Five more books, and as always, it’s a wildly mixed bag! My reading habits are diverse, and I love that. We have everything from two- to five-star reads on this list!

Okay, so my relationship with these books is complicated. I absolutely love The Hobbit and have read it multiple times. The Lord of the Rings movies are among my favorite of all time ever since I watched them when I was 18. Shortly after seeing the movies, I tried — and failed — to read the books. I just absolutely could not get into them. I think I may have made it through the first one before giving up.

In 2019, I listened to all three books on audiobook and I still struggled. I appreciated many things about them, appreciated Tolkien’s craft, and found much beauty and truth in them — but wouldn’t say I really loved them. Then last year I decided to try reading them again since The Babylon Bee was doing a read-along. And I will say that my appreciation did deepen again the third time around, so I am glad I have given the books multiple tries. But I still have to say, heretical as it may be, that I like the movies better.

This was yet another book that was mysteriously on my Kindle that I read in the middle of the night with a nursing baby. And again, I honestly don’t remember much about it. I know it was just okay, but not bad. I remember that it walked through in practical steps some ways that you can pinpoint the purposes God has for your life, and if I recall correctly that part was good but just nothing really new or earth-shattering to me. I don’t feel that I personally struggle with knowing God’s calling for my life. But the book might be helpful for those who are looking for more direction.

Ted Dekker is so hit or miss for me. I don’t think I’ve outright HATED any of his books (though Immanuel’s Veins was close), and I’ve LOVED a few. Most of them, however, fall in sort of this strange middle ground where I see a lot of value in them but feel like something just isn’t quite right about them.

This book is no exception. I really loved his idea in this one, and I think it was a clever way to express the truth and the theme that he wanted to portray. But like many of his books, it felt like it needed another few rounds of editing. Many parts were repetitive or fell flat. Also, like most of his, it was a bit too gory for me. But, again, like much of his stories, it stuck with me long after I read it, even though I wouldn’t say it was a favorite. I guess I’ll keep trying his books in search of those few that are truly phenomenal.

This was a book club book, and overall I didn’t like it. It wasn’t without redeeming qualities — mainly the core idea and plot. A woman who is cursed with never being remembered by anyone for her long, long, long life? So many story possibilities!

But the book just never got there for me, for so many reasons. The writing style is kind of “trendy,” and I felt the author overused certain words a lot, which was distracting. She also added in many references to LGBT characters and relationships that added nothing whatsoever to the story. I also could really have done without the bizarre and creepy semi-romantic relationship with the demon, or false god, or whatever it was. Yeah. It was weird.

But ultimately, the biggest reason I just could not get on board with this book was its utter hopelessness. It tackles such weighty themes of identity and life and death and what all of that means, and yet stops so far short of any semblance of truth. To these characters, this life is all there is. There is nothing greater or more beautiful and no hope for anything beyond death or relationships with other human beings. I couldn’t relate with that, and it just made me sad.

Prayer and its purpose is something I’ve really struggled with all my life, and it’s something God has really grown me in during the past few years. After I discussed all this with a dear friend, she found this book and lent it to me.

Yancey does a fantastic job of laying out all that the Bible tells us about prayer and what we can really learn both practically and philosophically. It was very helpful to me, and I would recommend it to anyone else who wrestles with the concept of prayer and why and how we are to engage in it.

A couple more posts, and we’ll be done with all the books I read in 2021! Just in time for me to have a few weeks of rest before beginning on my reads from 2022…

Have you read any of these? What are your thoughts? Any that you’re interested in reading?