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2015 Book List

  Playing in the sand during a cold but clear day in White Rock

Although I like to take some time to personally reflect on the past year, New Years' is never something I overly celebrate or pursue as a Big Day for Goal Setting. I love a fresh, new year, but I prefer to do my goal setting around my birthday (29, 28), and keep it fun and for the most part, doable. I'm a big believer not in resolutions, but in the small, baby-step disciplines every day that lead to achieving goals.
The lists I really love to make though, and inevitably add to, every first week of January, is a book list. I keep a pen and paper list in my notebook, but I like having it listed here, too, for memory sake, and to perhaps give you guys some good titles to pass on. 

I NEVER can cross off everything on my booklist. I loose interest, I re-prioritize, and I find books newly published that I'm dying to read. I have also enjoyed keeping a visual running tab on pinterest via my Bookshelf board. Looking back, I realize I only read 15 out of my original 34 on my 2014 book list. I actually ended up reading 57 books, so I don't consider myself behind one bit! I keep my actual list small, and my expectations lower. I'm sure the only reason I read so many books this year than in years past was because it was my chosen form of escapism (we had a somewhat pitiful year), and entertainment, free from the library. Here's to 2015, and a great list of books!

*All the Money in the World by Laura Vanderkam (current read)
*Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
*50 Women Every Christian Should Know by Michelle DeRusha
*The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown and Daniel Brown
*Autobiography of A Face by Lucy Grealy
*Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller (next up)
*Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
*Leadership Education by Olivier deMille (half-way through)
*The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
*The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
*A Circle of Quiet by Madeline L'Engle
*The Family Who Couldn't Sleep by D.T. Max
*Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
*Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
*Lila by Marilynne Robinson
*True Spirit by Jessica Watson
*A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (just found for $1 at the thrift store! yay!)
*Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron
*Eight Twenty Eight by Larissa Murphy
*The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
*The Lost Girls by Jennifer Bagget
*Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
*The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
*The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
*All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior
*Teach Your Children Well by Madeline Levine
*Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
*Rising Strong by Brene Brown (Thanks, Modern Mrs. Darcy!)

Those aren't all, of course, and so many from last year that I didn't get to will remain in my notebook and on my 'proper' list. These are the 27 that are at the top of my list, though, and I hope to finish Vanderkam's tonight, Tim Keller's this week, and Amy's the week after that. It's a book lover's delight. 

What are the top 5 books you are dying to read this year?
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Comments

K E Fleck said…
Wait, a new Brene Brown? I have to go add this to my wish list. Thanks!

January 6, 2015 at 2:10 PM
Sarah M said…
Kara, I *just* saw this on Modern Mrs. Darcy this morning and quickly added it myself!
January 6, 2015 at 10:21 PM
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