What I’m Reading
I love to read! But with two small kids in the house, I don’t have a lot of time to read fiction any more — so you’ll find most of the books I read these days have to do with parenting, organization, spirituality or something similar. Although every once in a while I love to sneak in a good mystery or true crime novel. I often start multiple books at the same time and keep them in different rooms. If you have books you’d like to recommend, I’d love to hear about them!
Houseworks: Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos by Cynthia Townely Ewer
This book has been tough to track down in local bookstores, so I have it on loan from the Loudoun County Library. It’s written by the creator of www.organizedhome.com and www.organizedchristmas.com — so far it has some good tips. What’s funny is how many of the tips are the opposite of the book I just finished reading, Organizing Solutions for People with Attention Deficit Disorder: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized by Susan Pinsky. I don’t have ADD, but I find books written for people with ADD often have great tips for parents of people with small children (we are often interrupted and easily distracted by, say, a 2-year-old JavaGirl dropping eggs on the kitchen floor). Both books have useful information and ideas, Houseworks seems to go into greater detail about actual cleaning, which I apparently need. <blush>
Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes… in You and Your Kids by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller
I started reading this book as part of a women’s bible study and ended up getting a copy for myself so I could start marking it up. It’s really a great family read — I’m still reading it and hope JavaDad will find time to read it as well. There are some great, practical strategies for dealing with everyday family situations and for instilling a sense of honor in the family (both in kids AND parents). While it is written from a Christian perspective and does include biblical references, it has enough in there to be useful even from a secular point of view. It addresses issues ranging from very young children (the age of my children) up through teenagers (I’m taking notes!)
On my To Read List:
Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What’s the last spirituality book that you read? Great blog, JM! M.
Hi- I saw your blog on NaBloPoMo and have really enjoyed it. Your books on organizing and your mention in one of your posts about having a Christmas organizer that starts in Aug. made me think of Flylady.net. She is my fav! I’ll be stopping by again- keep it up!
Have you read ‘The Shack”? It is GREAT! Right now I’m reading a commentary about it called “Finding God in the Shack”. He agrees with most of it and loved it but has a few corrections to the theology.
Thanks for the comments on here! I have not read The Shack although a lot of people in my church have. I hope to get a chance to read more this year — now that my eldest is reading to himself I plan on us having more “read to yourself, but as a family” time, the way I remember my family doing when I was growing up. JavaGirl likes to go through books and pretend she is reading, making up stories based on the pictures, so she’ll be able to participate as well.
I may actually get to participate in my church’s Tuesday morning bible studies again, which is always a source of inspiration — we’ll see how it goes when the kids get back in school!
I did just read Diana Orgain’s murder mystery Bundle of Trouble, which I should add here, and reviewed it on my new review site, Caffeinated Reviews – http://caffeinatedreviews.com
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