night – Elie Wiesel
Dawn – Elie Wiesel
Day – Elie Wiesel
A Room of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
Writer’s Craft
Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind – Jocelyn K. Glei
Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age – Jeff Goins
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered – Austin Kleon
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles – Steven Pressfield
Called to Create – Jordan Raynor
What are your reading plans this year?
