Another Gospel (& More January Reads)
I read six books in the month of January, including Alisa Childers’ Another Gospel. I finished that one plus two others in the course of four days while we were traveling. (Don’t audiobooks make drive time so much more enjoyable on those long road trips?)
But it took me nearly four weeks to finish the next three titles after we got back home and resumed our normal schedule. Read on for my impressions of each work.
6 Books I Read in January
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
A young orphan girl is as timid and nervous as the three spinster aunts who are bringing her up. But when one aunt falls sick, Betsy is sent to live with relatives whose ways are completely foreign to her, and a marvelous transformation occurs.
Fans of the Little House books or Anne of Green Gables series are sure to love Understood Betsy as much as we did. It’s a sweet and heartwarming story.
The Truth about Us by Brant Hanson
Most people seem to really enjoy talking about themselves, so Brant Hansen’s book The Truth about Us should have universal appeal.
But as folks flock to gurus who’ll regurgitate positive affirmations and paint wonderful (if unrealistic) pictures of how strong and good and noble humanity is, Hansen does a deep dive into the truth and shares what he calls “the very good news about how very bad we are.”
Yet, alongside this unvarnished glimpse at our wretched estate, the book offers a lifeline of hope. For it isn’t until we can humbly accept the truth about our shortcomings — our sin — that we will understand our deep need for the amazing grace only God can provide.
Another Gospel by Alisa Childers
Another Gospel examines the claims of progressive Christianity and explains why the progressive “gospel” is no gospel at all.
In the foreword, Lee Strobel urges readers to share favorite quotes on social media from this must-read book, so here’s one of my favorites:
“In years past, it was assumed that if you called yourself a Christian, you believed in biblical authority. But now as progressive Christianity infiltrates and infects the true church, we all must decide: How much authority does this book hold in our lives? To inform our view of the Bible, we can choose to follow the whims of a godless culture or we can choose to follow Jesus. I choose Jesus.”
Clutter Free Home by Kathi Lipp
Subtitled “Making Room for Your Life,” The Clutter Free Home will literally have you going from room to room in your house tackling the areas that most need to be decluttered and offering invaluable tips for creating a peaceful, orderly haven in which your family can thrive.
Kathi urges readers to write down a sort of mission statement for each room including the primary purpose a given room will serve, what items the room will need to house to best serve its stated purpose, and ways the room could be arranged and decorated to delight all five of your senses.
I found this to be a very practical and thought-provoking approach to clearing out stuff that isn’t used or needed to make space for essentials.
Linked by Gordon Korman
My daughter and I didn’t intentionally set out to read a book about anti-semitism for Holocaust Memorial Day — in fact, we got this book without knowing anything about the subject matter, simply because we like the author — but our reading Linked ended up being very timely.
When spray-painted swastikas start springing up all around the small town of Chokecherry, students at the local middle school set out to create a 6-million link paper chain as a way of remembering the Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust. In the process, they learn a lot about each other and make some sobering discoveries about the past, as well.
This is definitely a book I’d read again.
Well Said by Sarah Molitor
Sarah Molitor encourages readers to weigh our words carefully, to recognize the power they yield, and to use them to build up and encourage those around us.
In Well Said, Sarah shares about her own past failures to use her words wisely and explains how she’s learned to rein in her tongue and submit the words of her mouth to the control of the Holy Spirit.
I especially enjoyed what Sarah wrote about communicating words of life and blessing and encouragement and vision to our children. Mom’s voice is often one our kids will continue to hear inside their head long after they leave home, so we want to make sure the words and phrases that spring to their minds in such recollections are good, true, and uplifting ones.
Do you love to read as much as we do? I’ve gathered all my best resources for bibliophiles onto this page, or you can read more of my book reviews by following this link .
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