Just Do Something (& More December Reads)
I finished reading seven books in December, including Kevin DeYoung’s Just Do Something, which was excellent. Doing so brought my total count for the year up to 72, which is an average of six books a month. Read on for my impressions of each title in this last batch of books for the year!
The 7 Books I Read in December
Zia by Scott O’Dell
Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of my very favorite books in grade school. Imagine my surprise, then, to recently learn O’Dell wrote a sequel to the story called Zia.
In it, we learn what happened to Karana after she left Dolphin Island and came to live at the mission in Santa Barbara.
The details are shared from the perspective of Karana’s young neice, Zia, who has been trying for years to brave the ocean waves and paddle to the island herself to rescue her aunt.
Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung
I finished Kevin DeYoung’s Just Do Something last month and would recommend it to anybody who struggles with decision-making.
The seemingly endless number of choices, possibilities and opportunities available these days is enough to paralyze a lot of people. They are so afraid of making the wrong decision that they fail to decide on anything at all (which, o is itself a decision).
Instead of waiting for God to spell out, in advance, a step-by-step plan for your life, DeYoung argues in favor of using the general principles of His Word to map out your own course of action and pursue it, trusting that God will redirect you if He has something different in mind for your life.
Decluttering Your Marriage by Douglas Wilson
My husband, I and my mother listened to the better part of Douglas Wilson’s Decluttering Your Marriage together after a recent fender bender while we were waiting for a police officer to come fill out a crash report. It was time well spent. The book is short (only 44 pages long), but it spurred some lively conversations.
Wilson proposes that problems in marriage can be tackled in the same way you might clean a messy garage: Start with whatever is on the surface and work your way down from there.
Although I agree with the majority of what the author has here written, I would’ve worded a few of those concepts differently. But that was one of his points: Men and women are different — by design — and neither spouse should expect the another to express themselves in exactly the same way.
Get the Girl by Douglas Wilson
Perhaps you can tell, but we’ve been on a bit of a Douglas Wilson jag lately. But we’ve been reading and discussing several of his books as a family since we find his writings to be both concise and thought-provoking.
Get the Girl is no exception. My Doug and I, together with my mother, listened to the audiobook on a recent road trip. Written in the style of Screwtape Letters, it features the advice of a wisened uncle to a floundering (and, in Wilson’s case, imaginary) nephew.
The book’s subtitle says it all: “How to be the “How to Be the Kind of Man the Kind of Woman You Want to Marry Would Want to Marry.” And, unsurprisingly, Wilson’s counsel is as cogent as it is countercultural.
The Balance of Loving Discipline by Dr. Melodie Sterrett
A friend loaned me The Balance of Loving Discipline to get my impression of the slim book. I found it to be a very–surprise!–balanced approach to parenting. Especially in an age which seems to be given to such extremes between strict disciplinarians and the lenient, never-tell-your-kid-no camp.
The truth of God’s Word points to a position between these two poles. We are to train our children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, yes. But we’re to simultaneously model for them the gracious, unfailing love of the Father.
Problems arise when parents begin to mistake loving their child for giving them license to do as they please, free from correction or consequence. That is not how our heavenly Father deals with us, and it is not a precedent we should adopt with our children, either.
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
I read very few graphic novels, but after assigning When Stars Are Scattered to my grandson, I got so drawn in by his narration that I decided to read it for myself.
The book tells the true story of the long years two young children, Omar Mohamed and his brother, spent in a refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing their native Somalia. They were alone, uncertain if their parents were dead or alive.
It’s an eye-opening book and taught me a lot. There is little wonder why it has won so many awards and was named Best Book of the Year by Time, New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and others.
The Holy Bible (New American Standard and KJV)
I technically didn’t finish reading the final chapter until New Year’s Day, but since I read the vast majority of the Bible in 2024 (and immediately started re-reading it for 2025), I’m counting it on this list.
I’ve read the Bible cover-to-cover many times over, but for the past 15 years or so, I’ve been using this One-Year Bible Reading Plan to do so. I like the way it breaks it up, so that I read the law on one day, books of poetry on a different day, prophecy another, letters another, gospels another, and so forth.
It gives a good variety of reading throughout the week and keeps me from feeling stuck or weighed down when I get to the book of Leviticus or Numbers.
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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