New year, new reviews! Here I am to review the first five books I read last year. My total book count last year was 101 books, so it’s going to take quite awhile to get through them all, but it was a great year for reading and I’m excited to start sharing them with you!

Without further ado, here are my first five mini-reviews for the year.

I decided to read that one after so many people had recommended it, and I was glad I did! It was very thought-provoking and interesting.

I think we all know that we could be more forgiving and less easily offended, but this book takes it a step further and even questions our concept of “righteous anger” and whether it’s truly biblical. Is being angry a right of ours? Can we stand firm in our standards and hate evil without harboring feelings of offense? The book does a good job of delving into this topic and questioning how we can truly glorify God in how we relate to the world and to those around us.

I actually read this one twice last year, once at the beginning of the year and then going through it again near the end (and no, I didn’t count the second read in my 101 reads). I heard it recommended on a podcast and promptly ordered it.

It’s a short book and a good read, digging into how and why it is important for us to read our Bibles, and to truly digest the Word rather than seeing our reading as something we mark off a list. I was so impacted by the book that I decided to adopt the “seven year reading plan” he suggests, taking an entire month to go through each book or each passage so that I can truly get to know the Scriptures intimately rather than simply reading just for the sake of reading. Only a week and a half in, I’m already enjoying this approach and feel I’m getting so much more out of my devotional time!

This was an audiobook my mom had listened to and thought I might enjoy, and I did. It’s short, sweet, and entertaining. I thought the author did an excellent job presenting the relationship between herself and her grandmother, her grandmother’s personality and background, and how it impacted the author’s life. It flowed well and felt authentic and was just an all-around enjoyable read.

Okay, I know that I’m getting myself into controversy with this one, but I set out to talk about all my reads for the year, so I have to include this one. I’m fully aware that there are many people out there who do not like this book. And I’m not going to say that I agree with every single thing in it. I definitely have theological differences with the authors.

But on this, my fourth or fifth read-through, I still find so much in it that is helpful and practical and truly beneficial that I simply cannot agree with those who dismiss it outright. Far from condoning abuse, the methods of child training set out here are intended to build Godly character and loving and respectful family relationships. Reading this one is always helpful to me in my quest to raise my children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This one was disappointing, honestly. I just stumbled upon it while scrolling through my free audiobook app, and got excited. It sounded like a sweet story — a girl who is a student at the university where C.S. Lewis teaches questions him about where he got the idea for the Narnia books and passes the stories on to her sick brother who is enamored with the books.

And while there were certainly parts that were charming, it generally fell flat for me. It may be partly the fact that I already know everything it has to tell about C.S. Lewis’s life, having read multiple biographies of his. But I don’t think that’s the main issue I had with the story. My biggest problem was the fact that the author does not remotely emphasize Lewis’s faith, which is especially sad in a story about a sick, dying boy who wants to know the truth behind the Narnia stories. It was a grand opportunity to provide the true hope of salvation and life beyond death, and instead the author gives platitudes and feel-good statements that don’t truly acknowledge the vital role that the true Aslan plays in the series that has enchanted so many of us through the years.

So there are my first five reviews! I’ll be back sometime with another five, but I’m not sure yet how strict I’ll be with the schedule. I have a lot going on, which I’ll also share more about sometime soon, so I need to learn to be flexible in my schedule. But I will return!

In the meantime, have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts? Any you’d like to add to your to-read list for 2023?